Biographies

 Johann Christian Heckenbach 1804-1885

Johann, the firstborn in his family, was born in Brohl in 1804. This was during the French occupation of the Rhineland. He went to work at Joseph Merzbach's papermill in Brohl at the age of 12. His father Christian was apparently an officer or possibly one of five co-founders of the firm. Starting in 1839, new machines were installed and Johann rose to the position of foreman. At his retirement in 1866, he was given a silver cup acknowledging his 50 years' service. The cup still exists in the family. The firm was then known as J. Merzbach and Co. Founded in 1785, it still operates today under the name of Brohl Wellpappe, with 510 employees, producing cardboard, pasteboard, and boxes.

Johann had five daughters, three of whom had died by 1845. A fourth died in 1874 at the age of 24. His two sons lived and emigrated to America in the 1860s and were the forbears of the Heckenbachs in this country, leaving over 1000 descendants. From Johann's four brothers, only a handful of descendants remain to this day in Germany. Some never married, many more died, and others moved away from Brohl. His brother Phillip also had four daughters who came to the US and settled in St Louis.

In December 1861 there was a census taken in Brohl showing Johann Heckenbach, machinist, age 57, with his wife Katherine (Windheuser) age 55, son Christian age 21, daughter Margaretha age 14, living in House Number 84. At that time the street names were not noted in the census. Johann Adam was already out of the house by then.

He apparently was a man of some means, having a bank account at the bank in Trier, and being able to send his elder son to university. Johann wrote his son Christian a letter probably in 1884 that has been preserved. He complained of being almost blind. He said that his brother had died a year ago, and his sister Margaret 6 months ago. 

He lived in Brohl and died on 5 May 1885, age 81. His death was recorded at Niederbreisig on 6 May.

  Doctor John Adam Heckenbach 1831-1913

John Adam Heckenbach was also known as Johann Anton and as Adam.  He was the first son of Johann Heckenbach and Katherine Windheuser. As a young man Johann Anton attended the University of Bonn and afterward taught school there. He arrived in NY Jun 19 1862 on the Bavaria from Hamburg, listed as a merchant. He returned to Prussia and married Sophia Fischer, daughter of Ludwig Fischer and Maria Kersten from an interior town administered by Koblenz. Marriage record has not been found. 

The family story about him said that he was "twice a draft dodger." He does seem to be timing his movements around the American Civil War and the Austro-Prussian War. The following dates are all documented.

Aug. 9, 1831 He was born in Brohl-am-Rhein, Prussia.

Dec 3 1861 His name is not recorded on the census at the home of his parents.

April 28 1862 He is in Koblenz appearing with Carl Stommel age 36 also from Brohl to obtain an Emigration Application to permit them to travel by ship from Hamburg to New York. A notation at the bottom says "Dodge Counti". The document is then filed at the mayor's office in Niederbreisig. 

May 31 1862 He and Carl Stommel depart Hamburg on the steamship Bavaria. They arrive in New York on June 19. Perhaps Carl inspired John Adam to settle in Mayville, Dodge County, Wisconsin. Carl was born Feb 21 1826 in Brohl and died in Mayville Nov 15 1899. He had 8 children and the large family prospered in Mayville.

Before 1865, He returns to Germany and he marries Franciska Sophia Fisher  (Jan. 27, 1838- Oct. 16, 1878) 

Nov 14 1865 They have a baby Johann born in Brohl.

July 5 1866 They emigrate to America on the ship Bosphorus from Liverpool. He is listed as a farmer. They go directly to Chicago, and the baby dies when only 10 months old (1867).

Adam and Franciska move to Mayville, Dodge County, WI. They have other children born in Mayville: Henry in 1867, Annie in 1869, Amalia ("Mollie") in 1870, and Joe in 1872.

On June 22 1869 in Mayville he receives his first US patent #91624 for a shotgun design. 

November 25 1869 he applies for naturalization at Dodge County, WI circuit court.

July 28 1870 census in Williamsburg, Dodge County, WI, (Kekocken Post Office) John (Heckenbauer) listed as a carpenter, with wife Franciska, Henry, and Anna.

In 1871 his 3 female cousins emigrated and settled in St Louis MO, and their sister came in 1872. At some point Johann lived in St Louis too and was a church choir director. Franciska was a singer in the choir. 

