Johann Eugen Herold (22 N 1852--27 Ap 1931) was the oldest of two children--both sons--born to Franz Josef Herold and Josefa Hauck. On 9 Jul 1876, he married 22-year-old Louisa Amalie Seitz (b. 2 Apr 1854), the daughter of Johann Alois Seitz and Maria Josepha Popp. A son, Robert Herold had been born two years prior, on 15 May 1784. Thirteen more children followed.
Louisa Amalie Seitz died on September 10th, 1916, after her leg had been amputated due to some injury she suffered while working in the fields. Johann Eugen Herold, who had survived (according to his granddaughter, Gabrielle Weniger) a bad kick to the head by a horse that had left him disfigured, passed away 15 years later on 27 Apr 1931.
The children of Eugen Herold and Louisa Amalie Seitz were:
Born prior to the marriage of Eugen Herold and Amalie Seitz, he is listed in the Hardheim church records as their son. As with most young men of his age, he was drafted during the First World War. He and his wife, Mathilde Heilig (27 Apr 1876--15 Jan 1958) moved to Mannheim where he worked as a Civil Servant until his untimely death on 13 May, 1936, when his body was found on a park bench. Mathilde, who was from a wealthy family, found her financial circumstances greatly reduced (even more so by the War). She has also suffered an injury to her legs during an Allied bombing that gave her problems for the rest of her life.
The children of Robert Herold and Mathilde Heilig were:
The children of Franz Josef Herold and Sophie Eilbacher were:
Karoline Herold was the first of her 13 siblings to leave her home to emigrate to the United States. Only two others--Anna Josephine and Wilhelm--would do so. Karoline made the uncertain journey at the age of 16 and was probably assisted by her Seitz cousins (Karl Emil and Maria Josepha) who had already made their homes in America. At some point she returned to Hardheim and brought her younger sister (Anna) back to America with her. Karoline married Josef Wiener on 19 May, 1907 in Manhattan. Josef, the son of Edwar Wiener and Antonia (Klein?), was 18 years her senior. The Wieners eventually moved to St. Louis, MO. Josef died on 16 May, 1942. Karoline died in 1960. The children of Josef Wiener and Karoline Herold were/are:
CLICK HERE to see a picture of the Wiener children
Maria Herold married Adolf Weniger on 10 October, 1908--the same day that her sister, Anna, married Otto Schneider in New York. Adolph, the son of Franz Alois Weniger and Maria Anna Stolz, was a locomotive engineer by trade, and perhaps because of this, suffered hearing problems which almost led to his death during an American air-raid of Mannheim during the Second World War. He was asleep in his apartment when the bombs hit the building, setting it ablaze. He had know knowledge of the fire until frantic neighbors all but knocked down the door to alert him. Maria and Adolf lost everything. The fire was so intense, their daughter recalled, that eggs stored in the basement boiled.
Adolph Weniger died on 20 December, 1950. Maria lived to enjoy a reunion with Anna in 1952--the first time her younger sister had been home to Germany in nearly 50 years. Maria Herold Weniger died on 12 November, 1965 and was buried in Schweinberg, a short distance from Hardheim.
The children of Maria Herold and Adolph Weniger were/are:
Born on 8 October 1885, Emilie was the 5th daughter and seventh child of Johann and Amalie Herold. She did not marry and after her mother's death in 1916, became the female head of Eugen's household (all of her other sisters had married with the exception of the youngest, Frieda, who was mentally impaired. On the 24th of July, 1920, Emilie was ironing at the home of her employer, Dr. Seitz, when the fuel-iron she was using somehow set her ablaze. Burned over 80 percent of her body, she did not survive the horrible accident.
Wilhem and his twin brother, FRIEDRICH, were born on 19 December, 1888. What might have been looked upon as a Christmas blessing became a tragedy when Friedrich died very shortly after birth.
The following information was provided by Wilhelm Herold's daughter, Louise:
Wilhelm was the only one of Eugen's sons to emigrate to the United States. The German economy had been wrecked by World War I, and like many others, Wilhelm hoped to find a better life for his growing family in America. And so, he left behind his pregnant wife, Eva Kern, and four sons. Once in the states, his brother-in-law, Otto Schneider (married to Wilhelm's sister, Anna) convinced Wilhelm to go into the bakery business--the occupation he himself had chosen when he arrived in New York a decade earlier.
Wilhelm's hopes were dashed when news reached him of his wife's death in Jul7, 1923, possibly from pneumonia. There was little Wilhelm could do for his children, who were divided up among his wife's family members. He sent money when he could, but concerned friends Gabriel and Margarethe Hoflich learned that some of these relatives were pocketing the money for themselves and took it upon himself to take the children into his home. One of his employees, Elisabeth Marstadt, was given the task of caring for the children. Wilhelm began to correspond with Elise and at last sent her an engagement ring. Not understanding the purpose of the ring, Elise sent it back, unwilling to accept such a fine gift. Wilhelm explained that it was a proposal of marriage (this story was related to me by Wilhelm's daughter, Louise).
Sometime in the mid-1920s, Elise arrived in NY with Pauline and George. (The younger Wilhelm was to emigrate to the U.S. in March, 1930; Eugen chose to remain in Germany). She had no idea what her future husband looked like, but Wilhelm had written that he would be the one standing on the dock holding flowers. To her dismay, Elise saw dozens of men standing on the dock holding flowers, but one in particular caught her eye. This man was frantically waving his bouquet, sending flower petals in every direction. "Look at that idiot," she remarked. "I think that is Papa," repiled Charles. Wilhelm and Elise were married on Ellis Island and they proceeded to their apartment to find that Wilhelm's sisters, Karoline and Anna, had scraped up enough money to furnish it with everything a newly married couple might need.
In 1929, Elise gave birth to their only child, a daughter named Louise. In October of 1939, Wilhelm suffered another loss when his Pauline died from leukemia. And there were darker days ahead. As Germany propelled the world towards another World War, Elise became a staunch supporter of Adolf Hitler, whose image she kept in a closet. Her activities apparently drew the attention of the Federal Government, because her sister-in-law, Anna, was investigated. Whether it was the scrutiny of the government or her desire to return to Germany to share in its glory, Elise compelled Wilhelm to leave America, taking their American-born daughter with them. Louise Herold was not able to return to the United States until 1947.
Wilhelm Herold died on 1 August, 1973 and Elise followed him in 1979 (March 26th). They never returned to the United States, although both Anna and Karoline journeyed to Germany after the war to see them.
The children of Wilhelm Herold and Eva Kern were:
The child of Wilhelm Herold and Elisabeth Marstadt (1903-1979) was:
Named perhaps in honor of her dead sibling, Friedrich, Frieda Herold (b. 27 March 1892) was the last daughter born to Eugen and Amalie Herold. She suffered from mental illness and died in a hospital in 1949.
Franz Karl, who was born on 30 April, 1893, and died less than a month later, on 25 May, 1893, was the 12th child of Johann Eugen Herold and Louisa Seitz.
The last of Eugen and Amalie's 14 children, Johann Eugen Herold was born on 17 May, 1899. According to a niece, he married a widow, Maria Hermans, and their union produced no children. A miner, he died of lung disease on 27 April, 1931, as a result of his occupation.
[NOTE: according to the website www.auswanderer-bw.de, there is a record of a Eugen Herold (same dob) emmigrating (or visitng) North America in 1923]
HOMEIf you have any information on the Herold Family, please feel free to email me!
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