August and Rika (Knaack) Heiden had eight children. Six survived to adulthood including Heinrich (Henry F.) and Ernst (Ernest)  who were born in Germany and William Carl, Herman, Lena (Koster) and John who were born in America. Meta (born in Germany) died in infancy a few weeks after they reached Michigan in 1873.  Bertha and Herman were fraternal twins but she only lived about six months.

Five of the six adult children continued to live in Monroe County for the rest of their lives. Almost all of the adult grandchildren also continued to live in the area, thus the name of this website, heidensofmonroe.com.

In 1915, Herman and his family moved from Dundee north about 150 miles to Shepherd in Isabella County, Michigan. Herman, his wife, Fredareka (Rambow) (right) and their four children, Lewis, Nellie (Heiden) Ayris, Bertha (Heiden) Drake and Richard Lee Heiden lived on a series of farms there for many years. Eventually, some of them or their children moved to other parts of Michigan including the Lansing area.

Click on the names below to learn more about the first and second generations of descendants of August and Rika (Knaack) Heiden.