Johann Lewandowski and Anna Kuglin's Family

1. Johann "John" Lewandowski (1814-1889), a shoemaker from Rohdau, Germany, and the patriarch of the Lewandowski Family of southwest Detroit, was born on Aug. 11, 1814 in Germany. This date is calculated from his Detroit death record, which states that he died on Nov. 11, 1889 at the age of 75 yrs, 3 mos, and 0 days. Also, Lutheran church records from Germany state that he married in 1840 at the age of 26, which gives him a birth year of about 1814 that is consistent with his death record. This same record gives his parents names as Johann and Anna, but makes no mention other than Germany as to where he came from. However, we can guess that he was probably born somewhere in the German Province of West Prussia, most likely within a few miles of a large lake that in those days was known by its German name of the Sorgen See, but today goes by its Polish name of Lake Dzierzgoń. Thus, Johann was born a German citizen, grew up speaking German, and gave Germany as his country of origin on any documents that we have found for him.

   Because Johann was subsequently married in a Lutheran church to a Lutheran woman, and because all of their children were given Lutheran baptisms, it is highly unlikely that he was born Catholic. Despite this observation, a few uninformed researchers have assigned to him a record from FamilySearch.org for a Joannes Lewandowski, who was born on 5 Apr 1817 to parents Joanni and Anna, and baptized on 6 Apr 1817 in a catholic church in the village of Mszanno (Polish Mszano) in the Kreis (County) of Marienwerder in West Prussia. Mszanno is located about 40 miles south of Rohdau (Rodowo). This distance*, the catholic faith, and the fact that this record is dated 1817, and not 1814, makes it highly unlikely that it is the correct baptism/birth for the Johann Lewandowski of this lineage, who lived in Rohdau, West Prussia, where he worked as a shoemaker, married, and raised his family.
   
   * The 40 miles that separates Mszanno from Rohdau, as the crow flies, was a considerable distance to travel in the early 1800s before the advent of railroads.

   Although Johann was born in Germany, the Sorgen See region that he probably came from has been part of several kingdoms and countries in its turbulant past. The Sorgen See sits about 40 miles southeast of an important port on the Baltic Sea that once was the German city of Danzig. However, this port today correpsonds to the Polish city of Gdansk. Although this entire region is now part of Poland, it was included in 1701 in the Kingdom of Prussia. Next, it was part of the German Empire, from the late 1700s, right up until it was occupied by the Soviet Red Army in 1945 at the end of WWII. Most of the native Prussian inhabitants of the Sorgen See region were expelled at this time, and the region resettled by Poles.

   The Lutheran Church at Rohdau (Rodowo) in West Prussia where many members of the Lewandowski family were baptized.

   Johann became a shoemaker/cobbler, and settled at some point in or near the village (dorf) of Gross Rohdau (modern Rodowo). This village is located a short distance to the west (inland) of the landed estate (rittergut) of Klein Rohdau (modern Ilawa u Rodowo), which is on the west shore of a large lake called the Sorgen See (see the above map). This estate was probably once the home of a member of the Prussian nobility, and today there is an old mansion here that is a hotel called the Palac (Palace) Rodowo.

   Johann married Anna Kuglien on Sept., 14, 1840 in the local Lutheran church at Gross Rohdau, which was almost certainly the Church of Saint Stanislaus Kostka (shown on the left). This church was built in 1754, and still stands in the center of the village. Johann and Anna had at least eight children, all probably born near here. Although most were baptized at the Rodowo Church, at least two of them were baptized at St. Anne's Church, in the adjacent village of Dakau (modern Gdakowo). St. Anne's is similar to the Rodowo church - both being built about the same time, and possibly by the same architect.

   Johann's wife Anna Dorothea Kuglin (Kuglien) was born on Sept. 6, 1818 in Riesenberg (modern Prabuty), near the south end of the Sorgen See, between it and another lake called the Schloss See (Lake Liwieniec), which translates to "Lake of the Castle". She was baptized there on Sept. 13, 1818 in the local Lutheran Church, which was probably the medieval Cathedral of St. Adalbert. Her middle name honors St. Dorothea (1391-1394) of Montau, whose shrine is located in the nearby district capital of Marienwerder (Kwidzyn). Her baptism record lists Martin Kuglien (b. 1768) and Eva Kruppin (c.1788-1824) as her parents. Whereas Gross Rohdau, where she married, was just a village, her birthplace of Riesenberg was a walled town that was once surrounded by a now largely-demolished, fortified wall, within which was a castle, where the bishops of the town lived. Today the Kwidzyń Gate is about all that remains of these ancient fortifications.

   Views of Old Riesenburg History of Riesenburg

   The German Empire in the early 1870s came under the control of the former Kingdom of Prussia, which was a military state with a large army in need of conscripts. Johann and Anna's eldest son August (1840-1906) not long after this event emigrated to Canada, possibly to avoid being drafted into the German army. Another son Johann (1851-1936) came in the late 1870s to Detroit, Michigan, probably for similar reasons. The rest of the family followed in time, with Johann and Anna ariving at the port of Baltimore on May 8, 1882, after sailing out of Bremen, Germany on the S.S. Baltimore. Their son August brought his wife and children down from Canada about this same time, and by the mid-1880s all of the Lewandowski family were living in southwest Detroit, in an area centered along Michigan Avenue that was the younger of two German districts in the city, the other being on the east side of the city between Gratiot and Jefferson Avenues.

