JOHAN HERMAN
HECKENKEMPER 1815 – 1875
by
Mary Louise Heckenkemper LeBoeuf 1930-____. March
2015
JOHAN HERMAN HECKENKEMPER was
born December 5, 1815 in Oelde, Westfalen, Prussia, baptized on December 6 at Saint
Johannes Katholisch Church, Oelde, Westfalen, Prussia, and died March 10, 1874
in St Louis Hospital, St. Louis, MO.
Herman is not
a “real” Heckenkemper. In northwestern Prussia as far back as the
1600’s,"farm names and names that go with possessions, such as farms
or possessions such as a person assuming ownership of an estate, are stronger
than the family names with which a person is born.”
His name is
actually Herman Seliger and not Herman Heckenkemper. The name Heckenkemper derives from his father
Anton Zehliger's marriage to Catharina Elisabeth Heckenkamper who was the “yard
heiress” of the Heckenkamper farm, which means she inherited the farm from her
parents and the man she married then took the Heckenkemper name.
The Heckenkamper, Heckenkemper name is spelled
both ways in historical church records.
Legal documents show that Herman used Heckenkemper on
land purchase and other documents upon entering the United States of America in
1846.
A person’s name
such as Anton Zehliger’s is not as strong and firm as the name of the farm of
the Heckenkamper family he married into, and when he married Catharina, he
assumed ownership of the estate and the family name. “In terms of social history: ownership
comes before blood." As
children were born and baptized, the first two children were usually recorded
as "Zehliger “gt.” (named) Heckenkamper" and the later children as
simply "Heckenkamper"
"The procedure is then as follows: The family has an established name with a farm or estate. An individual male member of the family who comes into possession of a farm or an estate, either through inheritance, marriage, or purchase, takes on its name as their family name. This new name is registered in the church books upon the entry of the marriage, or on the occasion of the baptism of the first child.
The two names then stand side by side connected by a “gt.” meaning 'called' or ‘named’.
There are many forms for the name Zehliger,
Seliger, Sehliger. Z's and S's are very
close phonetically, and the Germans will frequently throw in a silent
"h" here or there. As far as
first names are concerned, Henricus is just the Latin form of Henrich/Heinrich
and Antonius is the Latin form of Anton.
Henr is an abbreviation of Henrich/Heinrich.
In
America spelling did not standardize until about 1850.
The
Heckenkamper family can be traced back as far as Bernd Gerdes gt. Heckenkamper
1630-1679 (“gt.” shows that Bernd must have married (1) a Heckenkamper) and took the name Heckenkamper. On April 20, 1654 he married (2) Margaretha
Middendorf. Bernd died in September
1679. He and Margaretha had five children all using the Heckenkamper name.
1.
Gertrudis was born June 13, 1655. She married Wilhelm Hockelman
2. in 1693. He was
born in Oelde in 1660.
3.
Arnoldus, who was the
“yard heir”, was born February 25, 1657 and married Margaretha Wewer in
1689. She was born in Oelde and died
October 23, 1695. Arnold and Margaretha
had seven children:
1. Herman was
born about 1680 and died after November 1713 and was the “yard heir”.
He married Maria Rottkotter on April 28, 1705. She died about 1726. Herman and Marie had three children:
I.
Elisabeth born February 4, 1706
II.
Gerturdis born October 4, 1707
III.
Anna Maria born October 16, 1709
2. Henricus was
born February 224, 1686
3. Jodocus was
born January 18, 1688
4. Anna Maria was
born January 38, 1690 and married Joan Gorges January 26, 1717.
5. Anna was born January
6, 1692
6. Joannes was
born November 21, 1693
7. Catharina was
born October 23, 1695.
3.
Anna Maria was born November 16, 1659.
4.
Margaretha was born in 1663 and died in 1693.
5.
Maria (possibly the same as Anna Maria) was born in 1667
and died in 1693.
No actual
connection has been found with Bernd, but Heckenkemper families
currently live on the farm where Bernd lived and Johan Herman was born and
received his name in Oelde, Germany and where Henrich Anton Zehliger and
Elisabeth Rose Heckenkemper married.
Johan Herman’s
grandfather Joannes Henric Sehliger
was born about 1740 in Prussia and married Mary Elisabetha Thorman in January 1778 :in Enniger, Westphalia, Prussia. She was born October 11, 1758 in Enniger,
Westphalia, Prussia and died December 6, 1826 at the age of 82 in Enniger, Westphalia,
Prussia. She was the daughter of Bernard
Anton Thorman who born April 13, 1710 in Enniger, Westphalia, Prussia and Anna
M. Christina Bohmer who was born February, 1711 in Enniger, Westphalia, Prussia
. His son:
Henrich Anton Zehliger “gt.” Heckenkemper was born December 19, 1779 in Enniger, Westphalia,
Prussia and died October 14, 1858 in Keitlinghause, Westphalia, Prussia at the
age of 78 years. On July 20, 1814 in Oelde, Westphalia, Prussia he married “yard
heiress” Catharina Elisabeth Heckenkemper who was born December 13, 1789 and died May
17, 1814 of TB.
When Catharina
Elisabeth and Anton married, Anton took on the Heckenkemper name and was
thereafter recorded in church records (children’s baptisms, deaths, etc.) as
“Zehliger gt. (named) Heckenkamper.”
When Catharina Elisabeth died May 17, 1814 of TB at the age of 25, Anton
was left with two small children:
1. Maria Catharina
who was born April 23, 1811
2. Maria Elisabeth
who was born September 2, 1813.
After Catharina Elisabeth’s death May 17, 1814, Heinrich Anton, Widower, 36, farmer from Kirchspeil,
Prussia, married (2) Clara Elisabetha Rose, Single 38, on July 20, 1814. Clara Elizabetha was born in Enniger,
Westphalia, Prussia, Germany on December 27, 1775 and died February 18, 1848 in
Keirlinghause, Prussia at the age of 74.
Anton retained the “named
Heckenkamper” status.
Heinrich Anton and
Elisabeth had two children neither of whom were of Heckenkamper blood but
retained the Heckenkamper name:
1. Johann Herman, born December 5, 1815 (our Herman, further
referred to as Herman).
2. Anton Wilhelm
born October 30, 1820 and died before 1848.
Herman was born to
Anton and Clara Elisabeth being no actual blood relation to the original
Heckenkemper family. However he was born
and raised on the Heckenkamper farm in Kirchspeil and when he emigrated from
Germany in 1846, he is listed on the ships register as Hermann Huckenkamper,
and after he entered the United States at age 30 he went by Heckenkemper on all
his legal documents the rest of his life.
When Clara
Elisabeth Rose died she was survived by Anton who was 69 years old and her son
Johann Herman (our Herman) who was 33 years of age and apparently already in
the United States.
According to a document from “New Orleans 1820 – 1850
Passenger and Immigration List”, Hermann Huckenkamper is shown arriving in New
Orleans January 6, 1846 at the age of 30.
It shows his port of departure as Bremerhaven, which is due north of
Stromberg. The Point of Origin was shown
as Germany and it shows the ship name as “Damariscotta” and the Captain was
William F. Howes.
.
Herman probably
traveled from Oelde to Bremen (about 200 miles) by horseback or in a horse
drawn carriage. In Bremen he would have
boarded a small sailing vessel that would take him about 40 miles upriver to
Bremerhaven. This trip to the would have
taken them about 2 days and once there, he would go to the old harbor to board
a large ocean crossing sailing ship to commence his trip to America which would
have taken somewhere between one and two months.
Bremen is closely associated with its port city,
BREMERHAVEN. The vast majority of German migrants left Germany from Bremen or
Hamburg
When he arrived
in New Orleans, he probably took a river steamer up the Mississippi to St.
Claire County, IL.
According to the registry of death in St. Louis, MO,
Herman died March 10, 1875 in St Louis Hospital, St. Louis, MO, at the age of
60, of Cancer of the Esophagus. He was
buried by Monahan & Rogers Funeral Home, 913 N. 7th Street, St. Louis, MO,
(Established 1874). The death
certificate shows burial at Hull Station (Aviston) Cemetery, IL, but his
tombstone has been found in St. Damien’s Catholic Cemetery in Damiensville, IL,
Looking Glass Township, Clinton Co., IL a few miles away.
The following information from the Church registration
books in Germany:
Diocese Enniger St. Mauritius, KB 1,
Bl. (page) 77a:
Herman’s Mother -
Clara Elisabetha was baptized
on December 27, 1775. Her parents were
Johan Henrich Rose and Maria Gertrud Hoppe.
Her Godparents were Clara Elisabetha Hoppe and Jost Henrich Schlüter
Diocese Enniger St. Mauritius, KB 1,
Bl. (page) 81:
Herman’s Father =
Henricus Antonius was born on
December 19, 1779 and baptized on December 21, 1779. His parents were Joan. Henricus Sehliger and
Maria Elis. Thoman. His Godparents were
Henr. Anton Thorman and Anna Angela Raue dicta (=called) Sehliger
Diocese
Oelde St. Johannes d. T., KB 9, Page 1. Nr. 9/1810:
Herman’s Father and step-mother - Marriage on 7/11/1810: Henr. Anton Zehliger b. 12/12/1779 in Enniger,
(Parents: John Heinr. Seliger u. Anna Alis. Thormann) and Cath. Elisabeth
Heckenkemper, 21 years old, b. 12/13/1789 in Oelde, (Parents: Joh. Bernard
Heckenkemper and Brigitta Hackenkamp)
Witnesses: John Henr.
Leibzüchter and Peter Kohlstedde
Diocese
Oelde St. Johannes d. T., KB 9, Page 26. Nr. 48/1814:
Herman’s step Mother -
Catharina Heckenkümper, wife
of Anton Seliger (2nd wife Klara Elis. Rose) who was yard
heiress of farm (Kötterin) in Kirchspiel died May 17, 1814 and was buried May
19, 1814. She was 25 years of age and
died of TB and was survived by Anton and two minor children.
Diocese Oelde St. Johannes d. T., KB
9, Page 8. Nr. 12/1814:
Herman’s Father and Mother - Wedding on 7/20/1814 Henr. Anton Seliger, called Heckenkämper,
Kötter (farm) and Schneider (tailor) in Kirchspiel, Widower, 36 years, (born)
12/19/1779 in Enniger (Seliger had married into the Heckenkemper family) and Clara
Elisabbetha Rose, Single, 38 years, (born) 12/27/1775 in Enniger. Her parents were Tagl. Joh. Heinr. Rose and.
Maria Gertr. Hoppe). Witnesses were
Joan. Henr. Sehliger and Joan. Her. Rose
Diocese Oelde St. Johannes d. T., KB
8, Page 56. Nr. 77/1815:
Johan
Hermann was born December 5,
1815 and Baptised on December 6, 1815.
His parents were Henrich Anton Selge, called Heckenkämper and Elis.
Rose. They resided in Kirchspiel. His Godparents were Joan Hermann Selige and
Clara Hoppe
Diocese Oelde St. Johannes d. T., KB
13 Page 122. Nr. 8/1848:
Herman’s Mother -
Elisabeth Rose, wife of Anton
Heckenkämper died of old age at the age of 74 on February 18, 1848 and was
buried on February 21, 1848. She resided
in Keitlinghause. Her husband Anton and
a grown son survived her.
Diocese Oelde St. Johannes d. T., KB
13, Page 196. Nr. 5/1858:
Herman’s Father -
Anton Selige called Heckenkämper,
Widower of Elisabeth Rose, died January 14, 1858 of old age at the age of 86 on
his farm in Keitlinghause, and was buried on January 18, 1858. Two grown children survived him.
Direct Descendants of Johannes Henrich Sehliger
1
Johannes Henrich Sehliger b: Abt.
1740 d: March 1802 Age at first Marriage: 38 est. Age at birth of first child: 39 est. Age at birth of last child: 39 est.
+Mary
Elisabetha Thorman b: August 16,
1744 in Enniger, Westphalia, Prussia d:
December 06, 1826 in Enniger, Westphalia, Prussia m: January 1778 in Enniger, Westphalia,
Prussia Age at first Marriage: 33
est. Age at birth of first child:
35 Age at birth of last child: 35
2 Heinrich Anton Zehliger b: December 19, 1779 in Ennigar, Westphalia,
Prussia d: October 14, 1858
in Keitlinghause, West., Prussia Age at
first Marriage: 30 Age at birth of first
child: 31 Age at birth of last child: 40
+Clara Elisabetha Rose b: December 27, 1775 in Ennigar, Westphalia,
Prussia d: February 18, 1848 in
Keitlinghause, West., Prussia m: July
20, 1814 in Oelde, Westphalia, Prussia Age
at first Marriage: 38 Age at
birth of first child: 39 Age
at birth of last child: 44
3 Hermann
Heckenkemper b: December 05,
1815 in Oelde, Westphalia, Prussia d:
March 10, 1875 in St. Louis Hospital, St. Louis, MO Age at first Marriage: 30 Age at birth of first child: 33 est. Age at birth of last child: 51 Burial: St. Damians Cemetery, Damiansville,
IL
+Mary
Anne (Dinguerette) Dingwerth b:
1826 in Versmold, Germany d: July 24,
1852 in Germantown, IL m: Abt. 1847 Age at first Marriage: 21 est. Age at birth of first child: 22 est. Age at birth of last child: 25 est. Burial: St. Boniface Cemetery, Germantown, IL
4
Joseph Heckenkemper b:
1848 in Looking Glass TWP, IL d: October
03, 1928 in Muskogee, OK Age at first
Marriage: 22 est. Age at birth of first
child: 23 est. Age at birth of last
child: 50 est. Burial: Greenhill
Cemetery, Muskogee, OK
+Anna Wolters b: September 19, 1852 in Damiensville,
IL d: May 25, 1926 in Muskogee, OK m: February 22, 1870 in Clinton Co., IL Age at first Marriage: 17 Age at birth of first child: 18 Age at birth of last child: 45 Burial: May 29, 1926 Greenhill Cemetery,
Muskogee, OK
5 William John Heckenkemper b: January 01, 1887 in Damiensville, IL d: May 18, 1969 in Tulsa, OK Age
at first Marriage: 41 Age at birth of
first child: 42 Age at birth of last
child: 46 Burial: May 20, 1969 Calvary
Cemetery, Tulsa, OK
+Gertrude
Ann Harrison b: September 04,
1900 at 10 Water Street, Princeton,
IN
d: December 13, 1989 in
Tulsa, OK m: November 12, 1928 in
Muskogee, OK Age at first
Marriage: 28 Age at birth of first
child: 29 Age at birth of last child:
32 Burial: December 15, 1989 Calvary
Cemetery, Tulsa, OK
Immigrants of the 1850's
would have sailed on a "bark", a three-masted vessel with foremast
and mainmast square rigged and the third mast fore and aft rigged.