March 4 1873 patent issued for metronome. Address in Mayville, Dodge County, WI.

Feb 4 1874 Another child Chris is born in Chicago. John Adam was said to have been the choir director at St Alphonsus Church in Chicago at this time.

Starting November 1875 and into 1877, he advertises in each weekly edition of the Kenosha WI Telegraph newspaper, "J. A. Heckenabch, Maunfacturer of First Class Breech-Loading Guns and Rifles. Guns Rebored to close-shooters, &c. Every kind of Sewing Machine repaired and other fine mechanical work done to order. Pianos and Organs tuned and repaired skilfully. Market Street, near City Hotel, Kenosha, Wis." (Current location northwest corner of 56th St and 6th Ave in Kenosha, site of the former Chase Bank Building)

June 13 1876 he receives a patent for an improved shotgun design, while living in Kenosha, WI.

June 21, 1876 another child Margaret is born in Kenosha, Kenosha County, WI.

1877-1878 He is listed as as a "gun-maker and designer" with address 473 3rd Street in Milwaukee.

October 2 1878 An article in the Juneau (WI) Telelgraph states that J. A. Heckenbach has returned to Mayville after living in Milwaukee, and taken over the gun and locksmith business of another resident who had moved on to Kansas.

Oct 16 1878 in Mayville, Dodge County, WI Franciska and her 8th child both die in childbirth, and are buried at Calvary Cemetery in Williamstown. 

July 15 1879 after returning to Chicago, he marries (second marriage) Johanna Droege, also known as Jennie, who was born in 1838 in Chicago (her parents were from Hannover, Germany) at St. Josephs Church. Jennie already has 3 children: Henry 1862-1935, Freddie 1863-1914, and Anna 1866-?.

On May 25 1880 he is mentioned in the Chicago Inter Ocean newspaper as plaintiff in a chancery case, Heckenbach vs Droege, masters rent. Chancery law has to do with landlord/tenant issues.
 
June 10th 1880 census, he is listed as an MD living on Halsted Street in Chicago with his four children plus Johanna and her three children  

He graduates as MD March 29 1882 from the Bennett Medical College in Chicago.  His certification from the State Board of Health dated Mar 29 1882 is still in the family. As a physician, he had a 100% success rate in diptheria cases. I have a copy of his diploma. He used the name "John Adam."  

According to the book "The medical history of Milwaukee, 1834-1914", he was a newly-arrived doctor in Milwaukee as of 1883, and he practiced for only that one year. The book had photos and biographies of many doctors, but not of him.

June 25 1887 another Chicago Inter Ocean newspaper article: Draege vs Heckenbach, chancery case.

May 1 1888 another Chicago chancery case Johann Heckenbach vs Henry Draege and Jennie Draege. Obviously Draege=Droege, and the problem was with Jennie's son Henry. He would have been about 26 at the time.

1894 Chicago directory shows him at address 26 Burling St.(1623 Burling St. after the new numbering scheme was adopted in 1909.)

October 16 1895 after returning to Mayville, another Juneau Telelgraph article states that he was widowed again. "Mrs. Heckenbach, wife of our gunsmith, died at their home this morning."

March 16 1896 in Milwaukee, WI, Johann marries Agnes Nolan, who was born in Bennington, UT, the daughter of  Charles Nolan and Amande Lamare. This record of a third marriage was a total surprise showing up in the Wisconsin Marriage Index (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XR6B-1LV) and nothing further is known.

According to the 1902 McDonough's Chicago Medical Blue Book, Doctor Heckenbach's address was 1605 N Leavitt Street. His name also appeared in the 1902 and 1903 Chicago City Directories at that address. In 1909 Chicago's street address scheme was revised to  a city-wide system, so that his house number changed to 3052 N Leavitt. old 

May 31 1904 he receives Patent No. 761,480 for improvements to the violin. 

He gave violin lessons and repaired old violins, some of which are still in the family. His personal favorite was a cheap one that he rebuilt into a fine-sounding instrument. He also composed some waltzes.

His grandson Father Gabriel Hinkes, who was the family historian, said that the second wife was never mentioned among the relatives.

Although he was said to be able to afford trips back to Germany, he ends up in modest circumstances.