   Although we have found the port arrival records for Johann and Anna, and possibly those for some of the other members of their immediate family, their German departure records probably no longer exist. The reason for this is that port officals at Bremen, which was the port inn Germany where most German immigrants departed from, destroyed most of its departure records for lack of storage space. Also, the few available arrival lists prior to 1882 for the American ports of Baltimore and New York tend to be incomplete, and so far Johann and Anna's arrival records are the earliest ones that we have found for the family, even though some of their children definitely preceded them to Detroit.

   Parents Johann and Anna settled initially with their son Wilhelm on Michigan Avenue at "1 [house] w of Stecher ave", which was probably somewhere east of 25th Avenue, as 25th avenue before 1885 was the boundary marking the city limits on the westside of Detroit. The 1884 city directory lists Johann as a shoemaker, with shop and home at the same address. Then from 1885 to 1886 they were near the intersection of Goldner and Michigan, which is west of their previous address. Johann must have been successful, as from 1887 to 1889 he is found at a house that he and Anna may have bought at 902-25th Steet. This is probably at either the modern street number of 3364 or 3354, which today is located on West 25th, inbetween Ash Street and Martin Luther King Blvd. (old Myrtle Street). The fact that their son Wilhelm apparently owned this house in later years, even though he does not appear to have been financially successful, is evidence that Johann and Anna had owned the house before him and were not renters.

   Most of Johann and Anna's children lived close by, in the German neighborhood that was north of Michigan Avenue and to the west of where Johann and Anna lived on 25th Street. Whereas Johann probably made a comfortable living as a shoemaker, his children were less fortunate, and had to work for low wages under harsh conditions in the Lonyo Brothers brickyards, at the Michigan Car Company (railroad cars), and at other industries that were located farther west, out beyond the city limits. A history lecture by Prof. Thomas Klug (1999) provides a glimpse of the unfortunate working conditions they probably endured.

   Johann died on Nov. 1, 1889 in Detroit at the age of "75 yrs, 3 mos, 0 days", with "old age" given as his cause of death. He is buried in Woodmere Cemetery. Anna died on May 6, 1899 in Detroit at the home of her daughter Maria Bressman (1846-1929), and she is buried beside Johann at Woodmere. Her death certificate gives her age at death as "65 yrs, 11 mos, 19 days". However, this backcalculates to a birth date of May 17, 1833, which cannot possibly be true, as we have her 1818 birth and baptism record. Furthemore, her eldest child August was born in 1840, and she was certainly more than 7-years old at the time.

   Below is a pre-WWI postcard with a view of the south part of old Riesenburg, looking west out past the Schloss See (Lake of the Castle) to farm fields beyond. St. Adalbert's Cathedral, where several members of the Lewandowski family were married, is the church near the middle of the photo. The solitary tower to the left of the cathedral is the Kwidzyn gate, which was the southern entrance into the old walled city. A covered water tank, which is shown here, covered the top of the tower from 1908 until the early 1960s, and served as the water supply for the town. The gate was restored in the late 1960s when the water tank was removed, and a peaked roof put in its place.

   More Views of Old Riesenburg

    

   children of JOHANN and ANA LEWANDOWSKI

    

   • August Levandusky (1840-1906) was born on Dec. 22, 1840, probably in the Rohdau (Rodowo) area of West Prussia, Germany, as he was baptized there on Jan. 3, 1841 in the local Lutheran church at Gross Rohdau. His baptism record lists his parents as Johann and Anna Dor Levandowski, but just his father's name appears on his marriage record, and his death certificate names his parents as John Levandowsky and Anna Kuglihm. He married Wilhelmina "Mena" Marklewitz (1842-1913) of Riesenburg (Prabuty) on Nov. 29, 1866 in her hometown of Riesenburg, and they had at least two children - Frederick (1867-1915) and Gustave (b. c.1870) - both born in West Prussia, probably in Riesenburg.

     Unrest following the Austro-Prussian (1866), and Franco-Prussian (1870) Wars led many Prussian families to leave their homeland to seek better lives. This led August and Mena to immigrate with their children in 1873 or earlier to Canada, where they settled in Waterloo County in southern Ontario. They were preceded there by Mena's older cousins, Fried and Anna Marklewitz (both born about 1813) and their married children Gottfried (1838-1927), Wilhelmina (1840-1918) and John (1844-1931), who left West Prussia separately at various times from 1864 and 1868 to come to the Waterloo area. This part of Ontario at the time hosted the largest German-speaking population in Canada. The 1871 census, in fact, records that whereas about 10% of the rest of Ontario was German, nearly 55% of Waterloo County was German, being made up partly of recent European immigrants, like the Lutheran Marklewitz and Levandusky families, and partly of earlier Mennonite settlers^* from Pennsylvania. The next largest ethnic group were Scots, who made up about 18% of the county.

     ^*Called "Pennsylvania Dutch" by many, these Mennonites were actually "Pennsylvania Deutsch" or "Pennsylvania Deitsch", where Deutsch refers to the standard German that many spoke, and Deitsch refers to the Palatine German (upper Rhine Valley) dialect that others spoke. Nearly all were from Germany, not the Netherlands.

