Julius Billeter 1869 - 1957

Switzerland   Bern Canton     Bern Canton Genealogy

Many genealogies of Bern canton families have been researched by the genealogist Julius Billeter. Nearly 2 million people will be found in his works. 

Julius Billeter 1869 - 1957
Julius Billeter began his career as a genealogical researcher in 1896. He remained in Switzerland gathering names from the records for one year. He obtained moneys and subscriptions from people to fund his research activities. It was reported that he gathered 100,000 names in that first year. It took him the following year to prepare the names for temple work. In 1898 he was appointed a research agent for the Genealogical Society of Utah for Germany and Switzerland. He remained in Switzerland till his death in 1957 except for some intervening years. He was a respected genealogist that allowed him access to parish registers and civil registers in an age when records were scattered in different localities and credentials were required to view the records. All his activities were funded by subscription or moneys from people who wanted to know more about their ancestry. It was reported that he lived a frugal life and the moneys were just enough to make a living.

Scope of Julius Billeter's Work
The genealogies and names he gathered is quite impressive. When approaching his work one must realize there are some inaccuracies in his work due his research methodology, conditions under which he worked in, volume of names he gathered, and the sketchy nature of records prior to 1810. The main contributing factor can be attributed to the volume of names he recorded and the methodology he employed which allowed him to record so many names. The only way he was able to gather 2 million names in his career was to move hastily from church book to church book. The names and dates are recorded with great accuracy. The places are almost always associated with the heimat or ancestral home. To make those relationship connections require time and study of all the available facts. The weakness in his research is the relationship connections.

Julius Billeter's Notes
Use Billeters notes as a means to an end in creating an accurate genealogy by consulting the church books. The results of Billeters work is on Family Tree.

Family Tree and Julius Billeter's Research
Julius Billeter was a Mormon who performed extensive research between 1899 and 1950. What this means is that most of his research was submitted to the Church as part of their genealogical and Temple programs. You will find the result of Billeter's work on the Family Tree

Family Tree and Switzerland, Church Records, 1277-1992
Switzerland, Church Records, 1277-1992 is a near complete collection of Bern canton church records from the 1600's to 1875.

Billeter's Research and Genealogical Programs of the Church
People have been submitting names from Julius Billeter's work to the Church since 1910. Despite the shortcomings of his work, it has become a standard for Swiss Genelaogy. Many Swiss families will be found in the Family Group Records Collection, Archives Section, 1942-1969. This collection is useful in that one can compare what is on Family Tree and what was originally submitted by members of the church.

The FamilySearch Catalog and Julius Billeter
The Family History Library has many genealogies and a register of the names he researched can be found on film 908186 item 1. This film can be viewed at the Family History Library. You can also do a Keyword or surname search on the FamilySearch Catalog to see if your family's name is included in his research.These should be used as a guideline to your research as most of the Bern canton church records have now been filmed and are also available at the Family History Library and its centers throughout the world.