Herman
came to America in 1846 and landed in New Orleans. He traveled up the Mississippi River and
settled in St Clair County, IL.
The distance between Enniger, Westphalia, Prussia
where Anton and Elizabeth were born and Oelde where Herman was born is about 12
miles.
The distance from Enniger to Keitlinghause where
Anton and Elizabeth died is about 36 miles.
The distance from Oelde where Herman was raised to
Bremerhaven where Herman departed for America is about 200 miles.
Herman arrived
on in New Orleans in 1846. History
books say the traditional music played throughout the 19th century
at the ports of Bremen and Hamburg for passenger ships departing for foreign
posts was the tune “Mussi-Denn”, written in 1824 by Heinrich Wagner. These strains were probably the last sounds
heard by Herman as he left on the “Damanscotta” for America.
ARRIVAL AND LIFE IN THE NEW WORLD
In
1833 times weren't too good for small farmers around Glandorf.
which is close to the city of Osnabrueck in the western part of Germany. Families had grown so much that starvation
was a daily guest in the homes. Rumors
told about a new country in the west across the big ocean - AMERICA.
Many
families had left already. The
Harwerth-family considered emigration as a possibility of survival. In the summer of 1833 the following persons
of the Harwerth family had made up their mind and were ready to leave their
home and the rest of the family forever:
On
November 07, 1833 the ship Virginia got to port
in Baltimore, MD. On board there was a
small group of people coming from the village of Glandorf, They had left their little farm to begin a
new life in America, hoping that this country would provide them with better
conditions for making a living.
After arrival at the port they quickly moved on westward towards today’s
state of Illinois and helped settle Mud Creek, later to be known as St. Libory,
IL.
Johann
Wilhelm Harwerth, 56y.born February 09.1777, died during the journey. Father of 9 children with his wife, Anna
Catharina Heuger and two of their children: William,(Johann Wilhelm) born in
1814 in Glandorf and Catharina Elisabeth, born October 31.1809.
Bernhard
Dingwerth from their home community was with them and married Catharina
Elisabeth Harwerth. William Harwerth and
Bernhard Dingwerth were delegated to petition Bishop Joseph Rosati of St. Louis
for a priest to serve the St. Libory Settlement. Together they held their
first mass in William Harwerth's log cabin.
The table they were sitting at is still in the possession of the
church. At this occasion the
parishioners elected to build a log church on ground donated by Bernhard
Dingwerth. W. Harwerth, D. Harwerth, W.
Kracht, G. Bertke, and G. Terveer helped to build the log church which was
finished on May 05. 1839.
Johann
& Helana Maria Dingwerth and their daughter, Mary Anne, age seven, were
part of this immigration to AMERICA in 1833.
March 5, 1842 – Ann Mary Dinguerette
married Harman Nordhaus in St.
Boniface Catholic Church in Germantown, IL.
According to the marriage license in 1842, Ann Mary
Dinguerette (she is referred to in various licenses, etc. as Ann Mary, Mary
Anne, Mary Jane, etc.) married Harman Nordhaus (Nothaus) in Clinton Co., IL.
Johann &
Helana Maria Dingwerth were witnesses at her wedding.
Clinton County Illinois
Marriages BOOK A 1825-1848
GROOM
BRIDE
CLERGY DATE
NORDHAUS,
Harman
|
DINGUERETTE,
Ann Mary
|
Fortman, John Henry, M.G.
|
5 Mar 1842
|
The Witness was Diderich
Harworth.
Mary Anne was born in Versmold, Germany in 1826 to Johann &
Helana Maria Dingwerth.
Looking at
Mary Ann’s name on this marriage license looks like DINGUERETTE was her maiden
name and changed to Dingwerth when the family came to America. They arrived in 1833 but Mary Ann might not
have officially changed her name before she got married in 1842 at age 16.
St. Boniface Catholic Church
Baptisms, Germantown, Germantown Township, Clinton County, IL.
Mary Anna and Herman Nordhaus had a daughter Maria
Theresia in 1843 and a son Johann in 1845 who
both died
before one month of age.
Name
|
Born
|
Baptized
|
Father
|
Mother Maiden
|
Sponsor
|
Sponsor
|
NORDHAUS,
Maria Theresia
|
5 Jan
1843
|
15 Jan
1843
|
Nordhaus,
Herman
|
DINGWERTH,
Maria Anna
|
VOGELSANG,
Joseph
|
Dingwerth,
Theresia
|
NORDHAUS,
Johann
|
6 May
1845
|
10 May
1845
|
Nordhaus,
Herman
|
DINGWERTH,
Maria Anna
|
Dingwerth,
Johann Ernst
|
LANDWEHR,
Catharina
|
Harman
(Herman) Nordhaus died January
31, 1846 at 46 y, and is buried at St. Boniface Catholic
Cemetery, Germantown, Clinton Co.,
IL. .
January 6, 1846 - Herman Heckenkemper
arrived in St. Clair Co., IL.
April 22, 1846 - Mrs. Mary Anne (Dingwerth) Nothaus married Herman Heckenkemper in St Claire Co.,
IL.
J. H. Fortmann, the
Catholic Priest at St. Pancratius Parish in Fayetteville, IL from 1846 – 1847
married them.
This
is the same Priest who married Mary Anne and Harman Nordhaus in 1842.
Illinois Statewide Marriage Index
1763 – 1900
GROOM
BRIDE
COUNTY DATE VOL/PAGE LIC
HECKENKEIMPER, HERMANN NOTHAUS, MRS. MARY JANE DINGWERTH ST. CLAIR 04/22/1846 0001668
July 24, 1852 - Mary Anne died of Cholera (some information says she died from
childbirth) during the Cholera epidemic in Germantown, IL, leaving Herman with
two small sons, Joseph, 3 and Bernard, an infant, born October 1, 1851. She is buried in St. Boniface Cemetery,
Germantown, IL at the Catholic Church in Germantown.
Children of HERMAN and MARY ANNE DINGWERTH are:
1.
JOSEPH was
born in 1848 in Looking Glass Township, IL and died in 1928, Muskogee, OK at
the age of 80. He married Anna WOLTERS
on February 22, 1870 in Clinton Co., IL.
She was born September 19. 1852 in Damiensville, IL and died May 25,
1926 in Muskogee, OK at the age of 73.
2.
BERNARD (Ben) J. was born October 31, 1851, in Clinton Co., IL
Lookingglass Township and died in 1921 in Altamont, IL. Bernard was a farmer. He died of Influenza. He is buried in Effingham County, IL, and is
buried in St. Clair Cemetery, Altamont, IL. - Sec 1, Row 7, Sec. 2, Row 2. Ben married FRANCESCA (KOSTER) KOESTER on
February 21, 1876. She was born March
22, 1850 and died. In 1910.
Bernard is on record as one
of the pioneer families and builders of the first Catholic Church at Altamont:
Laurance Carr, John Swaters, Patrick Doran, J. F. Quatman, Bernard
Keekenkemper, Mathais Faber, Nick Weider, Mrs. Mary Shab, Charles Vogel,
Chris. Seibert, William Samuels, Mathias Johanns, Michael Zacha, Henry Muller,
Herman Heimann, Franz Joseph Vogel, Mary Ann Drysdale, B. B. Mager, and Issac
L. Dial.
The Cholera Epidemic General Winfield SCOTT came to Illinois in 1832 with
a force of one thousand regulars to take from the faltering hands of the state
militia the task of winning the Black Hawk War and concluding a peace. Part of
his force was stricken with cholera when they arrived in Chicago. Others were
stricken when they arrived in Rock Island where peace negotiations were then in
progress.
The disease spread throughout
the countryside, carried by roving Indians and army stragglers. Because of a
devastating outbreak at Rock Island, negotiations were moved to Jefferson
Barracks at St. Louis. From there, the cholera spread to Southern Illinois and
started the terrible cholera epidemic years that plagued Southern Illinois from
1832 onward.
Newspapers of that time tell
the most amazing stories. People died like flies, both in the cities, and in
the rural areas. One story tells that in Belleville, about 30 miles away, the
death toll was 10 per day. St. Louis, about 40 miles away, had 601 deaths in a
single week. An entire farm family of 10 was wiped out overnight in Lebanon,
about 20 miles away. Although Germantown, Breese and Carlyle were the three
Clinton County towns with the most staggering death tolls, all areas of the
County suffered. The epidemic was called the “Black Plague” and raced through
the whole country like an uncontrolled prairie fire. During the day, a man
would apparently be in robust health; by night he was burning up with fever; by
dawn he had died a miserable death. No one recovered. Doctors were scarce, and
what few there were in the area knew nothing about the disease or how to stop
the epidemic.
People grew panic-stricken.
Village streets were sprayed with lime. Fires of coal, tar and sulphus were
kept burning at street corners. Citizens were told to use chloride of lime,
boiling vinegar, tar and burning coffee in their homes as preventatives. Of
course nothing worked. The dead were carried to cemeteries and buried at night.
It was a time of great suffering and overpowering anxiety. A few years earlier,
the same disease had swept over Europe and ravaged whole populations and killed
millions of people.
Cholera is an acute infection
of the intestine, resulting in severe watery diarrhea and often accompanied by
vomiting, which results in dehydration of the body often within a few hours. In
1886, doctors discovered that cholera is caused by contaminated water or food,
especially when involved with human waste, or by coming into contact with an infected
person. This discovery basically led to an end of the cholera epidemics
throughout the world.
Herman came to this country
in 1846, before the democratic revolution of 1848 in Germany. The major causes of German migration were
political, economic, religious, and literary factors. Although conditions in the German states were
not as bad as in Ireland, crop failures, inheritance laws, high rents, high
prices, and the effects of the industrial revolution led to widespread poverty
and suffering. Relatives and friends who emigrated first would write back and
encourage others to follow. This led to "chain migrations" and group
settlements. Fairly well-to-do farmers who saw a bleak future, poor ones with
no future, paupers whom the authorities often paid to leave, revolutionaries
after 1848, and many artisans, professionals, and some adventurers made up the
spectrum of the 1840s and 1850s.
Discontent in the German
states in the 1840’s led to uprisings, but they failed from the lack of
support. Among the revolutionists who
fled to America were lawyers, physicians, teachers and college students. Many revolutionists came west and settled in
Illinois.
That revolution brought huge
numbers of Germans to the USA. Many
Germans in that time period entered the US through the port of New Orleans,
traveling from there up the Mississippi to St. Louis, and from there to their
destination, which could have been Southeast Missouri and Illinois which was
advertised in Germany as being similar to their home. There were also some German Jesuit
Missionaries in these areas at that time.
Economic failures in agriculture and manufacturing led to widespread
poverty in several German states. Hundreds
of thousands of German farmers, tradesmen, manufacturers and skilled laborers
immigrated to America to begin a new life.
Guidebooks written by Germans on opportunities in America were widely
read in the German states, and “letters home” gave glowing accounts of life in
America.
Herman’s first son Joseph (the grandfather of
the writer of this family history) was born in
Looking Glass Township, IL in 1848.
German and American emigrant
companies were formed to aid Germans in migrating to America. The German steamship companies provided low
traveling rates. Upon landing in America,
many emigrant guidebooks were available to
aid the German immigrants. Thousands of
German immigrants came to Illinois, and German aid societies were established
to help the settlers adjust to a new life.
Many immigrants settled in
Southwestern Illinois. Thousands settled
along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.
Others settled in Effingham County.
They settled in Illinois for several reasons. The religious and social life was important
in the settlement of Illinois. The
majority of German immigrants were Protestant; a large group was Roman
Catholic. The German element was a major
factor in the advancement of culture in many communities.
Most of the German
immigrants were farmers. They owned
hundreds of thousands of acres of the best farmlands in Illinois, and they
helped make Illinois the greatest farm producer in the period. There were more German immigrants employed in
the various occupations than any other foreign-born element in Illinois.
Before 1850 the majority of
the settlers voted for the Democratic Party.
Between 1850 and 1860 many political events occurred which resulted in
the German element switching its allegiance to the new Republican Party. Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party
would have been defeated in 1860 without the German vote.
On
November 23, 1853, after Mary Anne’s death of Cholera in 1852, Herman married
(2) ANNA MARIE NEISENMEYER in St. Boniface Church, Germantown, IL.
Illinois Statewide Marriage Index 1763 – 1900
GROOM BRIDE
COUNTY DATE VOL/PAGE LIC
HECKENKAMPER, HERMAN NEISENMEIER,
ANNA MARIE CLINTON 11/23/1853 1
/46 8
Anna Marie was born
September 7, 1825 in Westphalia, Germany, known in Germany as “Westfalen”. Westfalen is a historic district in
northwestern Germany. She died April 24,
1882 in Germantown, IL and is buried near Herman in St. Damian’s Catholic Cemetery
in Damiansville, Looking Glass Township, IL.
Anna Marie had a sister Josephine
who was born December 26, 1821 in Westphalia, Germany and died September 8,
1894 in St. Elizabeth, Miller Co., MO.
She married to Joseph Boeckmann about 1845 in Germany. They also settled in Illinois. Their children were: Hermann , Franz H. "Frank", Joseph, II, Josephine, and Maggy.
The Heckenkemper homestead
was on Albers, IL to New Baden - Hiway 61 - Second Mile Road - N. side of road.
Oral family history quotes
the following information about Herman on his immigration to America.
Rev. G. H. Netemeyer,
Herman’s Grandson, submitted the following quoted anecdotes:
"Herman
Heckenkemper was a school teacher in Coesfeld, Germany. When he came to this country he came to New
Orleans. He carried money in a money
belt. Some shady characters learned
about this. They intended to take it
from him (roll him) on landing at New Orleans.
He learned about this plan so he jumped ship before landing and swam to
shore, hiding under the piers until dark.
When he emerged from hiding, he took a boat to St. Louis by way of the
Mississippi River. He came to Illinois,
taking up farming about a mile west of Albers.”
"During
the Civil War, Herman had a very good wheat crop. The U.S. Government sent agents to buy his
wheat. He refused to sell it to them
because the price was too low; besides the money value was practically
nil. These agents told him that if he
did not sell it to the Government, the Government would take it.”
"He made
a deal with these agents that he would sell his wheat to the Government, if he
could get his money whenever he wanted it.
(He did not want the devalued money.)
He then watched the money market very closely so that he called for his
money the day before the money was revalued to its former value. In this way, he had all the money at its
devalued price, and the next day it had the value that it had originally.”
“The first two paragraphs, were told to me by my
mother Herman's daughter Elizabeth Heckenkemper Netemeyer. Ben Heckenkemper, Grandson of Herman and
son of Ben Heckenkemper, Sr. told the last two paragraphs to me.”
Rev.
