GIES FAMILY
"The town of Neustadt, Hesse was founded in about 1272, as a military stronghold. It was first settled by Barons who fortified, followed by an influx of immigrants from the surrounding villages. This formed the first Neustadt municipality. Wars and extermination followed. Many smaller villages were wiped out. As the fort furnished them the protection, the refugees built outside of these walls.
"In 1462, Neustadt was besieged by Heinrich von Hessen to gain possession of the Kur State for Mainz. The siege lasted fourteen days while Neustadt held firm until Hennen of Kassel arrived with assistance. Neustadt was turned over to Ludwig of Kassel. In 1477 the city came under the Dornburg family.
"In 1530 Trinity Roman Catholic Church was confisgated and Catholic services were discontinued." This situation of religious demands continued for over 200 years.
Taken from the general history: In 1567, the State of Hesse was divided among the four sons of Prince Philip, and for the next three hundred years, Kurhessen remained an independent state as Kurhessen, Hesse Electoral, and Kastel Hesse.
Taken from research of the local churches: With the Reformation the State of Kurhessen became a refuge for French Huguenots.
"In 1618 the Thirty Years War brought indescribable oppression. Looting, Rape and burning public and private homes and business were common place: The Treaty of Westphalia returned Neustadt to Kurfeurst of Mainz. The atrocities of the war brought upon the city, rebuilding called for more heavy assessments and more oppression than it could stand. Neustadt never regained its former status.
"In 1776, the people of Neustadt were enjoying a period of rest and quiet and not subject to the military call; thus sent no troops to America to aid England in her war.
"In 1802 the city was turned over to the State of Hessen-Kassel, which in turn, in 1803 became a part of the Newly formed Electorate of Hessen.
"1806 to 1813, it came under the thumb of Napoleon. In 1866, Neustadt came under Prussia and the Prussian provence of Hesse-Nassau. The ban on the Catholic Church had been lifted but the religious and political struggles continued.
"In 1830 a group of Roman Catholic citizens from Neustadt and the surrounding communities set out for America and settled in the City of Detroit, Michigan. The following year a second group set out and followed the first settlers to Detroit. These settlers formed the base for St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, in Detroit." What connection (from the third group of settlers in 1832) that Conrad Gies and his family had with St. Mary's Church does not appear in their records.
In the summer of 1832 Conrad Gies, of Hesse Electoral, with his family, boarded the steamship "Columbus" at Bremen. Aboard that ship were twenty-two members of the Gies family: Anna M 35; Anne G 6; Carolina 1; Catharine 41; Catherine 5; Christina 11; Conrad 36; Elizabeth 13; Fred 2; Fred. 2; George 48; Greta 2; Heinrich 34; Jakob 8; Johanna Sb 28; Magdalena 17; Maria Catherine 40; Maria Elizabeth 14; Marianna 28; Marina 19; Paulus 4. The name Schmaus-Schmatz appears on that list as well. Also included among these passengers were a collection of their neighbors and relitives from Neustadt. The steam ship arrived in the Port of New York, July 16, 1832. Conrad Gies and his family settled in the village of Bamberg, Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada.
The town of Neustadt is located a short distance east of Marberg, Kassel Hessen, Germany.
Out of the events of Nazi Germany, during World War II, came the famed epic, "The Diary of Anne Frank." Of note to us: the young couple that had befriended Anne Frank and her family from capture by the Nazi occupation forces, in Holland, were Jan and Miep Gies.
KONRAD GIES
Konrad Gies was born prior to 1610 in Momberg, Kurhessen. There is a family tradition that says he or his ancestry came from Sweden. A flour miller by trade. He married Elisabeth _______, in 1635 at Momberg, Hesse. In about 1664 he moved from Momberg to Neustadt, Kurhessen. Their children: Johannes, Konrad, Adam, Joseph, Elisabeth, and Margaretha. Konrad Gies died May 24, 1673, at Neustadt, Hessen. It is a tradition, in Neustadt, that when the early Gies family took over the mill (pictured above) they not only ground the local grain but also used the water wheel to divert water from the river to follow the defensive wall surrounding the city. This offered the supply of water to the town.
