Histories of my Parents' Lines

SECTION 1: Histories of my parents' lines

PART 1
The Wieking Family Story-a tale of my father's father's family
Friedrich Christian Wieking was born in the early 1800's. and died February 19, 1857. He was married to Marie Elisbeth Engleking, from Diersdorf, Germany. Their son was named Heinrich Johann Friedrich Wieking. He was born on March 22, 1835. He was married to Marie Sophie Dorothea Schäfer ((b. May 17, 1837, d. April 5, 1870). H.J.F. Wieking died in December 14, 1881. After Marie Sophie died, HJF Wieking married Caroline Wilkening. The Wieking relatives that are known of today are settled in Leese/Stoltzenau, nearby Minden, Germany. The little towns of Leese and Stoltzenau are on the Weser River and Stoltzenau takes its name from the two German words Stoltze and Aue, which means "peaceful area."

Friedrich Henrich Wilhelm Wieking was a son of HJF Wieking and Marie Sophie(mentioned above). And so, Caroline Wilkening was the stepmother to FHW Wieking. In addition, HJF Wieking and Caroline and Wilkening had three young offspring together: Wilhelm, Heinrich, and Wilhelmina Wieking. Wilhelm, Heinrich and Wilhelmina ("Minna"), then, wee half brothers/sister to FHW Wieking. It may appear, then, that FHW Wieking felt some a amount of competition with these half siblings and their mother, a step mother to FHW Wieking!

In any event, FHW Wieking and his stepmother, Caroline Wilkening, came to a formal legal agreement on February 15, 1886 that Caroline Wilkening and her three children must vacate the Wieking family home in Leese/Stoltzenau and receive certain adjustments in return (documentation possessed by Bob Wieking). She received 800 Marks of German currency, one bed, a dresser, mirror, two chairs, and clothes cabinet. Of course, she also attained custody of her three children by her husband. So, where were Caroline Wilkening and her three children to go, having basically been evicted from their home? (Caroline was a great grandmother of Darien(Wieking) Ceremony, Pat (Wieking) Horton, Gordon Blunck and Jan(Blunck) Millar, and Bob and Rich Wieking).

Well, we can pick up the story in the San Francisco Bay Area. According to stories told by Henry Charles Wieking(a son of William and Christine(Gerdes) Wieking) to Bob Wieking(his son), a Mr. Henry Wilkening was in the Bay Area, working as a saloon keeper(documented in the voter registration records of Oakland, CA). Henry may have been that connection in the USA that Caroline and children needed since Caroline and Henry Wilkening were brother and sister. We find in the Oakland Business Directory, Oakland Public Library, that Henry Wieking(one of Caroline's sons) was the proprietor of the Oakland Casino Saloon. It is interesting to infer that he gained that employment by way of his uncle, Henry Wilkening! Several years later, the Oakland Business Directory shows Henry still as a proprietor of the Oakland Saloon, with William (the other son of Caroline) now serving as a bartender there. What do we know of Wilhelmina Wilkening, the only daughter of Caroline Wilkening? HC Wieking's anecdotes told me that she was a maid and caterer for most of her working life. In the 1920 US Census Keith Horton, the husband of Pat (Wieking) Horton, located Wilhelmina (Minna) as a boarder, living with her mother in a boarding house, run by Caroline. Minna is shown as age 45 years old. Her mother Caroline Wilkening(she is often listed as "Lena") is shown as being age 72. The only knowledge that is available of Minna is that she suffered from very severe arthritis and was bed-ridden at quite an early age (Bob Wieking vaguely remembers visiting her in a hospital in a large white bed with white sheets and bed cover. Cousin Dee Ceremony tells of a relative with whom "one had to be very gentle").