G. H. Netemeyer
A number of the families that were familiar in the
Clinton Co. area and intermarried with the Heckenkemper’s that also arrived in
New Orleans are:
v Johan Herman Santel and family arrived Jan 27, 1840 on
the ship “Louise Fredericke”.
v Wehkamp Family arrived June 5, 1840 on the ship
“Johann George”.
v Wolters
Family arrived December 20, 1845 on the ship “Clinton”.
v Joseph Boeckmann, his wife Josephine (born
Neisenmeyer) arrived in 1851 on the German ship “Oldenburg”.
v Henry (or Herman) Kosters, his wife Gertrud (born
Sommer), son Henry age 2, and 2 others who it is assumed were the father and
sister of the elder Henry, all were traveling to St. Charles, Missouri, where
they arrived in April 1837, after making their way up the Mississippi River by
steamboat. Ship Olbers Bremen to New Orleans -- December 8, 1836 DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI -- PORT OF NEW
ORLEANS.
It is not known exactly how
these people were entwined with the Heckenkemper families, but they mostly knew
each other and were friends and members of the same church and social groups
and began to intermarry.
Herman was a farmer in Germany
and a farmer in Illinois. He acquired
property by July 11, 1846, and is shown in the 1860 Ill Census Pg. 787 Clinton
Co, IL.
1840 Between
the years of 1840 and 1845 local Protestants built a small frame church in
"old" Aviston.
1854 In the 1850s the O and M Railroad was built north of
"old" Aviston traveling through Clinton County. The
citizens of "old" Aviston re-settled in Hull near the railroad.
1860 Hull (Aviston) was laid out into lots by the J.W.
Dugger and Co. near the O & M Railroad.
Aviston is in Sugar Creek Township.
The post office established July 14, 1836 and includes Aviston Station, Hecker
Station, and Hull Station. It was
incorporated as a village February 10, 1874.
The population in 1895 was 381 and in 1960 was 717. Aviston was named in honor of John AVIS, a
gunsmith who was the first business to locate there, the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad.
Herman purchased land 8-19-1851 and 1-31-1852 in
Looking Glass Township, Clinton, Co., IL
Germans of Clinton County exceeded 77 per cent of the
foreign population. The last major
German settlement made in Illinois during this period was in Effingham
County. The German population totaled
2,122 persons, English 194, Irish 228, and all others totaled 251 persons.
Effingham County was known as a “German Catholic
County”. They built a Catholic church in
1853 and a Catholic school in 1854. Cities,
towns and townships were given German names in southwestern Illinois. Germans from the Hanover area in Germany
settled Germantown, New Baden, Bachne, and Breese.
Herman’s Gravestone in
Damiensville, IL is well worn but legible in St. Damian’s Catholic Cemetery
in Damiansville, Clinton County, Ill. He
was born Dec-6-1815 and died March-10-1875.
He is buried in the back of the old part of the cemetery. The head stone is written in German.
Anna Marie (Mary)
Heckenkemper, Herman’s wife was named Administratrix of his estate, but
declined and
Otto Nettemeier was then
named Administrator.
The sale of Herman’s estate on March 6, 1878 was
published in the Effingham Democrat for 6 weeks.
ADMINISTRATOR’S SALE
IN COUNTY COURT, JANUARY TERM 1878
STATE OF ILLINOIS CLINTON
COUNTY
Otto
Nettemeier, Administrator de bonas non of the estate of Herman Heckenkemper,
deceased, vs. Mary Heckenkemper, the
widow, and Joseph Heckenkemper, Bernard Heckenkemper, Henry He4ckenkemper,
Elizabeth Heckenkemper, Mary Heckenkemper, Frank Heckenkemper, Jacobena
Heckenkemper, heirs-at-law of Herman Heckenkemper, late of the County of
Clinton, and State of Illinois, deceased.
Petition to sell land to pay debts and to assign dower.
By
virtue of a decretal order, made and entered at the January term of the Clinton
County County Court, A.D. 1878, on the Probate side thereof. I, Otto Nettemeier, administrator of the
estate of Herman Heckenkemper; deceased, will on
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 1878,
sell at Public Auction,
between the hours of ten o’clock in the forenoon and five o’clock in the
afternoon of said day, on the premises hereinafter described, the following
described Real Estate, viz; the West half of the Southeast quarter of Section
Twenty eight (28) in Township [Eight (8) North Range Four East of the 3rd
Principal Meridian, with the exception of fifty feet from the center of the
track for the right of way for the Springfield & Southeastern Railway Co.,
on the west side there of, situated in the County of Effingham and State of
Illinois.
TERMS
OF SALE; - Ten per cent. Of the purchase money to be paid on the day of sale,
the remainder on a credit of Six and Twelve months, the purchaser or purchasers
to give notes with approved personal security, and a mortgage on the premises
sold, to secure the deferred payments. Otto Nettemeier Administrator of the estate of Herman Heckenkemper deceased.
D. Kingsbury, Carlysle,
Ills., Att’y. Dated
Jan. 31, 1878
Children
of HERMAN HECKENKEMPER and ANNA NEISENMEYER are:
1.
HENRY HERMAN (Hy) was born November 07, 1853 in Damiansville, IL and
died January 07, 1937 in Aviston, IL.
Henry married THERESA BRINKMAN on November 07, 1876 in Clinton
Co., IL. She was born November 05, 1856
in Illinois and died Abt. 1920. Henry
was a farmer. He was buried in Looking
Glass Township, Clinton Co, IL
2.
ELIZABETH was born April 10, 1859, Germantown, IL and died June
20, 1939 in Albers, IL – She is buried in St.Bernard's Cemetery. She married Gerhard Lambert Netemeyer November 23, 1880 in St.Damian's Church, Damiansville, IL. He was born December 22, 1856 and died July
08, 1940 in Albers, IL. The Netemeyer
family came from Gutustow, Prussia on the Ship Ulysses in 1836.
3.
MARY was born November 12, 1860 in Germantown, IL and died
September 16, 1904 in Germantown, IL.
She married Bernard Herman Linneman on April 29, 1884 in Clinton
Co., IL. He was born December 27, 1856
and died April 20, 1940 in Germantown, IL.
4.
FRANK was born January 22, 1863 in Damiansville, IL and died
September 05, 1943 in Belleville, IL
Frank died in St. Elizabeth's Hospital.
He married Mary Kalmer on November 17, 1897 at St. Damian's
Church, Damiansville, IL. She was born
May 10, 1867 and died December 17, 1955 in Albers, IL.
5.
JACOBINA was born December 23, 1866 in Damiansville, IL and
died February 21, 1945 in Damiansville, IL
She married Bernard Kalmer who was born December 13, 1860 and
died March 31, 1932 in Damiansville, IL.
TIMELINE OF HERMAN HECKENKEMPER
1815 Herman
was born in Germany
1824 Mary
Anne Dingwerth was born in Germany
1825 Mary
Jane Nothaus was born.
1825 Anna
Marie Neisenmeyer was born in Germany
1832 Cholera
Epidemic, Ongoing
1837 First
Settlement, Looking Glass, IL
1838 New
Baden Founded, New Baden
1841
Church &
School built, Germantown, IL
1846 Ann
Mary Dinguerette Dingwerth married Harman Nordhaus
1846 Harman
Nordhaus died and is buried in Germantown, IL.
1846 Herman
arrived in New Orleans aboard “Ship Damariscotta” from Bremerhaven, Prussia
1846 Herman
married Mary Anne (Dinguerette, Nordhaus) Dingwerth in Clinton Co., IL
1848 Son
Joseph was born in Looking Glass, IL
1850 Herman
34 shown in Ill Census,
1851 Mary
Anne Dingwerth Died in Germantown, IL
1851 Son
Bernard was born in Clinton Co
1852 Herman
married Anna Marie Neisenmeyer in Germantown, IL
1853 Son
Henry was born in Damiensville, IL
1859 Daughter
Elizabeth was born in Germantown, IL
1860
Herman 44 shown
in Ill Census,
1860 Daughter
Mary was born in Germantown, IL
1861 St
Damien's Church & Schoolhouse built in Damiensville, IL
1863 Son
Frank was born in Damiensville, IL
1866 Dau
Jacobina was born in Damiensville, IL
1870 Herman
54, shown in Ill Census,
1875 Herman,
Died, St. Louis, MO
1880 Henry
27 (Herman's son (Hy) shown in Ill
Census,
1881 Anna
Marie Neisenmeyer Died,
1891
Albers Founded
1892 Herman
had 40 acres in Sec 15, Clinton Co
1892 Herman
had 160 acres in Sec 10, Clinton Co
1895 Louisville, Evansville, and
St. Louis Railroad arrived in Germantown,
IL
1899 Air
Line Railroad arrived in Damiensville, IL
St Bernard’s Church, Albers, IL
St. Bernard’s Church in Albers, IL. was
built in 1910. In the upper left corner
of the Church above the altar, the stained glass
window is identified as St. Bernard and
under that is the name of the donor, Herman Heckenkemper.
The first settlers in the vicinity of the
present town of Albers came from Hanover and Westphalia, Germany, in the early
1840’s and attended to their religious duties at Germantown. When later churches were built at
Damiansville and Aviston, those considerably nearer to these places attended
divine service there
When in the year 1889 a railroad, known as
the Air Line, was built, the Company for the convenience of the people of
Damiansville, made a stopping-place on the main road from Damiansville, and
named it Damiansville Station. A few years later, the name of the Station was
changed to Albers Station, the land for the switches and depot having been
donated by F. H. ALBERS.
For a number of years there were only five
houses at the "Station." By
1908 there were 12 families residing close by.
It being rather inconvenient for those families to attend church at
Damiansville, which is 2 ½ miles distant, a new congregation as formed, and
July 8, 1908, the Rev. Bernard PETERS was appointed the first pastor.
Immediately after
his appointment, the Rev. Pastor arranged to build a suitable church. This
building is of solid pressed brick, 85 ft. long and 48 ft. wide and has a
seating capacity of 420.
JOSEPH HECKENKEMPER
IS THE SON WE WILL FOLLOW
JOSEPH HECKENKEMPER, son of Herman and Mary Anne DINGWERTH, was born
in1848 in Looking Glass Township, IL, and died in 1928 in Muskogee, OK at the
age of 80. He married ANNA WOLTERS February 22, 1870 in Clinton County, IL. She was born September 19, 1852 in
Damiensville, IL, and died May 25, 1926 in Muskogee, OK. Anna died suddenly at
74 of Spasmodic Asthma, she was sick only about one hour. They are both buried in Greenhill Cemetery,
Muskogee, Space 1 & 2, Lot 25, Block 134.
Anna was the daughter of JOHN ALBERT WOLTERS and ANNA
G. WEHKAMP.
Anna WOLTERS had four brothers and one sister:
1. Henry WOLTERS
born about 1850
2. Lucas WOLTERS
born about 1851.
3. Gerhard WOLTERS
born about 1854.
4. Bernhard WOLTERS was born October 18, 1855 and died March 25, 1933 in Breese, Clinton
Co., IL. He married Cath. WUBBELS on
November 23, 1880 in Clinton Co., IL.
She was born about 1855.
5. Elizabeth WOLTERS was born September 12, 1857 in Clinton Co., IL. She married John Herman SANTEL, Jr. on April
29, 1879 in Clinton Co., IL. He was the
son of Johannes Hermannus SANTEL and Maria Adeleid WESTER. He was born in August 1859.
ILLINOIS CENSUS CLINTON CO., IL shows
1870 Henry 55, Mary 45, Bernard 20, Henry 16, Elizabeth 11,
Mary 9, Frank 6, Jacobina 3
Joseph is not listed in his father Herman’s home for
the Census. He was 22 at this time.
1880 Joseph
29, farming, Anna 24, Margareth 9, John 7, Mary 5, Frederick 1 mo.
1890 No
Census available, but Theresa, Frank, William, Marie, Tony, Tillie and Lewis
were all born in Lookinglass Township, IL
1900
Does not show
Joseph and his family in Indian Territory (Muskogee) or Oklahoma Territory
(Beckham County, Elk City). They were in
process of moving and must have missed the census in all the places.
OKLAHOMA CENSUS PORTER TOWNSHIP, MUSKOGEE, OK
1910 Joseph 59, Anna 55, Quinnie 30, Frank J. 29, Theresa
27, William 22, Tony 17, Joe 3.
Frank J. 29 and Quinnie 30, were married by this time
were living in their own home..
1920 Joseph 69, Anna 65, Theresa 37, William 32, Tony 27,
Joe 13 (all lived at 1001 Columbus,
Muskogee, OK)
1930 By this time Joseph and Anna had died,
Theresa moved and married Andy Reddy in 1931 and Joe was 23 and out of the
house and William and Gertrude lived at 1001 Columbus with William Joseph 1.
Joseph was a prosperous farmer in Illinois. It is said* that after their father
Herman died in 1875, at the age of 60, Joseph and his brother Ben had a falling
out over the disposition of Herman’s estate, and about 1900, Joseph and Anna
moved to Montrose, Missouri and farmed there.
Joseph’s half-sister Margaret and her husband John Muck were living in
Montrose at that time.
*Information from
Edgar Netemeyer (Florence Netemeyer’s brother ) at Netemeyer Family Reunion in
Albers, IL, May, 1999.
When Herman died in 1875, his wife Mary [Anna Marie
NEISENMEYER] who was the stepmother of Joseph and Ben was administrator of
Herman's estate. There were two parts of
the property 200 acres each. Mary
(Herman’s widow) got the 200 acres Virgil HECKENKEMPER is now living on and
Herman’s son Ben bought the other half of the property (about 200 acres) at the
sale of estate property for $1.250.00.
Joseph and Anna were living in Montrose, MO in 1903
when they were notified of the death of their son Fred in Nebraska. They had his body shipped to Montrose and he
is buried there.
In the meantime, Joseph's son John had moved to
Oklahoma and married Margaret GALLAGHER who lived in Elk City, Beckham Co.,
OK. Around 1900 John told his father
that Margaret's father was planning to go into the mercantile business in the
fast growing Elk City area of Oklahoma.
He needed a partner. Joseph was
in his fifty’s by this time and Mr. Gallagher needed some help with financing
the mercantile business so Joseph decided to sell the farm and move the family
to Elk City to go into partnership with Mr. Gallagher. He sold his farm for $10,000 which was a huge
sum in those days.
The money was sent to Mr. Gallagher to purchase
supplies to stock the store. When Joseph
and Anna and their children arrived in Oklahoma and proceded to do business,
the bills began to arrive unpaid. To
their disappointment, Mr. Gallagher had not paid for the merchandise, Joseph
was left with the unpaid bills, and the store did not succeed. (Mr. Gallagher ended up being a quite
prosperous person in Tulsa and owned a number of properties. Naturally the family thought this is where
Joseph's money went.)
After this financial disaster, Joseph and Anna, and
their children, Theresa, William, Frank and Tony moved to Muskogee, OK. Joseph and Anna continued to be active
citizens of Muskogee the rest of their lives.
