Irene Marie Heimpel

Other Events:

• Name: Irene Marie Hammer
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-76676
• Residence: 1911, Petersburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1981, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Irene — Ezra George Johannes Hammer. Ezra (son of Johannes "John" Hammer and Mary Elizabeth Handstein) was born 27 Jul 1892, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario, Canada; died 20 Mar 1953, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Riverside Cemetery, New Hamburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

1. Maurice O. Hammer was born 20 Oct 1918, Waldau, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 26 Nov 2000, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Riverside Cemetery, New Hamburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
2. Elaine Marie Hammer was born 14 Apr 1920; died 1 Sep 2004, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Riverside Cemetery, New Hamburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
3. Grace Elvira Hammer was born 1922; died 1998, Parksville, , British Columbia, Canada.
4. Kenneth George Hammer was born 20 Apr 1932, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 5 Jan 2021, New Hamburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.

Other Events:

• Name: Jakob Heimpel
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-326890
• Birth: 7 Jul 1841
• Residence: 1852, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Blacksmith
• Residence: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1881, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Blacksmith
• Residence: 1887, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1891, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Blacksmith
• Residence: 1891, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1901, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Blacksmith
• Occupation: 1911, Petersburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Blacksmith

Jacob — Mary Hahn. Mary (daughter of Johann George "George" Hahn and Elizabeth Herber) was born 15 Sep 1862, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 24 May 1955; was buried , Emanuel Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery, Petersburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Mary Heimpel
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-326997
• Residence: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1891, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1911, Petersburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-111943
• Occupation: 1852, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Carpenter
• Residence: 1852, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1861, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1861, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Gentleman
• Residence: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Valentine — Margaret Kern. Margaret was born CALC 14 Jul 1804, , Hessen, Germany; died 15 Mar 1889, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Saint Paul's Lutheran Cemetery, Erbsville, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57952700
• Name: Margaret Heimpel
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-111293
• Residence: 1852, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1861, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Other Events:

• Name: George Hahn
• Name: John George
• Name: John George "George" Hahn
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-106198
• Occupation: 1849, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; farmer
• Occupation: 1861, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer
• Residence: 1861, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer
• Residence: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1881, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer

Notes:

Georg Hahn was born 6 October, 1819 in Gersdorf, Kirchheim, Hersfeld, Hesse-Nassau, Prussia Germany, to parents Johann Jacob Hahn and Anna Margarethe Stiebing. He was the third of four children. His father was 31 years old and his mother 24 when he was born.
Four days after his birth, on 10 October 1819, he was christened at the church in Frielingen, Kirchheim, Hersfeld, Hesse-Nassau, Prussia Germany. Like his grandfather, father, and brother before him, he was given the first name Johann.

All of these males would be known by their second names on legal documents. This is because the first name, Johann, was traditionally given at baptism and was not used thereafter. However, if a child was named Johannes, like Georg's brother born in 1833, then John was recognized as his true name. [2]

The tradition of giving male children the name Johann at baptism was started in the Middle Ages. Possibly because the biblical interpretation of the name John is, "the grace or mercy of the Lord." The Hebrew meaning of Johann was, "Jehovah has been gracious/has shown favor." [3]
Notably, Georg was born three years after the Year Without a Summer in 1816. This was the year his sister Christina was born, followed in 1817, by his brother Adam.

The Year Without a Summer is described as a volcanic winter. This was because of the extreme discharge of volcanic ash from the eruption of Mount Tambora in April 1815 in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and the 1814 eruption of Mount Mayon in the Philippines.
Described as "the worst famine of 19th-century mainland Europe" [4] crops failed because of the lack of sunlight and extreme cold. Food shortages were a major issue as food prices rose sharply. Previously, rye had cost 87 marks per ton, but by 1816, it was sold in Prussia for 164 marks per ton, and in 1817, rose to 214 marks per ton. Hungry mobs demonstrated and riots, arson, and looting took place in Germany as well as in other parts of Europe.