ADAM GIES (Konrad)
Adam Gies was born in 1655 in Momberg, Hessen. Here he was raised to the age of nine. In about 1664 he moved, with his parents, from Momberg to Neustadt, Kurhessen. Here under his father's guidance he learned the business and later, with his brothers, took over the flour mill. He married, on November 14, 1678, at Neustadt, Kurhessen, Agnes Burger. Children: Elisabeth, Johannes, Hans Heinrich, Hans Peter, Johannes Adam Gies. He died March 3, 1735, at Neustadt, Kurhessen.
JOHANNES ADAM GIES (Adam, Konrad)
Johannes Adam Gies was born in 1699 at Neustadt, Kurhessen and Christened in St. Trinity Catholic Church. He carried on the family tradition as a flour miller. In about 1725 Johannes Adam Gies married Anna Maria (her family name not in the record); Children: Johann Guntrum, Konrad, Johann Heinrich. He died July 11, 1740, at Neustadt, Kurhessen.
JOHANN HEINRICH GIES (Johannes Adam, Adam, Konrad)
Johannes Heinrich Gies was born, June 14, 1736, at Neustadt, Kurhessen and Christened in St. Trinity Catholic Church. Of his profession we find no record though the flour mill was a family business. He married, on December 17, 1763, Regina Kuhn. Their children: Konrad, Anna Gertrude, Maria Catherina and Catherina. Regina (Kuhn) Gies died in about 1772. He married 2nd, February 10, 1777, ______ Schmittdiel; their children: Maria Elisabeth and Johann Heinrich. In about 1780 his second wife died. He married 3rd, April 28, 1781, Juliana Schlit; their children: Anna Catherine, Anna Christina, Anna Maria and Johann Joseph Nepornuk. In about 1888 Julianna (Schlit) Gies died. Johann Heinrich Gies married 4th, on May 24, 1789, Catherina Kleinmann: their children Johann Heinrich, Anna Katherina, Johann Heinrich, Conrad, Wilhelm, Johann Heinrich, and Anna Christina. Johann Heinrich Gies died at Neustadt, Hesse Electoral, January 25, 1807.
CONRAD GIES (Johann Heinrich, Johannes Adam, Adam, Konrad)
Conrad Gies was born February 6, 1794, in Neustadt, Kurhessen, and Christened at St. Trinity Catholic Church. He was raised to maturity in that town, his grandfather a flour miller, his father with no listed occupation. Conrad Gies listed himself, on the passenger list, as a farmer.
In about 1827, Conrad Gies exchanged the vows of marriage, in Hesse Electoral, with Marianne Schmaus. Their children: 1) Frederick Nicholas Gies, b. June 8, 1830, in Hesse Electoral; 2) Marianne "Annie" Maria Gies b. 1834, Bamberg, Ontario, Canada; 3) Nicholas Gies, b. ca 1835; 4) William Gies, b. June 6, 1836; 5) Charles Gies, b. ca 1839; 6) Carolina Gies, b. ca April 23, 1841; 7) Blasini Gies, b. ca 1843. NOTE: The church book in St. Clement's, Ontario, Canada, as translated to me by Father Ryan, list his wife's maiden name as Schleif. This is either an error or Conrad Gies married Marianne Schmaus, the widow Schleif.
With the Napoleonic era now fifteen years in the past, and the beginning of Germany's half century turmoil over unification still ahead, in 1832, with his wife and son Frederick, Conrad Gies, left Hesse Electoral and set sail for a new home in Canada. They sailed from the port of Bremen, aboard the "Columbus," and arrived in the port of New York, July 16, 1832. On that same ship were twenty-two other Gies family members, a Schmaus Family couple, a pair of Kleinman Families, and a Schmidtdeil Family. All of these names fall into his ancestry. Information picked up on a visit to Newustdt: "the three years of emigration to Detroit from this congregation was based on the state government ordering the Catholic Church abolished and the instalation of the Lutheran Church as the only means of worship." I'm further informed that the two religions remain on bad terms today.