They were members of Assumption Catholic Church and are both buried in
Greenhill Cemetery, Muskogee.
Joseph and Anna moved from Illinois to Montrose, MO,
and were there in 1903 when their son Fred’s body was shipped back for
burial. They then moved to Elk City and
then to Muskogee, OK. It is not known
when Joseph and Anna and the family moved to Muskogee, but by 1904 their son
Frank, at the age of 20, had opened a shoe shop there and the family was back
together again. They cannot be found in
the 1900 census in either Indian Territory (Muskogee) or Oklahoma Territory
(Beckham County, Elk City), but were in the 1910 Census of Muskogee, OK.
Children of JOSEPH HECKENKEMPER and ANNA
WOLTERS are:
1.
MARGARET was born
March 29, 1871 in Damiensville, IL and died December 14, 1900 in Germantown,
MO. She married JOHN BERNARD MUCK on
January 22, 1894. John was born June 18,
1867 in Germantown, MO and died September 13, 1946 in Germantown, MO. His parents were Anton Muck (1833-1915) and
Annie Schmedding (1840-1893). Margaret
and John lived in Montrose, MO with their family on a farm. They are both buried In St. Ludger’s
Cemetery, Germantown, MO. Their Children are Charles
Anthony, Anna Marie, Lena and George.
2.
JOHN was born January 01, 1873 in Damiensville, IL and
died January 04, 1968 in Tulsa, OK. He
married MARGUERITE GALLAGHER about 1900.
She was born in about 1875. John
and Marguerite lived Okmulgee. They had
one daughter Erma who was born in 1898 and died about 1904 They were divorced soon after. After the death of his daughter and his
divorce, John moved to California and worked in defense plants during World War
II. John changed his name (not
officially) to Heck in later years.
After he retired, he returned to Tulsa, OK and traveled to all parts of
the state buying and selling Oil leases.
He had a room at the Trimble Hotel in downtown Tulsa (a retirement
hotel) his last 10 years or more and died there in 1968. He is buried in Calvary Catholic Cemetery in
Tulsa, OK.
3.
MARY
was born April 03, 1875 in Germantown, IL and died October 31, 1935 in
Muskogee, OK. She married JAMES H.
MCMANUS in Muskogee, OK. Their daughter MARY P. MCMANUS was born about 1916 in
Muskogee. She died in 1921 at the age of
4 years and 11 months of Spinal Meningitis.
James was born
about 1873 and died April 4, 1927 in Muskogee, OK. James, Mary and their daughter are all buried
in Greenhill Cemetery, Muskogee, OK.
4.ELIZABETH was born May 06, 1878 in
Looking Glass Township, IL and died March 18, 1879. She died at 10 months and 9 days of
Pneumonia.
5.FRED was born on December 25,
1879 in Looking Glass Township, Clinton Co, IL and died April 29, 1903 in
Kimball, Nebraska in an accident. Fred
left home at an early age. The family
story was that Fred left home to work on a ranch in Nebraska. The family was notified that he was killed in
a card game in a bunkhouse on a ranch in Kimball, Nebraska where he was working. His parents Joseph and Anna had moved to
Montrose, ML to be near their daughter Margaret Muck and buried him in
Montrose, MO near them at that time.
Published in Hoyt Sentinel 2 May 1903 Death Notice
Heckenkemper, Fred Kimball, Neb.
Fred
is buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery aka: Montrose Catholic Cemetery T40, R28, S14
- Deepwater Township 1266 SW 700 Rd,
Montrose, Henry Co, MO 645 known
burials from 1869 to 1998 Landowner: St. Mary's Catholic Diocese
Directions:
3/4 miles north and 1/2 mile west of the St. Mary's Church, Montrose, MO.
6.
MARIA THERESA
was born April 10, 1881 in Looking Glass Township, Clinton Co, IL and died
August 10, 1955 in Muskogee, OK of Axphiation at the age of 73. She married A. W. (Andy) REDDY July
28, 1931. He was born in 1882 and died
on May 14, 1951 of Coronary Occlusion at the age of 83 in Muskogee, OK. They are both buried in Greenhill Cemetery,
Muskogee, OK.
Theresa took care of her
parents when the family moved to Muskogee after the failure of the family
business in Elk City. William (who was
only about 20 at the time) bought a home for his parents and Theresa and her
son Joe (about 2 years old) lived there along with William and a younger
brother Tony (about 12). William, with
help from his sister Marie who lived in Miami, FL, supported the whole
family.
Maria Theresa married Andy Reddy at
the age of 49 after her son Joe was grown.
Andy was 59 at that time. They
lived in a small home in Muskogee across from the railroad tracks south of
Spaulding Park. 210 Dorchester. Her husband Andy was a tinkerer and had a
wonderful garage behind the house with everything hung on the walls - all kinds
of interesting things. Theresa was
famous for saying (when someone had brought her a chicken to cook) "Well a
chicken always comes in handy".
This was a family saying for years.
They had a great old coal-burning stove with a coal bucket in the living
room, a VICTROLA and a horsehair love seat - it was great!!
Theresa’s son Joseph
Robert Heckenkemper was born July 26, 1905 in Muskogee and died December
26, 1963 in Tulsa, OK. He is buried in
Ft Gibson National Cemetery, Muskogee County, OK. Joe married Irene Pearl Howard in Muskogee on
November 28, 1937. They had one
daughter, Mary Jo who was born in Muskogee in 1929.
7.FRANK J. was born August 07, 1884 in
Looking Glass Township, Clinton Co, IL and died January 11, 1958 in Muskogee,
OK at the age of 73. He married QUINNIE
KELTON on December 20, 1909. Quinnie
had been a resident of Muskogee since 1901.
She was born February 11, 1880 in Berryville, AR and died in Muskogee,
OK December 26, 1963 at the age of 83.
Her obituary listed her as Mrs. Frank J. (Quinnie Wright)
Heckenkemper. They are both buried in
Memorial Park Cemetery, which is located west of Muskogee on Hi-way 64 on Taft
Road.
Frank opened his shoe repair
shop in Muskogee in 1904. He and Quinnie
lived behind the shop in a partitioned off section. His shop ”Heck’s Electric Shoe Shop” was at
110 Callahan Street, in the block immediately east of the railroad overpass on
Callahan.
Frank & Quinnie had a son
Frank Jr. who was born in 1919 in Muskogee and died of Leukemia on April 11,
1963 in San Diego, CA. He married Mary
Jane Canterbury who was born on August 06, 1920 in Muskogee and died October
29, 1980 in Denver, CO. They are both
buried in Greenhill Cemetery in Muskogee.
8.
WILLIAM JOHN (Father of the writer of this document) was born January 1, 1887 in
Damiensville, IL and died May 18, 1969 in Tulsa, OK. He married GERTRUDE ANN HARRISON on November 12, 1928 in
Muskogee, OK. She was born September 04,
1900 at 10 Water Street in Princeton, IN and died December 13, 1989 in Tulsa,
OK. They are both buried in Calvary
Cemetery, Tulsa, OK.
9.
MARIE (WILHELMINA) was
born May 10, 1889 in Damiensville, IL and died August 24, 1964 in Miami,
FL. She married. (1) UNKNOWN SIMPSON who was born about 1889. She married (2) WALLACE MANN about 1935 in Miami,
FL. He was born about 1864 and died
about 1940 in Miami, FL.
Marie "Minnie"
moved to Miami, Florida as a young woman.
She was a beautician and met Wallace Mann when he came in to have a
manicure. They were married. He and his brother Mose started Atlantic
Furniture Company in Miami, FL.
When Wallace died about 1944,
Marie ran the store until she died in 1964.
Wallace was about 25 years older than Marie. They had no children. They were good friends of the Milton
Hershey's of Pennsylvania (Hershey Bar Candy Company). Before Wallace died they were planning to
build a house on the Sunset Islands (man made islands in Biscayne Bay, Miami,
FL). They and the Hershey's were to be
neighbors on the lots they had picked out on one of the Sunset Islands. They went to the horse and dog races with
Milton and Catherine Hershey of “Hershey Chocolate”. I (Mary Louise Heckenkemper, the writer of
this genealogy) spent 6 weeks the summer of 1944 (I was 13) with Aunt Marie and
7 weeks the summer of 1946 (I was 15).
My mother (Gertrude Harrison Heckenkemper) came alone on the train to
get me the summer of 1944. I flew home
alone the summer of 1946. Aunt Marie,
Anna Rhoden (William Joseph Heckenkemper's sister Margaret's daughter) and I
went to Miami in 1944 on the train. We
had a stateroom on the train. It slept
three people. The trip took about 3
days. The summer of 1946, Aunt Marie,
Anna Rhoden and few friends flew to Havana, Cuba on a Pan-Am water pontoon
plane. Marie and Wallace are buried in
Miami, FL.
10.
ANTHONY "TONY" (Twin to
Tillie who died as an infant) was born May 02, 1891 in Looking Glass
Township, Clinton Co., IL and died February 12, 1966 in Muskogee, OK. He married NORA BELLE MILBURN SLAIGHT on January 7, 1930 in Muskogee,
OK. She was born on January 07, 1885 in
Otterville, MO and died May 17, 1971 in Muskogee. Tony worked for the KATY railroad as a
Switchman and a Yardman in Muskogee.
They are both buried in Greenhill Cemetery, Muskogee, OK.
11.
TILLIE
(a twin to Anthony) was born May 02, 1891 in Looking Glass Township, Clinton Co.,
IL and died in 1891 before she was a year old.
12.
LOUIS
was born July 28, 1898 in Looking Glass Township, Clinton Co., IL and died
November 24, 1898 before he was a year old.
Illinois Statewide Marriage
Index 1763 - 1900
GROOM
BRIDE CNTY DATE
VOL/PAGE LIC
HECKENKEMPER, JOS [LICENSES DATE]
WALTERS, ANNA CLINTON 02/22/1870 2
/50 10
TIMELINE OF JOSEPH HECKENKEMPER
AND ANNA WOLTERS
1848 Joseph
was born in Looking Glass, IL
1852 Anna
Wolters was born in Damiensville, IL
1870 Joseph
married Anna Wolters in Clinton Co, IL
1870
Joseph not listed
in Herman’s Home on Ill Census
1871 Daughter
Margaret was born in Damiensville, IL
1873 Son
John was born in IL
1875 Daughter
Mary was born in Germantown, IL
1878 Daughter
Elizabeth was born in Lookingglass, IL
1878 Daughter
Elizabeth died in Lookingglass, IL
1879 Son
Fred was born in Lookingglass, IL
1880 Joseph
farming 29, Anna 24 listed in Ill Census
1881 Daughter
Theresa was born in Lookingglass, IL
1884 Son
Frank was born in Lookingglass, IL
1887 Son
William John was born in Damiensville, IL
1889 Daughter
Marie (Minnie) was born in Damiensville, IL
1891 Twins,
Tony & Tillie was born in Lookingglass, IL
1891 Tillie
died in Lookingglass, IL
1898 Son
Louis was born in Lookingglass, IL Died
as an infant
1900 Daughter
Margaret died in Germantown, IL
1903 Moved
to Montrose, MO
1903
Son Fred died in
Kimball, Neb and buried in Montrose, MO
1904 Muskogee,
OK
1910 Joseph
59, Anna 55, listed in Census, Muskogee,
OK
1928 Joseph
died in Muskogee, OK
1935 Daughter
Mary died in Muskogee, OK
1955 Daughter
Theresa died in Muskogee, OK
1958 Son
Frank died in Muskogee, OK
1964 Daughter
Marie (Minnie) died in Miami, FL
1966 Son
Tony died in Muskogee, OK
1968 Son
John died in Tulsa, OK
1969 Son
William John died in Tulsa, OK
John Swaters (1838-1926) was a neighbor of Joseph and his family in Clinton County and Effingham County, IL. John Swaters moved to Montrose/Germantown, Henry County, MO in 1893. Since coming to Henry County in 1893 he made his first purchase of land in 1893 but he did not make his permanent home here until 1901. John Swaters was born in Holland, October 29, 1838, the son of John and Antoinette (DeHeer) Swaters, who came to America in 1848. The father of Mrs. Swaters, John DeHeer, died on the voyage. The Swaters family settled in Clinton County, Illinois, where the father died in 1853, and the mother died in 1873. John Swaters began life in humble circumstances in Clinton County, Illinois, and shortly after his marriage he removed to Effingham County, where he became owner of a farm of 320 acres, which he cultivated until his removal to Missouri. Land was constantly rising in value in Illinois and Mr. Swaters with characteristic shrewdness and by the exercise of good, sound business judgment based upon the idea that a man could not lose money by purchasing good farm lands, bought and sold farms in his vicinity and thus made a great deal of money. April 18, 1871, John Swaters and Elizabeth Wekamp were united in marriage. Mrs. Elizabeth Swaters is the daughter of J. B. Wekamp and was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1855, emigrating from her native land to America when fifteen years old. Her mother died in 1865.
Since Joseph and
Anna were in Montrose by 1903 to bury their son Fred, they probably either led
or followed the Swaters on the move. I
remember visiting Joseph and Anna’s daughter Margaret and John Muck in Montrose
as a small child in the 1930’s and John Swaters name was familiar to me from
that time. They must have been good
friends.
WILLIAM
JOHN IS THE SON WE WILL FOLLOW
WILLIAM JOHN HECKENKEMPER, son of
Joseph and Anna, was born. January 01, 1887 in Damiensville, IL and died May 18,
1969 in Tulsa, OK. He married GERTRUDE ANN HARRISON on November 12, 1928 in
Muskogee, OK. She was born September 04,
1900, at 10 Water Street in Princeton, IN and died December 13, 1989 in Tulsa,
OK.
William bought a house at
1001 Columbus in Muskogee, and he and his sister Marie (Miami, FL) supported
their parents, and Theresa and her young son Joe after the family moved to
Muskogee from Elk City. William’s
younger brother Tony was still a teenager and also living at home. Theresa managed the home for them while
William was working for Oklahoma Pipe Line Company in Muskogee.
He and Gertrude Harrison
started dating and became engaged. They
set their wedding date and when his Mother died suddenly at the age of 74 of
Spasmodic Asthma, they delayed the wedding to help take care of his father who
was 78 at that time. After a short time
they set their wedding date again and when his Father died the following year
at age 80, they were in a dilemma about their wedding, consulted their Priest
who said don't wait, go ahead with your life and they did.
After the Father died,
Theresa moved out of the house. Joe at
this time was 25 and already out of the house as was Tony who was married and
37.
