1795-1900 The Walkenhorst Family from Melle, Germany to Cincinnati, Ohio

The Descendants of Herman Heinrich Walkenhorst & Catharina Elizabeth Tiemier

by Laura Stolk, Revised January 25, 2023

Hermann Heinrich Walkenhorst and Catharina Elizabeth Tiemier lived in Bakum, which was in the autonomous country of Hanover in the early 1800’s. They were tenant farmers.

Situated in the German Plains, there are gentle rolling hills, and it is very green. There is a marine climate, with proximity to the North Sea. The maximum temperature there reaches about 77 degrees Fahrenheit. There are many streams and wetlands in the area.

Hermann and Catherina had two sons, Casper Heinrich Walkenhorst was born on March 9, 1825 and Franz Heinrich Walkenhorst was born on May 26, 1827.

Their two daughters were Catherine Louise and Catherine Elisabeth, born in 1830 and 1833, respectively.

When Casper was twenty-four, he married Catharina Elisabeth Moseler who was born in Föckinghausen on January 29, 1824.

The couple was married on July 31, 1851, in Oldendorf and they lived in Föckinghausen, part of Oldendorf, where he worked to become a joiner. This was a farming community near Melle. Their daughter had been born on April 20, 1851.

In the time period of 1854, many people chose to migrate from this area.  A great number of German immigrants arrived in America in 1854 – 215,000, in fact – marking the height of the first great wave of German immigrants.

Many people migrated from this area because it was economically depressed and there was land available for farming and day labor jobs available with all of the building and canal construction happening in Ohio.

During this time, there was some political upheaval and nationalism fervor regarding the unification of autonomous kingdoms. In the year 1854, Hannover joined the Zollverein. This was a customs union of northern German states that were dominated by Prussia, which aimed to eliminate tariffs.  It eventually led to a war between Prussia and Austria, which occurred in 1866 and lasted only seven weeks.

During the war, Hannover was occupied by the Prussian army because it joined several other smaller kingdoms in supporting Austria. In the peace agreement after the war, Hannover was annexed to Prussia.

Casper, his wife, Catherine, and their daughter migrated to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1854. They would enjoy a long and prolific life there.

Here is an article describing the ship’s arrival (The Sun, Tues., Sept. 26, 1854):

Casper’s younger brother, Franz, married Anna Katherine, whose surname is not known at this time. Franz eventually spent his life working as a stonemason. At the time of migration his occupation was listed as “farmer”, like his parents.

Franz and Anna Katherine had two children, Franz and Caroline, and Anna was pregnant with their third child when they traveled aboard the ship Luna in 1857, with two bags. They arrived in Baltimore on October 9th of that year.  They then continued to Cincinnati. Their daughter Augusta was born during this time. Her records indicate that she was born in Hanover, however she was not listed in the passenger record. Their life in Cincinnati, though also prolific, was mired in tragedy.

Reasons for their particular migration are not known, however, this time period marked the time between the Napoleonic Wars and the Austro-Prussian War. It was a time of perpetual political change and upheaval. Many men that were facing a military inscription left for the United States. Another reason was the class system that prevented upward mobility. Also, it was not permitted for young people to marry outside of their station. Any of these could have been reasons. Also, there was a huge opportunity at that time for prosperity to those who were artisans, which the Walkenhorsts were.

Once each family settled in Cincinnati, they kept their residences close. Between the two brothers, nineteen children were born. It is not known whether they were able to keep correspondence with their sisters and parents. The course of their lives back in Bakum is not known. It is interesting that perhaps Hermann and Catherine did not know of these many grandchildren.

