The Strohsahl Family on the Island of Neuwerk

1761-1913

             Neuwerk Island at the Mouth of the Elbe River in the

                 North Sea  off the Coast of Cuxhaven, Germany

The island Rige 0 was located at the point where the Elbe River flows into the North Sea, and because of its ideal location, the thriving city of Hamburg, which was getting to be a large port town in the early 1300s, wanted Rige 0 to be their military base for watching out against piracy. After long meetings with the Earl of Sachsen-Lauenburg, Hamburg was allowed to build The Tower, between 1300 and 1310 and It Is still standing on the island.

Since It wasn't only a watch tower, but also a castle, it was called "dat Wark", which in military language meant the Watch Tower. Eventually, the name was applied to the entire island and it came to be known as "Neuwerk". For 250 years the island was a military base and only occupied by the military. In the years between 1556-1559, non-military people started to move to the island. It was necessary to build a fairly expensive dike, the cost of which was borne by three of the settlers. As a consideration for that expense, 36 acres of the land protected by the new dike were leased to those settlers for use by numerous future generations

The first try of the settlers to make their homes on Neuwerk failed and it was tried again in the year 1572. This time is was successful.

The first settlers, Helmecke Schmidt, Nanne Hoerssen and Hinrick Joelssen, were supposed to have started their farms by Easter of 1574. The next year two more small settlements were started (5 1/2 acres), which were occupied by fisherman, who also worked as pilots to guide the ships down the Elbe River.

The following works were written in 1948 about the history of the Island of Neuwerk, "A Tower and His Island", published by Ferdinand Dannmehrer, Erich von Leke and Heinrich Ruther. The publication was available in the Bookstore of the publishing house, Rauschenplat, Cuxhaven. It was supposed to be a sequel to the book "The People of the Island", but it was abolished because it was felt that it would destroy the meaning of the first book.

Our agency became aware of these family oriented works and decided to publish them. It was felt that it would be of great value not only for the Family Genealogists and the families that originated from the Island of Neuwerk, but also for the friends of the green islands, who spend their vacations there.

THE FISHER AND PILOT FAMILIES

We know very little about the first families that settled as fishermen/pilots other than their names. Since Focko Moensen's name is not entered in the church register, we assume that he was not married. Harm Meyer had five children baptized between 1582 and 1591 (Katrine, Hille, Henrick, Kanecke and Annecke). Since the oldest village had no death register, we don't know if all his children lived or when Harm died. In 1582, he extended his lease for another ten years. We assume that Katrine Meyer, who on January 22, 1594 married the pilot Barfeld Hartig, was widowed only because there are no children from this marriage.

Hartig probably came from the village Doese, were there were at that time, several families with the same last name as his. It looks like he died in the year 1610 because on the 24th of November of the same year, the pilot Carsten Honinghalt is sworn in as Hartig's replacement.

The possible successor of Focko Moensen was Cord Treppenmacker, who in 1589 had a son baptized. We assume, because of his name, that he came from Kehdinqen, which is where his family name shows up. is family has occupied the two fishing settlements for over a hundred years as is shown on the following family tree:

Cord's son-in-law, Hans Benecke, is the first one with that name in the village of Doese; we assume he came from the province of Hadein, where the name shows up very early. His three sons (Cord, Otto and Peter) started the families that show up quite frequently in Cuxhaven. Almost on the same day as old Hans Benecke gave his home (Fisher House II) to his son Cord, his son in-law, the pilot Johann Hoepke, took over Fisher House 1, which until then had been occupied by Hahne Heerssen. He also had several children, and it appears that nine generations of his family lived in what is now the city of Cuxhaven. It also seems that in the ninth generation his family started to emigrate from the island.

Johann Hoepke's oldest sons, Hans and Juergen, moved to the mainland; Claus, the youngest, stayed as a fisherman on the island and took over the home of his father in 1684. His father died five years later in 1689 at the age of 81. Claus had two sons and one daughter out of his second marriage to Anna Osterndorffrom the village of Duhnen. The two sons, Johann and Claus, are still named in the year 1720 as being fishermen on the island of Neuwerk, but after their marriages in 1723/1724, their names are not found anymore and it is assumed that they moved off the island. Claus Hoepke's house was washed away in the Christmas Flood in 1717. The house was never rebuilt.

In 1719, Claus Hoepke bought the Fisherman's house of Claus Math I, who had drowned, from the young Claus Math II, who couldn't keep the house because of the high dike taxes.

When Claus Hoepke died at the age of 68, in 1729, Claus Math, who married his daughter, Margeret Hoepke in 1722, took over Fisherman's House I and Fisherman's House II which he inherited.