William and Gertrude were married November 12, 1928,
and moved into William's house at 1001 Columbus. In November 1929 their first child, William
was born. In November 1930 their second
child Mary Louise (the author of this family history) was born. William was working for Interstate Oil and
Gas Company. By June 1933, William had
been transferred to Tulsa with Interstate and after the birth of their third
child John in June 1933; Gertrude joined William in Tulsa at 1537 North
Elwood. They lived there until 1968
when they moved to 1312 East 19th Street in Tulsa.
William retired from
Interstate in Tulsa in 1951 after 40 years of service.
CHILDREN OF WILLIAM JOHN AND GERTRUDE:
WILLIAM JOSEPH
was born November 7, 1929 in Muskogee, OK.
He married Barbara Jean Bradley on February 2, 1952 in Tulsa, OK.
MARY LOUISE (the writer of
this document) was born November 25, 1930 in Muskogee, OK. She married Ronald Joseph LeBoeuf on August
30, 1952 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
JOHN ANTHONY was born on June 6, 1933 in Muskogee, OK. He married Bettie Jo Ferguson on April 11,
1953 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
DIRK SOBBEKE gt.
HECKENKAMPER was
born in 1677 and died before January 1747/48.
Children of DIRK SOBBEKE GT. HECKENKAMPER are:
1.
FRANZ WILHELM HECKENKAMPER was born March 01, 1718/19.
2.
ANNA MARIA GERTRUDE HECKENKAMPER was born August 13,
1714. She married (1) CONRAD WALDPETER on July 11, 1745. He was born about 1714 in Oelde, Westphalia,
Prussia and died after 1756. She married
(2) JACOB REKER May 02, 1756. He was born about. 1714.
3.
ANNA ELIZABETH HECKENKAMPER was born November 04, 1716.
4.
JOANNES STEPHANUS HECKENKAMPER was born April 14, 1722.
FRANZ WILHELM gt. HECKENKAMPER was born March 01, 1718/19. He married ANNA CATHARINA
BEERMAN in 1748 in Ostenfelde. She was born 1732 in Ostenfelde, Prussia and
died in 1750.
Children of
FRANZ HECKENKAMPER and ANNA BEERMAN are:
1.
JOAN BERND gt. HECKENKAMPER was born January 13, 1749/50 and
died April 22, 1814.
2.
ANNA MARIE HECKENKAMPER, b. Abt. 1749.
JOAN (Latin
abbrev. for Johannes) BERND gt.
HECKKENKAMPER was born January 13, 1749/50 and died April 22,
1814. He married BRIGITTA HAKKENCAMP
on November 30, 1776. She was born July
01, 1752 in Oelde, and was the daughter of STEPHEN HACKENKAMP
and ELISABETH VAELMEYER. .
Children of JOAN HECKENKAMPER and BRIGITTA HACKENKAMP are:
1.
CATHARINA ELISABETH HECKENKAMPER was born December 13, 1789 and died
February 17, 1814. She married ANTON
ZEHLIGER
(SELIGER) gt. HECKENKEMPER
July 11, 1810.
2.
ANNA MARGARETHA HECKENKAMPER was born December 28,
1777. She married CHRISTOPH WINKELMANN, an angleman, on August 20,
1805. He was born about 1777 in Oelde,
Westphalia, Prussia.
3.
FRANZ WILHALM HECKENKAMPER was born December 29, 1782 and
married ANNA MARIA ORTMEYER on February 10, 1808. She was born on November 15, 1778 in
Menninghausen, Prussia. Franz was a
tailor.
CATHARINA
ELISABETH HECKENKAMPER
(GGrandaughter of Dirk Sobbeke) was born December 13, 1789 on the farm in Kirchspiel,
Prussia and died February 17, 1814 in Oelde, Westphalia, Prussia. On July 11, 1810 she married ANTON ZEHLIGER (SELIGER), making him ANTON ZEHLIGER (SELIGER) gt.
HECKENKEMPER. He was born
December 19, 1779 in Ennigar, Westphalia, Prussia, and died October 14,
1858. She was the “yard heiress”.
Children of CATHARINA HECKENKAMPER and ANTON HECKENKEMPER are:
1.
MARIA CATHARINA HECKENKEMPER, b. April 23, 1811.
2.
MARIA ELISABETH HECKENKEMPER was born February 09, 1813. She married JOSEPH KNOBEL SPIELBUSCH gt. HECKENKAMPER April 29, 1845. He was born September 29, 1811. They had five children.
None of the
ancestors of Catharina Elisabeth are real Heckenkempers! Since they are all “gt” it looks as if they
inherited the farm name through marriage.
After Catharina died in 1814
Anton married Clara Elisabeth Rose.
Some early history of Willingholzhausen,
(village near Osnabruck) and early families.
In
the years, around 1500, the farmers actually farmed for the government. All the
money and all the crops had to be given to the government market and then were
equally divided among the people. Then came freedom for the farmers and the
economy grew.
During the time, 750-980
A.D., the farms in Willingholzhausen were divided among family members. About
80 farms were fully inherited. In some cases, the farms were divided among the
children.
In the business books
from the government market the following Willingholzhausen farms were mentioned
from 1350-1532: (First name was family name and second name sometimes referred
to the locality.)
Brinkman, Bruggemann
1423; Frielinghaus, Schlochtern 1423; Gerding, Uhlenberg 1350; Grothaus,
Peindorf 1350; Halberbe in Peindorf (village) between Lause 1423 and Grothaus
1360; Linnemann, Uhlenberg 1471; Lause, Vessendorf 1467; and other German names
not recognized here.
During the time of the
East Kocouisation from 1140-1350 in Weblingholzhausen, only a few farms were
established. The children from the farms left and emigrated in the surrounding
area such as Holstein, Brandenburg, Pommern, Mecklenburg, and Oslepreuben and
settled in the area.
It was a prosperous time
in the Middle Age, 1200-1350. Then a pestilence swept through the country in
1350. Then came a famine, and in 1342 a great flood, and then again in 1374
another pestilence. About half of all mankind died during that time. In
Osnabruck there were only 7 couples left. Robbery, destruction, famine and
pestilence caused many families to die out.
After only one
generation, the country recovered from its setbacks so that a new beginning
could be started with the farms. Around 1400 they divided the land (estates).
There were heirs and half heirs known even hundreds of years before.
During the time of the
Middle Ages (1500), craftsman and industries settled around the church. The
names were mentioned in the church register, 1500 to 1600. Also the estates at
that time were called church farms. A small percent of their income had to go
to the government market. Other side trades were acquired such as shoe repair,
carriage driver, milk deliverer, furrier, lumber workers and factory workers.
It was necessary to have a side income to live a healthy life.
In 1847, the full heirs
(estates) stayed in the same family for years. The reduction of households
1805-1849 came from the fact that people emigrated to America.
The four primary sources
for family names were: occupation, location, father's name, and personal
characteristics.
St. Claire County in the
early 1800’s
The Kaskaskia River and Mud creek
forms St. Clair’s entire northern, western and southern boundaries. The
Kaskaskia River, Mud creek, and Little Mud creek, which enter the township from
the east, in section 13, flow in a westerly course, emptying into the Kaskaskia
in section 16, and together with their small tributaries, water and drain the
entire precinct. The timbered lands bordering on these streams furnished the
attraction that impelled the first hardy pioneers to the creation of homes in
what was indeed a dreary wilderness. The broad prairies, luxuriant in their
growth of wild grasses and flowers, and which form the greater part of the
township, were passed over by these pioneers as unfit for the habitation of
men. Deeply studded woodlands with rippling waters hard by were looked upon as
oases in the vast prairie stretches of Illinois. As early as 1816, the savage
who returned to the loved banks of the Kaskaskia, where his wigwam had long,
held sentinel, found the pale face in possession, energetic in hewing out a
forest home.
The
first German settlers were Bernard Dingwerth, William Harwerth and Joseph
Stempel, who located here in 1833.
On November 7, 1833 the ship Virginia arrived from Bremen, Germany at the port in
Baltimore, MD. On board there was a small group of people coming from the
village of Glandorf, which is close to the city of Osnabrueck in the
western part of Germany. Their occupations were listed as “farmer” and they had left Germany to begin a new life in America, hoping this
country would provide them with better conditions for making a living.
In 1833 times weren't too good for small farmers
around Glandorf. The family had grown so much that starvation was a daily guest
in the homes. Rumors told about a new country in the west across the big ocean
- AMERICA. Many families had left already. So a number of persons in the
Harwerth-family considered emigration as a possibility of survival. In the summer of 1833 the following persons
of the Harwerth family had made up their mind and were ready to leave their
home and the rest of the family for ever: William, (Johann Wilhelm) born in
1815, the same year as Herman, son of Wilhelm, Theresia, and Clara, Elizabeth,
(Elisabeth) Maria Catherine, Ferdinand, Friedrich, and Diedrik,
(Dietrich). The Harwerths weren't alone.
Bernhard Dingwerth from their home community was with them and married William
Harwerth’s sister, Catharina Elisabeth Harwerth on January 9, 1834 in St Louis,
King of France Catholic Church, St Louis, St Louis Co, MO. She was born October 31.1809. There was another Harwerth, Heinrich who
married Catherine Ossege on July 13, 1837 in St Louis, King of France Catholic
Church, St Louis, St Louis Co., MO.
.
There was also an Edward Dingwerth who had a son
John Henry Dingwerth who was christened on May 27, 1838 in St Louis, King of
France Catholic Church, St Louis, St Louis Co, MO.
After arrival at the port they quickly moved on
westward towards the today's state of Illinois and helped settle Mud Creek,
later to be known as St.Libory, IL. In 1835
the first store was opened. The first
post-office, called Mud Creek, was moved to Hermanntown, in 1856. In 1878 the
name was changed to St. Libory. In 1842,
a blacksmith shop was opened within a mile of Darmstadt, and during the same
year, smithy was opened within the present limits of the same village.
The Protestant Lutheran, built in 1842, was the
first house for public worship. It was a small log building, and, in 1866, gave
place to a more commodious brick structure, which was destroyed by lightning
the following year. A cemetery, first used as a burial place in 1839, marks the
location of the church.
THE
PIONEERING GERMANS SETTLE IN CLINTON AND ST. CLAIR COUNTIES
“Clinton County was named in honor of the
distinguished statesman, DeWitt Clinton, of New York. It had become the home of
permanent and bona fide settlers as early as 1814, when the first land entries
were made. At the time of the organization of the county, December 27, 1824,
some 33,000 acres had been entered, three-fifths by actual settlers, the
balance by speculators. The names of the actual settlers appear in the county census of 1825.
Land entries were made in all congressional
townships of the county during that period of time, 1814 to 1824. All lands
entered at that time were timberland.
The value of prairie land was evidently not understood or
appreciated. The population of the
county in 1824 was about 1,100, consisting chiefly of Americans from southern
states and Pennsylvania, with a mixture of some English and Irish, who had
settled in the vicinity of Carlyle, IL.
By 1850, immigrants directly from the European shores
comprise a significant portion of the population of Illinois with Germans by
far providing the largest number. The first German settlement in Illinois was
Dutch Hollow, established in St. Clair County in 1802, followed by a colony in
Madison County south of Edwardsville in 1809 and a band of Germans who settled
at Vandalia in 1818. The first census of Clinton County, taken in 1825, fails
to disclose any identifiable German names. The first German settlement in
Clinton County was, according to history, "the incidental work of two
German adventurers, William Harwerth and Bernhard Dingwerth, who were strolling
through Illinois on a hunting expedition".
They had arrived in Baltimore about the year 1833. Their intention was
to explore the west for a home, and in order to raise the necessary means for
such an excursion, they hired out to work. Early in 1834 we see them on a
hunting tour in Illinois. "They came to Clinton County and they resolved
to locate there permanently. They
purchased the improvements made earlier by some Americans in the vicinity of
the present village of Germantown, and they now went to work at farming. The location selected was by no means a
desirable one. The land was flat and badly drained, so as to offer constant
obstacles to successful farming and, in addition, was the continual cause of
malarial diseases. The numerous stones in the village cemetery tell a sad and
frightful tale of the suffering of these early settlers and their families. About 95 percent of the 813 foreign-born
settlers who were naturalized up to 1870 were Germans. Located nine miles west
of Germantown, a second German settlement, New Baden, was established. The first Catholic settlers of the present
town of New Baden and vicinity mostly emigrated from the Grand Duchey of Baden
(Germany). They attended to their religious duties at Germantown and Highland,
and later on at Damiansville, Trenton and Mascoutah where Herman lived and
farmed.
It was, to a large degree, an extension of Mascoutah
in St. Clair County since the founders all hailed from there. Germantown
residents also had a part in the birth of New Baden - sending their teamsters
to its site and sinking a well in order to provide drinking water for both the
settlers and their animals. A former resident of St. Clair County determined
that if the cattle and horses needed water, the teamsters might want something
else, and he accordingly opened a saloon and eating-house in New Baden about
1844. In later years a distillery was
erected and operated in the settlement.
New Baden citizenry was largely made up of southern Germans and was said
to make an interesting contrast to the sober and sedate northern Germans at
Germantown.
A wave of German immigration dates from at least
1846, when Herman departed from Bremerhaven, Germany and landed in New Orleans,
and when economic conditions (including a failure of the potato crop) caused
German emigration, which had been 37,900 the previous year, to jump to 63,300. Prior to the 1850’s, the major port of
embarkation for German emigrants to the US was the French port of Havre. Iit was not until 1852 that Bremen superseded
Havre as the major port for the Emigration of German nationals.
Religion Denomination, No. each will accommodate, Value of Church Property
Methodist Episcopal 800, $1000
Presbyterian 800, $1000
Methodist Episcopal 1500, $700
Methodist Episcopal 600, $600
Roman Catholic 2500, $800
Presbyterian 800, $1000
Methodist Episcopal 1500, $700
Methodist Episcopal 600, $600
Roman Catholic 2500, $800
Newspapers: [NONE LISTED]
Approximately 725,000
Germans immigrated to the US.
TOWN OF ST. LIBORY.
We don't know how much equipment and possessions
they carried with them when they came to America, however they must have had
some money, for just a few months later in 1834 Johann Wilhelm Harwerth
purchased his first parcel of land.
The Harwerths weren't alone. Bernhard Dingwerth from
their home community was with them.
William Harwerth and Bernhard Dingwerth were delegated to petition Bishop
Joseph Rosati of St. Louis for a priest to serve the St. Libory
Settlement. Together they held their first mass in William Harwerth's log
cabin. The parishioners elected to build
a log church on ground donated by Bernhard Dingwerth. W. Harwerth, D. Harwerth,
W. Kracht, G. Bertke, and G. Terveer helped to build the log church that was
finished on May 5, 1839.
Agriculturally, this is an excellent body of land.
The streams are skirted with timber, and the land is undulating; the greater
part of the precinct is a beautiful prairie, now under a high state of
cultivation. The farm-buildings are good, and the farmers intelligent and
enterprising. Population: --census of 1880-1,639. The acreage is 23,895, of
which fully five-sixths is prairie. Great crops of the cereals gladden the
hearts of farmers, while large numbers of stock, principally hogs, are annually
fattened for the market.
