Last Updated on March 6, 2022 8:17 pm by Steven

More information about John Kasper Loosle and Anna Elizabeth Hundsperger

The Mission Journal of John Kasper Loosle is now available.  It was written by himself in first person. He served a mission in Switzerland from October 1885-April, 1887.  The journal was transcribed into standard English sentences by Janet Buttars Folster.  She is a great granddaughter of John Kasper Loosle and Anna Elisabeth Hundsperger and a daughter of Lee Winn Buttars and Theo Griffiths Buttars.  We express appreciation to Janet for her work in transcribing the journal.

Janet transcribed:

1. The full transcription of the Mission Journal (23 pages) and
2. A three page shortened copy .  A copy of the shortened version is in Family Tree.  Go to Family Tree, go to KWNF-BGT which is John Kasper Loosle’s ID number, go to Memories, go to Documents and you will then see the shortened version of the Mission Journal.  If you are interested in a copy of the full transcription of the Mission Journal or the shortened version please request by e-mail.  An e-mail address is listed below.

As you read and study the journal some observations are included in this document that may be of interest to you.  The journal is 5 X 7 inches.  It has a hard front and back cover page which was originally green with a brown binding.  The writing is on the front and back of each of the 140 pages.  The Journal is very fragile.  The original is in the possession of Darrell K. Loosle

John Kasper Loosle was born in 1830 and passed away in 1901, He married Anna Elisabeth Hundsperger, who was born in 1835 and passed away in 1924.  They joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on December 10, 1858.  They immigrated to Utah leaving Bern, Switzerland on March 16 1860, arriving in Salt Lake City, Utah on September 3, 1860. They moved to Providence Utah, and then moved to Clarkston, Utah in 1867.

They were the parents of ten children, with nine of the ten children living to adulthood.  It is interesting that three of the children of John and Anna married three children of David Buttars and Sarah Keep.  They are: John William Loosle married Elizabeth Keep Buttars, Annie Elizabeth Loosle married Thomas James Buttars, and Rosetta Babait Loosle married David Alexander Buttars.

When they arrived in Utah, John Kasper Loosle was thirty years of age.  Anna Elizabeth Hundsperger was twenty- five.  Their oldest son, George Andrew Loosle, who was born in 1858, so he was two years of age when they arrived in Utah

The language that John and Anna spoke in Switzerland was Swiss-German.  They had to learn English after they arrived in Utah.  They lived in Providence, Utah from 1863 to 1867 and moved to Clarkston, Utah. Providence was a community that was settled primarily by people that spoke Swiss-German.  Church services in Providence, Utah were in Swiss-German and in English.  As mentioned in the heading of this document the Mission Journal of John Kasper Loosle was transcribed into standard English sentences.

The Mission Journal was written in English with some German words. it was written phonetically.   He would write the words as they sounded to him, but not necessarily the way English is usually pronounced.  His Journal often mentions the date, the time spent, the community or areas where he stayed, the person or family he stayed with, and often a summary of the Gospel discussion.

From the time the Church was organized until the late 1800’s full time missionaries were called to preach the gospel and to go “without purse or scrip”.  To go “without purse or scrip” meant they traveled without any funds and had to depend on the hospitality of friends and strangers for room and board. As years passed the policy changed. By the time he was serving his mission they were teaching “without purse of scrip” but were allowed to carry some money with them. Missionary pamphlets were also available to use and disseminate.

George Andrew Loosle (Son) in his writings stated.  “John Kasper Loosle left home to go on a mission to Switzerland.  He had to furnish all the money.  Bishop Jardine said that he was well enough off to pay his way to the mission, but I noticed that we sold 5 acres of hay land to Newton which was flooded by Newton Reservoir”.  Some of that money was used to pay for his travel to Switzerland.  It appears that he stayed with members, friends and others most of the time, but there were some times where he stayed in a hotel.  Whether others paid for the hotel or he paid for the hotel from his money is not known.  There were times when he was working close to where relatives were living so he stayed with them.  He refers to staying with Loosli’s,  Fuhriman’s, and his brother, Andreas Loosli, and many others.   His sons, George Andrew, and John William managed the farm while he was on his mission.

John Kasper Loosle was arrested for teaching the gospel and actually spent quite a few days in Jail and was not treated very well.  His mission president provided guidance to him.  (This experience is included on pages 7 and 8 of the full transcription and is also referred to in the shortened version.)

A few days before he was released to go home he went to visit his brother and was astonished to find out that his brother Andreas had died and was buried four weeks earlier.  He apparently was teaching about five miles from his brothers’ home and was not notified.

(By Darrell K. Loosle, Great Grandson) xxxxxx@xxxx.com

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