August and Rika (Knaack) Heiden and their first three children, Heinrich, Ernst and Meta landed in New York harbor in June, 1873. From there, they made the 575 mile trip to Raisinville Township in Monroe County, Michigan. Unfortunately, we don't know anything about their journey or even why they came to that place in Michigan.

Anyway, August and Rika had six of their eight children live to adulthood. Ernst, William Carl, Lena (Koster) and John continued to live and raise their children within a few miles of their parents' home in Raisinville Township. One child, Herman, decided in 1915 to move north to Isabella County to farm and raise his family.

Almost all of August and Rika's grandchildren also continued to live in Monroe County. William Carl and his wife, Mary, had 13 children, all of whom lived into adulthood. All of them with one exception lived the rest of their lives in Monroe County. One of their eight daughters, Hilda, married Virgil "Charlie" Fuller and moved to Battle Creek, Michigan in Calhoun County.

As the twentieth century progressed, however, the great grandchildren and further generations began to move to various parts of Michigan and across the United States. Of the addresses we have for the Heiden, Rambow, Roggerman and Getty families, 44 of the 83 counties in Michigan are represented. Members of these families live or have lived at one time in over 172 townships, villages, towns and cities in the state.

I am sure these statistics show only a fraction of the situation in 2024. Much of the information is based on data collected for the 1995 The Heiden Family book.