Lack of facilities, furnished by railroad
transportation, is the great drawback. At one time it was thought proposed
improvements along the Kaskaskia would obviate this difficulty by giving water
communication, but all that has flitted by, as a thing of the past. The
precinct was organized, upon petition of its citizens, April 16th, 1870; prior
to that time it was a part of Athens.
October 18, 1866 the town of Hermanntown was laid
out. A Catholic church was erected close
by in 1846 which was given the name of St. Libory [St. Liborius]. In the village the general store established
it in 1849. In 1856 the post-office
called "Mud Creek" was moved to this store and a post-master was
appointed. Mills were built, business
prospered, and, although people built on all sides of the platted town, no
additions were made thereto. In 1874 the name of the post-office was changed
from Mud Creek to St. Libory, so there is presented the anomaly of a village of
perhaps 250 inhabitants, on land not regularly platted as a town site, with a
name not recognized in the public records, save by common consent. A large mill
has stood idle for several years past, while a small custom mill met the
demands of the community.
The 1881 St. Clair Co. History Book mentions that
William Harwerth and Bernhard Dingwerth in their earlier days, would build a
raft on the Kaskaskia River, would stock it with country products, chiefly
chicken, corn, and potatoes and would leisurely float down with the current
into the Mississippi River, then on to New Orleans where they would sell the
boat as well as the provisions.
EARLY HISTORY OF THE
WESTPHALIANS
In the third century the Saxons pushed their way into
the province from the Cimbrian peninsula; other tribes joined them, either
voluntarily or under compulsion, and thus there arose a large confederation of
tribes that bore the name of Saxons. The western part of the province between
the Weser and the Lower Rhine appears from about the year 800 in the historical
sources under the name of Westphalia. In
the later middle Ages the region of the
Weser was then considered a part of Westphalia.
The Westphalians were brought into contact with Christianity in the seventh century. The first apostles (about
A.D. 695) were the two Ewalds, known from the colour of their hair as the White
and the Black Ewald. At a later date the
conversion of the Saxons especially engaged the attention of St. Boniface. He was not able to carry out his desire although Westphalian
folklore has stories of the preaching of Boniface and even of his founding of churches. Probably, even
though the proof is lacking, the attempts to found missions among the Saxons
proceeded from Cologne. No permanent success was gained by the campaigns of the
Frankish King Pepin (751-68) against the Saxons. The country was finally
subdued after several bloody wars (772-804) by Pepin's son Charlemagne, who, as an apostle of the sword, brought the Saxons
to Christianity. The questions
asked the Saxon candidates for baptism are still in existence, as well as the
answers that were to be made in which they were obliged to renounce the gods
Donar, Wodan, and Saxnot. The baptism of the Saxon Duke Widukind (785) was of
much importance; for after baptism he was unswervingly loyal to Christianity and its zealous promoter. The same is true of the
Westphalians in general. After they had once accept the Christian faith, which "had been preached to them with an iron
tongue by their bitterest enemies", hardly any other people were as
loyally and devotedly attached to Christianity. Louis the
Pious continued the work of his father. During his reign the first monasteries
were founded; the most celebrated of these are the Benedictine Abbey of Corvey
(815), and the Abbey of Herford (819) for Benedictine nuns.
Westphalia was only a part of Saxony, and in about the
year 900 Saxony was made a duchy, after Ludolf, the ancestor of the ducal
house, had been made a margrave in 850 during the reign of Louis the German.
The duchy continued to exist until 1180. The last and greatest of the dukes was
Henry the Lion, who lost the duchy through disloyalty to the emperor. This led
to the division of Westphalia into numerous principalities. The southern part,
the "Sauerland", fell as the Duchy of Westphalia to the Archdiocese
of Cologne that retained it until 1803. This duchy had its own constitution and
its own diet. In 1815 it became a part
of the Kingdom of Hanover with which, in 1866, it was incorporated into
Prussia.
In 1807-1813 part of Westfalen was part of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia with Napoleon's younger brother Jerome as king. In 1815, when Herman was born, most of Westfalen became Prussian; Osnabrueck and the northern Muensterland went to Hannover and Oldenburg.
Until the secularization in 1803 the Catholic Church
held the largest area under her sovereignty (dioceses of Muenster, Paderborn,
and Koeln).
Westfalen
was named after one of the three main Saxon tribes that ruled the area. In the
early middle Ages, the term was used for all of Saxony west of the River Weser.
Despite this long tradition, it has never been a governing unit. The Kingdom of
Westphalia was established by Napoleon for his brother; this consisted mostly
of Hesse, and part of the historic province today has been transferred to Lower
Saxony. There are three distinct parts of Westfalen - Münsterland to the north,
the rural Sauerland and Siegerland to the south, and the eastern area
incorporating most of what was formerly known as The Principality of Lippe
In
1807 Prussia had to concede its Westphalian possessions to France. The western
part of Westphalia was obliged to change its nationality several times; it
belonged in part to the French Empire, in part to the Grand Duchy of Berg under
Joachim Murat. The eastern section of Westphalia into the Kingdom of
Westphalia, the name of which was a misnomer, as the larger part of the new
kingdom was composed of lands that were not Westphalian. The Kingdom of
Westphalia was given to Napoleon's brother Jerome. The French continued the
secularization of the monasteries, nor did they spare the convents. On 13 May
1809, Jerome decreed the suppression of six convents and on November 1, 1809,
ordered the suppression of all religious foundations, chapters, abbeys, and
priories with exception of those devoted to education. As far as possible the lands were sold. In
1815, the year Herman was born, after the French had been driven out of the
country, Prussia received the former Duchy of Westphalia, the Abbey of Corvey,
and the former free imperial city of Dortmund.
In 1816 the Province of Westphalia was formed from these
acquisitions.
HISTORY
OF GERMANTOWN, ILLINOIS
Early Settlers
The first settlement was built in the Germantown
area during 1814. German settlers eventually filtered to the area from Saint
Louis after hearing accounts of Illinois' beautiful farmland. Although they
were forced to deal with swampy, flooded land full of disease carrying
mosquitoes and disease, the German settlers sought to live near creeks and
timberlands similar to those in their home country of Germany.
The Birth of Germantown
A log cabin schoolhouse was built in 1827 to educate
the young settlers. Then in 1837, Catholic Germans purchased land to build a
church. To pay off their debts, the Germans platted the land into town lots and
sold them at an auction. The Germans originally named their settlement Hanover,
but the name was later changed to Germantown to honor all the settlement's
German settlers besides those from Hanover, Germany.
Growth & Development
The first building in the newly platted Hanover
began operation as a store. A log house was used for a church until 1841 when
the settlers built a church and school. The community quickly outgrew the new
church and school so new buildings were again erected in 1854. Germantown was
organized into a township during 1873.
Damiansville History
In 1837, B.H. Heimann, of Hanover, Germany, became
the first to settle in Lookingglass Township. Heimann purchased land from the
United States government and developed a farm. Edward Teke, Herman Kalmer,
Herman Rensing, and John Santel soon came to the Damiansville area and
developed settlements of their own. By 1843, many German immigrants, mainly
from Westphalia and Hanover, Germany, had arrived after hearing accounts of the
area's fertile land from the initial German settlers.
A log cabin schoolhouse was built in 1844 to educate
the area children. Herman arrived about
1847.
Saint Damian's Catholic Church was built in 1861 on
the land purchased by the Right Reverend Bishop Junker. The development of the
church brought a new name to the village. It had been previously named after
the small Holland town, Dempter, but was changed to Damiansville to honor the
church's founder, Bishop Damion Junker. A one-room schoolhouse was also built
in 1861 to replace the log cabin schoolhouse.
Homes and businesses were soon erected around the
church, forming the present day layout of Damiansville village. Both Henry
Haidders and B. Stephens developed the community's first general stores during
the year 1861. By 1881 the village enjoyed three stores, three saloons, two
blacksmith shops, and one wagon-maker. Residents were able to enjoy goods from
St. Louis as the general stores sent out peddle wagons stocked with dry goods
to all the area farms. The wagons then traded the dry goods for eggs, butter,
and produce, which would then be taken to St. Louis and traded for dry goods.
The wagons would return to Damiansville and begin the trading process again.
In 1899, a railroad known as the Air Line, was built,
the Company for the convenience of the people of Damiansville made a stopping
place on the main road from Damiansville, and named it Damiansville
Station.
Albers, Illinois
History
Albers was established after a railroad depot on the
Airline railway, which passes through present-day Albers, was created for
Damiansville residents. F.H. Albers donated the land for the train depot, and
the settlement, which began to develop around the depot, was named in his
honor. Houses and businesses gradually began to develop along the depot, and it
was not long before a school district was established in 1908. The two-room
school had a capacity of 40 students, and was erected on ground that was deeded
to the Rev. Bishop.
Henry Tonnies was one of the most important persons
in the development of Albers. Tonnies was appointed Post Master of Albers in
May of 1891. He was then appointed the ticket, freight, and express agent for
the Southern Railroad Company in 1892 with a salary of 5.00 a month and
commission. He also started milk shipping, and made Albers one of the main
shipping sites on the road. Tonnies and Anton Stroot started a sawmill and
connected it to a mill and a hydraulic cider press. In 1905 he was elected
Highway Commissioner, and developed rock roads in the District. Tonnies was
also instrumental in developing St. Bernard's Catholic Church and connecting a
telephone line from Albers to Damiansville and New Baden.
New Baden Early Settlers
Walter
Sawyer purchased the land on which New Baden rests from the US government on
September 11, 1838. The initial settlers
were most likely farmers and traders who were participating in the country’s
great westward migration. New Baden,
originally called Baden, was named in honor of the homeland, Baden, Germany, of
New Baden’s first settlers.
The
first Catholic settlers of the present town of New Baden and vicinity mostly
emigrated from the Grand Duchy of Baden (Germany). They attended to their
religious duties at Germantown and Highland, and later on at Damiansville,
Trenton and Mascoutah.
The first homes were built before the town was laid
out in 1855. Builder Frederick Carpenter
purchased 155.14 acres of New Baden land for $450. The village of Baden was incorporated in
1884, bringing a village government and ordinances into activation.
Why families wished to leave
Prussia/Germany, to emigrate to America in the 1840's.
From 1806 to 1815 many bloody battles were fought against the French.
All of Germany was inundated by the French who had penetrated into Russia.
There God came to our help and said, "Up to here and not farther."
Then God beat this evil enemy with great coldness and hunger, and the rest of
the enemy saw themselves forced to retreat. And so the German people, with
renewed strength and God's help and assistance, drove this great emperor Napoleon,
with all of his power, out of Germany and to Paris in France.
Our Prussian king at the same time was Friedrich
Wilhelm Rex, 3rd King of Prussia, who had to live through all of these times of
need and battle. In 1840 he left this earthly life and went into his eternal
home. In his place his son, the Crown Prince, started the government of the
King and he is now 4th King of Prussia. He is also called Friedrich Wilhelm.
So in these years of war
Herman was born, 1815.
Bremen Passenger Lists
The“Ordiance Concerning the
Emigration Traveling on Domestic or Foreign Ships” of 1832 in Bremen was the
first state law to protect emigrants. Among other things it required from the
shipowners to maintain passenger lists.
In 1851 the Bremen Chamber
of Commerce established the “Nachweisungsbureau für Auswanderer” (the
Information Office for Emigrants), to which the ship captains had to deliver
their lists. The rules and regulations
of the ´Nachweisungsbureau´ considerably improved the quality of both the stay
at Bremen prior to the sailing plus the seaworthiness of the ships. Unfortunately, because of lacking office
space from 1875 - 1908, staff of the ´Nachweisungs bureau´, decided to destroy
all lists older than 3 years. With the exception of 2,953 passenger lists for
the years 1920 –1939 all other lists were lost in World War II.
19th Century German
Immigration In Historical Context
1806 marked the end of the Holy Roman Empire of the
German Nation. This "First Reich"—founded in 962 A.D.—was defeated by
Napoleon. In 1815 a German Federation was formed, another loose association of
sovereign states with an appointed, not elected, Federal Diet in Frankfurt. By
1830 emigration began to pick up.
The Germans came from a wide geographic area and for a variety of
reasons. They were a highly diversified group in terms of regional origin,
religious and political orientation, education and socio-economic standing.
Westphalia, where Herman was born, is a province of
Prussia situated between the Rhine and the Weser. The Netherlands and Hanover
bound it on the northwest and north, on the east by Schaumburg-Lippe, Hanover,
Lippe-Detmold, Brunswick, Hesse-Nassau, and
Waldeck, on the south and southwest by Hesse-Nassau, on the west by the
province of the Rhine and the Netherlands.
The political culture of the
Old German Homeland Versus Life in the United States
One settler wrote back to Germany: “If I had said what I just said aloud in
Germany, they would have shut me up in no time.
I know that; for over there, alas, common sense and free speech lie in
shackles. But enough of this, it is not
exactly your favorite subject. Instead I
invite you to come over here, should you want to obtain a clear notion of
genuine public life, freedom for the people and a sense of being a nation,
you’ll agree I am right. I have never
regretted that I came here, and Never! Never! Again shall I bow my head under
the yoke of despotism and folly”.
In 1837 the Germans of
Belleville, IL declined to press for admitting German as an official language
in court cases because this would have had a limiting effect on full
participation by all other Americans in the outcome; and “we prefer our broadly
based freedom over the meager continuation of an old way of life on foreign
soil.” They felt that no array of
immigrants from abroad had the right to continue to exist separately as an
isolated breed if they arrive among a previously settled people who are not
inferior in their cultural development.
They were convinced that such an effort on the part of the Germans,
particularly because their number was so large, it would be harmful to the well
being and the continuity of this land, which, alone among all countries on the
glove, offers to all reasonable people a vision of hope for the future. This was to prove realistic over the long
term, but was criticized and called unfair to German culture by the more
shortsighted contemporaries.
The 1.36 million
German-speakers who arrived from Europe between 1830 and 1860, met head on with
a well-defined “Americanism.” The
immigrant-bashing nativist American Party, popularly called the Know-Nothings,
tried to extend the waiting period for naturalization and for voting to 21
years instead of the five required by law.
In addition, immigrants were to be permanently excluded from holding
public office; and the poor, those with criminal records, and the loyal
subjects of a “foreign power” – above all members of the Roman Catholic Church
– were not to be admitted into the country at all.
In 1838, a Latin teacher and
lawyer who had immigrated ten years earlier, described more realistically the
ambivalent feelings of those Germans who were in the process of adapting the
New World. “Being German-American is
a very personal thing. We want and we
find external independence here, a free middle-class way of life, uninhibited
progress in industrial development, in snort, political freedom. To this extent we are completely
American. We build our houses the way
Americans do, but inside there is a German hearth that glows. We wear an American hat, but under its brim
German eyes peer forth from a German face.