Since then both places have always gone to the next generation as one homestead. Today it has become a farm but its name is still "The Fisherhouse".

After three years of marriage, Claus Math became a widower again, and on the 16th of November, 1734, at the age of 46, he married his second wife, Gissel Strohsahl, the first one with that name to occupy the island. When Claus died at the age of 76 in the year 1757, Gissel did not marry again and took care of the homestead for the next 20 years by herself. Claus had twelve children, four daughters and one son from his first marriage and five daughters and two sons from the second. The son Peter moved to Duhnen, and from his two children descended the Math's who still occupy the village today. The younger son died at the age of 27, unmarried.

THE OLDEST FARM FAMILIES

Where Nanne Heerssen, who was one of the first three homesteaders, came from, we don't know. Since there was already a Umme Heerssen who got married in Sahlenburg in 1581, it is possible that this family had been on the island one or two generations before that. Old Nanne hadn't been on the island long before he died. His widow gave the East farm to her son Richert in 1580. We think that her second son was Johann, who was leasing the West farm from 1627-1671. We don't know if he had any children. The same applied for Richert's youngest son Hayo. We do know that he took over his father's farm in 1626. We can't be sure if and how the later Heerssens were connected to the first ones.

Hinrick Joelssen, who had come in 1572 to Neuwerk, brought his three daughters with him. Their names were Hesse, Tete and Annecke. Tete got married June 16, 1586 to Johann Lav (Laue or Loue) who inherited in April of 1601, the farm of his father-in- law. His oldest daughter, Gertrude, married Mathewes Hoepke on October 1607, who came from Orstedt. We believe that these two were the parents of Tewes Hoepke, who in 1655 married Hane Heerssen's widow Anna, and moved therefore onto the East farm.

After Anna's death in 1666, Tewes got married again in 1667 to Dorathea Schloeher, but he died in June of 1676 at the age of 46. Peter Hoepke and Johann Schloeher, the guardians of Wilken, Tewes' oldest son, gave him the authorization to take over the farm.

Since the young owner (he was only four years old) could not run the farm himself, it was sold to a cousin, whose name was Juergen Hoepke, from Doese, who on September 10th, 1678, married 17 year old Johanna Wittke, daughter of Carsten Wittke. None of their sons stayed alive so the farm was sold in 1695 to Hans Hey. After exactly fifty years, a Juergen Hoepke bought the farm again. He was a grandson of the earlier named Peter Hoepke. Seven of his eleven children lived, the four daughters got married and moved to the mainland. Of his three sons, the oldest two died unmarried leaving his youngest son Claus.

The youngest of the three settlers that came to Neuwerk in 1572 was Helmecke Schmidt. We think he was the son of Hans Schmidt from Hamburg, who the Hamburg senate had wanted to go to Neuwerk in 1565, but that evidently didn't happen.

Helmecke Schmidt was the owner of middle farm 'tMittelhof't for forty years. After his death, his only son, Johann, took over the farm in 1612. Johann had been married for two years to Salome Schloeher, the youngest daughter of Marten Schloeher. He also outlived his second wife, Mette Wilkens, and entered into a third marriage with Anna Wenecke, Helmer's sister who owned the West farm. Anna became a widow in 1651 and took over the farm. She got married again to Wolke Tiedemann, therefore Wolke became owner of the farm.

Why Johann Schmidt's four sons didn't take over the farm is unknown.

Wolke's marriage to Anna was short, since in 1660 he remarried. This union was blessed with five sons and one daughter. Only the two oldest sons stayed on the island and started a family.

The oldest son, Claus Tiedemann, took over the middle farm in February of 1682. He got married in 1685 to Anna Ketel from Stickenbuettel. She gave him one son and three daughters. When the children were old enough to be married, a terrible thing happened to the family. The Christmas flood of 1717 took the parents and the children. The whole family died in the flood, it also took the home.

Wolke Tiedemann, the brother of Claus had the neighboring farm, which was not harmed, during the flood. Wolke became owner of the farm in 1690. He bought the farm from Helmer Wencke. Wolke was married to Catharina, the only daughter of Peter Thode. They had ten children, but only one daughter and one son grew old enough to be married. The son, Peter Tiedemann, who had taken over his fathers farm in 1735 died young in 1739 after 4 1/2 years of marriage to Anna, the only daughter of Seba Heinsohn. Their only child, a daughter, Anna Catharina, died at the age of nine months. That was the end of the Tiedemann branch, exactly ninety years after Wolke married into the family.

After a short period, only half a century, the family Hey alone, remained on the island.

