Because of the number of people with the name Hiestand over the past 600 years I have not included all descendants. Just those that perpetuate the family name. I have focused only on those born, adopted or married with a variation of the name Hiestand. Though I have included the spouses' parents (in-laws) and the children of Hiestand daughters but no further non-Hiestand named descendants. This should help people from these related families to correctly identify their connection.
The purpose of this book is more than a simple listing of names and dates. Its intention is to show how history affected the common man. In this case how it divided a single family, the Hiestands. It attempts to show what historical events directly influenced our forefathers' lives. I have tried to present world history as local events not found in the history books we used in school.
My objective has been to make our forefathers more than mere statistics. It has been, if possible, to show each individual's personality through their experiences, achievements, joys, and sorrows. I have also endevoured to included physical characteristics where possible. I want us to be able to remember our forefathers as the living people they were.
Hopefully you will find the Hiestands you have met but could not find a common ancestor or that long lost cousin. Maybe you will find Hiestands with the same name, age, birth date, ancestor, hobbies, occupation, etc.
It is my desire that this book will foster family reunions not only of people with a common ancestor, but also exchanges among the various Hiestand Lines across all religious and political borders. Perhaps it will create a better understanding of the world history that has shaped our family. I believe you will be as surprised as I was, to find out there was a branch of our family involved on both sides of so many historically significant religious and politcal conflicts. I think this book may make learning history and geography more interesting to future generations of Hiestands.
The Hiestand name is uncommon because it has only one place of origin; unlike such names as Braun/Brown, Schmid/Smith, Weiss/White Müller/Miller Weber/Weaver, Zimmermann/Carpenter, etc. which have many origins. It is rare when we meet or hear of another Hiestand that is not a member of our own extended family. When we do meet other Hiestands and we often can not find a common ancestor though we are sure somehow we must be related. It is largely because of this confusion, to answer the question, "How are we related?" that this book was compiled. I hope to show how we are descended from a common ancestor and that we are one family with the same heritage.
I strongly believe it is important for the entire Hiestand history to be presented in one book. Many people who have done research were unaware of other Hiestand families in the vicinity of their own forefathers. Because of this, many mistakes have been made by people too anxious to claim a record as their own ancestor when in fact it belongs to another individual from a different Hiestand Line with same name and somtimes even same age.
This book is the result of long and tedious research by many people over many years. It has been a labor of love. One can readily see from the Acknowledgements why I was inspired and encouraged that this undertaking was possible and more importantly necessary!
Please do not send me all that you have. I probably already have it. Please contact me first (see HELP finish the project!) and give me an idea of what you think is new. People keep sending me material I found over twenty years ago thinking they are the first to find it. I know I am not the first to find much the material I have used in my book but I had to rediscover it myself as you have. But in most cases I have been more thorough than previous researchers. This is one of the reasons I am publishing this book. To stop the redundant research and publishing. Instead of people continually doing the same resaerch over and over it will allow future research to focus on the missing links and new material. This is why I have not rushed to publish but rather preferred to do the most thorough and complete up-to-date accounting so that it does not have to be done over again. Too many people find a few new items of interest and rush to publish only to have to publish numerous corrections time and time again.
My book does not contain any photocopies. I give credit where credit is due as well as to researchers who were working on the same branch but found nothing new to me. This is so you can find out who else is working on your branch of the family.
This is some of what I have in my book.| totals 2006 |
totals 1996 |
Spelling used by the individual not the misspellings by census takers, county clerks, newpapers, etc. |
Where originated | Descendents of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7712 | 6753 | Hiestand | Richterswil, Zurich | Heini Hiestand |
| 1607 | 759 | Heistand | Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana | various Hiestand's |
| 1736 | 817 | Hestand | Monroe County, Kentucky | Abraham Hiestand (ca. 1740-post 1811) |
| 51 | Hestande Hesteande |
Wise County, Texas | James Harvey Hestand (1853-1930) | |
| 345 | 178 | Heiston | Page County, Virginia Casey County, Kentucky |
Peter Hiestand (1738-1812) Felix Thornton Hiestand (1862-1945) |
| 1580 | 1050 | Heaston | Harrison County, Ohio Shenandoah County, Virginia Montgomery County, Ohio |