To make matters worse, between 1816 and1819 a major typhus epidemic occurred in parts of Europe. It is thought to have been precipitated by the "malnourishment and famine caused by the Year Without a Summer. More than 65,000 people died as the disease spread out of Ireland and to the rest of Britain." [4]

We think that the Hahn family was spared the worst, but likely these were lean years for Georg's father and grandfather, who were both an Ackermann (farmer). Perhaps they ate their livestock, preserves, and what little they could grow to feed themselves. They would have had to mend shoes and clothes and make do without all non-essentials.

There is evidence that Jacob Hahn (Georg's father) was a Schueltze (village mayor). It is unknown if this provided any additional source of income, but presumably leadership, was important to him and provided advantages in local politics. Sadly, on 22 March 1838, Jacob (age 50) died. Georg was 18 years old, and presumably living at home.

As was the custom, Jacob's body would have been washed, dressed, and laid out in the parlour for viewing for up to 72-hours before burial took place. His widow (Anna) would have greeted family and friends dressed in black which was a symbol of mourning/silent grief ("stille Tauer"). She would have continued to wear black clothes for 1-5 years or for the rest of her life, depending on how the death had affected her. Jacob's parents, children and in-laws, out of respect, would also wear black for one year and any grandchildren were dressed in black for six months.

We have no documentation of the cause of Jacob's death because, in Germany in the 1800s, "most people could afford to only bury their dead without elaborate ceremonies and have the death registered in the local church book. Many of these entries consist of one line, giving very scanty information." [5]

The following year, 1839, Georg made the monumental decision to leave the familiar - his country, customs, language, family, and friends \emdash and accept the challenges of life in an under-populated land across the ocean. At age nineteen, Georg migrated from Bremen to New York City, United States. Although we do not know the exact reasons compelling him forward to North America, much is written about this period in Germany.

"By 1830 German immigration had increased more than tenfold. From that year until World War I, almost 90 percent of all German emigrants chose the United States as their destination. Once established in their new home, these settlers wrote to family and friends in Europe describing the opportunities available in the U.S. These letters were circulated in German newspapers and books, prompting "chain migrations." By 1832, more than 10,000 immigrants arrived in the U.S. from Germany." [6]

Also, immigration was legalized in 1825 in Prussia, and the state went so far as to pay the cost of ship passage to the New World of the poor. The economic reasons for this support "included overpopulation and a lack of resources to feed and house people, years of crop failure and previous famines." [6]

The New World offered hope for land acquisition and a better life for German immigrants. [6]

Georg's traveling companions were his brother, Johann Adam Hahn and Hans Heinrich Pfaff (of Willingshain, Hessen) who was the brother of the husband of Georg's sister, Christina. They arrived in New York City on 21 August 1839 aboard the brig Estafette.
As iron-built boats didn't exist until 1850, Georg and his party crossed the Atlantic in a wooden ship with sails. It was no doubt an arduous journey. "The conditions on immigrant ships at this time (middle 1840s) were unbelievably bad. Owners sold their excess ship space to agents whose only interest was to fill it with as many passengers as possible. The immigrants were crowded together into unsanitary quarters for voyages of 6 weeks or more & were particularly susceptible to the ravages of disease." [7]

Stormy seas were common and treacherous. "The confusion above deck & the tramping around frightened those in steerage almost out of their wits. The air was foul, the hatches had been battened down for a week. With each roll of the ship the people in the crowded berths were bumped & bruised as they were hurled from side to side against the rough partitions, and there was real danger of crushing the children to death. Water leaked through the decks in such quantity that the beds were soaked & the floor ankle-deep. Candle lanterns could not be lighted, nor had there been cooking for days." [7]

Georg's future wife, Elizabeth Herber, had arrived in Canada seven years earlier with her brother, mother and father, after a three-month voyage. In contrast to Georg, she was a two-year-old toddler and would not have remembered the voyage.
Upon Arrival, Georg and his brother would need to learn quickly the currency, language, laws, prejudices and norms in this new land or be taken advantage of by unscrupulous individuals. They would need to weigh their opportunities if they were to get beyond meeting their basic needs for shelter and food. Georg likely left New York City to find work in the country as a field hand. Eventually he travelled northward to Canada, where he may have worked again as a field hand, before applying for 100 acres of Crown land.

