My Journey Into My Past

    Paul Wickenheiser My Second Great Uncle       An experienced genealogist once told me, “Every family story has a grain of truth in it.”   This has proved true numerous times, most recently with the immigration story of my maternal 2 nd Great Grandfather. Anton Wickenheiser, who travelled with his wife, Thekla Rebel, daughter Mary age 8, and my Great Grandfather, Nicolaus age 12. They were on the S.S. Oder and were able to obtain cabins. My great-grandfather's occupation was merchant. This was the only Wickenheiser family on the ships manifest, according to “Germans to America.”   The immigration date for this branch of the family was 1875.   The facts, as we knew them, were that Franz Wickenheiser of Baden Germany had four sons who came to America. They came through Castle Gardens, NY. They were Johan, Phillip, Anton, and Paul. The ship name and arrival date has not been verified for the brothers yet. After a brief stop in Pennsyl...

  Two houses This is the story of two houses that were built around the same time, in the early 1900’s.   The one without a porch railing was my grandparents, Lena RIVARD and August WICKENHEISER’S home. They bought the property in 1926, and built the home soon afterwards.   My grandmother lived there until her death in 1972. I spent many happy hours in that home. The house with the railings is my home.   I fell in love with it the moment I walked through the kitchen and into the dining room. It was also built in the 1920's. I didn’t know why the house held such an attraction for me until my nephew Lucas remarked to my sister. “I know why Aunt Rana liked that house.   It looks just like your grandma’s.” I didn’t know until I heard a talk about kit houses that our two houses were probably from kits.   The floor plans and exteriors are very similar, although my grade door is in the back and my grandparents was on the side.   Their bay window was a l...

My grandmother, Lena RIVARD WICKENHEISER had an open-door policy long before it became a political catch phrase.  Her door was always open, and her house was always full. She and her husband Gus WICKENHEISER had 9 children.  Soon it became even more full.  Mae RIVARD LAFOUNTAIN, her widowed sister died in 1938.  Her children were separated, one boy going to sister Rose RIVARD WEISS, one child going to a family friend, and the youngest five going to Lena.  She raised them as her own, and they all appreciated and loved their “Aunt Lene.”  In 1942 her beloved Gus died, leaving her with the children to raise on her own.  Soon there were more residents of her modest 4-bedroom home. Her father-in-law Nick WICKENHEISER had moved in before Gus died.   Her mother ROSE LEDUC RIVARD lived with the family until her death in 1949. It was a large loving family group, who all worked hard in the home and at jobs when they were able. The large gardens provi...