After August and his family arrived from Germany in 1873, they spent at least seven years living on West 9th Street in the City of Monroe. The 1880 U.S. Census report shows them living there but gives no further details.

According to the 1896 plat map for Monroe County, August Heiden (left) was listed as the owner of two pieces of property in Raisinville Township, Monroe County, Michigan. The one known as the family farm, was at 8700 South Custer Road, but he also owned a 45 acre piece of land on the southeast corner of the intersection of Lewis Avenue and South Custer Road a short distance away.

Ernst "Ernest" Heiden (right) owned the farm immediately west of August’s place at 8925 South Custer. August's other son, Heinrich, is shown as the owner of the farm at 8420 Dixon Road which was later owned by Alex Shucik. This was the property which was rented and farmed by William Frank Heiden in the 1950's and later by his brother, Arthur Heiden during the early 1960's.

August and Rika lived on the 47.3 acre farm at 8700 for the rest of their lives. This is where their youngest son, John and Agnes (Brockman) Heiden, lived until her death in 1981.

Their third son, William Carl (left), was born in Monroe in 1874. He and Mary were married in 1897 and were living at a rented farm called the Adler farm on South Custer Road when their first child, Edna, was born in 1898. The following year, 1899, they are shown as owning the Albright farm a little east on South Custer. Ten years later on April 1, 1909, William Carl's 35th birthday, they purchased a larger farm at 8861 Dixon Road which would be their home until William Carl's death in 1967.

William Carl's son, William Frank (right), purchased the farm in 1961 and continued to live there until his death in 2008. The property was sold after his wife, Helen (Henning) Heiden passed away in 2016.