First Generation

1. Joannes (Johann) DA JACO¹ was born about 1685. He died on June 6, 1765 in St. Martin in Val Badia, Tyrol (Austria), at Laguscél. He was said to have been of the small ethnic group known as Rhaeto-Romanics, or Ladins.

After the Tyrolean line of Hapsburgs died out in the year 1665, Land Tyrol was administered by governments appointed by Vienna. Tyroleans nevertheless retained their autonomy. Tyrol was mobilized during the Spanish War of Succession (1701-14), and battles were fought in nearby Germany and upper Italy. The Bavarians, allied with the French, attempted to march into Tyrol. The Austrian imperial troops were defeated, but the Tyrolean militia crushed the Bavarian campaign as they were able to use their knowledge of the country's topography. This was the first successful engagement of the Tyrolean Defense Force codified by Emperor Maximilian in the year 1511 granting the Tyroleans the responsibility for defending their own country. Under the last two Hapsburg emperors, Joseph I (1705-11) and Charles VI (1711-40), absolutism once again had taken root. The rights of the four Tyrolean classes - nobility, clerics, burghers, and peasants - became increasingly limited.

Through centuries of church influence and sponsorship, the Tyrolean national pride became manifest in churches, cathedrals, cloisters, and monasteries beautifully constructed by the Master Craftsmen. The natural beauty of this Alpine region is complimented with religious artwork, carved statuary, and the painted frescos of the local shrines created by Master Artisans. Guilds or associations for craftsmen were established to provide craftsmanship standards and promote commerce and trade. In addition to the construction crafts of carpentry and masonry, the artistic skills of wood carving, painting, and sculpture were considered Guild crafts. A Master craftsmen could establish his own shop, and hire Journeymen skilled in the craft or trade from earlier years as apprentices. Apprentices would be enlisted by the Master craftsman to learn the craft too. It could take several years for a Journeyman to become a Master craftsman, and required a demonstration of great skill.

In this deeply Catholic-Christian land of Tyrol, rich in both natural and man-crafted beauty, desperately needing to express its own national identity and individualism, yet struggling for its very livelihood and a better standard of living, the church records of the early DA JACO families are found.

Joannes (Johann) DA JACO and Catharina DA TERZA were married about 1715.

Catharina DA TERZA was born about 1690. Joannes (Johann) DA JACO and Catharina DA TERZA had the following children:

+2	i.	Catharina DA JACO.
+3	ii.	Joannes Baptista DA JACO.
+4	iii.	Josephus (Joseph) DA JACO.