John Hiestand (1778-1846) Johannes Hiestand (1741-1821) |
| 272 | 227 | Histand | Bucks County, Pennsylvania Waterloo County, Ontario Oxford County, Ontario |
Rev. Jacob Hiestand (1791-1877) David Bechtel Hiestand (1789-1833) Abraham Hiestand (1810-1863) John Hiestand (1811-1892) |
| 48 | 11 | Heastont | Haldimand County, Ontario | John Hiestand (after 1772-after 1817) |
| 231 | 117 | Heestand | Columbiana County, Ohio | Abraham Hiestand (176?-1842) Isaac Hiestand (1777-1856) |
| 7 | Heesten | Columbiana County, Ohio | Albert A. Heestand (1866-1919) | |
| 91 | 79 | Heastand | Harrison County, Ohio Columbiana County, Ohio Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Chautauqua County, New York |
John Hiestand (1778-1846) Abraham Hiestand (176?-1842) Aaron Hiestand (1830-19??) Jakob Theodor Hiestand (1846-192?) |
| 90 | 62 | Heastan | Harrison County, Ohio | John Hiestand (1778-1846) |
| 91 | 46 | Heisten | Jasper County, Missouri | Jacob Hiestand (1833-1898) |
| not | related | Heisten | Kane County, Illinois | Bernard Heisten (1868-1926) |
| 35 | 11 | Heistan | Shelby County, Ohio Casey County, Kentucky |
Aaron Hiestand (1819-189?) Oliver Perry Hiestand (1827-1898) |
| 32 | 13 | Hiestan | Shelby County, Ohio Casey County, Kentucky |
Aaron Hiestand (1819-189?) Oliver Perry Hiestand (1827-1898) |
| 47 | 4 | Hieston | Washington, DC Boone County Hendricks County, Indiana |
Jacob Cassel Hiestand (1819-1894) George Afton Hiestand (1900-1972) Robert Kelcie Hiestand (1912-1965) |
| 15 | Hierstand | Hungary Lower Austria |
Johann Hiestand (ca.1719-1739) Martin Hiestand (1705-?) |
|
| 16 | Hastings | Stanislaus County, California Teton County, Idaho |
Andrew Stanley Hiestand (1893-1980) Dean Ezra Hiestand (1899-1970) Isaac Jacob Hestand (1864-1943) |
|
| 130 | 130 | Jestand | Ippingen, Döggingen, Germany | Conrad Hiestand (before 1750-after 1771) |
| 37 | Hagen | Norway | Ole Jacobsen (1860-1937) son of Hans Jakob Hiestand (1836-1900) took the name HAGEN when he emmigrated to America in 1884 | |
| possible | 122 | Haston | Washington County, Tennessee | Daniel Hiestand (ca. 1750- before 1825) |
| still counting | 10263 | total |
Because people could not conceptualize the size of my work or its contents I felt it necessary to print a partial copy of the American section of my book at its then current state for demonstration purposes. It was of course imediately out-of-date because I still had an enormous amout of my research to add to it. This is why I have not published yet. I want to finish using what I already have first.
Nov 1996 1873 PAGES 1243 PAGES BIOGRAPHICAL/GENEALOGICAL 404 PAGES FOOTNOTES (over 12,000 footnotes from 2000 sources) 226 PAGES INDEXThe name HIESTAND orginated in only one place, on Richterswilerberg, between the banks of Bibetsee (now Hüttnersee or Lake Hutten) and the Sihl River at or near the meadow called Blegi. The earliest known documented use was in 1401.
Our name comes from the Swiss dialect of the Lake Zurich region. The meaning of the name HIESTAND is derived from "hier stehen" and literally means "here stood." Ask any Swiss from Canton Zurich what Hiestand means and they will say it is obvious "hiersteht."
STAND is the past participle of STEHEN which means to stand. Therefore STAND in German means STOOD in English. That along with the above information gives the meaning of our name: hie stand = here stood. This definition was confirmed to me by many Hiestands and archivists in Switzerland and Germany. Their concept of the meaning was expressed to me as: HIESTAND = Here stood I as in I stood my ground (perhaps in battle during the 14th century). Standhaft = Steadfast; Ständig = permanent, fixed; Anständig = decent, proper, respectable; Beständig = steady, stable, constant. Though it probably really just means stubborn! Hie stand i u' hie bin i also Hiestand heiß i. Here I stood and here I am therefore I'm called Hiestand.
I believe STEADFAST is the best one word translation of our name. It would also make a good motto or STAND-FAST! The definition best describes what a native from the Alemannic dialect speaking areas (Switzerland, Alsace, Baden, Württemberg, Vorarlberg) perceives when he sees or hears the name HIESTAND. Germans outside these areas do not recognize our name and usually can not spell or pronounce it. Just like in America!
The meaning of our name is exemplified in our coats of arms. In Zurich, a man standing on a piece of ground in a fighting stance with his arms raised and fists clenched (standing his ground). In Schwyz, an anchor, which keeps something "fixed in one place" or anchored, on a blue background. This represents the new location of this line on the shores of Lake Zurich in the Vorderhof of Freienbach-Pfäffikon having come down from the mountain at Richterswil after the Reformation and steadfastly remaining Catholic. Anchored in their faith. FAITHFUL. Also a good motto for our family. There are several other family coats-of-arms.
Our name is however very ironic considering how widely the family has spread throughout the world, especially the constent migration in America. We never seem to stay "fixed in one place." Here I stood and here I stood, and here I stood...
I have always thought that our name particularly lends itself to a business' name or political campaign in English: Hiestand's for Quality. Hiestand's for Justice. Hiestand's for me. Hiestand's steadfast. Stand fast with Hiestand!