     August remained in Canada for close to a decade, but he appears to have left his wife and children about 1882 or 1883, and moved to the United States with Hermina "Minnie" Strauss (1854-1943), who was 14 years his junior. They arrived in Detroit, Michigan, about the same time that his parents arrived there, and he and Minnie settled near his parents and several of his siblings siblings in the Michigan Avenue area. He found employment in factories on the west side, out beyond the city limits, where he generally worked as a laborer. There is some uncertainty as to Minnie's last name, which shows up on various documents as Strauss, Schultz and Louis/Louisa, although the latter may actually be her middle name. August and Minnie had at least four children together in Detroit, and she is listed on various documents as his wife, but we have found no records to show that she and August actually wed, nor any record that August ever bothered to divorce his first wife Wilhelmina.

     August lived with Minnie in basically the same house in Detroit from 1886 up until his death there 20 years later. This house in 1886 was at the corner of 27th and Magnolia, and then from 1887 to 1888 it is shown as in the city directories as h[ome] e[ast] s[side of] 27th 2 [houses] s[outh] of Magnolia ave, which means that two new houses were built between it and the corner before the printing of the 1887 directory. Given this fact, and the fact that August and Minnie by the 1900 census owned this house, we might surmise that they bought it new when they first moved in. The house in 1889 was assigned the street number of 1002-27th, and the street name changed in 1903 to McKinley. August died on June 27, 1906 at this address. Minnie continued to live at this same address, which became 3580 McKinley with the 1920/1921 street number changes. Today (2020) there is a vacant lot here.

     August and Minnie are buried together in Woodmere Cemetery. August had children with Wilhelmina born in Germany and Canada, and children with Herminia born in the United States, with many living descendants confirmed by DNA analyses.

   • Augusta Dorothea Lewandowski (1845-1922) was born on July 2, 1845 in West Prussia. Although we have found no baptism record to prove it, she was probably born in the area of Rohdau (Rodowo), West Prussia, Germany, where her family generally lived. Her father's name appears on her marriage record, and her death certificate names her parents as John Lewandowsky and Anna Kuglean. She married Gottfried Neumann (1846-1902) on Dec. 1, 1868 in Riesenburg (Prabuty), West Prussia. They subsequently immigrated with at least two children about 1884 to Detroit, Michigan, where they may have been the last members of the extended Lewandowski family to arrive. Gottfried found employment in the factories on the west side, out beyond the city limits, and they settled in southwest Detroit, near Augusta's parents and siblings in the Michigan Avenue area. He later worked as a laborer, and eventually a teamster for Andrew Lonyo's brickyard, where he ended up working for perhaps 16 years. He died in 1902, after which Augusta married Carl Goetzke (1850-1916) on Oct. 10, 1908 in Detroit. Augusta died on Aug. 16, 1922 in Detroit, and she is buried there with Gottfried in Woodmere Cemetery. Augusta and Gottfried had several children born in both Germany and the United States, with the 1900 U.S. Census reporting that a total of 10 children were born to the couple, with only 5 children still alive at the time of the census. Today, there are many living descendants confirmed by DNA analyses.

   • Maria Lewandowski (1846-1929) was born on March 1, 1846 in the fortified town of Riesenburg, West Prussia, Germany, as confirmed on her death certificate. She was subsequently baptized on March 7, 1846 in the local Lutheran church at Gross Rohdau, which is just a few miles north of Riesenburg. Her baptism record lists her parents as Johann and Anna Levandowski, but just her father's name appears on her marriage record, and one of her death certificates names her parents as John Lewandowski and Anna Kuklein. She married Leopoldt Bressman (1845-1916) on Nov. 6, 1870 in Riesenburg, West Prussia. They later immigrated with at least three children about 1881 or earlier to Detroit, Michigan. Leopoldt found employment in the factories on the west side, out beyond the city limits, and they settled in southwest Detroit, near Maria's parents and siblings in the Michigan Avenue area. Maria died on Jan 9, 1929 in Wyandotte, Michigan, and she is buried in Detroit with Leopoldt in Woodmere Cemetery. Maria and Leopoldt had children born both in Germany and the United States, with many living descendants confirmed by DNA analyses.

   • Friedrich "Frederick" Gottfried Lewandowski (1848-1911) was born on Aug. 19, 1848, probably in the Rohdau (Rodowo) area of West Prussia, Germany, as he was baptized on Aug. 7, 1848 in the local Lutheran church at Gross Rohdau. His baptism record lists his parents as Johann and Anna Levandowski, but neither parent appears on his marriage record, and his death certificate names his parents simpy as Lewendowsky and Kaplin. He married Gottliebe Borutzki (1846-1932) on Nov. 17, 1872 in Niederzehren (Czarne Dolne), which is a village about 9 miles southwest of Riesenburg (Prabuty). Whereas Riesenburg and Rohdau were in the kreis (county) of Rosenberg, Niederzehren was in the adjacent kreis of Marienwerder, which bordered Kreis Rosenberg on the west and south sides.

     Frederick immigrated after his marriage to Detroit, Michigan, where he was joined at some point by Gottliebe and their three children. Although we have no arrival record for Frederick, we assume that he arrived on his own on an earlier ship and found work, before bringing out his family. We do know that Gottliebe and the children departed from Bremen, Germany on the S.S. America, and arrived on Dec 2, 1882 in Baltimore, Maryland. Frederick ended up working in the factories on the west side of Detroit, out beyond the city limits. He settled his family initially in southwest Detroit, near his parents and siblings in the Michigan Avenue area. Later he worked as a carpenter making railroad cars for the Michigan Car Company, and moved his family out to "old Germantown", on the east side of Detroit, several miles from "new Germantown", where his brothers and sisters lived. Frederick died on June 4, 1911 in Detroit, and he is buried there with Gottliebe in Trinity Cemetery, whereas his parents, brothers and sisters are all buried at Woodmere. Frederick and Gottliebe had children born both in Germany and the United States, with some descendants, but we know of no living descendants who have had DNA analyses done to confirm family relationships.