Georg's decision to head north may have been influenced by Canada's advertising for newcomers, loyal to the crown, to settle its land. The War of 1812-1814 provided the impetus to quickly establish Canadian settlement of land especially along the American– Canadian border and deter future American invasion. "The elite governing class of the new colony, Upper Canada, was heavily weighted with United Empire Loyalists and the British Crown was relying on them to hold and expand the territory. Beginning very early on and running right up into the twentieth century, advertising campaigns were staged to attract more settlers." [8]

Georg would meet Elizabeth Herber in Waterloo County, approximately 10 years after leaving Germany. Perhaps they met while attending a German language church service or via a common acquaintance. They were married on 1 February 1849 in Waterloo, Waterloo County. (Georg's brother, Adam was witness to the marriage.) Georg was 29 years old and Elizabeth was 19 years old. Such an age difference between bride and groom was not uncommon at the time.

Obviously, economic factors affected marriage opportunities for men. Georg could not marry until he could support a wife and children. The choosing of a younger bride may have been a preference for optimizing child bearing years, or just a factor of the times. High immigration always led to men outnumbering available women and it may have been the case that the women of Georg's age were already married.

In this early time in Upper Canada history, companionable unions were formed between couples of the same religious and ethnic backgrounds residing within reasonable geographic proximity. [9]

The 1851 census places the young couple two years after marriage in Wellesley Township with one-year-old William. Thus, we surmise they had settled onto the 100 acres affronting Hessen Road that would eventually be legally registered in Georg's name. According to an article entitled, Crown Land Grants & Purchasing: Understanding the Crown Land Granting Process: "If the settler took up residence on the land and fulfilled certain settlement duties, he or she would have ended up owning the land." [10]

Settlement duties included:
"The Locatee shall clear thoroughly the half of the Road width, opposite to the front of his lot, by burning or totally removing all the Timber, Wood and underwood of every kind therefrom. He shall cut down the stumps for the space of ten feet from the centre of the Road, so low, that a Waggon Wheel may easily pass over anything that stands within that space, and he shall sow with Grass-seed the Road so cleared.
Upon proof that this has been done, and that some person has been constantly resident upon the Lot for the space of two years, a Patent may issue without other condition of Settlement Duty. But in cases where the Lot has not been so occupied, a Patent shall not issue until the Locatee, in addition to the Road Duties, above prescribed, shall have wholly cleared the Timber from the front of his Lot for the space of one chain.

That he shall enter upon the said Lot immediately and occupy it continuously, and shall, during the first five years, clear thereon at the rate of not less than five acres annually for every hundred acres, and build a dwelling house, not less that eighteen feet by twenty-six feet.
That he shall not cut any of the growing wood on the said Lot, except for the clearing of the ground, for fuel, buildings and fences thereon, nor dispose of it in any manner, until the land has been paid for in full and Patented." [10]

"In the early days of settlement, it was not uncommon for women and children to help with the heavy tasks of clearing land, planting and harvesting crops." [11] Elizabeth would be with child every other year and her household duties would be extensive. Thus, it was fortuitous that Georg would father five boys: William (1850); Lewis (1852); Jacob (1854); Henry (1856); John (1857) within eight years of marriage and before his legal ownership of 100 acres on 17 July 1860. His land is identified on the 1861 Tremaine Map of the County of Waterloo. The farm's location is the Wellesley Township, East Section, Concession 6, East Half of Lot 6 close to the hamlet of Bamberg, (today, 4195 Hessen Strasse, Wellesley, Ontario N0B 2T0).