In the 1910 census he's at the home of George and Molly Haar (his daughter) at 3531 Hermitage in Chicago, listed as a physician in general practice.

Dec 9 1913 he dies in Chicago, age 82 years 4 months, of exhaustion and hypostatic pneumonia at the Hermitage address. 

Dec 12 1913. He is buried St. Boniface Cemetery in Chicago.  

Patents
John was issued two fire arms patents, no. 91,624 of June 22, 1869, and no. 178,636 of June 13, 1876.  

Patent no. 91,624 is an interesting concept in that the action very closely resembles the German Collath design, but where the Collath uses an under lever and cam to keep it locked in the closed position, John Adam used a rather weak catch. In principle the barrels had a lug with a pin which traveled in a slot at the front end of the receiver, allowing the barrels to move forward and back. The receiver has two bosses on the standing breech which fit into recesses in the breech end of the barrels when the gun is in a closed position. His design includes a cartridge which has no rim and uses a percussion cap and nipple for ignition. No system for extraction of the shell was incorporated, and would have been difficult. The overall design is well thought out and with some modifications would have been effective, as is shown by the German Collath.  

Next came Patent #136,435 for improvements to a metronome, dated March 4 1873. Then on June 17 1873 he received Patent #140,038 for an improvement in last-block fastenings. This was for securing the last, which is the spine of a shoe.

John’s second Patent no. 178,636 of June 13, 1876 was another gun improvement to side by side break action guns, whereby a removable plate is bolted to the standing breech allowing adjustments to take up wear when a gun becomes loose.  

John A. Heckenbach's fourth US Patent No. 761,480 was dated May 31 1904. The object of this invention is to "provide a new and improved violin, violincello, or similar stringed musical instrument which is simple and durable in construction and arranged to insure the production of a full, sweet, and mellow tone when the instrument is played."

These patents with their impressive drawings are all viewable online at the US Patent and Trademark Office website.

I'm sure there are pictures of John Adam out there. Please share scans of any old pictures.

  Christian Heckenbach 1841-1920

Johann Christian's second son was Christian, born 1841. In 1866, he married Sophia Spicker from Willich, near Düsseldorf. Sophia was the 5th child of Mathias Spicker and Maria Sophia von Rheidt. (Mathias was born Apr 22, 1801 in Büttgen, while Maria was born Dec 10, 1804 in Osterath.) Christian and Maria lived in Essen, where their first child Katherine Heckenbach was born on June 1, 1866. The young family sailed to New York on June 14, 1867. They joined his brother living near Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and worked a farm in Williamstown, near Mayville, in Dodge County. Their next three children were born in Fond du Lac and Mayville (1868, 1870, and 1872.)

By 1873, the growing family had moved to Chicago. This was two years after the Chicago Fire, and there was plenty of work available rebuilding the city. Their 5th through 10th children were born there, with the births recorded at the following Catholic Parishes in Chicago:

Oct 1873, St Hillary's, Chicago
Jan 1876, St Michael's, Chicago
Apr 1878, St Joseph's, Chicago 
Jun 1880, St Joseph's, Chicago
Sep 1882, St Henry's, Chicago 
Dec 1885, St Henry's, Chicago

The Nov. 2 1901 edition of the Watertown Republican, Watertown Wis. reported a land sale from Christian Heckenbach and wife, to Clara Gulden, the east ½ of lots 23 and 24, block 27 in Mayville Wisconsin, for $300.

Back in Chicago again, Christian worked as a decorator and sign painter.They also owned a truck farm and greenhouses, on the property where Senn High School is now situated. Here they raised celery for seed, among other crops.

Later Christian and Sophia bought and moved to another farm at 7548 N. Clark St., just south of the corner of Clark and Howard Streets, at the northern edge of Chicago. They  also operated an ice cream parlor and lunchroom. Although the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad had laid tracks through to Milwaukee and beyond by 1855, there is a land record showing that Christian sold a strip of land to the railroad in 1903. Also in 1903 he sold some land to the City of Chicago so that Howard Street could be widened to the west. He also subdivided the part of the farm west of the tracks, and his son Frank owned a house there.