Back to the topBy 1130 A noble family (Freien = Barons) owned Wädenswil. Known as the barony or lordship (Herrschaft) of Wädenswil including the present-day parishes of Richterswil, part of Wollerau, Hütten, Wädenswil, Schönenberg, part of Hirzel and Uetikon across Lake Zurich. The neighboring lands at this time were owned by Fraumünster (Zurich Abbey) present-day Horgen, and the Höfe (Fief estates) in Canton Schwyz by Einsiedeln Abbey.
The surrounding lands were then owned by the Counts von Habsburg (Lower Aargau, Zürichgau, part of Zug i.e. Menzingen bordering Herrschaft Wädenswil), Counts von Lenzburg (Upper Aargau, city of Zug and vicinity) Counts von Rapperswil, Counts von Toggenburg, and Counts von Kyburg (part of Zürichgau and Thurgau).
The Parish of Richterswil-(Hütten)-Wollerau, St. Martins Church, extended to the Krebsbach or Scheidbach which starts near Lölismühli (Neumühle) and Itlimoos at the bottom of Hüttnersee and runs down to Lake Zurich just East of the village of Wollerau. This was known as the Wollerau Zehnte (tithe) that included the Erlenallmende (Erlen Commons) which stradled the Zurich/Schwyz border and the Hafengüter (Harbor estates) on the lake.
The earliest record containing the name Hiestand is the Steuerrodel (tax roll) dated 1401 for Watch Linden, a part of the City of Zurich. Heini Hiestand is listed in the first group. Heinrich Meiss had bought the Vogteirechte (feudal rights) from the Abbeys of Zurich (Fraumünster) and Einsiedeln in Schwyz. So it appears the Hiestands were "Gotteshausleute" (people of God's house; i.e. living on land donated to the church and under its jurisdiction) and not serfs of the Knights of St. John.
So the land that Heini Hiestand lived on originally belonged to the Abbeys. Since there are not any records that have been found of the name Hiestand anywhere else for another 200 years it is safe to assume that the name Hiestand originated in this location and that Heini is very probably the first to use it. Because of how the tax list was taken in order of farms and where Heini was located on the list, I believe he lived on or near the farm on the meadow called Blegi between the Sihl River and the shore of Bibetersee (Lake Huetten) on the border with Schwyz on Richterswilerberg.
The first tax roll dated 1401 does not show any amounts of tax, though the tax roll for 1402 lists Heini Hiestand for xxxij ß or 32 Schillings (or 1 pound 12 Schillings). Some of his neighbors were Jacob Pfaff, Hans Sigrist, Rudi Stoller, Heini Eberli, Rudi Ochsner as well as several Stossels and Knödlis.
For this period see the the timeline: History that happened to Hiestands1. We know for sure who the Anabaptist Hiestands are, who left Richterswil Switzerland and settled in Ibersheim am Rhein in Rheinhessen no later than 1662 (see The Rheinhessen line under Germany).
2. We know from an 1685 Mennonite census in the Palatinate that:
Conrad Hiestand (1639-?) had 5 children (from other sources we know he had at least one daughter named Anna).We know from various sources that during the period of emigration to America (1710-1770) of the 15 children from the above three men, born between 1661and 1685, who stayed in Germany, except where noted, there were at least:
Of the following two Hereditary Tenants; one is the son of Conrad Hiestand and the other is the son of Hans Heinrich Hiestand;There was no direct emigration from Richterswil or elsewhere in Switzerland to America by ANY Hiestands during the 1700s! These claims are made by people who did not bother to find the death records (which I did) of the Hiestands, who they claim left Swizerland.
This is one of the reasons I found it necessary to DOCUMENT ALL Hiestands and not just find a record here and there with the name I want.
