When Hans Jakob Preisig was born on 8 January 1770, in Schwellbrunn, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland, his father, Hans Ulrich Preisig, was 46 and his mother, Maria Magdalena Schiess, was 40. He married Anna Magdalena Schiess on 15 October 1790, in Schwellbrunn, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 6 daughters. He died on 4 April 1836, at the age of 66.