RHINELAND, MO

The Rhineland of today, with a population of 176 (as of the 2000 census), is not a large or wealthy town. The median income for a family in Rhineland is $41,250, and the per capita income is $16,989. 8.8% of the population is below the poverty line, and this includes 25% of those sixty five or over. Rhineland is located three miles south of Starkenburg, while Americus is three miles north of Starkenburg. Americus was probably the first home in the New World of Caroline Heying's parents Wilhelm and Theodora Giesing, who lived there almost until the time of her birth. Adolph Heying's parents Frantz and Hendrina also lived in Americus or nearby. St. Martin's Catholic Church, where Franz and Hendrina are buried and my grandfather Hubert was baptized, is in Starkenburg (http://www.historicshrine.org/StMartinsChurch.htm). St. Joseph's, whose name has been changed to the "Church of the Risen Savior," (http://www.diojeffcity.org/Parishes/ChurchRisenSavior-Rhineland.html), where Caroline's parents were married, is in Rhineland.

Rhineland's name was given to it, so they say, by German immigrants who were reminded of the Rhine River area of Germany. Though located on the bank of the Missouri River only six miles from Hermann, Rhineland does not seem to have taken off in wine production the way Hermann did. Many of the German-Americans involved in the winegrowing boom in Hermann were immigrants from the southwest parts of Germany or Switzerland. The Bocholt area from which my family immigrated is in the northwest part of Germany, and this was not a big winegrowing locale. After Rhineland was devastated by the Great Flood of 1993 the residents, 157 of them, decided to accept federal funds to move their houses out of the flood plain about a miles and a half away on a hill.


HEYINGS IN RHINELAND, MO

Adolph Heying was the father of my maternal grandfather Hubert F. Heying. Adolph's paternal grandfather was Joannes Wilhelm Heying. Joannes was born on October 27, 1790 in Bocholt, Westfalia, Prussia, and died 1862 in Rhineland, Missouri. In Germany he married Aleida Epping, who was born in 1796. They came to American in 1848 with their seven children, all of whom had been born in Prussia (Germany): Elizabeth, b.1818, Mary, b. 1820, Bernard, b. 1822, Aleida, b. 1824, Frantz, b. 1925, Henry, b. 1828, and Laurence, b. 1838. In the 1850 census, the children living with William and Aleida (Eliza) at that time in Montgomery County are: Francis, Eliza, Laurance- another daughter, Vena, age 3, is mentioned. (There are many mistakes on this entry.)

One of those children, Bernard Heying, was later listed as a sergeant from Rhineland, MO, with "Co. M, 2nd Missouri Artillery," serving from September 7, 1861 to October 11, 1863. He left with a disability, injured from a fall from his horse. Bernard appears in the 1870 census in Loutre Township as a farmer married to Eliza. The children listed are Edward, 16 yrs., Henry, 11 yrs., William, 8 yrs., Ferdinan 4 yrs., and Otho, 1 yr. Bernard appears again in the 1880 census living with his wife Eliza and children William, 18 yrs., Ferdinan, 16 yrs., Otto, 11 yrs., Gerard, 9 yrs., and Ludwig, 2 yrs. He is still farming, and now has a seventeen year old servant living with them.

My grandfather Hubert F. Heying's sister, Barbara Travers (nee Heying) hand copied the following article from a Montgomery County newspaper which had been given to her:

"Rhineland News"

 

A remarkable family reunion was held at the residence of Bernard Heying June 20, 1894. The following brothers and sister were present: Mrs. Elizabeth Gossen, age 77, of Kentucky, Mrs. Mary Nienaber of Kentucky, age 74, Bernard Heying, 72, Franz Heying of Iowa, age 69, Henry Heying of Iowa, age 66, Mrs. Aleida Holtwich age 70, Laurance Heying, age 56.

In 1848 Grandpa William Heying came to this country bring his family consisting of the above named seven children. The children have married and separated and this is their first re-union in 14 years. Including the children- grandchildren and great grandchildren, the family now numbers 160 living person. During these years only 3 deaths have occurred.

