We know that August and Rika Heiden emigrated to the U.S. in 1873. One year later, Heinrich and Wilhelmina boarded a ship bound for New York. As far as we know, they left all of their ancestors and then living relatives behind in Germany. This section will concentrate on those people.

Included here are all the major branches of the various families covered in this website. They are related to us in the following ways:

1. Heiden - These are the ancestors of August Heiden and his mother, Maria.

2. Kanseyer - August Heiden's father was Johann Cansier or Kanseyer

3. Knaack - August's wife was Fredericka Knaack

4. Dreier - Fredericka's mother was Sophia Dreier

5. Rambow - Wm Carl Heiden's wife was Mary Rambow

6. Milhan - Mary's mother was Wilhelmina Milhan

7. Roggerman - Wm Carl's son Arthur Heiden was married to Mildred Roggerman

• Laas - Dorothea (Roggelein) Laas was first cousin to Fredericka (Knaack) Heiden

• Regelin - Dorothea (Roggelein) Laas was first cousin to Fredericka

The earliest member of this family which we have found so far is Friedrich Heiden who was born in 1755 in the village of Nienhagen, Germany. He was the great grandfather of August Heiden. One of his three children, Johann, born in 1776 became the father of Maria Heiden who was August's mother. August was born in 1838 and his half-sister, Friedericka was born in 1832.

They all lived in small villages in the northern Germany region of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. After August married Fredericka Knaack in 1868, they lived in the village of Gross Wokern. Their first three children, Heinrich, Ernst and Meta were born between 1868 and 1870. The last five of their children including William Carl, twins Bertha and Herman, and Lena (Heiden) Koster were born in the U.S.

German church records indicate that a man named Johann Cansier was alleged to be the father of August Heiden. In tracing the ancestry of this family, it appears that the spelling of the surname varied depending on who was writing it down.

Following through the variations, it would appear that the earliest of this family would be Jacob Canseyer who was born in 1670. He married Catharina Burmeister and they were  the great great grandparents of August Heiden.

Jacob's son, Hinrich  who was born in 1702, married Maria Wendt and they were August's great grandparents. Their son Christoph Kanseyer  was August's grandfather.
 

This is another case where the surname spelling varies from record to record. Over the decades, it appears as Knaack or Knaak. Johann Knaack was the earliest of this branch having been born in 1791 in Serrahn, Germany. He would have been the grandfather of Fredericka (Knaack) Heiden.

Johann's son, Christoph was born in 1805 and Fredericka, born in 1841, was the fourth of his six children.

Fredericka (Knaack) Heiden's grandfather was Johann Dreier who was born in Mamerow, Germany and was married to Christina (Martz) Dreier. Their daughter, Sophia (Dreier) Knaack was Fredericka's mother.
 

William Carl married Mary Rambow in 1897. The Rambow family came from the same area in Germany as the Heidens.  Nicolaus Rambow, who was born in 1754 in Jördenstorf is the first of this family we have in our database. He married Christina Aurich in 1778 and they moved to Gross Wokern which was about 12 miles south of Jördenstorf.

One of their children, Heinrich Rambow, Sr. was born in 1799. He married Elisabeth Müller and they were Mary (Rambow) Heiden's grandparents. Their second of seven children, Heinrich Rambow, Jr. who married Wilhelmina Milhan were Mary's parents. They emigrated to America in 1874 just one year after the Heidens. Both families settled in Monroe County, Michigan only a few miles from each other.

Wilhelmina (Milhan) Rambow was the daughter of Johann and Marie (Möller) Milhan. Johann was born and died in the village of Gross Wokern, Germany, the same hometown of August and Rika Heiden.

Wilhelmina's brother Carl "Fred" Rambow came to America in 1873 and built a log cabing on a farm in Raisinville Township of Monroe County, Michigan. One year later, Heinrich and Wilelmina Rambow followed and bought a farm about 1 mile from Fred's place.

My father, Arthur Heiden was the son of William Carl and grandson of August Heiden. His wife's name was Mildred Roggerman whose grandfather, Charles Roggerman was born in Rugen Island, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany.

Charles emigrated to the U.S. in 1882 and settle in Dundee Township, Monroe County, Michigan.

Mildreds' maternal family, the Gettys, came from Ireland.

This is a bit further removed set of relatives. They are related to Fredericka (Knaack) Heiden through her first cousin, Dorothea (Roggelein) Laas. Dorothea's mother, Maria (Dreier) Roggelein and Fredericka's mother, Sophia (Dreier) Knaack were sisters.

The earliest in this family that we have found is Johann Laas who was born in 1841 in Klaber, Germany. He came to America in 1867 and settled in Toledo, Ohio. He and his wife, Dorothea Roggelein had nine children.

Rika (Laas) Burmeister, Libbie Laas, John Laas and others attended Heiden family reunions from the 1920s onward. Some of their children including Caroline (Laas) Brown, Florence (Burmeister) Warner and Lucille (Burmeister) Lehmkuhl were very active in the reunions.

Yet another case of multiple spellings for a surname, the Regelins were also relatives of the Heidens. As with the Laas branch, they are related to Fredericka (Knaack) Heiden through her first cousin, Dorothea (Roggelein) Laas. Dorothea's mother, Maria (Dreier) Roggelein and Fredericka's mother, Sophia (Dreier) Knaack were sisters.

A good way to get a feeling for where you stand in the overall family is to have a family tree. We have developed two types of trees.

1. Text Based - These are charts that list each generation in written form that include the key person in each generation plus their children. They start with the earliest ancestor from Germany or Ireland and then follows the branches down to the early generations in America. These are listed in the menu below.
    

2. Graphic Form - As the name implies, these are graphical representations of the family tree. They include the key person in each generation plus their spouse and his or her parents family surnames. Click Here for more details.