We love our wives with German fidelity.
We live according to what is customary in America, but we hold dear our
German customs and traditions. We speak
English, but we think and feel in German.
Our reason speaks with the words of an Anglo-American, but our hearts
understand only our mother tongue. While
our eyes are fixed on an American horizon, in our souls the dear old German sky
arches upward. Our entire emotional
lives are, in a word, German, and anything that would satisfy our inner longing
must appear in German attire.”
COMMENTS OF AN IMMIGRANT: During my lifetime I had to fight through
severe trials. I worked day and night and walked in many places, spent many a
sleepless night, and the money I earned there was scarcely enough to feed my
family. At the same time I saw thousands immigrate to different parts of the
world, to America and Australia. When thinking about it more closely, I
realized that all of these emigrations were nothing more than the fault of the
poverty that progressed with gigantic steps. And so within me, too, rose the
thought to emigrate!
It was my desire to bring my children, while they
were still with me and not in different places, to a place where they could
find work and bread, as long as they would work hard and be frugal, where each
of them could prepare for a happy and calm future. In Germany the poor man
compared to the rich man is like a despised creature, or like a scarcely
noticed creeping worm, who must slither and creep along in the dust in order
not to be stepped on to death. So it is that the poor man must adjust himself
and bend himself under the rich, who nevertheless scarcely seem to notice him!
The poor man slaves for the rich one, but once the poor man has completed his
day's work, what did he earn for his sour sweat? Only 7 1/2 to 10 silver
groschen--which is 20 cents in American money--and on that the poor man is supposed
to live with his family, pay his rent and pay his royal taxes. If he doesn't
pay punctually, all that he owns is taken away from him by officials of the
law, so that gentlemen who already have enough will get what is theirs. If one
appears before a court of law, or an official, or a police officer, he must
always appear in a bent position and with a bare head.
What will become of the poor children ? How many of
them have to beg for their daily bread in front of people's doors? Parents who
are still able to send their children to school have to pay the school, up
until the children are 14 years old, money for books, clothing, food and drink.
And after school is over, what is one to do with the children? They have
learned professions where they are treated like dogs, to suffer hunger and
thirst, and if they survive the difficult and miserable years of
apprenticeship, what do they have? Then they become journeymen and they go to
beg their bread in strange places before the doors of other people. And even if
they get work, what do they earn as journeymen? The highest income per week is
1 Thaler--62 cents in American money. Or are the children to go into service
and work for an entire year for nothing more than 6, 12 or 16 Thaler?
Speaking particularly of the boys, once they reach
their 20th year, and are healthy, they must become soldiers and serve for 3
years. Now suffering starts, for during exercises and maneuvers they must
endure hunger and thirst and cold. To keep them alive, every 5 days they
receive one black loaf of bread, and every 10 days they receive 25 silver
groschen. After 3 years of service a soldier is released from his regiment, and
up to his 32nd year he is among the first to be called to the Landwehr [like
the national guard]. Annually, 2 Sundays he must go for sharpshooting. For
2 and 3 Sundays he must go for meetings of his regiment. Every 2 years he must
go for 14 days to 4 weeks for exercises and maneuvers. Then from his 32nd year
on up to his 40th, he is with the 2nd regiment or 2nd level of troops. Even
after his 40th year he continues to be a member of the Landsturm [like the
civil defense].
During times of war, the Landwehr are the first troops to go to battle
with the regiments that have just been drafted. The 2nd level of troops and the
Landsturm must man the battlements. And so one is a soldier as long as one
lives, and a tortured creature.
I was tired of this life, and therefore I decided to
leave Germany with my wife to look for a better life in another part of the
world, namely America.
Herman came to America about 1845 and married first
about 1846.
Welcome
to a puzzle of history! It begins in the late summer of 1843 when the ships
began a special voyage from Bremen in Prussia, sailing for the United States.
The ship's crew and about 185 passengers spend about 45 days at sea.
Most of
the passengers were neighbors on farms in and around the small towns of Melle,
in the Kingdom of Hannover, Prussia, located near present-day Osnabrück, Lower
Saxony, Germany. Today we are still trying to learn why so many neighboring
families simultaneously boarded ships in 1843 to move halfway around the world.
Their destination was a wild frontier full of danger. This happened well before
the major migrations from Germany between the 1850's and 1880's.
It is almost as if a group
of neighboring engineers today decided to leave their homes, board a space
shuttle, and fly together to settle a colony on the Sea of Crises on the moon.
No one could have known that this trickle of brave pioneers would later swell
to a tidal wave of immigrants so large that it changed the whole world.
19th Century German
Immigration In Historical Context
1806 marked the end of the Holy Roman Empire of the
German Nation. This "First Reich"—founded in 962 A.D.—was defeated by
Napoleon. In 1815 a German Federation was formed, another lose
association of sovereign states with an appointed, not elected, Federal
Diet in Frankfurt. By 1830 emigration began to pick up.
German-Americans represent the largest group of
immigrants arriving in the United States in all but three of the years between
1854 and 1894. Before the end of the century more than 5 million Germans had
arrived and in the twentieth century another 2 million came. They came from a
wide geographic area and for a variety of reasons. They were a highly
diversified group in terms of regional origin, religious and political
orientation, education and socio-economic standing.
Although conditions in the German states were not as
bad as in Ireland, crop failures, inheritance laws, high rents, high prices,
and the effects of the industrial revolution led to widespread poverty and
suffering. Relatives and friends who emigrated first would write back and
encourage others to follow. This led to "chain migrations" and group
settlements. Fairly well-to-do farmers who saw a bleak future, poor ones with
no future, paupers whom the authorities often paid to leave, revolutionaries
after 1848, and many artisans, professionals, and some adventurers made up the
spectrum of the 1840s and 1850s.
The French Revolution (1789) had not spread to
Germany, but led to reforms, designed to break up feudal rule and give more
power to the citizens. However, these reforms did not go far enough and
eventually were stalled altogether. In 1848 a democratic revolution for
"Unity, Justice and Freedom" failed
In 1866 the Austro-Prussian War led to the exclusion
of Austria and the end of the German Federation. It was replaced by the North
German Federation with Bismarck as Federal Chancellor. The Swiss had gained
their legal independence from the German "Reich" in 1648.
German
Immigration 1830-1850
By Ewald Albers of Zeven, Germany (translation by Hella
Albers)
Only 8.5 ounces of
drinking water a day. Immigrants were
nothing but ship’s freight.
More than six million people
left Germany during the last 200 years. Most of them went to the United States
to begin their new life. Many immigrants mastered their fates by initiative,
economy and industry. With justifiable pride they very frequently reported
about their success to friends and relatives left behind. Those who had less
success did not write as often, sometimes never. Sometimes they did not give
their first sign of life until after years as those who were unlucky did not
want to describe their bad situation; it would not have matched the image of
the land of opportunity.
After their arrival in the
US, the immigrants would rather write about how the passage had been. This
often contained bad messages and one would think that this should have
prevented many people of even considering emigration. Especially the period
between 1830 to 1850 saw news that can only be described as horror news. During
the era, a passage on a sailing ship took 45 to 60 days, depending on the
weather. The freight boats transported coffee, rice, tobacco, cotton and other
goods from America to Europe. On their way back, they "exported"
people. The cargo compartments were broken down to steerages by means of wooden
boards in order to have capacity for as much "freight" as possible.
A traveller described the
quarters as follows: "The ship had 28 beds, each four ells (about 7 feet)
wide and three ells (about 5 ½ feet) long. Five people were to sleep in each
bed. However, only four could sleep there at a time. So I almost always slept
on a crate. As soon as the ship was at sea, I tied myself to the crate with
ropes so I could not be thrown off." The immigrants very often complained
about the bad treatment by the crew, feeling treated as cattle.
Bad food was complained
about very often. "The provisions were bad, the way they were fixed even
worse. The bread had presumably made several journeys. It was not until the
last eight days when the old bread had been eaten that we got better bread. The
pork was completely spoilt even though better pork was in store for we got good
pork during the last week. The water used for cooking was comparable to manure
regarding dirtiness, color and smell and must have been bad already when it was
taken aboard for the drinking water stayed good, but everyone got only a
quarter" (less than 8.5 fluid ounces). Even though the Bremen Senate tried
to achieve improvements the stated defects remained for a long time.
One % of the passengers died
at sea. The age and occupation of the passengers has been recorded. Most men
are farmers but we also find shoemakers, tailors, glaziers, cabinet makers,
carpenters, smiths, millers, harness makers, brewers and weavers. Single girls
are recorded as "servants". The ships agents in the bigger places in
the Bremervörde/Zeven area probably bought passages for groups when they knew
of enough people willing to emigrate. It is for this reason that the passenger
lists of the ships very often show a local focus.
The ship party usually ended
in the port of arrival. From then on, everyone was on their own again. There
are no files about where the immigrants went. However, during the last years we
begin to learn more about them as we hear of their descendants. These pieces of
information show that the steerage passengers ended up across the whole United
States in smaller and bigger groups. Several families went to different places
before settling down for good on the vast continent. There are not only the errors in hearing and
spelling mistakes from the original lists but also mistakes have been made
while copying the lists.
Important Dates In
German-American History in Herman’s lifetime – 1815 - 1875
1800 German-Americans
voted overwhelmingly for Thomas Jefferson and helped elect him to the
Presidency.
1830s German-Americans
introduced gaily-decorated Christmas trees to America.
1834 The
richest man in the U.S. was John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant who had
organized the American Fur Company.
1837 The
Pennsylvania legislature began publishing its laws and governor's message in
German translation.
1839 Theodore
Bernhard organized and introduced the first system of free textbooks at
Watertown, Wisconsin.
1846 Maximilian
Schaefer established the first great lager beer brewery in America.
1849 Eberhard
Faber established in New York the pencil business which still perpetuates his
name.
Dr. Abraham Jacobi opened the first free clinic for children in the U.S.
Dr. Abraham Jacobi opened the first free clinic for children in the U.S.
1851 The
famous painting, "Washington Crossing the Delaware," painted by
Emmanuel Leutze.
1850s First
kindergarten in the U.S. established by Mrs. Karl Schurz in Wisconsin.
1852 The
Studebaker Company became the world's largest producer of wagons. It later
produced automobiles.
1860 Carl
Schurz won the German-American vote for Lincoln by going on a 21,000 mile
speaking tour which took him from the middle west to the Pennsylvanian Germans.
1860-65 516,000 German-Americans fight for the
Union. 500 officers in the Union army were born in Germany; of the 2,213,363
soldiers in the Union army, over 23% were German-Americans.
1871 Thomas
Nast, the first great American Caricaturist, was instrumental in the
destruction of the Boss Tweed ring of New York City.
1874 Alfalfa introduced to the
U.S. by Wendelin Grimm.
A SEARCH FOR MY GREAT GRANDFATHERS PARENTS
By
William Joseph Heckenkemper 2005
My Great
Grandfather is Herman Heckenkemper, born December 5, 1815 in Germany.
One time back
in the 50’s or 60’s my father William John Heckenkemper told me he had written
to Germany to see if he could find some Heckenkempers. I don’t remember if he didn’t get an answer
or if they said none could be found. But
he didn’t find them. Like many young
people who are newly married and have young children of their own I had only a
mild interest in what he tried to find but I did keep it in the back of my
mind.
Then as my
children started to leave home my sister, Mary Lou Le Boeuf and I, (William
(Bill) Joseph Heckenkemper) started talking about our genealogy again. My sister had a computer and got some
genealogy software and started recording what we found. She did much more than I did but I kept
encouraging her as I appreciated what she found and how she kept track of
it. We talked about Herman Heckenkemper
but my father was dead and we didn’t know who in his family to talk too as most
of them were also gone. We just didn’t
know what to do, as we had never tried to trace our genealogy.
With that
frustration we decided to look at my Mother’s father and his genealogy as my
aunt had developed support for registration in the Daughters of the American
Revolution (DAR) and had her children registered. The lineage that justified the DAR
registration was through my mother’s father Daniel Harrison, to a relative
James Dowdle who was born in 1758 in Spotsylvania Co. VA and died in 1802 in
Elizabethtown, Hardin County, KY. It
listed Daniel’s father as Edward Harrison and his burial in Arkansas. So in the summer of 1994 my sister, my
brother John Heckenkemper and I went to Arkansas to look at cemeteries and see
what other documentation we could find about Edward Harrison’s parents
etc. Well we found nothing on Edward
Harrison at the Arkansas History Commission records facility in the main
Library in Little Rock, Arkansas; we could find nothing on the family. Finally I asked the second in authority at
the records center if he could help. We
were looking for what information we could find on Daniel Harrison’s father
Edward Harrison. All we really knew
about him was that he was a minister of the Methodist church and he died in
1883. Well as it happened there were
some records of the Methodist church in the record center and this gentleman
knew where to find them. In a little
while he came back with a number of books that we could look through. My sister, Mary Lou found an Edmund Harrison
mentioned that was a circuit-riding minister.
Well to make a long story short; that proved to be our Great Grandfather
on my Mother’s side of the family. Once
we found his name was Edmund and not Edward my sister found his genealogy back
to about 1000 in England. It just goes
to show how a small mistake when corrected can be very valuable.
This finding and tracing the
Harrison lineage back so far really enkindled our interest in the Herman
Heckenkemper family. Then sometime in
1996 my youngest son Jeffrey Michael was surfing the Internet and he found some
Heckenkemper’s in Germany that I eventually started corresponding with. On September 23, 1996 I wrote to Norbert Heckenkemper in Oelde, Germany and asked
if he could help me. I told him I was
looking for some family history of Herman Heckenkemper. He is my Great Grandfather who came to
America probably in the late 1840’s. I
did not know where Herman came from in Germany but a family Priest had told me
he was a schoolteacher in Coesfeld, Germany.
I also told Norbert I did not know Herman’s parents names. Most of what was known about Herman was from
a letter by Reverend G. H. Netemeyer, a Catholic Priest and a Grandson of
Herman and a friend of my parents as follows:
“Herman Heckenkemper was a school teacher in Coesfeld,
Germany. When he came to this country he
came to New Orleans. He carried money in
a money belt. Some shady characters learned
about this. They intended to take is
from him (roll him) on landing at New Orleans.
He learned about this plan so he jumped ship before landing and swam to
shore, hiding under the piers until dark.
When he emerged from hiding, he took a boat to St. Louis by way of the
Mississippi. He came to Illinois, taking
up farming about a mile west of Albers.
“His first wife, Mary Ann
Dingwerth, died of cholera. She is
buried in the Catholic Cemetery at Germantown.