THE STROHSAHL FAMILY

The Strohsahl's built one of the strongest and toughest Neuwerker families since they stayed more than 150 years (1761-1913) and five generations on the Island.

There is a saying that, 100 years ago, all the farms belonged to a Strohsahl family, and it's pretty accurate. 'Twice over a period of sixteen years, Strohsahls occupied the East farm, the Middle and the West farm (1841-1846 and 1852-1857). The Fishermans House has never belonged to a Strohsahl. The main home of the Strohsahl family was the middle farm, which was occupied by the family until 1913.

The first one to buy the farm was Juergen Strohsahl, who came from Cappel and was a fisherman. We think that his earlier named sister, Gissel, talked him into moving to the island.

Juergen had five sons and three daughters. Three of his sons are found again on the farm register.

Paul married into the family through Seba Heinsohm II's widow, owner of the West farm. Diedrich, the youngest, inherited the father's middle farm after his mother's death in 1794. Since he bought a farm in Suedervisch near Cuxhaven, he gave the farm to his brother Peter. Juergens youngest daughter, Gissel, married Matthias Strohsahl from Duhnen. He was from another Strohsahl family and had lived on a farm in Arensch before 1700. It is possible that the Cappeler's Strohsahl's came from that family.

Four of the children from this couple lived on the island Matthias as Lighthouse Watchman, Peter Hinrich as owner of the West farm and the two daughters, Catharina Rebekka and Gissel Maria, as wives of two Strohsahl cousins.

Through these four marriages with a Strohsahl, which were all blessed with children, the families melted together to a point where later generations have no idea which side of the Strohsahl's they belonged to, the Arensche or the Cappeler's family.

Since it is very confusing, the easiest way to follow the very colorful way of that family is by looking at a picture of the family tree.

Let's go back to the middle farm, which Peter Strohsahl had taken over in the year 1816. He gave the farm temporarily to his son Juergen Hinrich. Since he married his cousin Catharina Rebekka from Duhnen in 1816, he showed more interest in the farm of his father-in-law, in Arensch, which he bought in 1820. The middle farm went back to Peter. After his death in 1822, his third wife, Anna Dorothea, maiden name Doescher, got the farm, and she was the owner of the farm until 1823, when she married the Neuwerker, Reinhard Wilckens, who later died in 1882. In 1838, she let the farm go to her youngest son, Wilhelm Strohsahl (born 1815), who married in 1845 the maiden, Catharina Henrietta Hey from Spieka-Altendeich. After nine years of marriage, he died of pneumonia.

He had three sons, who were all sailors. Two of them, Heinrich and Ernst stayed In America.

By now ownership of the West farm had also changed. In 1822 Wilhelm's half-brother, Peter Wiedlaus Strohsahl (from his father's first marriage), bought the farm from his uncle, the seventy-year-old Peter Strohsahl.

Just like his brother, Juergen Hinrich, he married a cousin from Duhnen, Gissel Maria Strohsahl, but Just like Wilhelm, he died early, at the age of 37. He left six children, the oldest 13, the youngest 1/2 year old at the time of his death.

After two years, his widow sold the farm to her brother Peter Hinrich Strohsahl, after she became the fourth wife of her uncle Diederich Strohsahl in Suederwisch. Because of the marriage, the six children moved away from the island and never returned.

The three sons died early without leaving any children, the three daughters got married and moved to Cuxhaven.

The next owner of the west farm was Peter Hinrich Strohsahl. He was a brewer, who, until then, had owned a pub in Ritzebuettel. He also died fairly young, at the age of fifty, in 1852.

His widow, Gissell, from Kuechenmeister, managed the farm since her son, August, was supposed to be the postmaster (he was also a smart young boy and had good handwriting), but after two years, she sold the farm to August Mangels from Elbdeich. The son August liked farming, though, and in the year 1876, when his uncle Johann Juergen Strohsahl (no children) died, he bought the farm. His grandson, Walter Strohsahl, now owns the farm.

Besides August, Peter Hinrich had three daughters. Julie, the oldest, married in 1864 Amandus Butt from Stickenbuettel, who worked for 10 years as a teacher in Hamburg, but now had a Job as a city employee In Ritzebuettel and in October 1867, became the next mayor after the previous mayor died in a flood. Amandus died in September 1894, in Cuxhaven.

They had five children who were born on Neuwerk, four of them worked for the government in Cuxhaven; Arnold was a mailman, Ervin and Julias as inspectors for the water company and Melanie as a telegraph operator. Peter Hinrich's second daughter died unmarried in the year 1910, at the age of 65.

