Ancestors of My Children (Updated 10/10/2023)
Every branch of my children's ancestry has been pushed back at least to their immigrant ancestor. I would love to find the birthplace of Nikolaus Matthias Kuehner in Alsace, France, or somewhere in Germany and from there find his parents. Kuehner is the shortest branch of this family tree, with Nikolaus born July 12, 1824.
Descendants of Wessel Künne (Kuennen Branch - 8 Generations with Sources - Updated 5/18/2023)
Descendants of J. Barney Kuennen (With Sources - Updated 5/18/2023)
The Kuennen family is traced back to the villages of Hemmelte, Lastrup, and Suhle, near Oldenburg, in the Northwest part of Germany. The oldest known ancestors are Wessel Künne, born about 1644 in Hemmelte, and his wife, Hilke. I have found an older Künnen, Johann Künnen, b. about 1529 in Lastrup, and his wife Taleke, b. about 1531, but so far I have been unable to link them to Wessel.
Many of the Kuennens who came to Northeast Iowa immigrated together. Gerhard Heinrich Künnen, b. about 1798, and his sons, Johan Heinrich (known as J. H.), Johann Wenzeslaus (J. W.), Herman Heinrich (H. H.), and my great-grandfather Johan Bernard (J. Barney), sailed on the ship Beethoven, and arrived in Baltimore on January 6, 1851. (Some reports have some of the sons coming earlier.) Another son, Johan Gerhard, b. 1820, died at sea in 1850.
The family briefly stopped in Pennsylvania and in Indiana, but settled in St. Lucas, Fayette County, Iowa in 1854. The original Kuennen farm is immediately south of the town, with one 40-acre parcel touching the property of St. Luke's Catholic Church - the cemetery.
J. Barney Kuennen bought the family farm from Matthias Steffes of March 8, 1878 for $2,100. My grandfather, Frank W. inherited this farm. My Dad, Al Kuennen was born and raised there. His brother Leonard raised his family there, too.
When he was 17, my Dad went off to Illinois to learn his trade, plastering, with his younger brother Lee. They both joined the Navy for World War II. Dad served in the South Pacific on a "tender", as a diesel mechanic servicing and repairing submarines.
Dad returned from the war, met my Mom, Shirley Huinker, at a dance in Fort Atkinson, Iowa. Mom remembers that he asked his sister about "the girl in the red dress". They were married in 1947, and moved to Illinois, where Dad built their first home in Buffalo Grove, Cook County, Illinois. I was born in Evanston, and Don, Doris, and Bill were born in Libertyville, before we moved back to settle in Northeast Iowa. We lived in rural Festina, before Dad built another home for his family, just down the street from St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church, in Ossian.
Tom, Patty, Lori, Julie, and Jane were all born in Iowa.
I graduated from DeSales High School in 1967, went off to college at Notre Dame, spent two years in the Army, and then moved to the Northwest. I met Lynn at the University of Idaho, where we were married in 1977.
Chris was born in Pullman; Steve, Dave, and Lindsay were born in Olympia.
After Lynn died, I decided to move to the Washington, D. C. area to be near my grandchildren. I met and married Melissa Butler Bennett. We live in Alexandria, Virginia.
J. Barney Kuennen bought the family farm from Matthias Steffes of March 8, 1878 for $2,100. My grandfather, Frank W. inherited this farm. My Dad, Al Kuennen was born and raised there. His brother Leonard raised his family there, too.
When he was 17, my Dad went off to Illinois to learn his trade, plastering, with his younger brother Lee. They both joined the Navy for World War II. Dad served in the South Pacific on a "tender", as a diesel mechanic servicing and repairing submarines.
Dad returned from the war, met my Mom, Shirley Huinker, at a dance in Fort Atkinson, Iowa. Mom remembers that he asked his sister about "the girl in the red dress". They were married in 1947, and moved to Illinois, where Dad built their first home in Buffalo Grove, Cook County, Illinois. I was born in Evanston, and Don, Doris, and Bill were born in Libertyville, before we moved back to settle in Northeast Iowa. We lived in rural Festina, before Dad built another home for his family, just down the street from St. Francis De Sales Catholic Church, in Ossian.
Tom, Patty, Lori, Julie, and Jane were all born in Iowa.
I graduated from DeSales High School in 1967, went off to college at Notre Dame, spent two years in the Army, and then moved to the Northwest. I met Lynn at the University of Idaho, where we were married in 1977.
Chris was born in Pullman; Steve, Dave, and Lindsay were born in Olympia.
After Lynn died, I decided to move to the Washington, D. C. area to be near my grandchildren. I met and married Melissa Butler Bennett. We live in Alexandria, Virginia.
At the age of 17, my Dad moved to Techny, Illinois, where he worked at
the missionary farm and in the surrounding area until he enlisted in the U. S.
