This 45 acre parcel of land on the southeast corner of the intersection of Lewis Avenue and South Custer Road was listed on the 1890 plat map for Raisinville Township as being owned by August Heiden. In later maps, it was shown as owned by Stella Opferman who also owned the property on the west side of Lewis Avenue where the house is shown in the picture above.
 

 

Like a lot of pieces of family history, we do not know how August Heiden who had immigrated from Germany in 1873 was able to purchase two properties with over 90 acres of land in Michigan by 1890. He was a "mason" i.e. brick mason and a carpenter so we assume he was good at his craft and many houses at this time were built of bricks. One source said that he built the house where the Rambow family lived. Not only did August seem to prosper but his two sons, Heinrich and Ernst, who accompanied him from Germany also bought farms during these years. William Carl, who was born in the U.S. in 1874 purchased a small farm in the late 1890s and then bought the larger farm at 8861 Dixon Road in 1909 on his 35th birthday. In family stories, he always seemed to drive a big car and the farm house always had extra people coming back to live for a while. All this while raising 13 children!