| Origin and Date of Immigration | |
| Johannes "John" Hiestand (1798-1876) | (from Knäwis Line; ca. 1842-1974) |
| Heinrich "Albert" Hiestand (1825-1889) | (from Knäwis Line; ca. 1842-1944) |
| Daniel Hiestand (1824-?)(Catholic) | (from the Baar Line; 1846-?) |
| Julianna Hiestand (1821-?)(Catholic) | (from the Baar Line; 1846/7-?) |
| Johann "Franz" Hiestand (1789-)(Catholic) | (from the Baar Line; 1847-?) |
| Rudolf Hiestand (1820-1851)(Mennonite) | (from Rheinhessen Line; ca1850-1851) |
| Michael Hiestand (Catholic) | (from Scherzingen, Baden; 1852) |
| Franz Hiestand (Catholic) | (from Freienbach; ca 1853) |
| Heinrich Hiestand (1819-1856) | (from Dürsenen Line; 1854-1856) |
| Isaac Hiestand (1828-1905) | (from Conestoga-Susquehanna Line via Canada; 1851-1856-present) |
| Jakob "Gottfried" Hiestand (1841-?) | (from the Knäwis Line; 1863-?) |
| Kaspar Anton Hiestand (1843-?)(Catholic) | (from the Sigriste Line; 1867-?) |
| Heinrich Hiestand (ca.1846-?) | (from Switzerland; 1869-?) |
| Caspar Hiestand (1816-1885) | (from Schönau Line via Norway; 1869-present) |
| J. Kaspar "Casper" Hiestand (1847-1893) | (from Schönau Line via Norway; 1872-1893) |
| Theodor Hiestand (1849-1911) | (from Schönau Line via Norway; 1872-present) |
| Jakob "Jake" Hiestand (1848-post1930) | (from Schönau Line; 1880-post 1930) |
| Hans Caspar "Arnold" Hiestand (1856-?) | (from Dürsenen Line; 1882-post 1930) |
| Heinrich "Henry" Hiestand (1859-?) | (from Dürsenen Line; 1885-post 1910) |
| Johann Jakob Hiestand (1862-1908) | (from Schönau Line; 1884-1908) |
| Jakob "Theodor" Hiestand (1846-192?)(Catholic) | (from Bächerwisli Line; 1887-present) |
| "Theodor" Caspar Hiestand (1872-after 1930)(Catholic) | (from Sigriste Line; 1887-present) |
| Maria Agnes Hiestand (1866-?)(Catholic) | (from Baar Line; ?) |
| Johann "Jacob" Hiestand (1875-1948) | (from Knäwis Line; 1892-1948) |
| August Hiestand (1880-1946) | (from Schönau Line; 1898-1946) |
| Caroline Hiestand (1883-1989) | (from Knäwis Line; 1902/1914-1989) |
| Friedrich "Fritz" "Fred" Hiestand (1886-1943)(Catholic) | (from Oberlinzgau Line via Canada; 1905-1943) |
| Maria Magdalena Hiestand (1881-1949) | (from Knäwis Line; 1905-1949) |
| Magdalena Mariette Hiestand (1885-1981) | (from Schönau Line via Norway; 1906-present) |
| Joseph Anton "Anthony" Hiestand (1893-1960)(Catholic) | (from Sigriste Line; 1912/1920-present) |
| Alois Hiestand (1894-1915)(Catholic) | (from Bächerwisli Line; 1913-1915) |
| Maria Ida Hiestand (1896-?)(Catholic) | (from Bächerwisli Line; 1920-?) |
| Joseph Anton "Antoine" Hiestand (1892-1953)(Catholic) | (from Bächerwisli Line; 1920-present) |
| Max Friedrich Hiestand (1893-1924) | (from Schafrain Line; 1920-1924) |
| Hans Jakob "Jacob" Hiestand (1874-1953) | (from Schönau Line; 1921-1953) |
| Alfons Francis Hiestand (1891-1989)(Catholic) | (from Bächerwisli Line; 1921-present) |
| Johann Felix Hiestand (1895-1970) | (from the Illwangen Line via Buenos Aires, Argentina; 1926-after 1928 returned to Germany) |
| Robert Jestand (1896-?)(Catholic) | (from Baden, Germany via Brazil; 1925-present) |
| Walter Frederick Jestand (1903-1999)(Catholic) | (from Freiburg, Baden Germany; 1926-present) |
| Hugo Jestand (1888-?)(Catholic) | (from Lörrach, Baden, Germany; 1927-) |
| Rudolf "Martin" Hiestand (1897-1980) | (from Knäwis Line; 1928-present) |
| Denis "Denie" Hiestand (1949-) | (from New Zealand via Canada;ca2000-present) |
Julius Billeter (1869-1957) a Swiss genealogist who traced many Swiss families between 1896 and 1950. About 1927, he made notes on the Wädenswil Hiestands circa 1550-1890 (pp12), Richterswil Hiestands circa 1615-1890 (pp38), Hütten Hiestands circa 1723-1890 (pp6), Schönenberg Hiestands circa 1710-1890 (pp2), Opfikon (p1), and Uster (p1). Though his work is incomplete and sources are not cited it is about 95% accurate. He barely touched the Schönenberg and Hütten records. A major flaw in his work is that he gives the village of citizenship as the places for births, marriages, and deaths though they actually occured elsewhere. He does not include daughters families with the Hiestand notes (they are included with their husbands families if he researched them). CAUTIONS AND LIMITATIONS IN USING JULIUS BILLETER's RESEARCH
Georg Sturm (1915-) of Freienbach, Schwyz, Switzerland, whose mother was a Hiestand, prepared the family tree of the Bächerwisli Hiestands of Freienbach and Pfäffikon, Schwyz 1604-1957. I met two of his sisters in Freienbach, Schwyz, in 1982, at which time they gave me a copy of his manuscript. No sources are cited in his work nor are daughters families given.