During this time, what is happening with Henry Wilkening, the brother of Caroline Wilkening? Other verbal anecdotes of Henry Charles Wieking described Henry Wilkening as owning a farm on 80th Avenue near East 14th Street in Oakland. It may be that it was Henry Wilkening who provided the linkage of Heinrich(Henry) and Wilhelm(William) Wieking to the Sunol and Livermore areas. Henry Charles Wieking told stories of Henry Wilkening's daughter, Martha (Wilkening) Keegan making trips to Sunol purportedly to visit the summer homes of both Henry and William Wieking, in the lovely canyon of Kilkaire Woods. The road to Kilkaire Woods leads right out of Sunol. In any event, Martha was said to "have rodeo friends" in Livermore. She was said to have taken Henry Charles Wieking to those rodeo's. It seems to me that my father, HC Wieking, honed some of his early interest in western life/cowboys/hunting through these early forays to Livermore and its rodeo's. So we now have Caroline Wilkening and her children settled in Oakland and connected to Henry Wilkening and his daughter. What do we know about the Wilkening name back in Germany? Bob Wieking has traced the name "Wilkening" via the internet back to the region of the Steinhüder Meer (Lake Steinhude), which is just east of Leese/Stoltzenau. No direct links to Caroline or Henry Wilkening have been found, however.


PART 2
The Gerdes Family Story-a tale of my father's mother's family
Let's start our story of our family, Gerdes, and work backward to the flat lands of Northern Germany. Most of our Gerdes family was uprooted from their hard life in Sievern, leaving only Emma(Gerdes)Eggers and Berta Gerdes. Their father, Hanke Gerdes, stated in his Last Will and Testament, that the Sievern farm was to remain with Emma, who was to evermore look after Berta. Berta was a little slow in mental function but remained a strong, and loving spinster through her life.

I (Bob Wieking) still remember both Emma and Berta peeling small, puny potatoes with their be-knuckled, arthritic hands. They had always prepared a noon meal that included these potatoes prepared in one sort or another. My parents and I had joined up in Frankfurt, Germany in the summer of 1967. They landed at the Frankfurt airport for a 4-week tour of Germany and regions nearby and I had taken off in April of that year on a motorcycle/train/hitch-hike tour of Western Europe. We traveled north from Frankfurt to Bremerhaven and then to Sievern just north of Bremerhaven. As a side light, it should be noted that my brother, Richard, had preceded both my parents and me in these travels. He had stayed a full year in Germany, working at a grinding wheel factory and getting to know all of our Germany relatives there!
While Emma and Berta remained in Sievern, on the farm, the rest of the family left Germany and arrived in New York via Ellis Island. They arrived in Ellis Island throughout the 1890's. Those émigrés were: Lizzie, Minna, John, Anna, Johanna, Christine, and Henry. The last four went on to the San Francisco Bay Area-specifically, Oakland, CA. There they became integrated with the local German community that was strong and thriving at that time. At this time I should emphasize that I will concentrate on the family of Christine Gerdes. Christine married Wilhelm Wieking and they had four children together: Henry, Elmer, Roy, and Aline. Christine and Wilhelm's grandchildren include: Bob and Richard Wieking(Henry), Darien(Wieking) Ceremony(Elmer), Pat(Wieking)Horton(Roy), and Jan and Gordon Blunck(Aline and Walter Blunck). It is for this present group of grandchildren, my cousins, that I am attempting to pull our Gerdes family story together! I guess it is also for any of our offspring who would care to listen....

Now that we have the immigrant Gerdes's settled in New York and California, we can step backward to northern Germany where Emma and Berta had stayed The parents of the "Sievern Two" and "the Immigrant 7" were Hanke Gerdes and Sophie Friederika Itjen.

Let's first follow the Gerdes line back in time. My cousins' great grandfather was Hanke Gerdes, born May 28, 1851. His father was Johann Gerdes (b.Oct 30, 1819; d. Aug 22, 1875). Johann was married to Margrete Catharine Von Glahn on May 9, 1851 in Langen, Germany. They had three births but only Hanke lived past three years of age!
Going further back, we find that Johann's father was also named Hanke Gerdes (b. Nov 28, 1792 at Fleetse, Germany; d.Nov 27, 1840k). Hanke Gerdes was married to Becke Adelheid Haase in Loxstedt (b. 1782; d. Dec 28, 1835). Hanke's occupation was that of Kötner. "Kötner" means Cottager or Farm Laborer.


PART 3
The Huttmann Family Story-A tale of the history of my mother's father
My mother's father was Hugo Huttmann. In Germany, the name was spelled with an umlaut over the "u". Hugo came to the USA, as did two of his brothers, Johann Hinrich Gustav and Walter Leo Huttmann. All that we really know, up to now, of these two brothers is that they settled in Denison, Iowa and operated "Huettmann Bros." At the Old Hub corner". They advertised that they sold "clothing and gents furnishings". Bob Wieking does possess three letters from Walter Leo to Hugo Huttmann.

