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Our family name should probably be
Kanseyer.
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 Most of our family originated in a small village of
Gross Wokern in northern Germany. The Heiden, Rambow and Milhan
ancestors who came to America in 1873 and 1874 all lived there
before emigrating. |
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Heinrich Rambow served his country in the Seven Weeks War
(Austro-Prussian War) in 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71 prior to coming to
America in 1874. |
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August and Rika Heiden had 35 grandchildren
and well over
1000 direct i.e. DNA sharing, descendants. |
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 Wm Carl and Mary (Rambow) Heiden had
13 children and 38 granchildren. The first
one, Walter
Berns, was born in 1919 and the last one, Gail (Heiden)
Baker, was born in 1958. Wm and Mary now have over
300 direct i.e. DNA sharing, descendants. |
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Hilda Fuller
was the only one of the 13 children of
Wm Carl and Mary (Rambow) Heiden to live outside Monroe County. |
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Herman Heiden was the only child of August and Rika to
live outside Monroe County. He and his family moved north in
Michigan to Isabella County. |
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 Bridge School
which was located about 1/2 mile from the home of
Wm Carl and Mary (Rambow)
Heiden is the oldest
public school in Michigan established in 1828.
All 13 of their children attended
Bridge School as did Wm Carl and Mary.
Many of their grandchildren and other relatives who lived in
Raisinville Township also attended the school which closed in
the late 1940s. |
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Our early relatives landed at
Castle Gardens reception
center in New York City and not Ellis Island which did not open
until later. |
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It appears that a first cousin
of Rika Heiden's, Dorothea Laas, was living in
Monroe
from her arrival in the U.S. in 1867. That is probably why the
Heiden's and Rambows ended up there when they emigrated in 1873
and 1874 respectively. |
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Although many of our ancestors lived into their 90s, a few
including
Ruth (Rambow, Piotter) Bordt
(left) (104), her sister
Marie (Rambow)
Cowen (111) and
Fred Milhan (100) were centenarians.
Caroline Brown made it to 99 3/4 years. |
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There are three William Heidens in the early generations.
This includes Wm
Carl and his son,
Wm Frank.
Wm
Leo was a nephew of Wm Carl and cousin of Wm Frank. |
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 There are two women in the early generations who went by the
nickname of Rika or Reka. One was Rika (right) the wife of
August Heiden
and here
given name was spelled
Fredericka. The other was Reka a daughter-in-law married to their
son, Herman. She spelled her name
Fredareka. |
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The 1880 U.S. Census, shows August and Rika Heiden living
on
West 9th Street in the City of Monroe. Wm Carl was listed as
"Willie" and he was born there in 1874, one year after the
family emigrated from Germany. |
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Meta Heiden,
the third child of August and Rika made the trip from Germany
but died just 12 days after they arrived. She was two and a half
years old and is buried in Monroe, Michigan. |
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Starting in the 1910s, the
Heiden Family Reunion
was held most years through 2002. It most often
occurred on the Fourth of July. |
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Members of the Heiden family lived in over 70 different
places in
Raisinville and Dundee Townships alone. Many shared homes at
different times and 32 people lived at the home with
Wm Carl and
Mary Heiden over the decades. |
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Wm Carl Heiden purchased the family farm at
8861 Dixon
Road on April 1, 1909 which was his 35th birthday. When he
was a youngster, he had helped his father, August put the brick
on what would become his future home. |
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During World War I (1914-1918),
Fred Rambow who
had been born in Germany had to
register to
have permission to come within one-half mile of the post
office in Monroe. |
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The first
Heiden Reunion was held on July 4, 1921. |
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