Adolph's father was Franz Heying, mentioned above, and he was born on February 16, 1825, in Prussia and died on January 14, 1907. Franz is buried at St. Martin's Cemetery Starkenburg, MO (http://www.historicshrine.org/StMartinsChurch.htm). Adolph's mother, Hendrina Struttman, daughter of Johann Struttman (1803-Unknown) and Catharina Te Pass (1800-1852), was born on March 31, 1836 in Wittenhorst, Germany and died February 13, 1903 in Starkenburg, MO. She is also buried at St. Martin's. Franz Heying appears in the 1880 census as a farmer in Loutre Township, married to Henrietta, with eight children: William, 21 yrs., Adolph, 16 yrs., Catherine, 14 yrs., Benjamin, 12 yrs., Eliza, 10 yrs., Emmer, 7 yrs., August, 4 yrs., Ireen, 1 yr. Though the above article mentions his residence as Iowa in 1894, the 1900 census lists him as living in the Loutre Township.

The Heyings were a family of farmers. The census 1900 still lists Franz as a farmer when, at age 75, he was living with his wife Dena and son August, now 24 years old. August later married a lady named Malvenia. On October 11, 1950, at age 75, he drove off a country road in the fog and was killed. Up until that time he was still living in "rural" Loutre and stating his occupation as farming. William, the oldest brother of Adolph, took a wife named Jane. When he died on January 29, 1931, his certificate of death listed his trade as "retired farmer." Both William and August are buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Rhineland. My great grandfather Adolph Heying seems to have broken the farming tradition in the family, though a certain cousin of his, Otto, son of Franz' brother Bernard Heying, on his 1941 death certificate is listed as having a lumber yard in New Florence, Missouri, not too far from Americus.

Adolph Heying was born on 19 October 1863 in Rhineland, Montgomery County, Missouri, and was baptized at St. Martin's Catholic Church in Starkenburg. Adolph married Caroline Giesing on January 12, 1891 in St. Mary's Catholic Church (http://www.diojeffcity.org/Parishes/MostPureHeartofMary-Chamois.html), Chamois, Missouri, with Fr. Jerome Hellkake OSF presiding. (Caroline's family had moved to Chamois from Americus just before she was born.) In the 1900 census he is listed as a "merchant" in Loutre Township living with his wife and first five children. The 1910 census finds the family with all six children living in Glasgow, MO, where Adolph now has a lumber yard. (Adolph's youngest daughter Gertrude was born in 1905 in Glasgow.) The 1920 census places them in Denver, Colorado, minus Martha, who had married the year before, and Arthur, who had died two years before. The 1930 census finds Adolph living in Boonville with his son Paul, now a partner in the retail lumber business, and Adolph's daughter Barbara Travers, who now had her own daughter Roberta., five years old. At this time Hubert is also in Boonville living with his own family, and he too is in the retail lumber business, which Adolph continued with his sons until 1935 (Heying and Sons). Adolf died from a cerebral accident on March 21, 1943 in Boonville, Cooper County, Missouri. He was buried on March 24, 1943 in St. Peter and St. Paul Cemetery (http://www.ssppchurch.net/). Many years later Hubert started a lumber business called "Timberline" which stayed in the family until some years after his death. Adolph Heying had married Caroline Giesing in 1891 and had the following children:

Paul Sylvester Heying, born October 31, 1891 Starkenburg, MO, died in February 1978.

Martha Theodore Heying, born on December 20, 1892, Starkenburg, MO, who married Ralph W. Bozworth in 1919. She died in July 1986, in Shawnee Mission, Johnson County, Kansas.

Arthur Henry Heying was born 14 April 1894, in Starkenburg, MO, and died March 23, 1908 in MO.

Barbara Marie Heying was born on November 10, 1898 in Missouri, and died on June 13, 1990. Barbara Marie Heying and Benjamin James Travers were married September 12, 1922. Benjamin was born on December 19, 1890 and died in June of 1965. Barbara and Benjamin had a daughter, Roberta (Mom's cousin "Bobby?) Carolyn Travers, born on June 13, 1924, in Kansas. Roberta married Charles John Berg on June 8, 1946. Charles was born in 1923.

Ada Ludwina Heying, born on 14 April 14, 1900, in Starkenburg, MO, and died on November 7, 1992, in Pennsylvania. Ada and L. E. Henry were married on June 16, 1919. L. E. Henry was born about 1898.

Gertrude E. Heying was the youngest sibling of Hubert F. Heying, born on November 15, 1905 in Glasgow, Howard County, Missouri. She died on August 13, 1992 in Akron, Summit County, Ohio. She was buried in St. Peter and St. Paul Cemetery, Boonville, Cooper County, Missouri. Gertrude E. Heying married Jeffrey A. Kuykedall, who was born about 1904.