The youngest daughter, Marie, a widow Koch, died as the oldest living person in Cuxhaven on the 13th of January 1945, at the age of almost 96.

Peter Hinrich's brother, Matthias Strohsahl, lived on the island a lot longer than his brother. He died in Cuxhaven in 1865, at the age of

68. He had nine children in his first marriage to Elizabeth Steinkamp, from Ritzebuettel, and three of them moved off of the island; Heinrich was a fisherman in Finkenwarder, his twin brother Edward emigrated to West India, Amandus went to liverpool, the only daughter Marie, died unmarried in Cuxhaven.

The oldest son, August Friedrich, was the first telegraph operator in Cuxhaven. He also played the flute in concerts. Of his children, only three daughters survived. All three of them married into other parts of the country.

The only one that stayed on the island was the youngest son of the lighthouse watchman, Theodor, a sea pilot living in Cuxhaven. He had eight children of which one son, Theodor, immigrated to America. The others all stayed in Cuxhaven. Amadeus as a sea pilot, Henrich as a Sea Captain, Edward owned a business, Pauline was the widow of a businessman in Hamburg, Mathilde was wife of sea pilot Thode and Julie was wife of Harbormaster Heinrich Rose.

Before the Strohsahs gave up the West farm, they occupied the third farm. Diedrich Strohsahl, Juergen's youngest son, who moved into the middle farm, had only one child out of all his five marriages (Peter Nicolaus, Doese, December 1802). He took his son Diedrich Wilhelm, whom he had out of wedlock with Rebekka Schlichtling, from Luedingworth, into his house and made a good farmer out of him, but Diedrich wanted to go to the island of his forefathers, and in 1841, when the widow Ehnhus was looking for a buyer for her burned down farm, Diedrich bought the East farm and built another farmhouse. He married his cousin, Anna Maria, the only daughter of his uncle Peter Strohsahl, and in a 27 year marriage she gave him seven children.

In 1846, he sold the West farm to Lorens Hochmann from SpiekaNeufeld, who died in December of 1848. His nephew, Claus Hochmann, then took over the farm. In 1852, Diedrich Wilhelm, who had been living in Duhnen, bought his farm back and, eight years later, bought the middle farm. 'Iwo years after his wife Anna died in 1862, he married a widow Strohsahl, she had been a Strohsahl by marriage not birth. Until 1865, he owned both farms, then he sold both of them. Rumor has it that he was drinking rum in a Ritzebuetteler pub and got angry and drunk and sold both farms to Lueder Christian Briebel.

It appears that Diedrick Wilhelm was the most interesting figure in the Strohsahl clan, and until today, he is remembered by family members. He supposedly played the role of family senator. He watched over the family ways and morals, he also dictated who married whom. He was the one who never tired, he worked the longest hours and did the most work, but, neither did he get old as he was only 55 when he died in February 1867. His oldest son, Heinrich, bought himself a farm later on in Neuenkirch. The Strohsahls are living there until this date.

Heinrich's brother, Johann Wilhelm, took over the place in Neuwerk after his father died.

The two youngest sons of Diedrich died at an early age. The oldest daughter, Johanne, got married in 1865 to the former Neuwerker teacher, Carl Busse. His brother-in-law gave him half of the middle farm. Luise, who was born in 1840, had her fatherts nature. She died, unmarried, in a home for the elderly. The third daughter, Catharina, got married to Wilhelm Assenbeck from Suederwisch.

The Strohsahl's main farm went back after eight years to the family, who had lived there for 100 years. The widow Griebel let the farm go to Diedrich Wilhelm's son Johann Wilhelm Strohsahl, who became her son-in-law. He lived on the farm for only eighteen years, since he died at the age of 48. Even though he was a tall, strong man, he died of pneumonia. His widow, Regine, turned the farm over to her son, Otto Strohsahl in 1899, who after fourteen years sold it to his cousin, Willy Griebel. He moved to Doese so he could spend more time in his bushiness of buying and selling cattle. With his departure left the last of the Strohsahls, one hundred and fifty years after settling on the island in the narrow circle of its dike. Otto Strohsahl died in 1924, only 49 years old, like his father. His place is now occupied by his son, Carl Strohsahl.

THE NEW FAMILIES

Floether

A retired soldier bought the Fishermans house in 1837. He came from Lueneburg. Of all the men that have lived on the island of Neuwerk, he became the oldest. He was 93 years old when he died in 1872. In 1837, he turned his place over to his son, Wilhelm Floether. In 1838, Wilhelm married Anna Dorothea Seebeck from Spieka, a sister of Johann Christian Schmidts. Their 10 children all settled in Cuxhaven, only their second youngest son, Ernst August Floether, took over the place in 1880, but he sold out in 1880, since none of his four children stayed on the island.

