Henry Meinhardt

Here is my 3rd great grandfather Henry. He's the furthest back along the Meinhardt family line that we've found so far.

He was born about 1828 in Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany. It's kind of near Frankfurt, in the middle of the country.

He came to America around 1852. He was about 24 years old. We know he came over with his mother and siblings and maybe his dad. According to his obituary, he only came over with his mother and other siblings. But on the 1860 census, it lists an H. Meinhardt, 50 years old. Was that his dad? Or maybe an uncle?

Also listed are C. Meinhardt (his brother, Conrad), M. Meinhardt (his mother, Magdalena), and Ernest, Philip, and Catherine.

We really only know of his mom and brother, Conrad. We know that they farmed together at the homestead off of Temperance Rd. in Bedford Township, MI. We've never found anyone else from that census beyond that record.

Below is a map of Germany. Hesse is that sort of heart-shaped state edged in light blue.  

Henry married Mary Schweitzer around 1860. They had at least 6 children, Lena, Henry Jr., Mary, Edward (my great-great grandpa), Charles, and Fred. They're all listed in the 1880 census.

Henry Jr. never married. He died the same year as his father, Henry, 1906. It says "cause of death: burned to death." Charles married Pearl and had a daughter, Ethel. Fred has a few more records that are easy to find. There's a WWI draft registration card on file. He married Alma and they had a daughter, Ruth.

Henry died of congestive heart failure, May 30, 1906, just a few weeks shy of his 78th birthday.

The death record lists his father as Henry and his mother as Mary Schweitzer. That's a huge mystery because Henry Jr.'s death certificate says the same thing. Charles filled out that one, but no one is listed as an informant on Henry Sr.'s. I think it was probably his wife and I wonder if she understood what the form was asking for. After all, they were from Germany and English would have been a second language. There's no guarantee that they spoke much English, let alone being able to read it fluently.

Henry and a number of other Meinhardt ancestors (including his wife, Henry Jr, and his mother Magdalena) are buried at Hitchcock Cemetery in Temperance, MI.