I found Joseph and Catherine on Otto and Antonia’s Marriage record. I am assuming that the medalion is a picture of Joseph, since family lore tells us that Uncle Willie (William Bruno) brought it back with him from Switzerland after his trip in 1928 (when he married Josephine). The story is that he “stole” it from the cemetary. I have learned that headstones generally only stay in place for 25 years in Switzerland (land is very expensive), so Joseph must have died after 1903 in order for the headstone to still have been around.

Godfather: Joseph Husler
Godmother: Maria Josepha Pfenninger

Excerpt from:
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Swiss History, But Were Afraid to Ask
compiled by K. Augustiny
<http://www2.genealogy.net/gene/reg/CH/history.html>;
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11. The Collapse of the Old Confederation in 1798 and the Long March to the New Federal State of 1848

The Confederates remained neutral during the War of the First Coalition against revolutionary France. But once Napoleon Bonaparte had established French power in northern Italy the military pressure of Switzerland increased. Its alpine passes were of strategic importance for the French army, since they commanded the direct route from Paris to Milan. French revolutionary troops marched into the Bernese Vaud on 28 January 1798. The Diet was unable to react decisively to the French invasion. Berne alone withstood the French army, but its forces were defeated at the battle of Grauholz and on 5 March 1798 the victors entered the city.

A long and tortuous path led to the foundation of the Swiss Federal state in 1848. The events of 1798 ushered in a 50-year-long political crisis, during which the conservative and progressive forces more than once resorted violence in attempting to resolve their disputes. The thirteen old cantons were joined by six new ones, the former subject territories of Aargau, Thurgau, Ticino and Vaud and the former Allied Cantons of Sankt Gallen and Graubünden. After Napoleon's defeat the Congress of Vienna (1815) restored the old neutral league of sovereign states. Three new cantons were added: Geneva, Valais, and the Prussian Neuchâtel. The diplomats in Vienna rewarded the Jura to Berne as compensation for the latter's loss of former subject areas in Aargau and Vaud. (cf. the map Switzerland and its Cantons 1995)

The Paris revolution of 1830 brought about a change in Switzerland, too. A strong liberal movement began to develop and in a number of cantons the aristocrats divested of power.

The old order found its defenders above all in the Catholic cantons of central Switzerland, they united their forces in a military defence pact, known as the Sonderbund.

Matters came to a head in 1845 against the background of a severe economic crisis. Switzerland's last famine was the result of the terrible potato blight which struck all of Europe. The rise in prices caused a depression in the rural textile industry. After a brief campaign Federal troops occupied Luzern (1847).

The new Federal Constitution guaranteed a whole range of civic liberties, such as the right to reside wherever one wished, freedom of association, and equality before the law. It also heeded the interests of the vanquished minority by making far-reaching provisions to maintain cantonal sovereignty. The Swiss Federal state of 1848 marked the end of 18 years of bitter conflict. By 1850 the Confederation was recognised as the most heavily industrialised country in Europe after Great Britain. But Swiss industry was of the cottage type and had a peasant background.

12. The Democratic Movement and the New Constitution of 1874

The liberal hegemony was not seriously threatened either by the Catholic conservatives or by the old patrician forces. But in the sixties a new opposition emerged which consisted of peasants and artisans, intellectuals and conservative federalists. The pressure for social and economic reforms provided common ground on which the various opposition groups could unite against the liberal regime. In 1869 the democrats won the constitutional battle in Zurich. Henceforth the government was elected directly by the people and all parliamentary bills had to be submitted to popular vote. The success of democrats in the cantons made a revision of the Federal Constitution essential. In 1874 the new Federal Constitution was promulgated .

13. Industrial Changes in the 19th Century

As a result of the development of international rail and maritime communications the Swiss agricultural sector was plunged into a crisis. From the 1870s onwards ever cheaper cereals were imported from eastern Europe or overseas. The farmers managed to achieve a measure of stability by joining together to form agricultural co-operatives and the export of dairy products (cheese, condensed milk, chocolate) offset the loss of the market in cereals. The watch- and clock-making and silk-ribbon weaving industries had always been geared to the export trade. The prolonged economic depression that started in 1874 marked a turning point: the textile industry lost its position of predominance. The chemical industry and the machine-building industry entered upon a period of swift development. Although Switzerland has neither any mineral deposits to speak of nor reserves of coal or other raw materials, within a short time it was able to develop export industries of major international importance. The chemical plants in Basle, manufacturing coal-tar dyes and the machine-building industry were the most important in the Swiss export trade before 1914.

Railway building was a significant factor in this expansion. Germany and France played a major role in financing the boring of the great 15-kilometre-long Gotthard Tunnel in 1880. Between 1844 and mid-1860s 1300 kilometres of track had been laid; by 1885 they were joined by another 1400 kilometres, but only 700 kilometres more track was added between that date and 1914.

N.B.: Switzerland has an area of 15'942 sq. miles. It could be contained in a circle with a radius of 70 miles - 115 km. The maximum North-South extent is 220.1 km; the maximum East-West extent 348.4 km! Small is beautiful!
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