Listed below are excerpts from transcriptions of audio tapes of two pleasant Sunday afternoon gatherings with different groups of descendents of William Carl and Mary Heiden. The meetings occurred on May 28 and September 24, 1995. For the entire transcript, Click Here.

William Frank Heiden - There was another small house down the road on the east end of the Wakefield farm and that is where Mary Lou was born. They had that little house for the guy who worked the farm to live in.

Wakefield lived where Jesse Barnes lived and they didn’t want to work the farm. Old man Wakefield gave me a cow on the condition that I would give them some of the milk. I used to take over a couple of quarts a day to them.

When Wakefield died, he gave me a gold watch and he left Art a horse and buggy.

Marie (Heiden) Tommelein - That was a nice watch.

William Frank Heiden - Here it is. I still have it.

Brick Tommelein - Does it run, William?

William Frank Heiden - Yes we had the movement replaced. It’s got a porcelain dial.

Helen (Henning) Heiden - We took it down to a jeweler to see how much it might be worth in case somebody might break in and take it. They told us it’s not pure gold because it wears off over time.

William Frank Heiden - I’ve had it seventy years and I rarely carry it in my pocket yet it’s all worn off. Old Wakefield must have carried it for a long time before he died.

Brick Tommelein - Some of those old railroad watches used to be worth something.

Ralph Heiden - Why did Mr. Wakefield leave things to you boys?

William Frank Heiden - Well, we always waited on him and did things for him all the time.

Brick Tommelein - Mil, was that when Art started courting you when he had that buggy?

Mildred (Roggerman) Heiden - No, he had an old Model T Ford by the time we starting going out.

Marie (Heiden) Tommelein - Remember we used to play tricks on old Wakefield? It was after we got a telephone. When Ma and Pa would be gone, we would watch to see when he was outside and then we’d call him up. As soon as he got in the house, we’d hang up. Later he would tell Pa, “Somebody kept calling me all day today. By the time I got there, they’d hang up!”

Ralph Heiden - I didn’t think you guys did that kind of stuff.

Marie (Heiden) Tommelein - Oh, yes we did but Pa never knew it.

 

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Mildred Heiden Ralph Heiden Marie Tommelein  Brick Tommelein 
Wm Frank Heiden Helen Heiden Dianne Houpt Mary Lou Opfermann
Wilma Bicking Pat Klass Helma Nickel Jeanie Heiden
 
  • Wilma, Jeanie, Wm Frank, Helma & Marie were children of Wm Carl and Mary Heiden

  • Mildred was married to Arthur Heiden, son of Wm Carl and Mary and was mother of Ralph Heiden

  • Helen was wife of Wm Frank and they were parents of Dianne

  • Pat was daughter of Wilma Bicking

  • Mary Lou is daughter of Leo and Lucille Heiden

  • Ralph, Dianne, Pat and Mary Lou were first cousins

  1. Edna Berns
  2. Lavern Berns
  3. Walter Berns
  4. Wilma Bicking
  5. Myrna Bishop
  6. Donna Burge
  7. Janice Clark
  8. Bertha & Cecil Drake
  9. Mildred Eipperle
  10. Hilda Fuller
  11. Arthur Heiden
  12. August & Rika Heiden
  13. August Heiden Children
  14. Carl Heiden
  15. Emma Heiden
  16. Ernst Heiden
  17. Heinrich Heiden Children
  18. Helen E. Heiden
  19. Henry Wm Heiden
  20. Herman and Reka Heiden
  21. John Heiden
  22. Leo Heiden
  23. Lester Heiden
  1. Mary Heiden
  2. Norma "Jeanie" Heiden
  3. Wm Carl & Mary Heiden No 1
  4. Wm Carl & Mary Heiden No 2
  5. Wm Frank Heiden
  6. Dianne Houpt
  7. Lena Koster
  8. Laas/Burmeister
  9. Linda Miller
  10. Helma Nickel
  11. Mary Lou Opfermann
  12. Rambow Family
  13. The Rambows by Drake
  14. Grandma Rambow
  15. Minnie & Wm Rambow
  16. Carol Toburen
  17. Marie Tommelein
  1. Walter Berns Poem
  2. Bridge School
  3. Christmas Eve Party
  4. Dentist Visit
  5. Dixon Rd Lots
  6. The Great Depression
  7. John Eipperle Fun Times
  8. The Farm House
  9. Five Generations
  10. German Book
  11. Germany
  12. Grape Community
  13. August Heiden Documents
  14. Herman and Reka Heiden Article
  15. Higher Ed
  16. Home Farm
  17. Indian Burial Ground
  18. Leo Heiden Homes
  19. Letters from Germany
  1. Life on the Farm
  2. Lutheran Church
  3. Mary Heiden Cooking
  4. Mary Heiden Health
  5. Mecklenburg, Germany
  6. Middle Names
  7. Mildred Eipperle's Death
  8. Nephews
  9. Helma Nickel's Cooking
  10. Old Receipts
  11. Reunions
  12. School Days
  13. Sparrow Hunting
  14. Stormy Weather
  15. Wedding Shiveree
  16. Willows by the River
  17. The Woodlot
  18. Work on the Farm