We know very little about August Heiden’s life in Germany except for the facts and figures found in the old church records. He was born on Saturday, January 27, 1838 in the tiny village of Gross Wokern in the province of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in northern Germany.

August was baptized into the Lutheran faith, on February 4th, 1838 with August Hillmann, Friedrich Froh and Anton Schreiber as his godparents. Hillmann and Froh were “Tagelöhners” or wage laborers while Schreiber was a “Webergeselle” which means he was a weaver’s apprentice. As was the custom of the day, the child was christened with the names of the godparents. That is why his full name is August Friedrich Anton Theodor Heiden.

Life was probably a little tougher for August than other kids because he was the son of an unmarried mother who was employed as a house maid. Maria also had a daughter out of wedlock so times might have been difficult both economically and socially.

When he was six years old in 1844, August's mother married a man named Friedrich Stüve. Of course we know nothing about how this affected August but it probably improved his life somewhat.

We do not know what kind of schooling young August received in his native village. However, judging by later documents and correspondence, it was clear that he knew how to read and write in the German language. The fact that he was able to complete the apprenticeship necessary to become a brick mason meant that he knew arithmetic and how to calculate angles required in building structures out of bricks.

During this period in Germany, qualifying for a skilled trade such as brick mason was one of the few ways a person could “get ahead.” It was probably quite difficult to gain entrance into an apprenticeship and August must have possessed those qualities necessary to impress members of the local guild.

During this period of history in the German provinces, it was law that every able bodied young man had to serve two years in the armed forces. In the wooden box at Agnes (Brockman) Heiden’s house we found a document that deals with his discharge from further military obligations. We do not know if he actually served in the army of the local Dukedom. Click Here for a translation of the document.

It appears that August spent his entire time in Germany in Gross Wokern. On February 21, 1868 at the age of 30, he married Fredericka Knaack and, according to the church records, they already had a two year old son, Heinrich, at that time. Their second child, Ernst, would be born on June 10, 1868.

This was not unusual for the times since the Duke who ruled over a section of Germany had to give his consent before a subject could be married. They were reluctant to give such consent during the second half of the nineteenth century because the area was undergoing a population explosion and they did not want to encourage more families being formed.

Many of the people in these regions were employed as serfs which is about one step above slavery. The workers for a particular landowner were under his control and could not move to another job without his approval. On the other hand, the landowner was responsible for the upkeep of the workers on his land. So, allowing people to marry and start raising more children only added to his financial burden. He needed fewer workers, not more.

Another inhabitant of Gross Wokern was Heinrich Rambow. There is little doubt that he knew August and their paths would cross throughout the rest of their lives. August and his family left Germany in 1873 and made their way to Raisinville Township, Monroe County, Michigan. Heinrich and his family including his wife's Milhan siblings, made the same journey in 1874 and eventually found a farm a few miles down the road from the Heidens. It is also reported that August Heiden built the Rambow house on South Custer Road. Finally, two of Heinrich's daughters, Mary and Fredaricka, married two of August's sons, Wm Carl and Herman, respectively.

For a list of August Heiden's ancestors in Germany, click here.