He belonged to the Catholic Order of Foresters. At the 1911 Old Settlers' Picnic, Christian won the gold medal for having the largest family. Sophia died in 1915, and in November of that year Christian closed the business and sold the land between Clark Street and the railroad, south of Howard Street, for the sum of $23,500 to Traugott Weber. In a 1919 letter, he wrote that he had been lucky to fetch such a high price; the land's value had since diminished. The group of shallow lots is now home to a Chase Bank location.

When he was 75, at the 1917 family reunion at the spacious home of his daughter Mrs. Martin Wiltgen, 72 of his 75 descendents were there to honor him. (One daughter and her family lived in Nevada and couldn't attend.) According to the newspaper, he left early in the evening, having had enough excitement for the day.

During his last years, Christian stayed alternately with his sons Joseph at the house on Clark Street, and John Adam in Evanston. In early 1919, in the midst of planning a summer trip back to Germany, he attended the funeral of Mr. Kartheiser, a well-known tavern owner, on an extremely cold day, and suffered a debilitating cold and flu. He also developed eye trouble, so he decided to cancel his trip.

Christian died on Jan 30 1920 at age 79 ½. He was remembered as a kindly man. Annual family picnics continued long after his death, and many of his 57 grandchildren kept in touch all their lives.

click here for pictures of Christian Heckenbach and his family

Update on their Arrival in America:

John Adam: According to a family story about him, John Adam "actively avoided" service in both the American Civil War, and the strife that led to the Austro-Prussian War, which preseded the Franco-Prussian War which finally erupted when Bismarck provoked Napoleon III into attacking Prussia in 1870. How could he have been a "draft dodger" in both wars? The following information explains it.

Johann Anton made his first voyage to the U.S on the ship Bavaria, which sailed from Hamburg to New York, arriving June 19, 1862, in the midst of the Civil War. The manifest listed a 31-year-old passenger named A. Heckenbach, apparently single, identified as a "merchant," although Johann Anton was not quite 31 on that date. He returned to Prussia and waited for the American Civil War to end in 1865, then returned with his wife and baby, as things were starting to heat up back in Prussia. This was on the ship Bosphorus, arriving July 5, 1866 in Boston, from Liverpool. He is listed as J A Hackanbach, age 27, farmer from Germany, with wife Sophia, age 28 and a son Johan, age 1. His age is off, but the other details are a good match. The baby died shortly afterward. In 1867 Johann Adam and Sophia had another child, and by 1870 they had settled in Williamstown, Dodge County, WI.

Christian: Meanwhile, on the passenger list of the ship America, which arrived in New York on June 14, 1867 from Bremen, are the following: entries:

We know that Christian, his wife Maria, and baby Kate were living in Essen before leaving Prussia. Kate was born there. The US Census of June 1870 places them in the town of Fond du Lac, WI.

Some Cousins: Then on June 10, 1872, with 939 passengers, the ship SS Köln steamed into Baltimore from Bremen carrying

We have learned elsewhere that sisters Anna Josephine, Katrin, and Gretchen Heckenbach arrived in St Louis and that Katrin's real name was Catherine. "Kalchen" must have been Gretchen's nickname. It took a while to realize that "Jos" was Anna Josephine, and it turns out that the three sisters were cousins of Johann Anton and Christian Heckenbach, through their Uncle Phillip who had 6 daughters. They settled in St. Louis. Katrin married Georg Löloff and Josephine married William Dufs, both in St. Louis, both in 1874. Kalchen married Lou Kaugman.

Another sister?: The year before, on June 19, 1871, the ship Herman arrived in New York from Bremen carrying Margaret Heckenbach, age 27, of Prussia. We don't know who this person was. JA and Christian had a sister Margaret who was born in 1845, but it's equally likely that this passenger was another sister of Anna Josephine, Katrin, and Gretchen. They did have a sister Margaret who was born in 1844. It's possible that it's the same person and that she led the way for her sisters. This is pure speculation. There is no family lore in either branch of the family about another sister. The ship lists at that time did not require information about the person's destination.

The late 1860s and early 1870s were a time of massive German immigrations to the US, not only beacuse of political tensions, but also because of the opening of the western states to development, while Prussia was suffering economic hardships. In 1880 in Mayville, Dodge County WI, something like 80% of the grammar school students had parents who were recent German immigrants.

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Latest update May 26 2024