Emil Hiestand (1915-) of Richterswil, Switzerland, spent well over fifteen years (by 1958) researching the Hiestand families of Richterswil. On 15 March 1959, he held a meeting and discussed the findings of his research which were reported in a local newspaper. Copies of this article have found exceptionally wide distribution. When I visted Emil in November, 1979, and again in 1981-2 he shared with me what he knew of the Anabaptist Hiestands for the period covering 1401-1710. Much of my success is largely due to his help and advice starting me in the right direction. He does not include daughters families in his work. In 1993, I visited him again to compare notes at which time he gave some of his research covering 1401-1600.
Hans Werner(-Schmid) (1915-ca1983) of Zurich, Switzerland, whose mother was a Hiestand. Between 1960 and 1965, he did research in the Staatsarchiv, Zürich, and prepared the Ahnentafel of the (Chülpen) Schönenberg Hiestands covering 1682-1970. Though he was mistaken about the first generations and he did not cite any sources, his work is still an excelent genealogy and accurate after 1761.
Hans Hiestand (1934-) from the Hague, Netherlands, researched the Dutch Hiestands in the early 1960's. This included contacting all of the living members. I first met him in 1983, in Zurich. I visited him in 1993, when he again contacted all Dutch Hiestands. We compared our research each filling gaps the other had.
Willy Hiestand(-Wetter) (1908-1985) of Zurich, Switzerland, a cousin of Hans Werner-Schmid is greatly responsibly for the wide ditribution of Hans' work and maintaining contact with various American branches of the family for almost 40 years. I first met Willy and his son's family in August 1981, shortly before begining my studies at Universität Regensburg. My father's cousins, Frank and Mahlon, met Willy in 1953 when Frank was working in the oil fields of Saudi Arabia.
William H.H. Turner (1864-1926) of Husted, Clark County, Ohio, whose wife was Flora Hiestand, corresponded with descendants of the Hiestand family between 1901 and 1915 from which he made a manuscript. This has been widely quoted in numerous genealogies of allied families published between 1914-1940, whose authors had corresponded with him. His work, like mine, included all American Hiestand Lines. In 1991 Betty Gorin of Campbellsville, KY, and Mary Hiestand, of Hillsboro, OH (who also made an index for this collection), receivied permisson to have the Kentucky Historical Society microfilm his work. This consisted of 73 "scrolls," pieces of wall paper, on which he put together the various family lines from the letters sent to him. It does not appear that he researched original documents as I have but relied only on what the Hiestand descendants sent to him. So regretably, there are not any sources cited. Not even the letters. This collection passed down into the posession of David Xander in Milford, Ohio. Marvin H. Hestand is now receiving these letters a box at a time and coping the letters, and transcribing them onto CD ROM's, and indexing them for Dr. Trimble mentioned below. Like Julius Billeter his work is very accurate and extensive and agrees about 98% with mine! If you are descended from a Hiestand daughter that has Turner cited as a source it would be of great value for you to check these microfilms.
Dr. Howard Hiestand Minich Bowman Ph.D.(1886-1967) of Toledo, Ohio, whose mother was a Hiestand, researched the decendants of Jacob Hiestand (ca1690-1772) of Salunga, Hempfield township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He visited Switzerland about 1956 and met Heinrich Hiestand(-Gesler) of Horgen, Canton Zurich, Switzerland. Emil Hiestand of Richterswil also met with these men during Howard's visit. He presented part of his work to the Lancaster County Historical Society on March 3, 1961. Results from his work have been sent to me by many Hiestands.
Harold F. Hippenstiel (18??-19??) of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, prepared a 28 page manuscript, dated 26 July 1930, of the Hiestand Family from Doylestown, Bucks, County, Pennsylvania for the 1930 Labor Day, Histand Family Reunion. He received much of his information from Samuel Histand (1871-1944) and his brother Bishop Abraham O. Histand (1869-1943). His manuscript is filed with the Bucks County Historical Society, Doylestown, Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Marguerite Hiestand Long Subiran (1910-1971) of Torrance, California, researched and corresponded with Hiestand's in the 1940's and 50's. Her work can be found in the Archive Records at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, Consisting of 48 Family Group Sheets. Though her work is not comprehensive, individual familes are for the most part accurate but not always complete and the connections between familes and generations (i.e. parents) contain many inaccuracies. She often mixes the descendants of several different immigrants into one line.
Mrs. Lennie Martin Berkey (1893-1981), of Washington County, Indiana, whose great grandmother was Nancy Hiestand (1807-1889). As a member of the Christopher Harrison Chapter D.A.R. presented much of her work, especially in the 1960's, which included most of the Washington county Hiestands who were often intermarried with the Martins.
Mrs. Gertie Maude Richardson Ohler (1911-1994) of Carthage, Missouri, whose mother was a Hiestand, has since the 1930's been compiling a very thorough account of Gideon Hiestand's (1813-1888) descendants and ascendants. Her work comprises nearly 800 people.
