Germany

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 Germany. 

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 organized 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 (https://visitsaxony.com/about-saxony/typical-saxon/land-of-christmas).

Sigmond eventually married, however his wife’s name is unknown. 

Sigmond and his wife had at least one child, Fredrich 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.

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