Two sons died in World War I, but the daughter and the two oldest sons settled in Cuxhaven where parts of the family are still to be found.

Griebel

When the West Farm (Westhof) became free in 1862, Lueder Christian Griebel bought it. He came from Bevensch, where his father owned a farm.

In 1865, Lueder Christian bought the east farm and the middle farm from Diedrich Wilhelm Strohsahl and for over half a year he owned all three farms. In March of the next year, he sold the east Farm. He did not have much time to enjoy the ownership of his farms, because in October of 1867, he drowned in the North Sea. His very capable wife, Anna Catharina, a born Brockmann, kept the farm together for her four children, of which the oldest, a daughter, Regina, was only 5 1/2 years old. After three years, Catharina got married again to Johann Wilhelm Strohsahl, and on Easter 1873, his mother-in-law let him take over the place. The second daughter, Elise, became the wife of Ernst August Floethers, who received the Fisherhouse from his father in 1880.

The only son of the drowned man, Lueder Nicolaus Griebel, became the owner of the West farm in 1855, exactly eleven years after his father's untimely death. He kept the place until 1915, when he died in a Hamburg hospital.

Today, the farm is owned by his youngest son, Ernst Griebel, who has been the owner for 35 years. His oldest son, Willy Griebel, had bought the farm from Otto Strohsahl, when he moved to the mainland.

Since the Griebels have been on the island for 85 years, they are considered to be one of the oldest families living there today.

Van Kroge and Fischer

The East Farm went in 1875 to Peter von Kroge, who came with his parents from Nuderhuell to Cuxhaven.

Right away, he divided the farm between himself and his brother-in-law, Nicolaus Fischer, who had married his sister in 1873. Ever since then, the east farm has been owned by the two different families.

Rose

In 1882, Lueder Nicolaus, through marriage, brought the first Rose to the Island. That was Alline, the oldest daughter of the former Heinrich Rose, from Doese. In 1904, both of her brothers, August and Ernst followed. August bought the Fishermans House from Ernst August Floether, but he sold it again in 1909, since he never married.

Ernst was the founder of the Hotel "Zur Meereswoge't, and he ran it himself until Easter of 1916. Of all his children, August went In 1916 to Masedonien, Heinrich stayed on the island and Allida married her cousin Ernst Griebel, the youngest son moved to Cuxhaven. Another Rose Adolf, brother of Heinrich Rose, had two daughters connected to Neuwerk. Frieda Rose married Otto Strohsahl in 1898, in Neuwerk, who was the same age as she, and Alma Rose married Willy Floether, Ernst August's son who lived in Cuxhaven.

SOME "VOEGTE" FAMILIES

The Voegte were State employees who were sent to the island by the Hamburg Senate. The "Vogtamt" was originally a military post. As people started settling on the island in 1572, the duties of the Vogt changed.

They had to maintain and oversee the safety of the dikes, they were in charge of the sea pilots, they also functioned as coast guards. He had to be a sailor, government worker and policeman. It was a hard and responsible position. He received a free apartment in the watchtower and the right to lease about 26 acres of land that he could use as grazeland for cattle. He could have a farm with 8-19 horses.

Every time a new "Vogt" came to the island, he had to sign his contract in front of two settlers and he had to give an oath; the contract was called "Hauerkantrakt."

1) Bastian Rulle (Rolle)

On October 20, 1572, Bastian Rulle entered into the "Hauerkantrakt". He was the last 'Vogt" who once in a while was called Captain.

In the oldest Doeser register, it was started in 1581, his name was mentioned only once, in 1584, when he had his oldest daughter, Lysabet, baptized. One year later, he died as it is shown on his cemetery marker, the oldest one in the Doeser cemetery:

Bastain Rolle

His wife and children

and his grandchildren 1585.

To his family belongs, without question, Annecke Rulle, who married in 1587 Margwant Hehge, but we do not know if she was his widow or his daughter.

2) The "Voegt" family Wittke

In 1667, the "Voegt" Carsten Wittke, gave his oath. He came from an old farm family in Osterende-Luedingworth. We do not fully understand what motivated him to take on that Job at the age of 52, possibly because his sister Margaretha, who had been married to Evert Tresdorps, had been the "Vogt" on Neuwerk for 25 years.

Carsten was the "Vogt" for 18 years, and at the age of 69 he died in 1685. His widow, Engel, moved back to the farm in Luedingworth, which she gave soon after to her son. The next one to take over the post of "Vogt" was Lorens Wittke.

