Johann Heinrich was born in Erndtebrück, Westphalia, Prussia on 8 September 1829. He had two brothers: Jacob and Wilhelm (born 1 September 1833). Their parents orphaned them early, and the boys were raised by their aunt. To avoid mandatory service in the Prussian army, Johann and Wilhelm decided to emigrate.
The brothers boarded Johann Eduard Grosse on 27 September 1853 in Bremen (1). After about 3 months of the perilous voyage, they landed in Galveston on 18 December (2). From there, Johann and Wilhelm went by ship to Indianola and later, by horse and wagon, to Fredericksburg.
There, the brothers met the Bonn and the Basse families who had also come to Fredericksburg from Erndtebrück.
In the new place, the men worked hard, doing any jobs available. They cut wood at log camps and lumberyards to make the ends meet.
An interesting fact is that the Gillespie County Tax Rolls for the year 1852 list Henry Geistweidt as the assigned owner of 40 acres in the German Camp area (3).
The tax record for the year 1853 informs that Heinrich had 20 acres of land worth $50 (4).
One of Johann's ship journey companions also reached Fredericksburg. It was Miss Maria Helena Otto, a young lady of Kingdom of Württemberg. The two got a marriage license on 26 May 1854 (5) and were united in marriage on 5 June of the same year (6).
In 1854, Heinrich (Henry) owned 10 acres in the German Camp. The land was worth $70 then (6).
1858 - Heinrich (Henry) Geistweidt owned 160 acres of land on St. Baron's Creek, Gillespie County (7).
During the Civil War, in 1864, Henry served with the Minute Men of Fort Mason.
Johann Heinrich and Maria Helena settled in the north of Gillespie County, on Squaw Creek.
1869, the election time came. Henry Geistweidt was registered as a voter living in Squa (Squaw) Creek (8), the place of his residence.
Johann Heinrich and Maria Helene Geistweidt had 12 children. Tragically, 7 of them including Johan Julius, born on 7 June 1874 (9), and Maria Auguste, born on 28 November 1871, Hilda, Mason, TX (10), succumbed to diphtheria (11)/died young. The ones who survived were: Lena, Henry Jr., Mary, Willie, Jacob.
♦ Helene (Lena) - born 1855
♦ Heinrich Jr. - born on 15 December 1857 (12),
♦ Maria Magdalena - born on 5 June 1862, Hilda, Mason, TX (13),
♦ Wilhelm Jacob (Willie) - born on 7 August 1866, Hilda, Mason, TX (14),
♦ Jacob Heinrich - born on 26 November 1868, Hilda, Mason, TX (15).
The family were members of the German Methodist Episcopal Church South (16). They regularly attended the Methodist Church service in Hilda.
Census 1870 - on 23 August, the Henry Geistweidt (a farmer) family were registered in Squaw Creek Settlement, Gillespie, Texas. The family members were: Henry's wife Helene, and their children Helene, Heinrich, Maria, William, and Jacob (17).
Two years later, on 5 August, 17-year-old ♡ Helena Geistweidt married Mr. John Worly at the Hilda Methodist Church (18). John (Johann Anton Wohrle) was born on 14 November 1845 in Weil der Stadt, Württemberg. He arrived with his family in America in 1847. On 20 January 1864 in Cleveland, Ohio, John joined Troop B, 3rd Regiment US Cavalry. Corporal Wohrle was discharged from the service in Fort Craig, New Mexico. Then (by 1871) he came to Mason, TX where he became Deputy Sheriff. At the same time, John Wohrle worked as a carpenter. On 18 February 1875, during the Mason County War, the house of John and Helena was broken into. John was tortured by the men who wanted to get the keys to the local jail. Helena who was expecting a baby went into shock and miscarried. Later, John quit the Deputy Sheriff position, however, the sequence of events related to the above-mentioned Hoo Doo War, led to his death on 19 August of the same year.
♦ Helena's husband John was shot and scalped when he was working on the well near their house (19).
Clipping source: The Galveston Daily News. (Galveston, Tex.), Vol. 34, No. 189, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 19, 1875, newspaper, August 19, 1875; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth461443/: accessed April 4, 2021), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Library Consortium.
At that time, Lena was expecting again. John and Helena's son, William Daniel, never met his father. The boy was born on 9 January 1876 (19). Later, Helena lived with her two sons Charlie (born 22 October 1873) and Willie in Mason (20, 21).
Meanwhile, the Johann Heinrich Geistweidt estate was growing. In 1874, he owned 288 acres of land (which originally were granted to John Dietz and Thomas R Miller), 1 horse, 20 head of cattle, and 4 mules (22). A year later, it was 270 acres, 5 horses, 20 cattle, 15 mules and 5 sheep (23).
Johann Heinrich Sr. enjoyed trading horses.
The 1880 tax rolls of Gillespie County inform that Henry, in that particular year, had 260 acres of land (worth $350), 4 horses 25 head of cattle, and 25 sheep (24). In that year, the family moved to the Onion Creek area.
Three years later, John Henry Sr. farmed 130 acres in Gillespie County, 80 of which had been originally granted to J B Kuykendall (25).