   • Johann "John" Lewandofske (1851-1936) was born on Aug. 13, 1851 in the Rohdau (Rodowo) area of West Prussia, Germany, as confirmed on his death certificate. He was subsequently baptized on Aug. 17, 1851 in the Lutheran church of the nearby village of Dakau (Gdakowo). His baptism record lists his parents as Johann and Anna Levandowski, his parents are not named on his marriage record, and his death certificate names them as John Levandowsky and Anna Kuglin. He immigrated as a single young man in the late 1870s to Detroit, Michigan, being the second in the family to come to America, but the first to come to the United States. He married his cousin Augusta "Gussie" Kuglin (1859-1936) on Nov. 10, 1878 in Detroit, and they settled in Springwells, which in those days was an unincorporated industrial district on the west side of the county, outside what was then the city limits. He found employment in the factories on the west side, out beyond the city limits, and they settled in southwest Detroit, near John's parents and siblings in the Michigan Avenue area. John died on Sept. 11, 1936 in Detroit, and he is buried there with Gussie in Woodmere Cemetery. John and Gussie had several children born in Detroit, but we know of no living descendants who have had DNA analyses done.

   • Anna Levandowski (1854-1854) was born on July 10, 1854, probably in Rohdau (Rodowo) or the nearby village of Dakau (Gdakowo) in West Prussia, Germany, and baptized on July 20, 1854 in the Lutheran church of Dakau. She died an infant just 9 days later on July 29, 1854 in Dakau. Her baptism and death records list her parents as Johann and Anna Levandowski.

   • Ferdinand Gustav Lewandowski (1856-1926) was born on June 19, 1856, probably in the Rohdau (Rodowo) area of West Prussia, Germany, as he was baptized there on June 29, 1856 in the local Lutheran church of Gross Rohdau. His baptism record lists his parents as Johann and Anna Lewandowski, the record for his marriage to his second wife lists his parents as Johann Lewandowske and Ann Kuglin, and his death certificate does not name either parent. He immigrated as a single young man about 1881 or earlier to Detroit, Michigan, and he might be the Ferd Lewandowski who departed from Bremen, Germany on the S.S. Hermann, and arrived on Feb. 4, 1881 in Baltimore, Maryland. However, this is not confirmed. His married his cousin Marie Kuglin (1861-1908) on Nov. 6, 1881 at St. John's Lutheran Church (Historic Trinity Church) in Detroit, and they had several children. Ferdinand found employment in the factories on the west side, out beyond the city limits, and he and Marie settled in southwest Detroit, near August's parents and siblings in the Michigan Avenue area. After Marie died, he married his second wife Anna Maria Reh (1853-1916), the widow of Fred Bauschke (1846-1889) and later Arthur Steinke (1851-1899) on July 17, 1909 in Detroit, with Ferdinand's sister Maria Bressman, and her husband Leopold as witnesses. Ferdinand died on June 7, 1926 in Detroit, and he is buried there with Marie and Anna in Woodmere Cemetery. Ferdinand and his first wife Marie had several children born in Detroit, with many living descendants confirmed by DNA analyses to confirm family relationships.

   • William "Wilhelm" Lewandowski (1859-1919), who follows.

   • Madge Lewandowski (?-1889?) is assumed to be a younger daughter of Johann Lewandowski and Anna Kuglin, probably born in the late 1850s or early 1860s in that part of West Prussia that today is in Poland. Her first name is known only from the Michigan Census of WWI Veterans, compiled in 1923 by the Daughters of the American Revolution. This document names a woman named Madge as the mother of James F. Clark, Sr. (1889-1942), the WWI soldier, and James is known from DNA evidence to be the son of a daughter of Johann and Anna Lewandowski. Madge is assumed to be this Lewandowski daughter. A man named James R. Clark, who is named in this same census, is believed to be the father of Madge's son, the aforementioned James F. Clark (b. 1889).

     The 1923 marriage certificate for James F. Clark, the WWI veteran, lists his parent's names, which are names that he must have provided when he filled out the paperwork to obtain a marriage license. This certificate lists his father as James Frederick Clark, who is no doubt the same man as the James R. Clark in the WWI Veteran's Census. However, his mother is shown on the marriage license as Carrie Finnegan, which contradicts the WWI census. A possible explanation for this is that Madge Lewandowski is the biologic mother of James F. Clark the veteran, and that she died when her son was very young, say in 1889 or so, just after his birth. If so, then Carrie Finnegan, a woman of Irish extraction, may be the first step mother of James, and this woman subsequently raised him, until her own premature death when James was six or so years old, and became an orphan. He was then taken in by his aunt and uncle William and Anna Lewandowski, and Anna became his second stepmother.

     We have no birth, nor marriage record for Madge Lewandowski, if that is her actual name, so her existence is speculative. However, the DNA evidence discussed earlier rules out any of the documented sons or daughters of Johann and Anna Lewandowski as being a parent of James F. Clark, the soldier. Thus, we assume that his Lewandowski parent is an undocumented daughter of Johann and Anna. Madge is not a German, nor Polish name, but it may be a nickname derived from Magdalena, Margaret, or something similar.

