1900 census for Vesta, Minnesota shows him immigrating to the USA in 1875, and he is listed as a farmer.
From the 1906 Saskatchewan census, it shows that John and his wife Mary were originally from Germany, not Switzerland. Not sure which one is right (census, or the book by his granddaughter Marian).
Marian’s book has them coming to Saskatchewan in 1903; the census shows it as 1905.
While I have seen at least one mention of his middle name being Sebastian, his tombstone says Jacob. He is buried right near the Albert border in Montana.