It is informative now to note that my mother had sisters and one brother: Dora, Doris, Bertha, Louise, and Bill.
Dora: husband Ray Butler and children Donna, Vance, and Frank
Doris: husband Roy Walley, and daughter Rita(Gifford)
Bertha: husband Walter Beck and children Carol and Cynthia
Louise: husband Bob Wright and children David and Patricia
Christine: husband Henry Wieking, and children Robert and Richard
Bill: wife Audrey Hendrickson and children Beverly, Dean, and Linda

And now, back to Hugo! Hugo had immigrated to the USA via Ellis Island. He sailed to the US on the ship "Dania". His arrival to Ellis Island was on April 04, 1894, 15 years of age. Further information from the Ellis Island archives note that he sailed from Hamburg harbor, in northern Germany. He eventually settled in the city of Oakland, CA and was, before long, introduced to Frieda Grote. They lived in the Fruitvale district of Oakland, then the hub of German immigrant life.

The promise of land and abundant water drove Hugo and wife, Frieda, to homestead property in Aguila, Arizona. They moved into a small house and soon added on to it. Before long Christine was born, and then Doris/Dora(twins), then Louise, and then Bertha. Dora wrote in her life story that 'it was hot, there were snakes and we had a donkey that Christine and Bill rode to school on".

It was in this hot, undeveloped landscape that the Huttmann family lived until Hugo severely injured one eye while working in a mine. This accident, combined with the promise of water never fulfilled, drove the family from their Aguila homestead back to the Fruitvale area of Oakland. On a rather somber note, it has been related to the family by Dora that the only evidence of the Huttmann having been there in Aguila is a well in town that is labeled "The Huttmann Well."
Now, with the Hugo Huttmann's settled in the Bay Area, Hugo's oldest brother, Julius Herman Heinrich Huttmann, was operating the family community grist mill which he had inherited. As the eldest, he was the owner of the mill. However, he was drafted as a soldier in 1914 and died in Russia, in 1915, during World War One. Ownership of the mill then flowed to Julius Herman Heinrich Huttmann's elder son, Heinrich Huttmann, who was born in May 31, 1907. Heinrich Huttmann is the first cousin of my mother, Christine, and her siblings.


"The Hüttmann Family in the Kaltenkirchen Parish"
from the Segeburger Zeitung newspaper

Old documents and records lead to several interesting interpretations. A Hinrich Hüttmann first appeared in the old Segeberg official records in the area of Henstedt in 1542. Twenty-five years later the name appears with two owners: Jürgen and Hinrich. Since in the same year, in what is today Hüttblek (which dates back to 1567), three people were listed with that name: Marten, Jürgen, and Hanss, it can be assumed that Henstedt is the ancestral seat of this family, now widely expanded. From this point on, through acquisitions and marriages, the family spread out over the whole parish of Kaltenkirchen and into bordering areas.
This assumption gains even more probability by the fact that there was, in Hüttbleck, until the time of the 30 Years War, a large glassworks (Glashütte). This not only gave the place its name, but probably also the family which had settled there. If this conjecture is accurate, then it follows that the family must have had something to do with the glassworks, which was rented to the Segeberg magistrate. They must have been glassmakers and glassblowers.
Since there is a Jürgen Hüte Man also listed in the record of 1656/57 under Hüttblek, next to Hanss and Thiss Hüttmann, it might also be assumed that this person worked there as a shepherd. Whether one or the other of these assumptions is correct cannot be proven. It is much more likely that it is a purely a matter of there being another way of spelling the same name. In later years this latter spelling does not reappear.
Hanss Hüttmann first appears, as a landowner, in Lentforden in 1665. In the same year there is listed a cottager, Hinrich Hüttmann, in Kisdorf. Also in Wakendorf II and Schmalfeld, Carsten and Hinrich first appear as bearers of the family name.
From this it can be determined without question, that the family spread out from Hütbleck after the closing down of the glassworks. It is indeed an unfortunate loss that the old record books only hold the names of those persons who paid taxes. Not even the cottagers are listed in the parishes. This lack is, however, not terribly difficult, since all the families who were tied to their land and property, and from which all the others stemmed, could be registered. Therefore, it certainly follows that all the families new to the area in later years ordinarily felt at home in the communities. The settling of brand new families was very uncommon in earlier centuries in the villages. Therefore, it must also be assumed that those people in Nahe(which was once a part of ____) were Hüttmanns, who had settled there and became well known as builders, brickworkers, farmers, and for the last 150 years, millers, and that they belonged to the Hüttbleker family.
Proof of the references and assumptions made here remains somewhat tentative. The transition from the church records, which go back to 1648, to the old official records and registers of earnings, is not easy to find in the parish of Kaltenkirchen.