 

Map of Detroit Households

 

2. William "Wilhelm" Lewandowski (1859-1919), the son of Johann Lewandowski and Anna Kuglin, was born on Oct. 22, 1862 probably in Riesenburg, West Prussia, Germany (which today is part of Poland), as he was baptized in the Lutheran Church there as Friedrich Wilhelm Lewandowski to parents Johann and Anna Maria Lewandowski. His death certificate names his parents as John Lewandowski and Hanna Konklin/Knicklin. However, his death record gives his birth year as 1862, and the year 1862 is what is shown on his tombstone.

   William emigrated about 1882 to the United States, most likely with his parents, as he seems to have subsequently settled with them at their home in southwest Detroit. Here he found work as a laborer, possibly being the same William Lewandowski that city directories show as working for a time as a molder casting iron wheels and such for the Michigan Car Company, a large Michigan firm that made railroad cars at a location that later became the factory for Cadillac Motor Cars.

   St. John's Lutheran Church. It is called Historic Trinity today.

   William married Anna Holden (1864-1918) on Aug. 16, 1884 in Detroit at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, which was built in 1866 at Gratiot Avenue and Rivard Street, just south of where the Jewish District of Detroit was located. William's brother Ferdinand had married his first wife Marie Kuglin at St. John's three years earlier, before William and their parents arrived from Germany. Rev. Johannes Huegli, who served the church from 1860 to 1902 as their pastor, probably performed the wedding ceremonies. Although his congregation once called themselves St. John's, they later became Holy Trinity, and today they are the Historic Trinity Church. It now occupies an impressive stone building at 1345 Gratiot Avenue that in 1931 replaced the simpler brick church and spire on the right, where William and Anna wed.

   William's wife Anna was born on Feb. 16, 1864 in Klein Tromnau (Ilawa u Trumiejki), and baptized there on Feb. 21, 1864 in the local church - Ilawa u Trumiejki being in West Prussia, about 6 miles south of the Sorgen See area where William was born. Her parents were Gottfried "Fred" Holden and Wilhelmina "Minnie" Teschner (1828-1916). She immigrated in 1881 to Detroit, where she was married three years later to William, and then joined about 1889 by her mother Minnie, her father Fred Haldan having died before Anna's marriage. Minnie then seems to have generally lived with Anna and William from at least 1889 on.

   When William's parents moved to 902-25th St. (possible modern address: 3364 W. 25th St.), he and Anna either moved in with them, or they were already living with them at the time. William subsequently opened a saloon, with a front door address of 853-24th for the establishment, which today would be near 24th St and Martin Luther King Blvd (possible modern address: 3373 W. 24th St). This location was basically on the backside of his parents' property. The city directory of 1889 lists William as a saloon proprietor at 24th St., and he also paid a $300 tax to the city in 1890 for a liquor license. However, the saloon was evidently a short-lived venture, and we find no further mention of it. Williams' father died in 1889, and his mother died in 1899, afterwhich William is shown as the owner of his parents former home on 25th St. This house is also shown in both the 1900 and 1910 census returns with a mortgage on it, but it is not known if William or his father took out the original loan.

   The area where William and Anna lived, their parents before them, and most members of their extended families, was on the southwest side of Detroit. This was the newer of two German districts in the city, and it evolved in the 1870s and 1880s when German immigrant families settled along West Michigan Avenue to be close to their low-paying jobs, the only work they could find, at factories and warehouses that had been built on the west side out past the city limits. The older German district was on the east side of the city, between Gratiot and Jefferson avenues, where many German immigrant families originally settled right after the Civil War. St. John's (Trinity) Lutheran Church, where William and Anna wed, was in the old German district on the east side, several miles from where they lived in the new district on the southwest side.

   When William and Anna married at St. John's (Trinity) Lutheran, there were few German churches in Detroit. One of the few was the Evangelical Lutheran Immanuel Church at 17th and Pine that was built in 1865 as a daughter church of St. Johns/Trinity. Then the Immanuel Church in 1883 built another daughter church named the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church (modern address: 4305 Military Street), about 1.3 miles west of where William and Anna lived, and less than a mile from where all but one of William's brothers and sisters resided. Of the 51 members of the Immanuel congregation who founded the new church, 41 of them, like William's and Anna's families, were recent German immigrants from West Prussia. Then the Zion Church in 1891 built the Gethsemane Evangelical Lutheran Church (modern address: 4461 28th St), which was even closer. It seems likely that some of the Lewandowski and Holden families assisted in the planting of these new churches.

   The 1900 census shows that William and Anna had four children, with none living at the time of the census. One of these children was born in 1886 and another in 1888, but nothing more is known. Because William and Anna lost all of their own children, it seems likely that they would have been receptive to taking on a foster child. This is one of the reasons we suspect that they might have been the step-parents, from about 1895 to 1901, of James F. Clark, Sr. (1889-1942), before he ran away from home.

Anna had a younger brother named Gustave "Gus" Holden (1868-1931), who lived "out West" in South Dakota, but had the prestigious job of being a locomotive engineer. This makes it likely that he was in town with his job from time to time, and he almost certainly would have made a point of visiting Anna, and his mother Minnie, who lived with William and Anna. Gus certainly would have also had the contacts to get his step-nephew James F. Clark a job as a railroad brakeman, which is another reason to suspect that William and Anna were James' step-parents.

Grace Hospital in Detroit where both William and Anna Lewandowski passed away.