Mrs. Ruth Histand Mosemann (1907-1994) of Goshen, Indiana, wrote Family Directory of Samuel Swartz Histand and Susan Overholt Landis Descendents and Ascendents, Nappanee, Ind., 1969 Evangel Press, 203 pages, which is largely based on H.F. Hippenstiel's work as well as her own work covering 40 additional years of the HISTANDs from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. About 70 pages are dedicated to the Histand family in this book while it also follows her Landis and Overholt Lines.
Dr. David B. Trimble (1922-) of San Antonio, Texas, published Hiestand Family of Page County, Virginia, in 1974, 314 pages, which is based largely on W.H.H. Turner's work. He spent 35 years researching his own ancestry (4 vols.) which in this volume 202 pages cover the Hiestand family mainly under Abraham HESTAND and his decendents from Monroe County, Ky., and the Virginia progenitor Henry (Heinrich), Abraham's father. He has only three biographical sketches of his Hestand forefathers, though from the sources he cited he ignored material for dozens more. From Mr. Turner's work he follows many of the daughter's and allied family's lines several generations which my work does not cover (because they are not bearing or perpetuating the Hiestand name) accounting for nearly half of his book as well as two pages on the Ruffner Family, 52 pages of Gimlin descendants, and eight pages of Samuel Boehm's descendants who intermarried with the immigrant's daughters.
Mrs. Barbara Hiestand Moore (1932-) of San Antonio, Texas, in 1969 she made very good book on her direct line of 50 pages, The Hiestand Family, in memory of her father Herschel Hiestand, and in 1983 she made another book of 143 pages expanding on her earlier work that includes many photocopies of newspaper articles, land deeds, family photographs, etc. This format is more or less a very extensive family scrapbook. Her work is mostly concentrated on the descendants of Rev. Abraham Hiestand (1762-1848) and in particular his son Abraham though each generation's siblings are covered. About 1991 she put out yet another book covering the same material as in her previous two books and then some. Volume One (pp424) covers what she knows about some of the German Hiestand's in the Palatinate, some of the Richterswil Hiestands, and Henry Hiestand (1704-1779) some of his descendants especially his son Jaocb Hiestand's (ca1732-1795) Line and related families. The second volume (pp319) covers Solomon Hiestand (1813-1885) and his descendants to present day. Barbara's books also include the wives' families in her line traced back several generations.
Mrs. Mary Custer Hiestand (1916-) of Hillsboro, Ohio, the wife of Joseph F. Hiestand, state assemblyman and world champion marksman. Mary has done much research and correspondence on her husband's line. She hired Clyde Groff to research records in York County, PA. We duplicated much of the same work and came to the same conclusion. She made the index for the W.H.H. Turner Collections.
Mrs. Beverly Emory Heaston (1940-) of Pueblo, Colorado, prepared and made a private printing (100 copies) of the History of the Heaston Family, Freemont, California, 1980, in honor of her father-in-law's, Truman James Heaston's, 75th birthday. This is Johannes Hiestand's (1741-1821) son Daniel Hiestand's (Heaston)(179?-1821) son Jacob Heaston's (1813-1907) descendants. She also covers most of the wives lines several generations back. Her book of 45 pages, was professionally published and contains many old family photographs. I first met Beverly at her son Glenn's home in Boulder, Colorado, while he and I were students there in 1980-81. Since then, Beverley has done extensive work on Daniel and his brother Jacob Heaston (1797-1878), who is the progenitor of the Huntington County, Indiana Branch, and his descendants. Beverly approached this research very much as I did by collecting everything she could find on all Hiestands of any spelling and line, planning to sort it all out. In doing this we independently duplicated much of the same research. I am thankful to her for providing me with all the Hiestand Archive Records (82 Family Group Sheets), available at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City; and especially for records from Montgomery County, Ohio; Randolph County, Indiana; Wayne County, Indiana; and Huntington County, Indiana, beyond what I was able to gather.
Mrs. Rose Whitton Heaston (1904-1995) of Odell, Nebraska, collected a very thorough and comprehensive genealogy of Jacob Heaston's (1813-1907) descendants. Her work is more comprehensive in number of Heastons than Beverly Heaston's work but does not include any biographical information like Beverly. Rose's work was put together in 1983, as a collection of Family Group Sheets along with the allied Michael Frantz family, by her nephew, Henry A. Campbell of Kokomo, Indiana, whose mother was a Heaston, as The Heaston-Frantz Family.
David L. Heaston (1864-19??) of Los Angeles, California made an eight page list on 25 December 1942 entitled The Nieces and Nephews of David L. Heaston which was updated by his great-great-nephew Richard R. Lower in November 1986. It contains more than 200 descendants of David's father John Heaston (1817-1868) of Harrison County, Missouri.
Betty Mitchell Gorin-Smith (1940-) of Campbellsville, Kentucky, whose great-grandmother was a Hiestand. She has done very thorough and well documented work on the descendants of Jacob Hiestand (1787-1848) who is the progenitor of the Taylor County, Kentucky, branch of the Codorus Line. As mentioned above she also worked with Mary Hiestand of Hillsboro on documenting the two earlier generations of her line. A great debt of thanks is due her for getting the W.H.H. Turner Collection on microfilm for Hiestand genealogists.