My maternal grandfather Hubert F. Heying, was born on March 30, 1902, in Starkenburg, Missouri. He married Margaret Eulalie Reilly, on October 15, 1924. He died on 8 May 1988 in Shawnee Mission, Johnson County, Kansas. He relocated to Boonville, Missouri, where the first four of his five children were born. The 1930 census lists him as a Boonville merchant of retail lumber.


GIESINGS IN RHINELAND, MO

Caroline Giesing Heying was the mother of my maternal grandfather Hubert F. Heying. Caroline's father was Wilhelm Giesing, also known as William. He was born on November 25, 1824 in Wesel, Germany, just south of Bocholt on the Rhine River, in the area that was at that time part of Westphalia, Prussia. He died from sunstroke on July 19, 1889 in Chamois, Missouri, and was buried in Shelly/Giesing Cemetery Chamois, Osage County, Missouri. He was a farmer, and a record of his sale of 178 acres near Americus, Missouri on February 1, 1868 for $400 (Sec.34 TW47N R6W & Sec.3 TW46N R6W) to John Puschann & Louis Mueller exists. He had already moved his family to Chamois, Missouri, where Caroline was born in 1862. He married Theodora Schepers, also known as Dora, on July 11, 1853 in St. Joseph Catholic Church, Rhineland, Montgomery County, Missouri (http://www.diojeffcity.org/Parishes/ChurchRisenSavior-Rhineland.html). Theodora Schepers, the daughter of Theodore Schepers and Gertrude Cothbek, was born in October 1828 in Munster, Germany. She died from breast cancer on January 30, 1887 in Chamois, Missouri. She was buried on 3 February 1887 in Shelly/Giesing Cemetery, Chamois, Osage County, Missouri. Attending doctor at death was W. T. Mahon MD. Four of William and Theodora's children were born in the Starkenburg, Missouri area (Montgomery County) and another four were born in Chamois, Missouri (Osage County). The first four of Caroline Giesing Heying's siblings born in Montgomery County include:

John Theodore Giesing was born on May 18, 1854, Americus, Montgomery County, Missouri. John married Caroline Gosen on May 25, 1880, in Rhineland, Montgomery County, Missouri. He died on 1 December 1896, Claysville, Boone County, Missouri.

Gerhard Giesing was born on January 6, 1856, area near Starkenburg, Montgomery County, Missouri. Gerhard married Rosa Anna Reymer on April 6, 1880, and died on June 8, 1919, in Chamois. Rosa was born on October 22, 1860, in Americus, Montgomery County, Missouri, and died on October 25, 1929 in Chamois, Missouri at age 69. She was buried on October 28, 1929 in Mary Most Pure Heart of Mary Cemetery, Chamois, Missouri. The cause of her death was from being hit by Locomotive Number 10 Missouri Pacific train at Chamois, Missouri.

Bernard (Ben) G. Giesing was born in 1858, Montgomery County, Missouri, and married Caroline Gosen on 20 May 1900, Jefferson City, Cole County, Missouri. Caroline Gosen Giesing was widow of his brother John Theodore, who had died in 1896. A 1900 census of Boone County, Cedar Township (today part of Columbia), shows Caroline (Gosen) Giesing living as a farmer with eight children: William, 19 yrs., Frank, 17 yrs., Joseph, 16 yrs., Bettie, 14 yrs., August, 13 yrs., Otto, 11 yrs., Oscar, 7 yrs., and Walter, 5 yrs. Ben was still listed at this time as a "boarder." Ben died on December 13, 1927, back in Chamois.

Henrich (Henry) Giesing was born on 23 June 1860, in Montgomery County, Missouri. He married Mary Murphy, on 18 October 1887, at Most Pure Heart of Mary Church, in Chamois, and died on 29 April 29, 1915, in Colorado City, Pueblo County, Colorado.


A picture and a map of my great-great grandfather Frantz Heying's Grave
Captain Wolht's (Bed and Breakfast we stayed at in Hermann, MO)
Gasconade County Historical Society in Hermann, MO

Ancestral Heying and Giesing Families in BOCHOLT, GERMANY

Great Grandma Caroline Giesing Heying's Family in CHAMOIS, MO

GIESINGS in BOONVILLE, MO

View Marraige and Death CERTIFICATES of Ancestors

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