One day, an inhabitant of Bürglen, William Tell, passed the square, accompanied by his son, without saluting the hat. Immediately he was arrested and brought before the governor. "I know", said the governor, "you are an accomplished marksman. As a punishment for your disobedience of my order, you shall shoot an apple put on your son's head".
Tell tried to convince Gessler to carry out a different punishment but with no success. Gessler insisted and even threatened to have Tell and his son killed if he did not follow his orders.
Tell was brought back to the square of Altdorf. Gessler followed with his soldiers and servants. An indignant crowd surrounded them. Tell's son was placed against a tree, an apple on his head; 50 steps were counted. Tell put an arrow on his crossbow, aimed slowly and pulled. The arrow pierced the apple without touching the boy. The crowd applauded the skills of the courageous archer.
Tell, however, had hidden a second arrow under his quiver. Gessler who had watched Tell do so asked: "Why the second arrow?". Tell waited with his answer. The tyrant urged him to answer: "If you tell me the truth your life will be saved!" "It was to pierce your heart, was Tell's grim answer, if my first arrow killed my son".
Gessler, beside himself, ordered to jail the rebel at once. "I do not come back on my promise but you will be jailed until your death in the prison of Küsnacht castle." A boat was launched immediately at Flüelen. Tell was chained in it while Gessler and his soldiers were embarking. Not far from port a tempest broke out. The Föhn (a southernly wind) caused such high waves that the boat almost got lost or thrown onto the nearby rocks. The boat people became very frightened and shouted: "Only Tell can save us!" Gessler ordered to free Tell who then took the rudder in a firm hand and steered the boat to the foot of the Axenberg Mountain, near a rock called the "Tellsplatte".
All of a sudden Tell took a spear from a soldier, jumped from the boat onto the shore, pushing back the boat with his foot, then in a great hurry traversed the county of Schwyz. Gessler managed to survive the bad storm and reached Küsnacht castle that very night. Tell hid behind some bushes along an alley which led to the governor's residence. Soon enough Gessler and his people appeared and Tell killed him with an arrow from his corssbow freeing the country from an evil tyrant.
Copyright © 1997-2002 Pfadibewegung Schweiz PBS.
This account of the story of William Tell is very similar to the story that my father and uncle told me when I was a child. I have always been fascinated by the story of William Tell and his bravery and courage.
My father, Albin Dittli, was born in Altdorf, the capital of Uri. His home is facing the Altdorf city plaza and the statue of William Tell is in that plaza, not far from his home. This is the same plaza or square where William Tell was forced to shoot the apple on his son's head.
Around 1900 the Catholic priests in Uri undertook a project of organizing the church, state, and land records of Uri into a genealogical history. From the records they wrote, in large books, information about each family and assigned each family a number. Then, where possible, they cross-referenced the various families. This was a tremendously large task to do.
About 1990 the genealogical department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints microfilmed these records. Thus it was made available to the public. It is on thirteen rolls of microfilm.
My wife and I spent almost every Friday evening for two and a half years studying these films and extracting my family history from it. The results of that work are elsewhere on this site.
The surname “Tell” is not found in the records as an Uri surname. Perhaps the name has changed during the last 700 years. The surname “Nell” is in the records. One of my eight great grandfathers is Heinrich Nell.
It is also possible that records were lost or that the “Tell” line died out.
One of my seventeenth great grandfathers was Burkhard Zumbrunnen, born about 1209. His occupation was listed as bailiff. It is probable that he was employed by the Austrians and thus may have been working for the governor Gessler during the time of William Tell.
Undoubtedly I had ancestors that fought of each side in the battle for Swiss independence.