His grandson, Ben Heckenkemper tried to locate the grave there some
years ago, without success.
“During the civil War, Herman Heckenkemper had a very
good wheat crop. The U. S. Government
sent agents to buy his wheat. He refused
to sell it to them because the price was too low; besides the money value was
practically nil. These agents told him
that if he did not sell it to the Government, the government would take it.
“He made a deal with these agents that he would sell
his wheat to the government, if he could get his money whenever he wanted
it. (He did not want the devalued
money.) He then watched the money market
very closely so that he called for his money the day before the money was
revalued to its former value. In this
way, he had all the money at its devalued price, and the next day it had the
value that it had originally.
“The first two paragraphs, my
mother told me. The last two paragraphs
were told to me be Ben Heckenkemper, son of Ben Heckenkemper Sr. S/ Father Netemeyer”
While I
waited for a response and not knowing who to turn to in the family and with the
above information I decided I would see what I could find out from Clinton
County in Illinois where my father was born.
After several communications; on June 18, 1997 I received a copy of
Herman Heckenkemper’s probate from the Circuit Clerk of Clinton County in
Carlyle, Illinois; it proved interesting but had no record indicating his parent’s
name. But it did show he died March 10,
1875 in St. Louis and he is buried in the back of the old part of the cemetery
in Damiensville, IL. A short time later
from Clinton County I also received a hand written copy of a July 11, 1846
document by which Herman acquired title to the land he settled on and farmed
and where he raised a family; including where my father was born. I felt I was making progress but it did not
reveal his parents name so again I was stopped.
So in October 1997 my sister, my brother and I went to Illinois and
looked at cemeteries, County record centers, churches and anyplace else that we
could find that might give us Herman’s parents name. However, since he died in 1875 and most
records prior to 1877 were sparse, we again found nothing we needed. We found plenty about Herman from the time he
arrived in America but nothing about how he got here or any prior life.
On October 13, 1996 I
receive a letter from Norbert and Guido Heckenkemper. Guido is Norbert’s son. They thanked me for contacting them as they
thought their family only lived in Oelde – Stromberg, Germany. They did not know any Heckenkempers moved to
America. They said, “Maybe our families
have the same roots.” Then they told me about their family but it only went
back to the late 1800‘s so it didn’t go back far enough.
On October
22, 1996 I wrote back to thank them for answering me and I also wrote to
Johannes Heckenkemper who they mentioned in their first letter. I never heard from Johannes Heckenkemper but
I did get a very nice letter from his daughter Nicole Heckenkemper. I have since found out that people under 40
generally are able to speak English but those over that age do not. So most of my correspondence with German
Heckenkemper’s are under 40. That is why
Guido wrote with Norbert. Guido speaks
English and Norbert does not. Nor do I
speak German so communication is difficult.
I have lost the date of the next letter I received
from Norbert and Guido, as they did not date it and I have misplaced the envelope.
However, Norbert had searched their family history from 1636 to current and he
gave me several pages of names, dates etc.
He said:
“We think the identity of your Great Grandfather is
clear now.”
In 1783 Johann Georg Heckenkemper married Caterine
Dreikmann in Stromberg
They had
three children:
1.
Anna-Magereta
Heckenkemper
2.
Georg
Heckenkemper
3.
? Male
Heckenkemper
In 1805 Georg Heckenkemper married Gertrud Lucke
First
child was: Ludwig Heckenkemper in 1806
Ludwig
is the Great Grand father of Norbert Heckenkemper
Second
child was: Anna Catharine Heckenkemper in 1809
Gertrud
Lucke expects her third child (Hermann) when Georg dies.
It was usual in that time that a widowed person was
married again in the time of three months by the church, so that the widow with
children would not get poor. Pregnant
women would be married, so that the child was born legal. Then the child got the name of the
stepfather.
In this way Gertrud was married to Franz Trockel
Therefore Stephan Trockel (not Hermann) was born March
3, 1815
They had another child die at birth.
Stephan Trockel marries M.H. Lange and they have one
child: Augustinus Christianus on February 14, 1845.
Stephan Trockel from Stromberg immigrates with family
to North America in 1846. This is
verified in: BEITRAGE ZUR WESTFALISCHEN
FAMILIENFORSCHUNG 1964-1966
My assumption and that of Norbert Heckenkemper is that
when Stephan arrived in USA he assumed his real fathers Heckenkemper name. But without find a record of his parents I
can’t know for sure. It is possible that
his wife and child died on the ship over as often happened but we don’t
know. However I had a problem with this
information because the German record of his birth is 3-3-1815 and family
records show Herman celebrated Dec. 6, 1815 as his birthday. So in addition to changing his name which I
easily could understand but changing his birthday; was he hiding or something?
From that time on I have
been searching to find how Stephan Trockel or Herman Heckenkemper entered the
USA. I have also had e-mail
communication with some Trockel’s but found nothing of Stephan Trockel. Many times I have looked into records of the
Family History Library but found nothing different. So it is possible there is another family of
Stephan Trockel’s that is really a Heckenkemper.
In May of
1999 Bob and Melissa Netemeyer invited my sister, my brother and me and our
spouses to a Netemeyer-Heckenkemper reunion in Albers, Illinois, which is where
Herman Heckenkemper settled when he came to America. That is the same property acquired on July
11, 1846. My father William J.
Heckenkemper was born there and when I got to Illinois I found that
Heckenkempers still lived on the original homestead where my father was born. There must have been 400 people at the reunion. Most of them were Netemeyers as we were
celebrating the marriage of one of Herman’s daughters, Elizabeth Heckenkemper
to Gerhard Lambert Netemeyer on 11-29-1880.
We talked to everyone there old enough to perhaps have some knowledge of
Herman’s parents. No one knew who his
parents were. We were again at a
standstill!
In June 2004
my first daughter Kathryn Schooley and her husband Jim asked me to go to
Germany on a tour. I decided to go and I
contacted Norbert Heckenkemper’s daughter Inga Heckenkemper whom I had been in
e-mail contact with, and told her I was coming and where my tour would take
me. It was not very close to her or
Oelde and Stromberg where her family lived, so Inga invited my to stay over
after the tour and she would collect me in Frankfurt and take me to her
apartment in Giesen and then the next day we would drive to Stromberg to meet
Norbert and all the other Heckenkempers who lived in Oelde and Stromberg. Oelde and Stromberg are about 5 minutes apart
by car. I gladly accepted and Inga and a
friend Tobias Richter met us for dinner in Frankfurt and then took me to
Giesen, a lovely little German town that I saw much of on foot. The next day we drove to Stromberg and I got
to visit with many of the Heckenkempers and Tobias’s parents at a picnic on the
Heckenkemper farm. We also visited
Oelde. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and
felt we were related.
A
NEW TURN OF EVENTS
In 2003 I joined the State Historical Society of
Missouri to enlist their effort in searching for Herman’s parents in the death
records of Herman who died March 10, 1875 in a St. Louis hospital. I received no positive results from them so
when they asked me to renew my membership I declined and told them I had asked
for help and they had ignored my request.
Then on September 12, 2004 I received a very nice long letter from
Laurel Boeckman, Sr. Reference Specialist with the Reference Library of The
State Historical Society of Missouri.
They had apparently not received my request and she now sent me a
considerable amount of information, much of which I already had, but most
importantly she suggested I contact the Schwestern Unserer Lieben Frau (Sisters
of Notre Dame), Kloster Annenthal, Gerlever Weg 33, 48635, Coesfeld,
DEUTSCHLAND (Germany), Phone: 02541/7208-0, www.snd-d.de Contact sister: Schwester Maria Hatwig
Doktor, SND.
Well I did contact Sister Schwester and what a
surprise I had when after Inga Heckenkemper and Tobias translated a German
document as did Tom Hartman a UMC student that Laurel Boeckman found. What the documents said is that Hermann
Heckenkemper was born on December 5,1815 and baptized on 12-6-1815. This fits the date we have for Herman. But the document also states that Hermann was
not a real Heckenkemper as his father was Anton Zehliger (Seliger) and his
mother was Elisabeth Rose and Hermann was named after the kotten (farm) where
they were married. So now I have asked
some more questions.
Laurel Boeckman referred me to a web site that told me
the following.
IDENTIFYING
GERMAN NAMES
Many German names have their roots in the Germanic Middle
Ages. A name identified a specific person and later a group of persons (family
name); at first through verbal usage, it was later fixed through writing. All
social classes and demographic strata aided in the development of names.
The earliest are the names derived from the place of
dwelling and the location of the homestead. If a person or family migrated from
one place to another, they were identified by the place they came from. The
largest group and the most easily recognizable names are those derived from the
vocation or profession of the first bearer. They tell you what the first bearer
did for a living. There is one group where the name derives from the first
names of first bearer and another where the names come for a physical or other
characteristic of first bearer. Finally there are names, which tell you the
state, or region a first bearer and his family came from; the age old division
in tribes and regions (low German, middle German and upper German) is often
reflected in names. But for non-German speakers they are at first hard to
"localize”. Especially those on the Dutch border and Northern Germany
sound very much like Dutch or English names.
Furthermore, if you know a little German, you will be able
to recognize names more easily; if you do not know German there are a number of
clues to look for.
My belief Changed.
I now realize that this last Hermann is really our
Herman. I have two letters from people
who are doing some research for me in Coesfeld and Stromberg, Germany. Allowing for different spelling in records
from 1815 here is what those letters revealed:
Catharina Elisabeth Heckenkamper married Anthon
Zehliger 11 July 1810 in Oelde, Germany.
It appears they lived on land she inherited as the “farm heiress” from
her Heckenkamper family. Catharina died
May 17, 1814 and Anthon inherited the Heckenkemper farm and was then called
Heckenkemper. On July 20, 1814 Anthon
Zehliger, called Heckenkemper, married Elizabeth Rose. On Dec. 5, 1815 Johann Hermann was born and
was baptized on Dec. 6, 1815. As was
sometime done according to the statement above; the birth records showed him to
be named Heckenkamper after the land that they then lived on. This is the date I have been looking for because
it is the birthday of my Great grandfather Herman. Some documents spell the last name with an
“a” rather that a third “e” and some use the “e”.
On top of that Laurel Boeckman found a passenger list
that has a Hermann Huckenkamper arriving New Orleans on Jan. 6, 1846 on ship
Damariscotta from the port of Bremerhaven, Germany. That fits with what has been passed down
within the family that he arrived through New Orleans. Bremerhaven is directly North of Oelde,
Germany where Hermann was born. I also
have a copy of a deed where Herman Hankenkamper purchased the land in July 11,
1846 that the Heckenkempers still live on.
I find a lack of same spelling in documents but that appears to be
normal.
I was in Germany in June of 2004 and I visited the Heckenkempers
and was on the Heckenkemper farm. I
don’t know if it was exactly the same farm or only a part of it but
Heckenkempers lived there prior to and continuously since Hermann was born
there. In much the same way
Heckenkempers live on the farm Herman bought in Illinois. The Heckenkempers in Germany currently spell
their name exactly as we do; so I assume the different spellings were due to
the people who made the recordings. I am
trying to determine if Hermann taught school at Coesfeld as we have been told
that Hermann did. That would pretty well
clinch it with me.
I have two large
foulders of correspondence including many letters in German and their
translations that document these findings.
This document only summarizes these findings. However, the actual
translation of this last letter speaks to the school teacher belief. I believe this is as good as we are going to
get on the question; "Did Herman Heckenkemper teach school in Coesfeld
Germany?"
27. April
2005 Dear
Mister Heckenkämper,
I got your
E-Mail and Mrs Seinberg of the archive of the diocese has certainly told you
that I couldn’t find more information.
Now –
on Monday – the old archivist of the town Coesfeld told me that he had found
something that could be an explanation of the oral handing down of a priest
there that there had been a teacher Heckenkämper in Coesfeld:
In the
rural area near Coesfeld, called Harle, there was an old farm with the name
Heckenkamp. Its owners immigrated to America September 12, 1848. They were
Johann Bernhard, his wife Anna Catharina and their sons Johann-Heinrich and
Franz-Wilhelm. One daughter died 1842. The farmhouse and the land were
sold. (This family immigrated to America
and settled in Quincy, IL.)
November
1, 1869 a teacher Gernard Wennemer from Elte near Rheine became the teacher in
Harle and he lived in the farmhouse. One can assume that the farm kept the name
Heckenkamp and the people around called the inhabitants “the Heckenkämpers”
The teacher Wennemer will certainly have had a
good contact to the priests of the churches in Coesfeld.
About that time a priest from America visited a friend
in Coesfeld. He will have met the teachers and heard that the teacher of Harle
moved to the farmhouse Heckenmkamp. He
will have remembered the name Heckenkamp or Heckenkämper and will have presumed
that the teacher Wennmar on the farm Heckenkamp was your forefather. I think it
went this way and it is a mix-up with your great-grandfather Johann Hermann
Heckenkämper from Oelde. Or did the name
Gerhard Wennemar from Elte near Rheine exist in the line of your
great-grandmother? It must be a mix-up.
Dear
Mister Heckenkämper I hope you got clarity now and can calm down. A further
searching here in Coesfeld is not possible. Here in Coesfeld in the archives
they did everything possible to find out about a teacher Heckenkämper.
I wish
you and your family all the best and God’s blessing.
My best regards Signed Schwester M. Thiatilde
I believe this is most likely what
happened when Fr. Netemeyer visited Germany and heard that a teacher lived on
the Heckenkemper farm. Anyway as Sister
Thiatilde stated a further searching here in Coesfeld
is not possible. I believe the word of
mouth and Fr Netemeyers letter were in honest error.
Finally I believe we have found the family of Herman
Heckenkemper my Great Grandfather. He
was born Johann Hermann Heckenkämper in Oelde Germany but if
spelled correctly as in real life Heckenkemper.
He appears to have dropped the Johann name as far as any of us can
determine. The Heckenkempers in Oelde
that I visited spell Heckenkemper just as we do.
I have so many people to thank for this difficult
research! Much of it was done in Germany
by people I have never met but would like to someday to personally thank
them. I have thanked all of them by
e-mail but that’s not the most satisfying way. William
J. (Bill) Heckenkemper 2005
There are so many
people to thank for this difficult research!
My brother Bill Heckenkemper spent many hours of correspondence and a
trip to Germany to research this information.
With Thanks to:
In
USA
Laurel Boeckman
John Hoff
Donnell Wisniewski
Alice Roth
Thomas Hartman
Mary Grabel
Max Mueller
Mary Lou LeBoeuf
In Germany
Inga
Heckenkemper
Tobias
Richter
Barbara Steinberg
Schwester M. Thiatilde
Schwester Hatwig Doktor
Norbert Heckenkemper
Guido Heckenkemper
Martin Holz
Dr. Kuehne
Norbert Henkelmann
Bernzen
Angelika