History in the Kingdom of Saxony
This
history was provided by Susan Heinrich and has been modified to incorporate
additional information, maps and photos.
Table of Contents
Sigmond (Siegmont) Heinrich – First Generation
Johanna Caroline (Henker) and Fredrich William Heinrich – Second Generation
Sigmond (Siegmont) Heinrich– First Generation
Our Germanic “Saxon” (Sachsen) ancestry begins in
the late 1700’s with Sigmond Heinrich. Our
earliest known ancestor, Sigmond, was born in 1799. His exact place of birth is unknown but is believed
to have been in the Kingdom of Saxony, located in modern day Germany.
Following are maps of modern day Europe and
Germany, with Saxony noted (click to enlarge):
Source:
http://www.tr62.de/maps/s1.html
According to Wikipedia, a brief history of
Saxony follows:
The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in
1806, following centuries of decline, and the defeat of Emperor Francis II by
Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz. The Kingdom of Saxony emerged as one of
its independent successor states with [Elector Frederick Augustus III becoming]
King Frederick Augustus I. Frederick
Augustus made the mistake of remaining loyal for too long to Napoleon I, and he
was taken prisoner and his territories declared forfeit by the allies in 1813,
with the intention of their being annexed by Prussia. Ultimately, the
opposition of Austria, France, and the United Kingdom resulted in Frederick
Augustus being restored to his throne at the Congress of Vienna, but Saxony was
forced to cede the northern part of the kingdom to Prussia. These lands became
the Prussian province of Saxony, which is today incorporated in Saxony-Anhalt.
What was left of the Kingdom of Saxony was roughly identical with the present
federal state of Germany.
Briefly joining the Confederation of the
Rhine, until this broke apart in 1813 with Napoleon's defeat in Russia, in 1815
the Kingdom of Saxony became a member of the German Confederation as a result
of the Congress of Vienna.
The Confederation was dissolved in 1866
after the Austro-Prussian War, and was succeeded in turn by the North German
Confederation, led by Prussia. With Prussia's victory over France in the
Franco-Prussian War of 1871, the members of the Confederation were organised by
Otto von Bismarck into the German Empire, with Wilhelm I as its Emperor. John
I, as Saxony's incumbent king, was subordinate and owed allegiance to the
Emperor.
Wilhelm I's grandson Kaiser Wilhelm II
abdicated in 1918 as a result of Germany's defeat in the First World War. King
Frederick Augustus III of Saxony followed him into abdication and the erstwhile
Kingdom of Saxony became a state within the newly-formed Weimar Republic, thus
ceasing a somewhat brief history as a kingdom…[It was] reestablished within
slightly altered borders in 1990 upon German reunification [and is now one of
the 16 states of Germany].
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Saxony, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxony#Foundation_of_the_first_Saxon_state
For further history of Saxony, see:
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0860948.html
http://www.apex.net.au/~jgk/saxony/history.html
Saxony is perhaps best known today for its
Christmas markets and traditions (http://www.weihnachtsfreu.de).
Sigmond eventually married, however his wife’s
name is unknown.
Sigmond and his wife had at least one child,
Fredrich William (Frederick Wilhelm), who was born November 25, 1819. It is highly probable that Fredrich was named
after Frederick Wilhelm III, the then King of Prussia.
Sigmond’s wife died in 1820, less than a year
later after giving birth to Fredrich. In
1828, when Fredrich was about nine years old, his father Sigmond died, leaving
Fredrich an orphan. It is not known with
whom he lived with after his parents’ deaths.
Johanna Caroline (Henker) and Fredrich William Heinrich – Second Generation
Arnsdorf, Saxony – 1828-1848
Fredrich grew up in Arnsdorf. We do not know the exact location as there
are currently five villages with the name of Arnsdorf in the state of
Saxony. We can only place him in a
particular area of Saxony.
Following is a modern day map of the area
around Dresden showing approximate location of the five villages, with their
postal codes:
Source: www.viamichelin.co.uk
In 1841, at the age of 22, Fredrich married
Johanna Caroline Henker in Arnsdorf.
Johanna’s parents were Mary (Rosalie) and Christian Henker. Johanna Caroline, who came to be known as
Caroline, was born on October 12, 1814.
She was 27 years old when she married Fredrich (who was five years
younger than her).
On February 21, 1847, in Arnsdorf, Caroline
gave birth to their son, Fredrich Augustust, hereafter referred to as
August. This birth was six years after
her marriage to Fredrich and she was 33 years of age at this time. It is possible that other children were born
before this but may have died at child birth. It is probable that Fredrich Augustus was
named after the current King of Saxony, Frederick Augustus II.
The year of 1848 was a year of revolutions in
the history of Germany and the Kingdom of Saxony. According to Wikipedia:
"Germany" at the time of the
Revolutions of 1848 was a collection of 38 states [including Saxony] loosely
bound together in the German Confederation after the Congress of Vienna in
1815. Since then, repeated calls for freedom, democracy and international
understanding were made…Liberal pressure spread throughout the German states,
each of which experienced the revolutions in their own way. Fearing the fate of
Louis-Philippe of France, many kings capitulated to the revolutionaries at least
temporarily. The revolution was triggered by events in France at the end of
February and soon spread to Germany, known there as the March Revolution. In
the south and the west of Germany, large popular assemblies and mass
demonstrations took place. They primarily demanded freedom of the press,
freedom of assembly, arming of the people, and a national German parliament.
…[At this time, the Germany states were
suffering from] Poor Living Conditions:
·
Cholera Epidemic. Led to massive death and suffering across the country.
·
Huge population growth meant many people starved, partly due to failures of
recent harvests in 1846 and 1847.
·
Many people moved to the cities, for work, but working conditions were
generally terrible, with long working days and poor, or non-existent rights.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Revolutions_of_1848_in_the_German_states
These conditions probably influenced Fredrich
to consider moving. In April 1848 Fredrich
(age 28) and Caroline (age 33) decided to immigrate to America with their 1 ½
year old son August. Caroline’s parents,
Christian and Mary Henker, and a relation by the name of Charles W. Heinrich, appear
to have immigrated with them, as they all appear together later on the 1850
census records in America. We do not
know who Charles was, however he was born about 1816 and was a couple years
older than Fredrich. (Perhaps Fredrich
was not an orphan after all!)
The family departed by boat in April 1848. The voyage across the Atlantic took 17 weeks
(a little over four months). In about
August or September, they landed at Baltimore, Maryland and then proceeded to their
destination in Wisconsin.
Following is a map of
the United States in 1848, showing their arrival point in Baltimore and their
destination in Wisconsin.
Source: http://www.davidrumsey.com/maps6150.html