| As far as I know till now is the surname
Suanet descended from Bellinzona, a little tourist place in the
mountainous country between eastern Switserland and the north part of
Italy. Bellinzona is the capital of the district Ticino in Switserland.
I consider Petrus Suanet as the oldest known. I don't know exactly when
he is born (must be around 1720). The only thing for sure is that he was
married to Maria Angelina. They
had a son called Antonius Joannes Suanet, born in the year 1737 in
Bellinzona.
Famine....
On the genealogysite "Suisse genealogy online" www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ch/
you can read the following recarding the Kanton Ticino and the
emigration to the lowlands. This could be the way such als happened with
Antonius Joannes Suanet:
Conditions in Switzerland - The valley Leventina had belonged
to the Urians from 1440 who had enjoyed considerable freedom until 1775
when an insurrection occurred. Bellenz, Riviera, and Bollenz (Blegno-Valley)
were, in 1503, common bailiffs of Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden. Canton
Ticino had been helping the Italian freedom fighters across the border
when the Governor of the Austrian Kingdom of Lombardo-Veneto decided to
close the frontier and expel all Swiss subjects from his territory at
very few days notice. So back they went to their native valleys and
their very small plots of land. An economic crisis, poor harvests and
many mouths to feed threatened real famine until the idea of emigration
beyond the seas could be launched and enough credit could be secured.
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He was a glazier from occupation and went to Turnhout (Belgium) in
1775 *). There he bought for about 30 dutch guiders (about 14 US dollars)
the rights for living in that town ("Poortersrechten"). He married on
18-04-1778 Anna Josepha Barbara Duperu from Antwerp (Belgium) in
the Sint Pieter Church. Anna died short after birth of their first and
only child Christianus Antonius Suanet. On 17-05-1779 (about one year after his first
marriage) he married Maria Theresia Eijkens from Kasterlee (Belgium)
again in the Sint Pieter Church in Turnhout. For as far as I know till
now there were born eleven children out of this marriage. Six were sons,
two of them died young. Antonius Joannes died on 14-10-1809 in Turnhout.
The dutch branch is the consequence of moving from the fifth child of
Antonius Joannes and Maria Theresia Eijkens named Josephus Antonius Suanet (born 07-05-1784 in Turnhout) to Waalwijk in the Netherlands. He
was a tailor and was married to Maria Theresia Krijgers from
Brielle (Netherlands).
From their the dutch branch spread out to 's-Hertogenbosch and Tilburg
and in some cases to the north of the Netherlands. The Belgium branch
nowadays is settled among Turnhout and Antwerp. A branch far away is a
splitt off of the dutch branch. From The Hague (Capital of the
Netherlands) Johannes Suanet (born in 1919) emigrated to the United
States of America in 1953 with his wife Anna Maria Simonis and their five
children. They now mostly live in and near Manchester in the state New
Hampshire (USA). The is also a splitt off of the Belgium branch, into
France. My family was not a rich and famous family. The most
occuring occupation's are glazier, cigarmaker, tailor and baker. There
is relatively little material about this history. I hope that in the
future, by being on the internet and further research, to build this
out. When you think you can help, please e-mail me!!!!
*) From: “Bijdrage tot de geschiedenis van Retie”,
Edward Seyens, 1949 (Drukkerij G. van den Eynde, Retie, Uitgeverij De
Berk, Retie) page 85:
Striking is the precense at Retie, in the
years 1750-1790 of several Swiss glaziers, who with their glaziercoffin
on their back travelled threw the villages. We name Jan Antoon Morel,
the brothers Peter Antoon and Jacob Baes, from Bielandszoone (Bellizona),
Jan Baptist Lasters (Latters?) from Aussaime, Andries Marniet, also from
Bellizona, Peter Wallida from Claes (?), Jozef Prono from Sancta Maria
de Jubiasco (near Bellizona). The last one disposed of by will to his
uncle Jacob Prono and to his sister Maria Madaleen. He died at Retie and
was burried there on 14 juli 1761.”
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