William held several jobs, including laborer, molder (Michigan Car Co.), saloon keeper, watchman, and janitor (Detroit Savings Bank), some of which may have been part time and/or temporary. However, he owned his home, which would have helped to make ends meet. Still, the loss of his children, his likely step-son James F. Clark running away from home, and other issues no doubt strained his relationship with his wife, who filed a petiion to divorce William on Nov. 17, 1903, citing "habitual drunkeness and extreme cruelty". However, the petition on Aug. 29, 1904 was withdrawn. The fact that William is on record as a violent man with a drinking problem is yet another reason to suspect that he is the step-father of James F. Clark, given that James as a boy had his colar bone broken when a man in the house came home in a drunken rage and kicked James down the stairs.

Anna died on June 25, 1918 at Grace Hospital in Detroit, due to complications from a "ventral hernia caused by lacerations of the cervix due to multiple child births". She is buried at Woodmere Cemetery. William died the following year on Oct. 18, 1919 at Grace Hospital of pneumonia, and he is also buried at Woodmere. Although the Woodmere Cemetery records indicate that William and Anna were initially buried in different part of the cemetery, both their names are inscribed on the tombstone over William's grave. This means that Anna was either exhumed and reburied next to William after his death, or she remains in her original plot, and the memorial to her over William's grave is a cenotaph.

Wilhelm and Anna Lewandowski are probably the couple identified in "family stories" as the step-parents of James F. Clark, Sr.

 

Map of Detroit Households

 

 

 

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Gus Holden's Family

Minnie Teschner with her son Gus Holden.

1. Wilhelmine "Minnie" Teschner (1828-1916), the mother of Gus Holden the locomotive engineer, was born on June 12, 1828 in Germany, according to her death certificate. Although we have no baptism record to confirm any details, she was probably born somewhere in the German province of West Prussia, most likely within a few miles of Marienwerder (Polish Kwidzyn), which was at times the capital city of West Prussia, whereas at other times the capital moved north to the port of Danzig. West Prussia today is all part of Poland, but back then it was part of the German Empire, and before that it had belonged for more than a century to the Kingdom of Prussia.

   The Lutheran Church at Tromnau (Trumiejk) in West Prussia where many members of the Holden family were baptized.

   Minnie married Gottfried Haldan (1819-1883), also known as Fred Holden, on Nov. 9, 1851 in the sometime capital of Marienwerder (Kwidzyn). Gottfried, who was a farmer, was born on Jan. 3, 1819 and baptized on Jan. 10 that same year in Raudnitz (Rudzienice u Stankowo), which is not too far from Marinewerder. Minnie and Gottfried subsequently settled in Tromnau (Trumiejki), which is much closer to the Sorgen See region that the Lewandowski family of the previous lineage came from. Tromanu was where they chose to raise their family, with all six of their known children being baptized there in the local Lutheran Church, which is shown on the left.

   Minnie and Gottfried's daughter Augusta had immigrated on her own in the late 1870s as a young woman to the United States, where in 1880 she married fellow German immigrant Albert Hoffmann (1859-1933) in Detroit, Michigan. Minnie and Gottfried decided to follow her with the rest of the family, and departed from Bremen, Germany on the S.S. Kronprinz Friedrick Wilhelm, and arriving on May 27, 1881 in Baltimore, Maryland, with their four remaining children - Anna, Gus, Frederick and Christian.

   The Holden family likely settled in the Springwells area of southwest Detroit, which was an industrial district that in those days was out past the city limits. There sons Gus and Frederick found work as laborers in local factories, of which there were many in Springwells. Gottfried, who by now was going by the name Fred Holden, died in Springwells of dysentery, a little less than two years after coming to America. When Detroit annexed in 1885 the area west of 25th Street, all the way out to the east boundary of Springwells, son Gus shows up in the 1885 city directory living on Toledo Avenue between Lansing and Ferdinand. Then the first mention of Minnie is in the 1887 city directory, which shows her residing with Gus and her other son Frederick at 244 Toledo Avenue, which is within a block of the other Toledo address.

   The last mention we have of Minnie at the 244 Toledo address is in the 1889 city directory, after which she is found living most of the time with her younger daughter Anna Lewandowski at 902-25th Street in west Detroit, but also living from time to time with her older daughter Augusta Hoffman out in Springwells, which is a now defunct township located on the westside of modern Detroit. Minnie's granddaughter Berenice Holden (1902-1991) used to recall how as a little girl she made a train trip from Sheridan, Wyoming to Detroit with her parents Gus and Katie Holden in a private railway car to visit grandmother Minnie, and her aunt Anna Lewandowski at the 25th Street House. She remembered it being a large, two-story place that had large wooden beds upstairs with thick quilts on them that a little girl would down sink into so that she could barely see out.

   Minnie lived a long life and died on Aug. 3, 1916 at age 88 at daughter Anna's house, after falling out of a chair and breaking her hip for the third time. She is buried with her husband Fred at Woodmere Cemetery.

    

   children of GOTTFRIED and MINNIE HOLDEN (all born originally with the surname Haldan)

    

   • Christine Haldan (1852-1852) was born on Oct. 25, 1852 in the German province of West Prussia that today is part of Poland. She was probably born in the village of Tromnau (modern Trumiejki), as she was baptized there 6 days later on Oct. 31 in the local Lutheran Church. She died an infant on Nov. 3, 1852 in Tromnau, and was buried there 2 days later.