Navy during World War II. He entered the service December 22, 1942, at the Naval
Training Station at Great Lakes, Illinois, and was honorably discharged on January
24, 1946. During his tenure in the service, he was stationed at the Naval
Training School, Dearborn, Michigan; Navy Personnel Distribution Center at
Pleasanton, California.; and served on two ships, the USS Ard Eight and USS Telamon
(ARB8). He received the Good Conduct Medal and attained the rank of
Machinist’s Mate Second Class.
Three of Dad's four brothers also served in World War II. This clipping is from a local newspaper. (Click in the thumbnail at right to view a larger image, so you can read the article.)
the missionary farm and in the surrounding area until he enlisted in the U. S.
Navy during World War II. He entered the service December 22, 1942, at the Naval
Training Station at Great Lakes, Illinois, and was honorably discharged on January
24, 1946. During his tenure in the service, he was stationed at the Naval
Training School, Dearborn, Michigan; Navy Personnel Distribution Center at
Pleasanton, California.; and served on two ships, the USS Ard Eight and USS Telamon
(ARB8). He received the Good Conduct Medal and attained the rank of
Machinist’s Mate Second Class.
Three of Dad's four brothers also served in World War II. This clipping is from a local newspaper. (Click in the thumbnail at right to view a larger image, so you can read the article.)
Descendants of Philipp Hollerbach (Updated 10/9/2023)
My first wife was born Lynn Hollenbeck, but her father and his paternal ancestors were all born Hollerbach. Cletus changed the name from Hollerbach to the less German-sounding Hollenbeck in the years around World War II.
The Hollerbach family spent many generations in Bretzingen and Hardheim, in the Southwestern part of Germany. Her grandfather, Lorenz, was 17 years old when he renounced his citizenship there and immigrated to the United States, sailing from Antwerp, Belgium to New York on the Red Star Line (a clipper ship), arriving on April 15, 1891.
Sometime around the turn of the century, Lorenz began to build pianos in Toledo, Ohio. He made upright pianos which bear the name Hollerbach. I have located three of them in existence in the early 2000s. One of them, serial number 1003, was one of our prize possessions. When my wife died in 2019, I found another home for it so that it could remain in the Hollerbach family. As of this writing, in April 2020, it sits in the home of Erin "E. B." Peterson in Gig Harbor, Washington. E. B. is a great-granddaughter of Lorenz.
Lorenz married Rosa Theresa Lang, and had two children, Aloys (1902) and Lynn’s father, Cletus (1904), before she died in 1906. He married Martha Louise Straub (Rosa’s cousin), with whom he had five more children – Irene and Irma (twins, 1910), Florian (1914), Norbert (1916), and Raymond (1920).
Cletus married Helen Haney, who had three children – Noreen, Donald, and Charlotte – before they divorced around 1936. He then married Lynn’s mother, Marcella Catheryn Tobin. Cletus died of a staph infection in 1962 when Lynn was 14, and Marcella died of cancer in 1963, before Lynn turned 16.
The Hollerbach family spent many generations in Bretzingen and Hardheim, in the Southwestern part of Germany. Her grandfather, Lorenz, was 17 years old when he renounced his citizenship there and immigrated to the United States, sailing from Antwerp, Belgium to New York on the Red Star Line (a clipper ship), arriving on April 15, 1891.
Sometime around the turn of the century, Lorenz began to build pianos in Toledo, Ohio. He made upright pianos which bear the name Hollerbach. I have located three of them in existence in the early 2000s. One of them, serial number 1003, was one of our prize possessions. When my wife died in 2019, I found another home for it so that it could remain in the Hollerbach family. As of this writing, in April 2020, it sits in the home of Erin "E. B." Peterson in Gig Harbor, Washington. E. B. is a great-granddaughter of Lorenz.
Lorenz married Rosa Theresa Lang, and had two children, Aloys (1902) and Lynn’s father, Cletus (1904), before she died in 1906. He married Martha Louise Straub (Rosa’s cousin), with whom he had five more children – Irene and Irma (twins, 1910), Florian (1914), Norbert (1916), and Raymond (1920).
Cletus married Helen Haney, who had three children – Noreen, Donald, and Charlotte – before they divorced around 1936. He then married Lynn’s mother, Marcella Catheryn Tobin. Cletus died of a staph infection in 1962 when Lynn was 14, and Marcella died of cancer in 1963, before Lynn turned 16.
Descendants of Gerhard Hermann Huning (Huinker) - All Generations with Sources - Updated 5/18/2023
Descendants of Joseph B. Huinker - All Generations with Sources - Updated 5/18/2023
This is my Mom's family. She passed away on September 21, 2014. Most of my siblings and I were there when she died, and she generously gave us all a chance to tell her we loved her and to say goodbye. We all contributed to writing and putting this program together for her funeral in Ossian, Iowa.
Descendants of Joseph B. Huinker - All Generations with Sources - Updated 5/18/2023
This is my Mom's family. She passed away on September 21, 2014. Most of my siblings and I were there when she died, and she generously gave us all a chance to tell her we loved her and to say goodbye. We all contributed to writing and putting this program together for her funeral in Ossian, Iowa.