Whether Conrad Gies went to Detroit first we do not know but that he settled in the village of Bamberg, Wellesley Twp, Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada. The 1832 Ontario Census shows that he had three children (This doesn't agree with the facts). With his seven years of residency completed, in 1839, Conrad Gies was naturalized as a Canadian citizen.
A Conrad Gies has been identified in the 1840 US Census for the City of Detroit, Michigan. The numbers of children listed does not agree, but the other information concurs with him and his wife. His name is not found on the 1850 US Census.
In 1843, in Bamberg, Ontario Conrad Gies owned a Conc. A, Lot 11 and Conc. Viii, lot 1.
The 1851 Canadian census has him listed as a Lutheran. During my research into this family history, I was informed: "that it is likely that all of the Gies family in the area, Catholic and Lutheran alike, had descended from Conrad and Mary Ann (Schmaus) Gies."
It was related that "Conrad Gies came into conflict with the local priest over some financial issue." At about this same time he was recorded as a member of the church committee for the building of a Catholic School at St. Clement's, a school that some members [no names mentioned] of this committee disputed in favor of the local public school use. "Conrad Gies," according to the story, "left the Catholic Church and join the Lutheran Church. Some of his children remained in St. Clement's Roman Catholic Church while others followed their father into the Lutheran Church." No record of Lutheran Church membership has been found for Conrad Gies, but his son, Blasini Gies, was married in the Lutheran Church at Heidelberg, Ontario.
There is a field of thought, by a family researcher that says "a second Gies family, led by Nicholas Gies, arrived from Darmstadt, Germany two decades later. This is the Lutheran family." I have found no evidence to deny or substantiate this claim.
In the 1861 Canadian Census, Conrad Gies is listed a resident living with his family in a single family two story home in Bamberg, Ontario. In 1860 he received patent for lot 1 and lot 2 (in St. Agatha)
Conrad Gies died September 10, 1869, in Bamberg, and is buried in the Brothers Cemetery in St. Jacobs, Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada.
FREDERICK GIES (Conrad,Johann Heinrich, Johannes Adam, Adam, Konrad)
Frederick Gies was born in the State of Hesse Electoral (Germany), June 8, 1830. At age two he crossed the Atlantic with his parents and settled in the rural village of Bamberg, Wellesley Township, Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada. Here he was raised in the German farm environment of the Bamberg Village and the Roman Catholic religion as taught at St. Clement's Church. His education in the local school system provided substance to his knowledge as is demonstrated by his many abilities in adult life.
October 3, 1854, at the alter of St. Agatha's Roman Catholic Church, Frederick Gies exchanged vows of marriage with Susanna Straus, the daughter of Johann and Catherine (Kaiser) Straus. Children: 1) William Gies, b. December 29, 1855; 2) Johannes Gies, b. October 14, 1857; 3) Karl Gies, b. August 20, 1859; 4) Mary Gies, b. July 19, 1861; 5) Caroline Gies, b. February 20, 1863; 6) Margaret Gies, b. July 11, 1864; 7) Katherine Gies, b. November 18, 1865; 8) John Gies, b. June 3, 1867; 9) Jacob Gies, b. October 21, 1869; 10) Adelgundel Gies, b. March 29, 1871; Elizabeth Gies, b. April 2, 1873; 12) Simon Gies, b. February 19, 1875.
Farmer, land holder, and executor of estates, he is listed in the records as "gentleman." One of his grandson's relates: "he served as an attorney and legal advisor to many of his neighbors."
In the1861Census he and his family are recorded living in a two-story log house, the house built in about 1840.
Frederick Gies died at Bamberg, Ontario, on April 6, 1899, and is interred at St. Clement's Roman Catholic Cemetery.