Mrs. Laura Hiestand Feller (1918-) of Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1990 compiled a 70 page book with many photogrpahs called Levi Hiestand and Descendants. It contains over 150 descendants. A complete photocopy of this can be found in Barbara Moore's books.
Mrs. Norma E. Heistand McConnell (1918-2004) of Clayton, Ohio has been a great help with dates and biographical information on over 68 Heistands descended from her great great grandfather Henry Heistand (1824-1898) of Johnsville, Ohio. Elizabeth Miller Lane of Dayton, Ohio, descended from his daughter Elizabeth and J. Richard Sutton of Marion, Indiana, descended from his daughter Mary Ann also helped her with their lines.
Ivan G. Hiestand (1946-) of Hobart, Indiana in 1977 compiled a 15 page book with maps showng his forefathers' path of migration called The Hiestand Family Tree. Mostly the descendants of Rev. Christian Hiestand (1791-1826) of Hillsboro, Indiana in Fountain and Newton Counties Indiana. He had very much the same idea but on a smaller scale that I did for this book.
Mrs. Irene A. Hiestand Schmitz (1902-1987) of Brook, Indiana. About 1969 Irene put together three pages of about 70 people in her direct line from what she learned from her grandfather Joseph Ephram Hiestand (1840-1938) along with some of her own research into earlier generations. She was mistaken about the first or immigrant family in her line. She also apparently received information on the origin of the Hiestands in the Biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz from Dr. F. Hiestand, Handelslehrer at the Kantonsschule, Aarau, Switzerland on 19 May 1939.
Robert D. Hiestand (1928-) of Whitehall, Pennsylvania between 1980-1993 compiled Hiestand's in America, 60 pages of biographical sketches, family group sheets, pedigree charts, obituaries, cemetery inscriptions for over 100 Hiestand descendants.
Delbert Heistand (1931-) of Lansing, Michigan compiled a 10 page The Heistand Family with over 130 descendants of Enoch Hiestand (1828-1898) who moved to Ithaca, Michigan after the Civil War.
Mrs. Mary M. Hiestand Endicott (1913-1989) of Lebanon, Pennsylvania compiled a 40 page Book of Memories of My Parents.
Karl Hiestand (1892-19??) of Pfullendorf, Germany made a tape recording in 1959 of his family history and about 70 of his Hiestand relatives back to 1800 when he believed his family had come from Switzerland. It was over 300 years earlier!
Mrs. Virginia Brenner Dake (193 -) of Salem, Oregon whose grandmother was Margarette V. Hiestand (1875-1968) in 1992 she published The Brenner Family. She has done much detailed research on the Hiestands in her direct line from Jacob Hiestand (1760-1814) m. Mary Blosser and his son Joseph Hiestand (1789-1844) m. Catherine Funkhouser of Fairfield County, Ohio.
Ray D. Heistand (1928-2005) of Celina, Texas has provided much needed biographical information on Jacob Hiestand (1787-1866) and Elisha Jackson Heistand Sr. (1835-1868) and over 100 of his descendants.
Dale O. Milloy (1929 -) of St. Louis, Missouri his great grandmother was Mary Hiestand of Sommerset County, Pennsylvania who married Thomas Huff. In his book about his forefathers Chapter 19 The Hiestand Family 46 pages with maps. He was of great help with Bucks Montgomery, and Sommeset Counties, Pennsylvania records for the Goshehoppen-Perkiomen Line.
Joseph W. Baker (1924-) of St. Louis, Missouri his grandmother was Laura A. Heiston (1873-1951) has been of great help with newspaper articles and obituaries about Heistons of Page County, Virginia.
Mrs. Bernice Hiestand MacFarland (1923-) of Landisville, Pennsylvania compiled a book about her branch of the Chickasalunga Line entitled Still Standing: A History of the Hiestand Family, self-published, 2000. Hardcover, 73 pages including photographs and pedigree chart with entries as far back as the seventeenth century.
Joseph Anton Hiestand (1909-1994?) of Taranaki, New Zealand. Joe, as he is known to the English speaking world, traveled through the United States several times on his way back to vist his birthpalce in Switzerland. During these travels he would look up Hiestands in the local telephone books and arange to meet with his new found "cousins." He met my father when we lived in Buffalo, New York, in 1965. He also met with "Farmer Joe" Hiestand of Hillsboro, Ohio, (both have wives named Mary and daughters named Linda) and my great uncle Tom Hiestand of Denver as mentioned below, along with numerous others including myself when he visited my family in 1977 at Hockessin, Delaware.
Rumsey Newton Heiston (1890-1980) of Luray, Virginia, also corresponded extensively with many Hiestands, exchanging and disseminating much family information to many more family members. I am grateful to him for this spreading of our heritage.