   • Augusta Wilhelmina "Minnie" Holden (1856-1927) was born on May 24, 1856 in the German province of West Prussia that today is part of Poland. She was probably born in the town of Riesenburg (modern Prabuty), as she was baptized there 2 days later on May 26 in the local Lutheran Church. She immigrated in 1878 on her own as a young woman to the United States, being the first of her family to make the journey, and married Albert Hoffman (1859-1933) in 1880 in Detroit, Michigan, where they had at least two children born. She died on Feb. 9, 1927 in Detroit, where she is buried with Albert in Woodmere Cemetery.

   • Gottfried Haldan (1861-1868) was born on May 12, 1861 in the German province of West Prussia that today is part of Poland. She was probably born in the town of Riesenburg (modern Prabuty), as he was baptized there a few days later on May 20 in the local Lutheran Church. He died when 7-years old on Dec. 20, 1868 in West Prussia, where he is buried in the village of Laseczno, which is located about 14 miles southeast of Riesenburg.

   • Anna Holden (1864-1918) was born on Feb. 16, 1864 in the German province of West Prussia that today is part of Poland. She was probably born the in the village of Klein Tromnau (modern Ilawa u Trumiejki), as she was baptized there a few days later on Feb. 21 in the local Lutheran Church. She immigrated as a young woman with her family to the United States, departing from Bremen, Germany on the S.S. Kronprinz Friedrick Wilhelm, and arriving on May 28, 1881 in Baltimore, Maryland. She then proceceded with her family to Detroit, Michigan, where she married William Lewandowski (1862-1919) on Aug. 16, 1884 at St. John's Lutheran Church, which is known today as the Historic Trinity Church. She and William had four children born in Detroit, none of whom were living at the time of the 1900 U.S. census. She unsuccessfully tried to divorce William on Aug. 29, 1903 due to his cruelty, but he petition was withdrawn. She died on June 25, 1918 in Detroit, where she is buried in Woodmere Cemetery, in a different part of the cemetery from William. More information on Anna is given under the heading for her husband William Lewandowski (1862-1919)

   • Gus Holden (1868-1931), who follows.

   • Frederick "Fred" Holden (1870-1910) was born on June 15, 1870 in the German province of West Prussia that today is part of Poland. He was probably born in the village of Tromnau (Trumiejki), as he was baptized there a few days later on June 26 in the local Lutheran Church. He immigrated as a boy with his family to the United States, departing from Bremen, Germany on the S.S. Kronprinz Friedrick Wilhelm, and arriving on May 28, 1881 in Baltimore, Maryland. He then proceceded with his family to Detroit, Michigan. He married Augusta Mau (1869-1936) on June 27, 1891 in Detroit, and they had several children. He died on Oct. 26, 1910 in Detroit, where he is buried with Augusta in Woodmere Cemetery.

   • Christian "Christopher" Charles Holden (1874-1941) was born on Aug. 15, 1875 in the German province of West Prussia that today is part of Poland. He was probably born in the village of Tromnau (Trumiejki), as he was baptized there a few days later on Aug. 22 in the local Lutheran Church. He immigrated as a boy with his family to the United States, departing from Bremen, Germany on the S.S. Kronprinz Friedrick Wilhelm, and arriving on May 28, 1881 in Baltimore, Maryland. He then settled with his family in Detroit, Michigan. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1897 in Detroit, and served duirng the Spanish-American War in Company A of the 19th Infantry. Then he was stationed from 1900 to 1902 at the San Francisco Presidio. He married Louise Cornelius (1892-1918) on Dec. 22, 1908 in Essex County, Ontario, Canada; and they subsequently settled in Detroit, Michigan, where Louise died prematurely on Nov. 15, 1918 from tuberrculosis. He then married a widow named Mary McDonnell (b. c.1882) in Jan. 1920 in Michigan. He died on Nov. 18, 1941 in Curtis, Michigan, and is buried with a military headstone at Roseland Park Cemetery in Berkley, Michigan. He appears to have had children with both wives, in addition to stepchildren with his second wife.

 

2. Gus Holden (1868-1931), the son of Gottfried and Minnie Holden, was born August Haldan on Jan. 1, 1867 in the village of Tromnau in the German province of West Prussia, and baptized there on Jan. 6, 1867 in the local Lutheran Church. Tromnau is the same as Trumiejk in modern Poland, and was separated from Germany in 1945 when it was occupied by Soviet forces at the end of WWII. Although born August Haldan, he went by the name of Gustav "Gus" Holden from about 1900 on.

   U.S. census records all show that Gus immigrated in the early- to mid-1870s to the United States. However, this is information that he provided to census takers. He is almost certainly the August Haldan who departed at the age of 14 from Bremen, Germany with his parents on the S.S. Kronprinz Friedrick Wilhelm, and arrived on May 28, 1881 in Baltimore, Maryland, with Detroit, Michigan as their stated destination on the ship arrival papers. This indicates that for whatever reason, he wanted to give the impression that he had lived in the United States longer than what was the actual case.

   The first mention of Gus that we know of in Detroit is in the 1885 city directory, which lists him as August Haldan, working as a laborer for the Detroit Steel & Spring Works, and residing on Toledo Avenue between Lansing and Ferdinand. His absence in city directories before then is no doubt due to the fact that it was not until 1885 that the city annexed the area where Gus was residing, and prior to then his address was in an incorporated part of the County. He is next found in the 1887 directory residing with his mother Wilhelmina, and brother Frederick at "n s Toledo ave 3 [houses] w of Clark ave" - a location that appears in the 1889 directory as 244 Toledo Avenue. He does not appear in any subsequent directories, even though the 1901 directory lists his mother and brother at the same Toledo Avenue address as before.