The will of Frederick Gies, gentleman (dated Nov. 26, 1898 Wellesley Township). His executor's brother William, brother-in-law Martin Kieswetter: "$7000. to be invested with income paid quarterly to Susanna Dwelling, contents and apparel to Susanna. Susanna may sell and purchase other residence if she desires. Money over and above $7000. to be divided as follows: gravestone - no more than $25.00 Remainder to be divided amongst living children except that William, Simon, Adelgunde and Elizabeth are to receive $500. less each because of disobedience. After five years, if William has not returned, his share is to be divided equally among brothers and sisters. To the children of son Charles, deceased, John, William, Fred, Ann and Clara and unborn child of Charles, if any, the east 75 acres of Lot No. 4 in the 8th Concession of the Township of Greenock in the county of Bruce That the mother of the above named children who is the wife of my son Charles shall possess and have full use of the above described estate for her use until the above named children are of the full age of twenty-one years providing said mother gives them a good bringing up and does not ill treat them. When Clara, the youngest attains the age of 21, that the property be sold and money be divided equally amongst wife of Charles and children Letters Probate showed "That the value of the whole property of the said deceased which he in any way died possessed of ........ is under the value of $24,000. that the value of the Personal Estate and Effects is under $23,000. and the Real Estate is under $501.00 The whole estate is divied to widow, children and grandchildren and daughter-in-law, therefore Succession Duties Act does not apply."
MARY GIES (Frederick, Conrad,Johann Heinrich, Johannes Adam, Adam, Konrad)
Mary Gies was born on July 19, 1861, at Bamberg, Wellsley Twp., Ontario, Canada. According to St. Clement's Church records as related to me and translated by Father Ryan: "Mary Gies was born August 9, 1861, at 6:00 A.M., and was baptized August 11, 1861, sponsors: Harold Gies and Mary Zettel." The death record and members of the original family emphasize that it was the 19th of July.
Mary Gies was raised to maturity in the German community of Bamberg, Ontario, her education included the English language as well as regular use of the German tongue.
On August 30, 1880, Mary Gies and Theobald Hannusch were married at St. Clement's Roman Catholic Church, an event that was celebrated again in its golden year. Children: 1) Alfred Hannusch, b. July 28, 1881; 2) Arthur Hannusch, b. November 3, 1883; 3) Alma Hannusch, b. June 11, 1885; 4) Melitta Hannusch, b. June 2, 1887; 5) Herbert Hannusch, b. July 25, 1889; 6) Wanda Hannusch, b. August 6, 1891; 7) Alfonso Hannusch, b. December 18, 1894; 8) Elimar Hannusch, b. January 10, 1902; 9) Ada Hannusch, b. July 21, 1904.
Her years of marriage took her from their first home in Heidelberg, Ontario; to 66 Bloucher Street, in Berlin, Ontario; to their Blair Road farm; and back to 52 York Street in Kitchener, Ontario. These deeds, including the family business at 108 Ahrens Street, in Berlin, Ontario, were all listed in her name.
"When Grandma Hannusch was alive and living on York Street I was most interested in learning German," her granddaughter writes. "Of course she always tried to help me but used to tell me you are too Irish, meaning I wasn't pronouncing them German enough . . . . . . . Before she became ill, I used to go and see her always, do her shopping & run errands for her. Once she knew she had cancer, she wanted to dispose of all properties etc. It turned out it was good experience for me and helped me in later life eh! Before I was married (we) used to spend one evening a week playing bunko with her. I have many fond memories, I used to buy her gin for her, which, she always told me was for her kidneys? I made my wedding gown satin . . . . . in those days everything had to be basted. Well she watched every stitch. It seems after the wedding . . . . . the remark 'didn't believe I had made the gown.' I got a big kick out of Grandmother Hannusch, she was most indignant . . .and set them straight!"
A widow of almost four years, Mary Gies, after a long battle with cancer, died on July 23, 1938. She was taken to St. John's Roman Catholic Church for services and interred in the Roman Catholic Mausoleum, Woodland Cemetery, Kitchener, Ontario.
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MARY ANN SCHLEIF-SCHMAUS
Mary Ann Schleif-Schmaus married Conrad Gies in Hesse Electoral, her family line not found in the church records thus far. From the trail of events in hers and the Gies family, it is my belief that she was probably born Schmaus and that Schleif may have been the remnants of an earlier marriage.
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CATHERINE KLEINMANN (Ludwig, Peter)
Catherine Kleinmann, the fourth wife of Johann Heinrich Gies, is the mother of Conrad Gies.
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AGNES BERGER (Hans George)
Agnes Berger was the wife of Adam Gies, and is the great grandmother of Conrad Gies.
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