His son, Lorens II, was born in 1745 and had been the schoolmaster in Doese since 1766. It was said that he was very intelligent and in 1789, he became the second "Vogt" in Neuwerk. Wittke became very famous for his saving the crew of the English ship "Prosperpine" in January, 1799. The British sailors claimed that he had saved their lives and after the crew returned to England, he received a gold medallion from the British navy as thanks. Out of his 12 children, which his wife Margaretha Kohn had given him, only 5 survived, two sons and three daughters, the other 7 only reached ages of a few months old.

Lorens Wittke died in 1808.

Claus Heinsohn took over after Lorens death, the husband of his oldest daughter, Catharina Margaretha Wittke.

Of the nine children, only one daughter stayed on the island, Anna maria, the oldest who had married the 'Vogt" Peter Christian Follmer. From 1836-1860 this woman bore fourteen children and raised them all.

In 1858, 7 of her children went to the Neuwerk school at the same time, which made them the majority of the children in school, since there were only 12 children enrolled at the time. The oldest son Wilhelm ran a pub in Cuxhaven until 1891; Julius Follmer went to America, and at the age of 69 his mother followed him in or around 1880. She already knew about the "New World", since two of her daughters went to America around 1850 with their husbands.

3) The "Vogt" family Thode

Peter Thode's family had been in Duhnen since the 15th and 16th centuries. Since his marriage in 1671, he had also been living In Duhnen until 1686 when he was named "Vogt".

Of his five children, three died at an early age, the oldest daughter, Catharina married the 19 year old island farmer Wollke Tiedemann. He also had a son, Peter Thode, who must have been a very intelligent young man because, only one year after the father's death, he became the next "Vogt" at the age of 17.

In 1709, he married the 15 year old Catharina Roth. After nine years of marriage, she died in March,1718. In 1719, Peter Thode had to resign his post, the orders came from the Hamburg Senate, who accused him of "irregularities", and he moved with his two children to Cuxhaven to live with his father-in-law, Johann Jobst. After the grandfather died in 1720, the farm went to Peter and the grandmother whom took over raising the two children, but shortly after that their father died at the age of 49.

His son Johann Jobst Thode married Margaretha at the age of 18 years, since he needed a wife for the farm. In 1741, he also entered into government work, got into a fight with one of his bosses, was arrested and brought to Hamburg, where he stayed in Jail for a year. That put an end to his career. When his wife, Margaretha, died in 1752, he got married again to Regina Margareta Olvers, from the Midlumer Moor, but he died in 1759 at the age of 49, not even reaching the age of his father. After this, his family name died since he had only two daughters.

4) The "Vogt" family Heinsohn

In the time that is missing, because of the Christmas flood in 1717, came a family who gave the island very capable people for generations. The first one was Seba (Sebastian) Heinsohn. He had been living in Doege since 1713. His wife was Anna Hahburg from Fickmuehlen, near Vederkesa. On May 16, 1718, he bought the empty Middle farm for 20 marks. We believe that he had to rebuild the whole place. Ten years later, his brother signed the contract to become 'Vogt". In April of 1727, he had married the widow of the "Vogt" Johann Hinrich Voss. He died two years later, but left a daughter. His older brother, Seba, took over. He stayed in that position until he died in January 1737. It seems that the Heinsohn had the wholehearted trust of the Hamburg senate, because for the next 100 years they were the masters of the Watchtower, except for the time 1789-1808, when Lorens Wittke held the position, but they must have been very good farmers too, besides the farm and the land that came with the position, they managed to work and care for the Middle farm for another 33 years.

Sebas' oldest son, who succeeded him in his Job, held the post for the longest time, 51 years.

He was 75 years old when he retired, and he died at the age of 77. When he was 24, he took over his father's Job and he was unmarried when he took over the Middle farm which he managed until 1751. When he was 32, he got married to Anna Maria Wichmann, who came out of Fickmuehlen, the home of his mother.

Out of his five children, three got married; Anna Maria to Johann Jurgen Neuhaus from Orstedt (their family Is still in Orstedt), Catharina Maria to Peter Crohn in Luedingworth, a large part of the farm families in the district of Hadeln are related to this family. At this home he died, the 77 year old father in February after he turned over his Job to his son Johann Hinrich In 1788. Hinrich had to step down from that position in November of 1789 because of health reasons. That's when the Doeser, Lorens Wittke, put in his bid for the Job.

