THE FAITH OF OUR
FATHERS
When talking about Religion, a phase often heard is “My
family has been (insert denomination) forever.
In the case of the WICKENHEISER family, that is all but true. Any WICKENHEISER can say “My family has been
Catholic forever.” And mean it.
The first ancestor who we have found who bore the WICKENHEISER
name was Johannes, or Hans WICKENHAUSER born c. 1610. The name was first documented in the 1300s in
Ravensburg Germany, west of Munich. WICKENHAUSEN means “Settlement of Wiggo.”
According to the dictionary of Medieval Names wiggo is a euphemism of various
names beginning with the old High German “wic” meaning war or battle. Hans
lived in Elsenz and is the first WICKENHAUSER entry in the Ortssippenbuch Elsenz
church records. There were other WICKENHAUSERS
in the area, but their relationship to Hans is yet unknown. The family was very
influential in Elsenz and several drawings exist where they are the subject of
the cartoon.
The WICKENHAUSERS came from the Palatinate, part of the Holy
Roman Empire during the early part of the Reformation. In 1619 when Hans was around 9 years old,
Frederick V accepted the Bohemian crown, an event which contributed to the
beginning of the 30 years’ war. Deaths from warfare and starvation during this
war numbered over eight million people. Many villages were entirely obliterated by
slaughter, disease, and hunger. Finally,
the war ended with the Peace of Westphalia.
The head of state was no longer allowed to force his subjects to change
to a state religion. However, to remain
Catholic, you had to pay taxes to support the national religion and were
subject to discrimination. In Elsenz,
the Catholics could go to church in neighboring cities, but had to have their
baptism, marriage, and burial ceremonies performed by the Reformed Pastor. All records were recorded in the Reformed
Church record books and were kept that way until 1657. Catholic Church records
began again in 1699.
In 1685 all religions were allowed, and vacant government
positions could be filled by persons of any faith. However, churches, presbyteries and income
remained Reformation possessions, so Catholics had to hold their services in
private homes or other personal areas.
In Elsenz the Catholic Masses were held in a barn. There was great opposition from the
Reformists to this policy. This led to
dissention and disruption. One source cites “On 5th Sunday after
Easter in 1686 the Katholliken found the “front door of the barn was so smeared
with human excrement and a large stench, that they had to look for another
place.”
During all this religious discrimination WICKENHAUSERs were
a local leader in the Catholic Community.
Catholics were not allowed their own cemeteries but had to use the ones
owned by the Reformed Church. This caused much disturbance, especially at the
first funerals in Elsenz. There was an
infamous episode in August of 1686, when a Catholic boy died, and his father
tried to hold a mass in front of the Reformed Church and cemetery. The Reformed minister made them leave and go
to WICKENHAUSER’S house to perform the ceremony. The Catholics returned from the WICKENHAUSER
house with many more Catholics. A brawl
began when the Catholic priest had the coffin of the boy set down in front of
the cemetery and began the ceremony. There was fist fighting, hair pulling and
such. After such unseemly behavior the
Catholics took the coffin and had the funeral mass elsewhere, then retuned to
the churchyard to bury the child without a Priest present.
Hans WICKENHAUSER (1648-1724) was born near the end of the
Thirty Years’ War. He was called Hans
the Younger and was known as an honorable and great man. From history we know his life was full of
war, religious strife, and public service. He was the father of Johann WICKENHAUSER
(1683-1780) who was a blacksmith, and later an innkeeper. Johann was the father of Johann Adam WICKENHAUSER
(1732-1801), who was a farmer and the father of Johann Adam WICKENHAUSER (1759-1829),
a master butcher. His son Franz Josef WICKENHAUSER (1788-1837) was the first of
this family to live in Rohrbach. He was
a ploughman; both of his brothers were farmers.
Franz died at age 49 years, shortly after his youngest child was born.
Germany was slowly recovering from 1816, known as the “Year without a summer.” The industrialization of the 1800’s created
new jobs, but also led to the failure of many farms and cottage industries.
Franz was the father of five sons, all of whom immigrated to
America. One of those sons was Josef
Anton WICKENHAUSER (or Anton Josef; it was written both ways). He married
Thekla REBEL in Germany and they began a family. In 1865 the couple and their children Nickolas,
age 14; Maria, age 9; and Rosa, age 7 booked passage on the steamship Oder.
Anton was listed as a merchant, and they were able to purchase cabin
tickets. Their ultimate destination was
Ash Township Michigan, where the family once again worked as farmers and
dairymen.
Nikolaus remained in Michigan and was the father of August
John (Gus) WICKENHEISER. August married a Godly woman, Eliza Paulina (Lena) RIVARD
and raised a large family with ideals of thrift, family and faith. The WICKENHEISER family continues to be a
force in the Catholic Church to this day.
So, yes. When a WICKENHEISER
says “We’ve been Catholic forever!” they
mean it. And we can prove it, at least
as far back as 1610. What a Blessed
heritage.
Rana Joblinski Willit
Sources:
Gehrig, Franz and Dorf und Pfarrei Elsenz pg 62
The
Wickenheiser Book by T. Wickenheiser
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