Whenever Dick Clements talks about his great-grandfather Joseph Oechsli, he shows deep respect. “Unfortunately, I never knew him. But our family talks of him as having been a quiet, industrious, and likeable man. I see it as an enormous achievement, showing courage, that the farmhand who had grown up in the most modest circumstances left parents, siblings, and the homeland without knowing what to expect across the Atlantic and whether he would even arrive safe and sound in America.” Joseph Oechsli followed his great dream and took farsighted steps before his departure.
Some weeks before he left Einsiedeln, he had secured a recommendation letter from his employer. It read “Joseph Oechsli from Trachslau, municipality Einsiedeln in Switzerland has served us faithfully, diligently, and honestly as a farmhand in charge of cattle and horses, and we recommend him as an upright man. Einsiedeln, March 6, 1872. Nicolaus & Adelrich Benziger ‘zum Adler’ from the firm Brothers C & N Benziger.”
The horse groom Joseph Oechsli (pronounced Exly!) established himself quickly in Louisville and married the widow Anna-Mary Bisig Schmitt who had two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary. He was soon able to buy a farm and was growing potatoes like many of his compatriots. The family increased. He was respected in town and in the Swiss community and an active member of the Gruetli Helvetia Society. Within a few years, he was able to purchase 37 acres (15 hectares) of good land near the railroad line in St. Matthews. Soon, the Oechsli-Road was to lead through the center of his property!
Dick Clements: “Where he got the money from to buy so much land, I do not know. But he was a very frugal man, clever in his undertakings, and industrious.” In 1893, furthermore, Joseph purchased a stately mansion that a Dr. John N. Lewis had built in 1838. To this day the villa is known as the “Oechsli-House”.
On July 11, 1927 all his 37 acres were put up for auction - Joseph sold the land for the construction of a large, excellently situated residential area of the emerging city of Louisville. Only the “Oechsli-House” remained in the family until 2004 - and for many years it was also the center of the constantly growing clan.
In the summer of 2016 we visited the “Oechsli-House” with 70 year-old Dick Clements that today is owned by the businessman Steve Smith. One senses that it is less than easy for Dick to enter the house. Memories of childhood emerge.
“After my great-grandfather, my grandparents Josephine Oechsli Ratterman, third-oldest daughter of Joseph, grandfather Frank, and two of my aunts and a cousin were living here for decades.
I spent much time here as a child, every room provides memories, and the banister in the hallway was my slide. In the ground floor’s kitchen, grandmother Josephine used to bake her famous ‘spruengli’, the white anise cookies - tasting very much like the sweets from the Oechslin bakery “Goldapfel” in Einsiedeln.
By the way, when we sold the house, we found a great many old nails in the previous smoke chamber - to ready them for use again, Joseph seems to have gathered and straightened by hand hundreds of bent nails when the many houses were built on his previous land. He was that thrifty!”
Not least because of his wife Margaret’s help, Dick Clements had started years ago with family research. “I am sorry that I had not asked my grandparents, uncles and aunts, when they were still alive. For a long time I was not interested, and later I was too busy. I regret it very much.
They still had known Joseph Oechsli and would have been able to tell this or that story from his life. I also know too little about my Oechslin relatives in the region of Einsiedeln. Although, we were in November 2009 with a group in the monastery village and had established first contacts with relatives, I must return in the near future and deepen them. By all means, I want to see my great-grandfather’s house in Trachslau and get to know more Einsiedeln relatives.”