Seba's only daughters Anna had been married twice. In 1735, barely 16 years old, she married the 39 year-old neighbor on the West farm. After his early death, now the owner of the place, she marriage in 1740, Basilius Fick from Groden. After 5 years, he sold the farm and they moved to Cuxhaven. We believe that the tragedy that hit his family made him leave the island forever.

In February of 1742, his wife fell gravely ill, that's when he sent his 25 year old brother, Hinrich Fick, who was working for him, to the mainland to get the surgeon, Herman Hinrich Grantz. On the way back, he picked up the young Hinrich Heersen, but the wagon never reached the island. After eight days, they found the three dead on the beach,: they had been caught by the high tide and were drowned.

Anna recovered from her illness, the son that she had borne three months earlier received the same name as his uncle "Hinrich". Later he was his father's successor on the Wolfenbuettel farm in Groden. The writer of this book is related to that family. Out of Seba's seven children, one stayed on the island, Seba II, born in 1724. In 1745 he took over West farm, which had been run by his brother-in-law for the last 40 years. From his first marriage to Anna Mose, came Seba III, who died in 1826. His second wife, Anna Margaretha Finck, from Stickenbuettel, gave him four children. The oldest, Claus, born in 1771, followed in his father's footsteps and became 'Vogt" after marrying Lorens Wittke's daughters. He held the post for twenty-eight years.

During his tenure as "Vogt", came the difficult period when France occupied the island. The French made all thirty-three people leave the island and their homes and tore down all buildings. When he became sixty, he was beginning to get ill and his son Lorens took over, but he did not work long in the position, because he died unmarried at the age of 35.

This ended the family on the island. Even so, he had a half brother who took over the farm of his stepfather, Paul Strohsahl (he had married Seba II's widow). Because of the hard times after the war, he gave the farm back to Paul Strohsahl in 1817 and he went to Doese and bought a small business. At the age of 69 he died, never married, the last Seba.

THE BLUESENMEISTER

The Neuwerk Tower had been a Lighthouse since 1814. Before that there was a different kind of watchlight for the ships. It stood at the north dike and was a 23 foot high contraption that had an open coal fire on its top that was kept going all night from September until April. Since 1761, It burned all year round, except when it was so cold that no ships were out because of the ice. To start this fire every evening, keep it going through wind and rain, bring up the coal and wood, was the Bluesenmeister's Job. He had two men working for him. Since the Bluesenmeisters were put into their positions by the Hamburg navy, they were Just like the "Vogts", working for the government, but under the "Vogt".

The first known "Bluesenmeisters" were Jacob and Joseph von Goldbeck, 1688-1710. Ater that, two "Vogts" took over, Peter Thode and Johann Hinrich Voss.

1) The Family Voss

The whereabouts of the two Bluesenmeister's Voss is dark. Johann Hinrich Voss, had been married twice. His first wife, Anna, died after barely a year on the island. The second marriage only lasted two years, in 1726, Hinrich Voss died. Four months later his wife had a son, Eberhard Johann. After one year, she married the new Vogt, Otto Heingohn.

Peter Voss became the Bluesenmeister in June of 1726. He married Trin Kraemer in 1721. After five years of marriage she died, not having any children. We do not know if after that he Just left the island or if he drowned in the North Sea and had never been found. His name has not been found in the Church register.

2) The Families Untenberg and Wilckens

It seems like the Hamburg senate had not been all that happy with the last three Bluesenmeisters who had all been young, because the next one the senate elected was an older man, the 63 year old Thomas Untenberg from Hamburg.

Thomas Untenberg barely managed to hold on to his Job for five years because he became senile and in 1732 they announced the successor, Mangels Wilckens, who had worked for some time under Thomas Untenberg and who had become, in November 1727, his son-in-law.

For twenty-six years he held this hard and responsible position. He died in 1758 and was buried in Doese. It is said that he drowned. His widow, Magdalena, outlived him by 22 years. They had four children, one daughter and three sons.

The daughter, Anna Maria, married in 1733 her first husband, the carpenter Martin Grath, whose son, Christian Benjamin had leased the east farm from 1786-1791. After Grath was executed (he had killed his nine year old son with a knife in 1770) she married the farmer Hans Hinrich Beckmann in 1772.

The oldest son of Mangels Wilckens, Magnus II, became the successor of his father in 1750, but he only stayed six years on the island. In 1765, he was fired without any known explanation.

He moved to Cuxhaven, where he was still living in 1779 when he and his entire family disappear.

The second son, Thomas Wilckens, lived near the harbor. He was a navy sea pilot and still lived there in 1850.

The youngest son, Johann Walter Wilckens, bought the Fishermans house from the old widow Math in 1776. He died early in 1788, leaving seven young children from his three marriages.