"A Family History of the Hüttmann Family"
Nahe, Germany (North of Hamburg)
In 1753 the Huttmann family settled in Nahe. In this year the carpenter Jochim Huttmann married the widow Anna Wrage (born Burmeister), who was born in Duvenstedt. He came from Wilstedt and was born there on January 28, 1726, the son of Tim and Cathrin Huttmann. After the death of his wife, who died in about 1764, he married for the second time on January 11, 1765<>
From the first marriage, there was one daughter, Anna Catharina, born on September 29, 1754. She married the smallholder, Hans Stoffers on November 13, 1773 in Itzstedt, and their descendants still live there. From the second marriage there were 6 children, which all outlived their parents. However one son, Claus Hinrich, died shortly after his mother at the age of 16. A daughter, Catharina Marie died 2 years after her father on March 22, 1805 at the age of nearly 24. The oldest daughter<>
Of the two sons, we will now concentrate on the younger, Marx Huttmann: he was born on March 17, 1776, married Anna Catharina Steenbuck, the daughter of a small holder in Nahe, Sievert Steenbuck, and later became a smallholder himself. He lost his wife in 1842 and on September 8, 1844, he lost his only son, Hans Jochim Huttmann, who married Catharina Maria Pohlmann, a daughter of the landlord of the Wrage property, Hinrich Pohlmann. Marx Huttmann married again at the age of 78. In fact he married a niece, the widowed Catharina Maria Steenbuck, the daughter of his half sister Stoffers in Itzstedt.
The wedding was on May 29, 1854. Marx Huttmann moved to Wilstedt and is said to have died there at the old age of about 96 years.
We now turn to the eldest son of Jochim Huttmann. His name was Hans Jochim Huttmann, born December 2, 1771. Like his father, he too was a carpenter. On august 9, 1797 he married Catharina Dorothea Wrage, who was born on October 10, 1766 and died on April 18, 1838. He, himself, died on February 15, 1841. The couple left 3 children behind, two sons and a daughter. This daughter was the youngest, born on January 17, 1806. On September 27, 1828 she married Claus Finnern, a smallholder in Nahe and died on December 4, 1884. This marriage produced a pair of twins, Hans Hinrich and Christina, born on April 23, 1829. The daughter married the smallholder, Caspar Harms and moved to Wakendorf. The marriage of the son will be discussed later in another context. Worth noting is the remark in the marriage register, that the parents of the groom refused to consent to the marriage. It necessitated unique negotiations.