The naturalization records for this time were lost in a fire. However, the University of Cincinnati has records of the naturalization applications as follows:

Walkenhart, Frank	33	Hanover	Bremerhafen	Baltimore
Walkenhorst, Caspar Henry	33	Hanover	8/1/1854, Bremen	10/23/1854, Baltimore
Walkenhorst, Joseph	35	Prussia	5/15/1856, Bremen	7/4/1856, New York

Casper and Frank Henry were the first Walkenhorsts to settle in Cincinnati. In 1858, F.H. was the first to be listed in the Williams’ Street Directory – at 19 Mulberry Street as a mason. Walkenhorst was spelled “Walkenust”. In the year 1859, Casper was listed at 551 Sycamore Street. His occupation was not noted.

On June 7, 1859, Johann Heinrich Walkenhorst arrived in Baltimore having traveled from Hanover through the port of Bremen, destined for Ohio. He was also a stone mason. His relationship to Casper and Franz is not known. He was not listed as a child of Herman and Catherine in the Bakum, Melle records. Perhaps he was a cousin. However, since he migrated from the same area, within the same few years, had the same occupation, and lived within a few streets of Casper and Franz Heinrich, the conclusion is that they were related in some way. He married Anna Maria Rohn, who was a midwife and fourteen years his senior. He and his wife never had children.

There was a fourth Walkenhorst living in Cincinnati. Joseph H. Walkenhorst had migrated from Sankt Mauritz, which was about forty miles away from where the other Walkenhorsts came. He traveled alone and arrived in 1856. He married Nancy Whitaker in Cincinnati in 1857. They had one child, Joseph O. Walkenhorst. He was the first of the Walkenhorsts to enlist for the Civil War, a year before the others, in 1862. Being a blacksmith, he served two years as a ferrier. When he returned to Cincinnati, he lived near the river, which was not as close to the others.

In looking at parish records in Bakum, where Hermann and Catherina worked as tenant farmers, only Casper and Franz can be proven as their children. Johann and Joseph could have been related; however, the exact nature of their relationship is not yet proven.

When the Walkenhorst families migrated, America was experiencing the atmosphere that would eventually lead to the Civil War, which began in 1860, the year that President Abraham Lincoln was elected. In fact, Lincoln was actually in Cincinnati in 1859 when he made his views against slavery known as he challenged his opponent, Stephen Douglas. 

The Cincinnati area played a prominent role along the Underground Railroad as escaped enslaved people crossed the Ohio River, leaving the slave state of Kentucky. There were stops and safe houses along the river, in the city, into the countryside and Indiana, then from there Canada. The German immigrants overwhelmingly supported Lincoln and his Republican Party that opposed slavery. Some other Cincinnatians and one of the local conservative, Democratic  newspapers supported the South in their succession. However, Ohio and Cincinnati remained firmly in support of the Union and any soldiers that were recruited, fought accordingly, with Camp Dennison in Indian Hill being a primary training location for the Ohio Militia and many federal troops heading south. 

On September 4, 1862, there was a Siege upon the City of Cincinnati. The townspeople united to defend against the Kentuckians who fought against the Union. Cincinnati, Newport and Covington were all put under martial law and the citizens were called to action.

Casper Heinrich, Franz Heinrich, and Johann Heinrich were all drafted in June of 1863. Casper’s address was listed as 22 Hughes. His name was misspelled as Jasper and his occupation was “carpenter.” Frank resided at 31 Buckeye and his occupation was “mason”.  Johann’s name was also incorrect- Englehart – and he was listed as a “brick mason.” Other Civil War records for these men have not been found. 

The families of Casper and Franz remained intertwined. Casper was married to Katherina, and she went by “Kate”. They had eight children. Casper worked as a skilled carpenter – a joiner. The children were born between 1851-1871, the eldest had migrated with them and the rest were born in Cincinnati. Franz was married to Anna. They had eight children. The eldest two or three migrated with them and then the others were born in Cincinnati. The youngest two were twins. There were four boys and four girls.

You can almost hear their accents in the Williams Street Directory. In some years the names were spelled incorrectly. Perhaps someone came door to door to update the directory each year? I am not sure. But in 1866, Casper is listed as “Kasper Walkhorst” and in 1867, Frank is listed as Frank Walkenuss (with a German accent this would have been pronounced “Valkhorst” and “Valkenuss”.) This makes me think that they spoke with thick German accents and the person taking the information spelled it phonetically. Some other misspellings included: 1858, F.H. Walkenust, 1860, John Wakhaus, 1865, Casper Walkenhouse, and 1866, Henry Walkenhorse.