His oldest son, even though he was only 19 years old, took over the Fishermans house, and in the following year, he married Marla Frese, from Luedingworth, a relative of his stepmother's. He stayed on the place until he died in 1827. After that it fell into different hands, since his son, Reinhard became the owner of the Middle farm through his marriage to Peter Strohsahl's widow, Anna Dorothea, in 1823. There is no sign of the two children out of this marriage.

3) The Family Kuehlstein

We have not been able to find out, not even from the Church register who was Magnus Wilckens II. The next known Bluesenmeister shows up in 1773. His name was David Wilhelm Kuehlstein. Since he came from Dresden and was now living in Hamburg, we assume he was elected by the senate for the post on the island.

There is not much known about his family, except a baptism of his daughter, Dima Maria, in May of 1775. He only stayed on his post for 10 years, in 1783 he was buried in the Doese cemetery.

4) The families Wichmann and Schmidt

Another stranger to the island followed Kuehlstein from Oldenburg, Christian Wichmann. He also came by way of Hamburg. We know that his wife, Catharina Maria, was from Hamburg. They had three daughters, but only the youngest, Christina Dorothea, was born on Neuwerk in 1785. The other two were born in Hamburg.

The oldest, Anna Margaretha, born in 1772, married the sea captain, Jacob Hinrich Benaehs in 1808. Her son was the first owner of the Annhausen farm in Groden, which is to this day owned by the same family.

The youngest daughter, Christina Dorothea, married the sailor Johann Heinrich Christopher Bermitt in 1819, but he went down with the crew of the ship "Seestar" when it sank in 1824.

The second daughter, Louise Maria, married Claus Schmidt who had worked for the Bluesenmeister Wichmann. After Wichmann died in 1808, he took over the position.

Claus Schmidt came from a Cuxhaven family, whose tradition of seafaring dated back to his great Grandfather, Dirk Schmidt. His mother was a great granddaughter of Tewes Hoepcke, who had lived from 1655-1676 on Neuwerk's East farm and whose mother was a sister of Basilius Fick, who in 1740 had married into the West farm. It is no surprise that with all the family connections to the island, the two sons settled there and made Neuwerk home. Claus was 31 years old when he took over as the new Bluesenmeister. His older brother, Johann Juergen Schmidt was hired in 1815, at the age of 45, when the island had stopped using coal for the Watchtower and went to a modern lighthouse. He becomes the overseer of the lighthouse, but his brother becomes the Head Inspector. Johann Juergen died in 1827 of typhoid. It seems he left no children. Claus Schmidt died in 1835 from a stroke, but he had eight children, seven of them lived. Of these seven, his daughter Johanna and his son Amandus also died of typhoid.

Three of the children went to the new world, Jacob went to New Orleans. Louise married Juergen Haherin 1848, who was a tailor in Cuxhaven. When he died at an early age, the oldest son, Adolf went to America and after getting a job, brought his mother and brother over. In 1883, his mother died in New York.

Only two of Claus Schmidt's children stayed home. Christina Maria got married in 1839 to the teacher Johann Bruening, who had untill then taught school in Neuwerk. The oldest son, Johann Christian Schmidt became, in 1811, the successor of his father. He served the Island on the lighthouse for over 40 years. In July of 1890, he celebrated his golden anniversary with his wife Catharina Rebekka, by that time retired and living in Doese.

There had come five surviving children out of that marriage. The three sons ail went to America. Gustow and Amandus went as children when their uncle Jacob, whose only child had died, brought them over to New Orleans. The hardships of the 1840's and 50's made the decision easier for the parents to let their sons go. They never saw Amandus again, for at the age of 12 he died in America. The third son, Heinrich, who was born after Amandus' death went to America at the age of 15, but after four years, he came back ill and at the age of twenty he died of tuberculosis. Around the same time the oldest son, Gustav, came home. He had never been able to adjust to the "New World". He bought himself a pub in Cuxhaven in 1887 and his unmarried sister Louise kept house for him. He died in 1925. Only Mathilda had children. She had married Carl Berg in 1877, from Hamburg, who began working as Lighthouse watchman in 1879. Their four children all had the urge to leave home. Hermann and Carl sailed as Ship's engineers, Gustav went as a Hamburg teacher to China, where he taught in Tientsin German-Chinese school for 10 years. The only daughter Louise, who became a widow, went to New York to live with her son.

In the following years, it became more and more a custom to hire the Lighthouse personnel out of the Cuxhaven Sailors Union, former sailors, ships cooks and ships carpenters.

The End