That same year (1860) a sixth son, George (his namesake) was born. Three years later (in 1863) the first girl arrived. She was named Mary and was soon followed by a second girl Christina (1864). Then three more sons rounded out the large German settler family \emdash Conrad (1867), Ernest Henry (1869) and the ninth and last son Andrew (1871). When the last child was born, Georg was 52 years old and Elizabeth was 41.

As a Crown land farmer, Georg had to concentrate his energy on clearing and cultivating land, erecting a dwelling of a minimum size, building needed farm buildings, and tending to livestock. He would have toiled long hours in his fields, minding the needs of livestock, and chopping wood for the cast iron wood stove with the oldest of his boys. Each would acquire the skills and knowledge of how to work the land and decide if it was to be his future occupation.

Because their Lutheran faith was important to Georg and Elizabeth, they designated a piece of their property on Hessen Road for a cemetery and a log church built in 1850. Granddaughter, Verna Hahn described a shed for horses behind the church and an apple orchard near the cemetery. The church, identified as the Hahn church, burned down around 1870. Work was begun soon after on a new church constructed of stone across the road and renamed St. John's Lutheran Church and dedicated in 1872. The new church was built on property belonging to Katherine Reichart. This church is recognized as a historic building under the Ontario Heritage Act. It celebrated its centennial in 1973. [12]

Verna Hahn said that Georg made hard cider from his apples which he enjoyed drinking. Whether this soothed or accelerated his death from "stomach cancer" we will never know. He died on 15 November 1889 and was buried in Row 10- Grave 1 in his own St. John's cemetery in Bamberg. His tombstone inscription reads: Hier ruhet/Georg Hahn/geb. 6 Oct. 1819/gest. 15 Nov 1889/im Alter von 70 Jah. 1 Mo. 9 Tage (Here lies Georg Hahn, born 6 Oct. 1819, died 15 Nov. 1889, age 70 years, 1 month, 9 days). [13]

Today, Georg Hahn and Elizabeth Herber Hahn, early 1800s German immigrants, have many descendants spread throughout Waterloo region, other parts of Ontario, and across the United States.


Dianne Wittig email 2022

Johann married Elizabeth Herber 1 Feb 1849, Greenbush (Kitchener), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Elizabeth (daughter of Heinrich Jacob "Henry" Herber and Catharina Nicholi) was born 6 Jan 1830, Schweinsberg, Kirchhain, Hessen, Germany; died 1 Jun 1918, Petersburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Emanuel Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery, Petersburg, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Elizabeth Hahn
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-327010
• Immigration: 1831, , Ontario, Canada
• Immigration: 1832, , Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1849, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1861, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1871, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Residence: 1911, Petersburg, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Notes:

ELIZABETH HERBER came to Canada in either 1831 (per the 1901 census) or 1832 (per the 1911 census) at the age of two with her parents, Heinrich Jacob Herber and Catherina Nicolai and her younger brother, William. Verna Hahn, Elizabeth's granddaughter, said that: "It took 3 months by boat with a sail to come across the ocean from Germany."

"Before 1835 emigrants were officially advised to make preparations for a voyage of 12 weeks, but in that year the period was reduced to ten. Some emigrants were fortunate to make a voyage of 25 days, while others were driven by contrary winds to the Azores or Greenland, & barely survived a terrifying experience of 4 months." [1]

Conditions during voyages in this time in history have been described as:
- 200 to 1,000 people crammed into tight quarters
- wooden beds, stacked 2 to 3 high with two people sharing single berths and up to four people squeezed into a double.
- passengers boarding with diseases like typhoid, cholera and smallpox which spread quickly in the poor ventilated un-sanitized close quarters (the only ventilation to the living quarters was provided by hatches to the upper decks, which were locked tight during rough seas and storms; bathrooms were located above deck and during stormy weather passengers were forced to relieve themselves and get seasick in buckets, which would overturn as the boat rocked).

- food in constant shortage and often rancid and moldy; a lack of clean drinking water resulted in frequent bouts of dysentery [2]
One month after Elizabeth Herber turned four, her mother Catherina died. It was February 25, 1834 and without a doubt another harsh cold winter in what was then Upper Canada (now Ontario).

A Herber family bible lists Catherina Nicolai as dying of the plague [3]. We know that in 1832 there was a Typhoid epidemic, and in 1834 an Asiatic Cholera epidemic arrived in the area via a traveling circus. But we have no record verifying the cause of death.
Catherina's death is recorded in the "Church Register of H. W. Peterson 1833-1835" under "Deaths" where there is no mention of the cause: It is recorded as death number "103. Died, February 25th 1834, Catharina Herber wife of Henry Jacob Herber (cooper [4]). She was aged 36 years 2 months & 5 days. Buried in the Berlin Graveyard, Feb 26. Discourse delivered by Revd. H W Peterson in German" [5]
According to Herber family oral history, when Heinrich Herber went looking for someone to hire for domestic help raising his children (Elizabeth age 4 and William age 2), he asked Andreas/Andrew Schaeufele, a neighbouring farmer if he could hire one of his daughters. Andreas said "NO" and suggested instead that Heinrich marry one of the daughters. Heinrich married the farmer's second born daugther, Louisa. [6]
(In the 1861 Tremaine Map of Waterloo County, a farm owned by Mathias Schaeffer is shown directly across Erb's Road from Heinrich Herber's farm. Mathias was the eldest son of Andreas/Andrew Schaeufele, lending support to the story of the neighbour offering his daughter for marriage. We acknowledge the surname is spelled slightly differently but this surname has appeared in a multitude of documents with altered spelling.)

Louisa Schaeufele was born to Anna Marie Nagel and Andreas Schaeufele, 15 December 1812 in Hermannsdorf, Saxony, Germany. She was 22 years old when she married Heinrich Herber then age 39, in March 1835. Elizabeth Herber was 5 years old and her brother William was 3.
The 1861 Tremaine map shows Heinrich Herber as owner of a 200-acre farm at what is now 1195 Erb's Road, St. Agatha, Ontario. In addition, in 1838, when Elizabeth was eight years old, there is a land record indicating that Heinrich bought 45 acres, identified as lot 2 south of Erb's Road, no. 232 Bargain & Sale 12/26/1838, reg.9/11/1844, from Francis Hibschwerbin (Last changed in Family Search: 26 August 2013 by rdouglass2718278).

We surmise that Heinrich and Louisa had a good marriage as together over 14 years they had eight children. They named their first child Katherina Louisa honouring Heinrich's first wife as well as his current wife.

In 1848 they would grieve the death of two sons Mathias (age 6) and Christian Peter (age 2) both from dysentery. Sadly, Louisa followed one year later while giving birth to Paulus. The date was 29 June 1849. She was 36 years, 6 months, and 14 days old. The death certificate lists cause of death "as a result of child bed." She was buried in the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Cemetery on Erb's Road east of St. Agatha. Heinrich, her husband, would die at age 69 in 1866, and be buried beside her.

How Henrich managed with a new born child and 5 other children for three years, after Louisa died, we do not know. Elizabeth, his eldest child, had married 5 months earlier to Georg Hahn. Probably Heinrich's second oldest daughter, Katherina (from Louisa) age 13 years and son, Carl age 12 years, assisted with the four younger children and household duties.

We do know that on 4 January 1852, Heinrich, then 56 years old, married Anna Margarethe Lindner. She was born 3 January 1816, in Queck, Lauterbach, Hessen Germany on 3 Jan. 1815. She was 37 years old and the widow of Johann Paul with whom she had two children, Johannes Paul (b. 1836) and Andrew Paul (b.1838). She and Heinrich lived together for 14 years raising his 6 children and her 2 children until he died in 1866. She lived another 24 years until dying on 18 June 1890 at the age of 74 years. She chose to be buried in St. Mark's Lutheran Cemetery, Wellesley, Waterloo Regional Municipality, Ontario.

We assume Elizabeth and Georg Hahn moved to the Bamberg farm once married because in the 1851 census they are listed as living in Wellesley Township with one-year-old Wilhelm. An article entitled, "Crown Land Grants & Purchasing: Understanding the Crown Land Granting Process" states "If the settler took up residence on the land and fulfilled certain settlement duties, he or she would have ended up owning the land. Then, the Crown issued a patent to the settler, indicating that the ownership of the land had passed from the Crown to a private individual." [7]

In 1860 Georg Hahn applied for and received on 17 July a Crown Grant of 100 acres of land in Wellesley Township, East Section, Concession 6, East Half of Lot 6. [8]

Georg and Elizabeth soon designated a small corner parcel of their land adjacent to Hessen Strasse, for a church (wooden structure) and a cemetery (St. John's Lutheran cemetery). The church was built in 1850 and dedicated in 1852. This fact supports our supposition that they were living on their Bamberg farm prior to 1860 when they received legal ownership via the crown land grant.

The church was originally called "the Hahn church" according to Verna Hahn. It burnt to the ground in 1870 and immediately a stone church was erected across the road on Katherine Reichart's land. It is identified as St. John's Lutheran Church.
Today the church is considered architecturally and historically significant. It is locally designated under the Ontario Heritage Act and is listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. [9]

By 1860, Elizabeth now age 30 and Georg now age 41 would have seven growing boys: William age 10; Lewis age 8; Jacob age 6; Henry age 4; John age 3; and young George born August 1860.

The first girl would arrive in 1863, Mary was her name and she was followed quickly in 1864 by a second girl named Christina (Georg's only sister's name). Then three more boys arrived Conrad (1867), Ernest (1869) and Andrew (1871). As a mother in the mid 1800's, Elizabeth would birth her children at home.

As well as nursing, feeding and disciplining her children, the chores of a farm wife of this time period would have included:
> planting & weeding a garden; harvesting the vegetables and fruits and preserving for winter
> milking the cows/goats; churning the butter; making cheese; feeding the chickens and collecting eggs.
> making candles from tallow
> cutting hair; pulling teeth; tending to cuts, scrapes and ill children
> keeping the cast iron wood stove burning for the purpose of proving heat for home in colder months; boiling water on the cast iron stove for weekly baths in shared water; cooking of daily meals on the cast iron stove
> boiling water for washing laundry in a wooden tub with lye soap; hanging laundry outside/inside to dry; making and mending clothes; turning old clothes into quilts and braided rugs

"In the earlier part of the nineteenth century, the frequency with which a wash was done was directly related to social status. Upper-class households could afford larger wardrobes, and so washed every four months, or in some cases, even once a year. To wash clothes more frequently than every six weeks suggested poverty. At the same time, well-to-do nineteenth-century women wore their dresses several times before laundering them, since their outer clothing did not come into direct contact with the body." [10]

Having successfully birthed 11 children over a 21-year period, Elizabeth's wash lines and fences were no doubt, always full of laundry. Like most farm wives, she would have developed a strong back, arms and hands from hauling water for both soap wash and rinse. The strength of her wrists would determine how well water was extracted from the laundry before it was hung to dry.
On Sundays, George, Elizabeth and the children would have attended the Hahn Church on their property. George and his sons most likely were involved in the upkeep and heating of the church.

In her lifetime, Elizabeth's blended family consisted of a father & mother, 2 brothers, 2 step mothers and 8 half siblings. This wide family circle grew exponentially as Elizabeth and Georg Hahn produced eleven children in a 21-year span. These 11 children would marry, bringing into the family 15 daughters-in-laws and 2 sons-in-laws and 45 grandchildren.

Verna Hahn, Elizabeth's granddaughter, said this about Elizabeth: "Elizabeth spoke only German. She never wore a coat and instead wore a heavy shawl with a bonnet. In the spring she wore a lighter shawl. She dressed in full long skirts with pockets. She knit stockings, mitts, hats for the entire family and in later years gifted to neighbours. Her knitting was apparently quite fancy. She was a quiet woman. She had dark brown hair which never turned totally white. She regularly attended the Lutheran church. "

When George Hahn died in 1889, Elizabeth was 59 years old and she may have had three unmarried children residing at home: Conrad age 22; Ernest age 20; and Andrew age 18.

Verna Hahn said that "Elizabeth's sons, John and Henry, had a dispute over the running of the farm after their father died. Elizabeth favoured Henry, who in her opinion could do no wrong. Andrew drove John to the train station and he left Canada and settled in the United States after the dispute."

However, records show that John was already in the United States where he and his wife Emilie were homesteading two separate parcels in arid eastern Colorado. Emilie would have been three months pregnant with their first child. Thus, we surmise that the dispute was likely between Henry (age 33) and Ernest (age 20). Ernest would still be living at home, before moving to the United States to work and marry.

We know from the 1891 Canada Census records that Elizabeth was still living on the Bamberg farm with son Henry and daughter-in-law Veronica and their children (Maria Lydia, Louisa Catherine and Menno Andrew). But by the time of the 1901 census, Elizabeth is recorded living with her daughter Mary Heimpel. Thus, at some point in that decade Elizabeth moved off the Hessen Strasse family farm.

Elizabeth was predeceased by her daughter Christina (March) and son William (November) 1910. She herself would die in Mary's Petersburg, Ontario home on 3 June 1918 and she would be buried in the Emmanuel Lutheran cemetery in Petersburg. Verna Hahn said that "Elizabeth's first gravestone was not good enough for Louis Hahn (second born son and owner of Hahn Brass in New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada), and so he replaced it with his own funds."


Dianne Wittig email 2020

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80927785
• Name: Henry Herber
• Name: Henry Jacob Herber
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-34513
• Occupation: 1834, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; cooper
• Occupation: 1840, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; cooper
• Residence: 1848, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Yeoman
• Residence: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Residence: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran
• Occupation: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Yeoman
• Residence: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Lutheran

Notes:

She [Elizabeth Herber] came to Canada at the age of 3 years with her parents, Heinrich Jacob Herber (1796-1866) & Catherina Nicholi ( 1797-1834) and her brother, William. Elizabeth's mother Catherine, died shortly after arriving in Canada -25 February 1834 at the age of 36 years , 2 months and 5 days. She was buried in the then named Berlin graveyard 26 February, 1834.

Elizabeth's father, Heinrich, was born 11 April, 1796 in Schweinsberg/Kurfurstenthum Hesson, Germany. He died 11 May May 1866 at the age of 70 years 1 month.

Elizabeth's father went looking for someone to help raise his children. He asked a local farmer for one of his daughters to help. Heinrich married the farmer's daughter, Louise Schaeffer and I was told they had 8 children together.

Email Dianne Wittig 2019

Heinrich — Catharina Nicholi. Catharina was born CALC 20 Dec 1797, , Germany; died 25 Feb 1834, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Catharina Herber
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-69778

Notes:

She [Elizabeth Herber] came to Canada at the age of 3 years with her parents, Heinrich Jacob Herber (1796-1866) & Catherina Nicholi ( 1797-1834) and her brother, William. Elizabeth's mother Catherine, died shortly after arriving in Canada -25 February 1834 at the age of 36 years , 2 months and 5 days. She was buried in the then named Berlin graveyard 26 February, 1834.

Elizabeth's father, Heinrich, was born 11 April, 1796 in Schweinsberg/Kurfurstenthum Hesson, Germany. He died 11 May May 1866 at the age of 70 years 1 month.

Elizabeth's father went looking for someone to help raise his children. He asked a local farmer for one of his daughters to help. Heinrich married the farmer's daughter, Louise Schaeffer and I was told they had 8 children together.

Email Dianne Wittig 2019