   Gus as early as 1892 was working for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy (CB&Q) Railroad as a hostler and switcher, which meant that he moved train locomotives back and forth in the train yards. However, he steadily worked his way up over the next couple of years to a full-fledged locomotive engineer, operating passenger and freight trains on CB&Q tracks throughout the Midwest. Although assigned to the Alliance, Nebraska office of the company, he worked many Midwest locations over the course of his career, including Deadwood, South Dakota and Sheridan, Wyoming, to name just two. A newspaper article that was published many years after the fact describes in great detail a Spring blizzard in 1896 that Gus had to contend with (Billings Gazette, Billings, Montana, May 29, 1955, p. 23). The article makes it clear that Gus by this time was an experienced and respected locomotive engineer.

   Gus was a CB&Q engineer living in Sheridan, Wyoming, when he married an Irish girl named Katie Scullin (1860-1944) on May 11, 1898 in the Sheridan suburb of Higby. Gus had been baptized Lutheran, and Katie, like her Irish parents, was Catholic, but Gus converted to his wife's faith when he married her. Soon after their marriage, they moved to Fall River County, South Dakota, where they lived for the next few years, before returning to Wyoming sometime after the 1905 South Dakota State Census. Gus throughout this time is always shown as an engineer for the CB&Q Railroad.

   Gus is said by his granddaughter Diane Wilkie to have had red hair, and a large moustache. He and wife Katie were also kind people, much loved by family, with many friends. They lived in Sheridan at 1117 North Main Street, and their house, which still stands today, has changed little from the days when they were there.

   Gus' carreer with the CB&Q came to a disastrous end on April 2, 1913, when he was severely injured in a head-on collision with another train, five miles east of Sheridan. One man was killed outright, and Gus was not expected to survive, with a crushed hand and leg. His granddaughter Diane Wilkie has written to us that "Gus was the engineer on a train wreck...head on collision. (Other engineer disobeyed his orders) Grandpa made his crew jump, and he stayed with engine. And thereby saved [the] lives of passengers, [but] lost his hand."

   Although Gus defied the odds and recovered, he was left disabled. The loss of a hand meant that he could no longer work for the railroads. So when the Sheridan Sugar Company formed in 1915 in Sheridan, and built the Holly Sugar Factory to process sugar beets there, Gus was able to get on with them as a stationary machine operator. He also bought and sold real estate on the side. In addition, he tried his hand at politics, and was elected to serve one term from 1917 to 1919 as one of the Wyoming State Legislators representing Sheridan County.

   Prohibition began on January 17, 1920, when enforcement of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution made it illegal to produce or sell beer, wine and liquor. Gus, as befitting his German origins, loved his beer, so he began brewing his own is his basement. One of the last big events in his life was the "Black Tuesday" stock market crash of October 29, 1929, which wiped out pretty much everything in his real estate business. However, he was fortunate enough to keep his job at the sugar factory, and the 1930 U.S. Census shows him still employed there as a stationary engineer.

   

   Gus died from a heart attack at age 63 on Nov. 16, 1931 in Sheridan, while still an employee at the Holly Sugar Factory. He is buried in the Sheridan Municipal Cemetery, where an image of a train engine is inscribed on the tombstone he shares with Katie. His tombstone gives his birth year as 1868, which is at odds with the 1867 birth year given on his baptism record. However, he was born on Jan. 1, 1867 in a small village that evidently still used the Julian Calendar, in which the new year does not begin until March 25, whereas 1868 would be his birth year in the Gregorian Calendar that is used today, since the new year in the Gregorian starts on Jan. 1, the same day Gus was born. Katie survived Gus by several years, and died on Nov. 26, 1944 in Sheridan.

   Gus is probably the man referred to in "family stories" as an older step-brother (of James F. Clark), who had spent time in the "Wild West". He was probably the one responsible for getting his step-nephew James F. Clark a job as a brakeman in the Detroit train yards.

   children of GUS and KATIE HOLDEN

    

   • Clarence Holden (1899-1899) is shown in a family tree on the internet to have been born on March 15, 1899 and died a few days later on April 1 in Edgemont, South Dakota. Although, this information is not verified, the tree does appear to have been made by a member of the family.

   • Lawrence Fred Holden (1900-1966) was born on March 22, 1900 in Edgemont, South Dakota, and moved as a boy with his parents to Sheridan County, Wyomng, where he grew up. He married Amy Pearle Gross (1903-1975) on June 24, 1928 in Bighorn County, Montana; and they had at least one son. Lawrence died on April 1, 1966 in Great Falls, Montana, where he is buried with Pearle in the Mount Olivet Cemetery.

   • Bernice Holden (1902-1991) was born on Jan. 18, 1902 in Alliance, Nebraska, and moved as a girl with her parents to Sheridan County, Wyoming, where she grew up. She married Dale Montgomery Carlyle (1906-1978) on Sept. 18, 1937 in Buffalo, New York; and they had at least one daughter - Diane Wilkie (neé Carlyle). Bernice died on May 3, 1991 in Sheridan, Wyoming, where she is buried with Dale in the Sheridan Municipal Cemetery.

 


A Baldwin 2-6-2 (Prairie-class) R5 locomotive purchased in 1906 by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.
Gus Holden could very well have operated this engine at some point in his railroad career.

 

 

 

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