♡ Heinrich Junior got married at the age of 28. Miss Louise Kneese (age 22) became his bride on 30 August 1886 (26).
Louise was born on 24 May 1864 to parents Johann Friedrich (Fritz) Kneese and Dorothea Bierschwale (27).
♦ Johann Heinrich Geistweidt passed on 10 September 1891. He was buried in his home estate area.
Three years later, on 28 June, ♡ Wilhelm Jacob was united in marriage with Miss Minna (Wilhelmina) Kneese (28), born on 16 April 1867. She was a younger sister of Louise, Henry's wife.
♡ Jacob Heinrich Geistweidt married Miss Louisa Johanne (Wesa) Lange. The bride was born on 30 December 1874 in Gillespie County to the union of Helmuth Gottlieb Lange and Mary Ann Isbell (29,30).
Johann Heinrich Gottlieb Sr.'s wife ♦ Helena lived until 14 July 1899.
♡ Maria Magdalena Geistweidt (Mary) married Mr. Otto Kensing on 27 February 1907 (31).
Resources:
Mason County Historical Book", Mason County Historical Society, Mason County Historical Commission, 1976
1. WikiTree.com
3. "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ85-RXDJ : 20 February 2021), Henry Geistweit, 1852.
4. "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ85-RFQ7 : 20 February 2021), H Geistweidt, 1853.
4. "Texas Marriages, 1837-1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VK1T-SJV : 22 January 2020), Heinrich Geistweit, 1854.
5. "Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VXGC-V7R : 10 March 2021), Heinrich Geistweidt and Helene Otto, 05 Jun 1854; citing Gillespie, Texas, United States, county courthouses, Texas; FHL microfilm 982,801.
6. "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ85-RFV8 : 20 February 2021), H Geistinit, 1854.
7. "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ85-RVX9 : 20 February 2021), H Geistweit, 1858.
8. "Texas, Voter Records, 1867-1918", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4ZZZ-Z7MM : 15 December 2020), Heinrick Geistweit, 1869.
9. "Texas Births and Christenings, 1840-1981", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4L27-N6PZ : 14 February 2020), Heinrich Geistweidt in entry for Johan Julius Geistweidt, 1874.
10. "Texas Births and Christenings, 1840-1981", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4L2Q-LLT2 : 14 February 2020), H. Geistweid in entry for Maria Auguste Geistweid, 1871.
11. Family Land Heritage Commemorative Program 2019
12. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3HF-XP5 : 20 February 2021), Henry Geistweidt in entry for Henry Geistweidt, 09 Dec 1935; citing certificate number 58183, State Registrar Office, Austin; FHL microfilm 2,116,708.
13. "Texas Births and Christenings, 1840-1981", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4L27-DB2M : 14 February 2020), Heinrich Geistweid in entry for Maria Magdalena Geistweid, 1862.
14. "Texas Births and Christenings, 1840-1981", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4L27-8T6Z : 14 February 2020), Heinrich Geistweidt in entry for Wilhelm Jacob Geistweidt, 1866.
15. "Texas Births and Christenings, 1840-1981", database, FamilySearch
(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4L2Q-GT6Z : 14 February 2020),
Heinrich Geistweid in entry for Jacob Heinrich Geistweid, 1868.
16. German Methodist Episcopal Church South
17. "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXL5-L5J : 2 January 2021), Hy Geistweidt, 1870.
18. "Texas Marriages, 1837-1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V2MM-HR8 : 22 January 2020), Lena Geistweidt in entry for John Worly, 1872.
19. "The Mason Hoo Doo War, 1874-1902" by David Johnson, University of North Texas Press, 2006.
20. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3C5-GYV : 20 February 2021), Lena Geistweidt in entry for William Daniel Worley, 13 Nov 1951; citing certificate number 55297, State Registrar Office, Austin; FHL microfilm 2,074,870.
21. "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFJM-1YJ : 20 February 2021), Lena Wurley, Mason, Mason, Texas, United States; citing enumeration district ED 103, sheet 489D, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,255,319.
22. "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ85-TMWZ : 20 February 2021), Henry Geistweidt, 1874.
23. "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ85-TSVM : 20 February 2021), Henry Geissweidt, 1875.
24. "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ85-THDJ : 20 February 2021), H Geistweidt, 1880.
25. "Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJ85-TXQ7 : 20 February 2021), H Geistweidt, 1883.
26. "Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK8T-9JVH : 22 December 2016), Henry Geisteveidt and Louise Kneese, 30 Jun 1886; citing , Gillespie, Texas, United States, county courthouses, Texas; FHL microfilm 982,802.
27. "Texas Births and Christenings, 1840-1981", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4L2Q-2WZM : 14 February 2020), Louyse Kneese, 1864.
28. "Texas Marriages, 1837-1973", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VK1Y-QST : 22 January 2020), W. J. Geistweidt, 1894.
29. "Texas Births and Christenings, 1840-1981", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6PM-2VG : 13 February 2020), Helmuth Lange in entry for Louisa Johanne Lange, 1874.
30. Findagrave.com
31. "Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK8T-9579 : 10 March 2021), Otto Kensing and Mary Geistweidt, 27 Feb 1907; citing Gillespie, Texas, United States, county courthouses, Texas; FHL microfilm 982,803.
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