Located in Raisinville Township a mile or so from the homes of many of the Heiden clan was the one-room Bridge School as did the Rambows and Milhans. It was the oldest such school in Michigan having been established in 1828 as a log cabin structure. One teacher conducted classes for grades K to 8 with all the students sitting in one room together. William Carl and all 13 of his children attended this school.
 

Germany, of course, was the home of Martin Luther and the northern part of the country where the Heidens, Rambows and Milhans originated was dominated by the Lutheran Church. In Raisinville Township, the Lutherans first worshiped at Bridge School and then built their own church on Ida Maybee Road about a mile from Wm Carl and Mary (Rambow) Heiden's home. It became and integral part of the yearly life of the family.

 

Starting in 1921, the family of August and Rika Heiden started having a family gathering every summer. After August's death in 1922, the family of William Carl and Mary Heiden continued the tradition until the year 2002.

From the 1920s through the 1970s, the reunion was an annual event with only two being cancelled in 1924 and 1959. For most of that time, they were a yearly event held mostly on the Fourth of the July until 1979. After that, they were held sporadically with the last two occurring in 2000 and 2002. By our count, there were 61 Heiden Reunions.

The Heidens of the early generations were primarily farmers or farm workers but they and their spouses also worked at a wide range of jobs. From obituaries and personal knowledge, we have accumulated a list of occupations held by family members in the first few generations.

A lot of genealogy consists of facts and figures about people but for our ancestors to come alive, it is important to hear stories and remembrances from people who knew them. Over the decades, we have gathered people's thoughts and have compiled them by the person being remembered.

 

Early generations of the families covered in this website usually ended their education at the 8th grade in a one-room school. From the early 1950s onward, however, almost all of the members of these families attended through high school. We have gathered pictures from many high school yearbooks that have been posted in digital form on the internet.