Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - Did August Heiden have any brothers?

Ralph Heiden - Not from what I could find out. He did have a half-sister, however.

One of the other things that I got from Aunt Agnes was a bunch of letters from Germany to August and Rika (Knaack) Heiden back in the 1920's. Most of them were signed from a Maria Dohmstrich from Rostock, Germany. That is only about 30 or 40 miles away from the little towns where our ancestors lived.

On some of the letters she adds “geb. Schmidt” after her name which means that her maiden name was Schmidt. Well, it seems that August’s half sister (left) married a man named Schmidt and had a daughter, Maria.

So, the letters are from August’s half-sister’s daughter. His niece. She was born in 1866 so she would have been in her sixties at the time the letters were written.

My great-grandmother, Rika, must have sent them the occasional five dollars. That was a huge amount back then because of the inflation going on in Germany at the time. They really appreciated it.

Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - I didn’t know that our grandma was a Knaack.

Jeanie & Helma (Heiden) Nickel - Yes, she was.

Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - So, Maria Heiden never married Kannseyer?

Ralph Heiden - No, and who knows why. From what I’ve read, they were having a population problem in Germany so they made it very difficult for people to get married. But, people being what we are, they went ahead and had children anyway. A very large percentage of the births during the mid-1800's were out of wedlock.

But they never did get married. When she died in 1874, she was still listed as Maria Heiden.

Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - So, how many children did she have?

Ralph Heiden - Just the two as far as I know. August in 1838 and the daughter, Fredericka, in 1832. She was the mother of the one who wrote the letters.

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - Ma’s grandmother, Miller (or Möller), died in Germany before they came over to America. According to Ma, she was old anyway and did not know for sure if she wanted to come over here. Of course, that’s the Rambow’s side. (See below)

Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - August landed in New York? How did they get to Monroe? [Heidens to Monroe]

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - Normally, they had someone over here sponsor them.

Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - Did the Rambows come on the same ship?

Helma (Heiden) Nickel - The Rambows and Milhans came over about the same time.  [See note below]

Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - It seems that they all came over about the same time because they knew somebody here. I’ve also got the cedar chest (left) that Ma’s mother (Wilhelmina Rambow) brought over from Germany. Ma used it as a hope chest.

Ralph Heiden - When I got the ship list originally, back in 1974, I contacted a lady in Washington D.C. who, for a fee, looked it up in the National Archives.

Now, there are some books that list all the ship logs for the mid-1800's that left Germany for the U.S. I contacted a person on the computer network, Prodigy, and they looked it up for me and found the same information that appears on the information I had.

They also found at least one other Heiden that came over on the ship but I did not recognize the name.

According to reports from the Rambow family, Wilhelmina (Mrs Heinrich) Rambow's mother, Marie (Möller) Milhan was planning to accompany them to America. Unfortunately, she died just before the family was due to leave Germany in April, 1874.

Her three young children, Fredericka, William and Chrisopher Milhan came to America and Monroe County with their older sister, Wilhelmina. An older brother, Fred Milhan, had made the journey one year earlier and they all eventually settled within about a mile of each other in Raisinville Township.

Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - Pa always said they came from Mecklenburg. Is that a county or what? When we were in Germany we saw a sign for town called Heidenfahrt!

Ralph Heiden - Mecklenburg is a region of Germany. The Heidens came from tiny little towns called Gross Wokern, Mamerow, Klaber and a bunch of others.

Now, where did your grandfather, August, live here in Monroe County?

Helma (Heiden) Nickel - August always lived on South Custer where Uncle John lived. That’s the only place they lived as far as I know. The same with the Rambows. [See Note Below]

Later research showed that August Heiden and family lived on West 9th Street in the City of Monroe according to the 1880 U.S. Census. We don't know exactly when the bought the property on South Custer Road. The 1890 census reports were destroyed by a fire.

I also saw the town of Heidenfahrt on a map of Germany. It translates into Heathen Journey or a journey to a heath.

Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - Were the Rambows on the ship list that you got, Ralph?

Ralph Heiden - No but I don’t have the complete list. I only have a copy of the first page with the details about the ship and then the page that lists August Heiden and his family. They were passengers number 304 through 308 so there were probably 400 or more people on the boat. I will check it out.

Wilma (Heiden) Bicking - It is funny that they lost that baby, Meta and didn’t name some other children after her later on.

Norma "Jeanie" Heiden - Helma, is your middle name, Meta?

Helma (Heiden) Nickel - No, its Nettie. That was Nettie Spohr, they were a neighbor and she stood up for me. She and Aunt Emmie and Uncle Heinrich "Henry" Heiden were my Godparents.

The Rambows came to America in April, 1874 on the ship, S.S. Thuringia about one year after the Heidens arrived in 1873 on the S.S. Saxonia.