2061 Nahe, July 12, 1970
"The Family Hüttmann from the Mill in Nahe"
The founder of the miller's family, Huettmann from Nahe, was Hans Heinrich Huettmann. He was born Sept. 7, 1802. In Dec. 1, 1839 he married Margareta Sophia Dorothea Hartz, a farmer's daughter from Schlamersdorf. She was born in Schlamersdorf on July 19, 1814 and died Sept. 23, 1888. Her husband(founder Huettmann) had passed away Oct. 20, 1853 at the age of 51. He was owner of the Mill of Nahe which is still in possession of his descendants.
The couple had four children, two sons and two daughters. The oldest daughter Catharina Maria Dorothea born April 17, 1840 died Sept. 4, 1908, was married to her cousin Hans Heinrich Finnern in Nahe who was a 3/4 smallholder. The younger daughter Ida Margareta Dorothea, born June 20, 1853, got married on Sept. 1, 1882 to Jochim Biehl from Wakendorf, a tradesman(owner of a small store).
Of the two sons, the older one, Marx Jochim-Claus Hinrich Huettmann, received his father's inheritance, the Mill. He was born April 23, 1841 and was married to Christine Foelster who died March 18, 1909. Out of his 6 children, 3 sons emigrated to America, Johann Heinrich Gustav, Hugo, and Walter Leo. His oldest son, Julius Hermann Heinrich(Huettmann)born february. 26, 1874 married to Emma Diedrichs, a farmer's daughter from Elmenhorst, became a miller and managed the Mill at Nahe. He was drafted as a soldier in 1914 and died in Russia in 1915 (WWI).He had 4 children. Of the sons, the second Emil Karl, born 1913, died in the last war (WWII). The oldest daughter Hertha, born May 30,1909, is married to the teacher Erwin Minke in Hamburg-Sase. The younger daughter Annemarie, born May 5, 1914, is not married and has a restaurant in Hamburg-Bergstedt. The oldest son, Hans Heinrich Huettmann, presently owns the Mill at Nahe.
He was born May 31, 1907 in Elmenhorst and married Oct. 25, 1932 to Elfriede Louise Feddern, a farmer's daughter from Rethwischfeld. They took over Nov. 1, 1932. They have 4 children, one son and 3 daughters. The oldest daughter Elke, born Sept. 30, 1937 is married to tailor and restauranteur Wolfgang Daniel. They live in Lueneburg and have 2 sons. The youngest daughter, Annegret, is not married. She has a daughter. The son, Hans Heinrich, was born May 18, 1936. He will be the next heir to the Mill from Nahe. On Oct. 23, 1962 he married the stenotypist Elke Knoop from Gnissau. They have 2 sons and 1 daughter. The girl, Marlen, was born April 1, 1970, son Hans-Heinrich May 8, 1963 and son Kai Sept. 5, 1965.

Appendix to Hans Heinrich Huettmann born May 31, 1907. His wife Elfriede Louise died May 5, 1955. He remarried 1958 Hertha Behrens, born July 15, 1915.

Appendix to Marx Jochim Hinrich Huettmann, born May 21, 1841. His younger daughter, Emma Olga Gertrud, born May 14, 1886 was married to Rudolf Wilhelm Wrage in Nahe, who is owner of a nursery and is also a gardner. They have 2 sons, Walter and Herbert. His older daughter was married to _______ Runge. After the death of her husband, she was remarried to Hermann Mohr, from Jueteburg.
Signed Hans Heinrich Huettmann(1936)


PART 4
The Grote Family Story- a tale of the history of my mother's mother
“Berta Friedricke (Grote) Huttmann” was the official name of our grandmother, my mother’s mother. She was born in the Hawaiian Islands in 1888. She was the eldest of the family siblings. She had brothers and sisters William, Hermann, Henriette Amali(“Mali”), Dora Lena, and Marie(“Mariechen”). Her parents were C.W. Grote and Ida (Bomke) Grote. Ida Bomke’s parents were August Johann Bomke and Julie Kremin. A.J. Bomke and Julie Kremin were living in West Prussia in the area of Kulm(“Chelmno” in Polish). When Julie Kremin died in childbirth, giving birth to Ida, August Johann Bomke then married Julie’s cousin, Julianne Henriette Draheim. And so, with the sorrow at the loss of his wife, AJ. Bomke took his new wife and young daughter(Ida) to the Island of Kauai, where a total of 3 ship loads of mostly German immigrants were brought to begin work in the embryonic sugar cane fields that were to become a massive staple of the Island economy. They traveled on a bark named the CEDER.
With CW and Ida now married and with family, Berta Friedricke(“Frieda”) went to California where she met Hugo Huttmann. Their life and family can be found described above in the section covering Hugo Huttmann!

Portion of a letter from Shirley Bomke Craddock
"I still marvel at the A.J. Bomke. He was 46 years old(1837-1883) when he moved that whole family to Kauai--he'd already fought (artillery unit) three wars in Prussia, and had toes missing on both feet from frostbite in the trenches. The boat trip included 8 children for 4 months-oldest was 18 years and the youngest was 2! He worked as a field Luna(supervisor) for Lihue Sugar Plantation for 20 years(til 66 years old), then moved to Honolulu in 1903. He finally moved to Los Angeles in 1924, when sons Carl and Paul moved too. He died in 1931, at the ripe old age of 94. His 2d wife must have been a real trooper too--she raised all those children and my Dad said, "she milked the darn cow everyday and kept the garden going."
Ida Bomke, now settled in the island of Kauai, eventually met Conrad Wilhelm Grote, who had also come from Germany on the ship, EHRENFELS.