They lived along Mulberry Street during this time. Mulberry is the street off of Vine Street just in the bend, turning uphill to Clifton. They had various addresses on this street until they moved to Milton Street, a few blocks over.

There were several health epidemics during these years including cholera, smallpox, and influenza. Cholera would prove detrimental to most of Franz’s family. 

In February of 1866, Frank (3) and Johann (2) both died – Frank on the 11th and Johann on the 14th. Seven months later, one of the baby twins, Herman, died on September 14th. Five days later, Anna died. Franz and five children – Frank (14), Caroline (11), Augusta (9), Anna (7), and baby Lizzie (1) were spared. 

Franz remarried a few months later to a lady named Louise Nienaber. Louise had only arrived in Cincinnati in the year 1866. There were a few people listed in the city directory with that last name, who had been in the area for several years. They were shoemakers and tailors. Franz and Louise were married at Gabriel’s Corner Salem United Methodist Church of Christ on May 20, 1867. 

Franz and Louise had three more children, Elizabeth, Frederick, and Christian. However, Franz never met his youngest, as he died in August of 1870 and Christian was born in November. 

After Franz died, his children, including Frederick, went to live with their Uncle Casper and Aunt Kate. Presumably Elizabeth and Christian stayed with their mother. 

Frank Henry, the eldest son of Franz, lived on his own by 1880. He was a stonemason apprentice like his father.

Elizabeth died on March 1, 1872. Louisa remarried to William Roettcher the following month. He had two sons. Christian died on November 18, 1872. Louisa and William had two more children. 

Vine Street Hill Cemetery is where many of these Walkenhorst family members are buried. It was originally called Carthage Road Cemetery.

Casper continued to live in Cincinnati amongst his extensive family until the first day of May 1882. His children were between the ages of thirteen and thirty when he died at the young age of about fifty-six years.

Upon his death, Catherine E. Walkenhorst was named the guardian of Elisabeth, Frederick, and William Walkenhorst. (May 9, 1882.) These children were sent to live with Casper and Kate after Franz died. Then, once Casper died, Catherine was officially named as their guardian. 

There is one problem. William’s date of birth was in 1871. Franz died in August 1870 while Louise was pregnant with Christian, who was born in November 1870. Therefore Franz could not have been his biological father. Louise didn’t remarry until April of 1872. When she did, she had a son a year later and named him William Roettcher. It remains unclear exactly what happened. 

February 10, 1882 – Cincinnati Enquirer, Page 8

In 1890-91, Kate was living at 28 Hughes Street and was listed in the Williams Street Directory as a widow. Ten years later, she was living with her eldest daughter, Mary, Mary’s husband, Louis, and eight of their ten children at 1806 Walker Street near Eden Park. Kate never learned to speak English, but she was literate in the German language. Louis was a shoemaker (boots and shoes located at 18 Buckeye Street.)

In 1899, Kate still lived at 1806 Walker Street, with the Bramkamps (daughter Mary’s family.) Her son Willie also lived there, and he worked as a collector at 1526 Vine Street. A year later, in 1900, Willie had moved to 2029 Dunlap.

There are basically two settlements in the United States of people with this surname – in St. Louis and Cincinnati, though there has since been obvious disbursement across many states. Those that originally settled in St. Louis migrated through New Orleans, whereas the Walkenhorsts of Cincinnati came via New York and Baltimore. There remain several people with the surname Walkenhorst in the area in and around Melle, Germany, as well.
Several Walkenhorst descendants have reconnected via a shared interest in their ancestry. Some have submitted DNA to Ancestry.com and 23andMe.com, as well.  If you are also a Walkenhorst descendant and would like to connect, please use this form to enter your information.