Eugene Miller Heisten (1914-1975) of Springfield, Missouri, again like those previously mentioned, Gene and his brother Ken Heisten of Denver, Colorado are responsible for keeping our history alive by passing along the information known or gathered by those with whom they corresponded including Hans Werner(-Schmid) of Zurich. I am now acquainted with Gene's daughter Alice here in Colorado Springs.
Thomas C. Hiestand (1901-1979) of Denver, Colorado, to whom I am greatly indebted for preserving and passing down my own family's history. He is my grandfather's brother. Tom kept in contact with litterally hundreds of relatives throughout his life. From July to Thanksgiving 1973, Tom wrote a series of six letters (pp60) to his grandchildren detailing the family history and relating many family stories. He also sat down with his grand daughter, Linda Hiestand, and identified the individuals in his very large collection of family photographs, which Linda recorded for posterity. But more importantly than this, Tom corresponded extensively with many Hiestands exchanging information over many years. Among those with whom he corresponded were Willy Hiestand mentioned above, Rumsey Newton Heiston, Eugene M. Heisten, and Joe Hiestand mentioned above. His sons visited with Willy and he met Joe from New Zealand on one of his trips through America. He also knew Congressman Edgar Hiestand when Edgar was a manager at the Sears & Roebuck store in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tom traveled back to the homes of his forefathers in Indiana and Virginia many times during his life.
All of these people contributed greatly to the success of this book, and I do not wish to dimminish the value of their work. Though I do want to emphasize that I personally researched all the lines that they worked on. I have greatly expanded upon their work. In many cases I found the same sources independently or repeated their research and came up with different results. If you add up all the people and pages of all their work you will see it is only a fraction of what I have. You will find my work more thoroughly documented with more detailed information on more people than any previous work.
It is mostly from W.H.H. Turner and Joe Hiestand of New Zealand that I came up with the idea to contact as many Hiestands as possible in order to connect all living family members with one another. I used the telephone books to find the addresses needed to correspond with all the present-day Hiestands in twelve countries. I did this before addresses where avilable on CDROMs or the Internt. It was very time consuming. Now I rely on e-mail for the most part.
Back to the topThe records of almost all county courthouses (i.e. land deeds, probate, wills etc., birth, marriage, and death records) state and the national archives (i.e. State and Federal land sales, military service rec. and pensions) as well as American and foreign church records that are important to our family history are available on microfilm and microfiche. Therefore it was not necessary to vist or write all the places where Hiestands once lived.
Also available through these Family History Centers are:In the Name of God Amen. I Heinrich Hiestand residing in Dunmore County in the Province of Virginia do this twenty second day of March in the year of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ one thousand seven hundred and seventy seven. Make known and declare this my Last Will and Testament in good health and perfect understanding and memory. Thanks be to God for this beneficence. This my Last Will and Testament I make in the following manner and form. To wit firstly it is my will and I ordain that first of all my burial costs and all lawful debts shall be paid from my estates.
Item it is my will and confession and ordaining that my eldest son Jacob shall have five pounds beforehand afterwards though shall receive equal inheritance with all my other children and no more.
Item it is my will and ordaining that my son Jacob inherit my place, where I now should still reside, for [one] hundred and eighty pounds of money as it is current in Virginia after my demise.
Item it is my will and ordaining what of my following property or money and is still remaining of both that everything shall be equally and aimiably shared after my death.
Item itis my will and ordaining that my five sons after my decease shall give out to my three daughters untill they are all equal inheritance, however I ordain and it is my will that my youngest daughter Magdalena shall have ten pounds less in her inheritance than the other children because of a reason which I now do not like to mention, and likewise my son Daniel shall likewise have ten pounds less inheritance than the six remaining because of the same reason which I now do not like to mention.
Item it is my will and ordaining that my eldest daughter Barbara shall have nothing of this inheritance so long as she lives with this man in wedlock but when she will be a widow so she shall have her share what comes to her by right like the six above mentioned children, but if she should die before her husband so her children shall have her inheritance instead as they come of age further I declare what my daughter Barbara has received from her inheritance from me which amounts to forty pounds and twelve shillings, herewith I ordain and shall be faithfully carried out that after my demise ten shillings from my estate shall be distributed to the poor.
So this is my Last Will and Testament that all of this shall be firmly and (unballanced?) kept what I in this my Last Will order: In Witness I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and year as is written above.
SignedTo the following it is my Will and Confession and ordaining in this my Will and Testament that my grandson Christel Harnisch shall recieve no more from this inheritance because he has already received more than his other siblings have inherited. In Witness hereof I have hereunto set my hand seal in all your presence with day and date as was just already mentioned
SignedFor those American descendants wanting to join the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution or the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. In the above will of Henry Hiestand (1704-1779), progenitor of the Shenandoah Line, the two sons who signed as witnesses, in addition to serving in Captain Michael Raeder's Company of Dunmore County Virginia Militia in 1775 also supplied the Army of the Continental Line viz: