Henning Family History - Sheboygan, Wisconsin and Zichow, Germany

Alma Henning is the maternal grandmother of my wife Bonnie and her siblings, Eric, Kevin and Robert Holt. Alma was born in Sheboygan County Wisconsin in the Town of Herman. She is connected to a large Henning family some of whom emigrated to Wisconsin in the mid 1800's. Bonnie and I began to research the Henning family line in the summer of 2006. Fortunately we found a copy of Wolfgang Henning's book in the Sheboygan County Family Research Center in Sheboygan Falls. While connecting Alma Henning to this extensive family wasn't a simple matter, it has been verified and Alma clearly is part of the Henning family of Sheboygan County Wisconsin and Zichow, Germany.

This blog includes background excerpts from a 1989 Henning family history written by a German resident, Wolfgang Henning. Wolgang began his quest for the American Henning family in 1977. He visited the States in 1988 and published the results of his search in 1989. He resides today in Großschönau, Germany with his wife Karin. Großschönau is located where Germany, Poland and the Czeck Republic come together. They have one daughter, Kathryn and two grandchildren, Astrid and Andreas. Wolfgang was born in 1934. Anyone connected to this Henning family owes Wolfgang a debt of gratitude for his tireless and extensive efforts to document the Henning family of Zichow, Germany and Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Michael Henning (1788-1870) and his wife Marie (nee Eichmann) had ten children, three of whom died in infancy. Four children emigrated to Wisconsin, Michael in 1854 and Charlotte Henning Neumann, Carl and Johann in 1863, settling on farms in the town of Herman, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. Johann lived in Milwaukee and Michigan. Three children, Marie, Friedrich, and Wilhelm remained in Germany, in or near the tiny village of Zichow in the county of Ankermunde, north of Berlin and a few miles west of the Oder River. One girl, Marie, was married to a farmer and moved to another village. One son (Friedrich) acquired another farm in Zichow. The youngest son (Wilhelm Henning) stayed in his parental home until 1883 when he bought another farm and there opened an inn with a newly built hall. (Wolfgang Henning family history, 1989)

The family home in Germany was Zichow, located north of Berlin, about a dozen miles west of the Odor River, and midway between the towns of Prenzlau and Schwedt. Michael was the first émigré from his family. He came to Wisconsin in 1854, nine years prior to the arrival of three siblings, Charlotte and her husband George Neumann and five children, a brother Carl, and Johann, also a brother. The family journey to America, by way of Bremerhaven, took nine weeks and ended in Wisconsin. In all four Henning siblings came to America and three siblings remained in Germany, Marie, Friedrich, and Wilhelm.

Wolfgang Henning writes in the Henning family genealogy, "Although each of the four emigrants (to America) had about $1000 when they arrived, the beginnings were hard. The tree stumps had to be pulled out with oxen. At first their crops were primarily potatoes and vegetables. Yet, despite the difficult beginnings the immigrants looked on their new home as a paradise because they had plenty of land and were free people".

Wolfgang also shares information about the cultural and historical background of the Hennings, "Uckermark has much evidence of prehistoric and Slavic settlements. Germans conquered the territory between the rivers Elbe and Oder in the 12th and 13th centuries. The German settlers of the region around Zichow probably migrated from the lower Rhine area.”

“The village of Zichow was founded by the Slavs and was mentioned first in 1275. In 1456 the von Arnim family established themselves as feudal lords at Zichow. This family continued living there until the end of World War II. The ruins of an old tower called "The Old Tower" in 1527 and a castle erected in baroque style in 1745 can still be seen. During the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) probably no other region suffered as much as Uckermark. The Great Elector (Prussian Sovereign 1640-1688) called people from other parts of Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and France into the devastated and almost depopulated country. In 1608 eight farmers and seventeen families without land of their own lived in Zichow. In 1687 on five families, including two farmers, were still to be found. The village had no pastor between 1640 and 1664. The church was rebuilt as late as 1713 and the upper part of the stone steeple was finished no earlier than 1850."

Wolfgang Henning continues, "The Zichow church was originally built around 1250. It was constructed entirely of well hewn and carefully laid granite square stones. Behind the neo-gothic altar gravestones of the von Arnim family from the 2nd half of the 16th century can be seen. Two bells from the 15th century and one made in 1581 are still there. The graveyard is surrounded by an old wall of fieldstones. The Hennings were buried close to the church, below the two windows, looking to the north."

Wolfgang Henning writes about the Henning forefathers from Zichow, Germany, "the oldest known generation of our forefathers was born in the beginning of the 18th century with the earliest known birth year being 1710. According to a fire insurance register of 1792, the lord of the manor owned about half of the property in the village of Zichow, and Friedrich Henning was the wealthiest of the nine farmers. He was also the innkeeper, church warden, and "lawman", i.e. he was competent to handle minor misdemeanors. Until 1807 the farmers lived in bondage. They had to work at the manor, were obligated to pay duty in the form of money and farm produce, and (they) needed the permissions of the lord of the manor if they intended to marry, have children learn a trade, bequest a farm, or change the(ir) place of residence. At that time one-third of the fields were planted with summer grain, the second with winter grain, and a third left fallow. This system was followed in alternate sequence from year to year."

The farm buildings where generations of the Hennings lived are still well preserved. The living house and former village in is a protected monument due to its arcades, which were common at inns in that part of Germany in old times. The four rooms, including the kitchen, did not offer too much space for the usually large family to live in and for serving guests of the inn. In those days farmers did not need large barns. For instance, around 1800 only about one-half of the farmers owned a horse. Such farms provided a livelihood and space for only one family.

Wolfgang concluded his introduction to the Henning family history, “When I started to write the first version of this chronicle in 1977 I did not know anything about our American ancestors as all contact had ceased decades earlier. An old photo helped me to reestablish contact. Since hundreds of letters have crossed the ocean. I have to thank many relatives who helped by supplying the data necessary for compiling the lists. Some of our American relatives have come to visit us in Germany. I myself experienced a great hospitality during the wonderful days I was able to spend in your country in 1988. Although the course of time has made us distant relatives and although we live in different worlds, let us look forward to being close in the years to come.”