It started with a name on an antique document, well two names actually. The document is the German-language wedding certificate of my great grandfather and grandmother, Paul and Clara (Stork) Hilbig from 1892. There are the usual witness signatures and the pastor’s name as well: J Hetzel. And a second name I couldn’t quite make out: who was this Leisa Boening? Why was she included on the certificate? A bridesmaid or cousin of the bride perhaps? And who was the pastor, J Hetzel? The name of the church wasn’t included in the document but since I had a timeframe and approximate location, I had enough to begin my research.

The document indicates the wedding was performed in Resort Township, Charlevoix, Michigan. A quick Google search and it turns out that Resort Township is next to Petoskey Michigan which is where my relatives originated. Family legend was correct in that regard, though Resort Township is now included in neighboring Emmet County, no longer a part of Charlevoix. 

My family name is German, again family lore has us coming from Berlin, Prussia sometime in the late 19th century with the great wave of German immigrants. We’ve never had a year for that though it had to be between 1893 when my grandfather was born here in the States, and 1870 when his father was born in Prussia. 

Many of the German immigrants were Lutheran and so it seemed like a safe assumption that my great grandparents were married in a Lutheran church near Petoskey. On Google maps I located Zion Lutheran Church and emailed them for any information they might have from the 1890s and if J. Hetzel could have been their pastor. It turned out he hadn’t been, but the church administrator referred me to the Petoskey Museum website which might be helpful for further research. And it was. 

Looking through their online photo archives I found an image of a group sitting on the front steps of Evangelische Emmanuels Kirche. The caption named the individuals in the photo which included Pastor Hetzel; Mrs. Hetzel; and their daughters ; Lydia Hetzel; Frieda Hetzel.

So now I knew the pastor’s first name and more importantly the name of his church. A quick Google search for that name in Petoskey revealed Emmanuel Evangelical Church. After finding their website, and reading through their history page, I was pretty confident that this was the same church from 131 years ago. Amazing. I contacted them through their website and was surprised to not only receive an email from their current pastor but a phone call as well confirming that, indeed pastor Jacob Hetzel had been their pastor during the 1890s and that today they continue to hold services in the very same building. 

But what of the second mysterious name? Who was Leisa Boening? Searching through online census records, I found the Boenings living in Petoskey in 1880. Leisa was the daughter of Charles and Mary Boening, both born in Germany and having immigrated to the US in 1874. There were seven children listed on the census record, three of whom had been born in Germany and four in New York. 

Surprisingly my great grandfather’s name was included as a son; even more surprising to me was the addition of a brother two years older than he, also born in Germany. And a sister, Anne born in Germany as well. My genealogy had just become more complicated! Who ARE these people? And more importantly, how and when did they come to America?

More research has yielded some surprising finds. My great great grandmother had married her husband, Carl August Hilbig, at Luisenstädtische Kirche in Berlin (which was destroyed in the Allied bombing in 1945). They had two children, Herman August and Paul Herman, born in 1868 and 1870 respectively. Carl Hilbig died in 1871 and Mary (Maria ) remarried a year later to Charles Boening. The boys’ sister was born the following year, in 1872. In 1874 the family set off for America and lived for a period in New York state before settling down in Michigan where they had four more daughters. Leisa and her twin Lizzie were born in 1874, their younger sisters in 1876 and ‘78. 

There is still much to learn about my family’s early history. Apparently they lived somewhere in New York state between 1874 and 1880, after which they relocated to Michigan. But where had they lived? And what did they do? Charles Boening is listed as a farmer on the 1880 census. Sometime before the 1910 Census, the entire family relocates to Los Angeles where we pick up the story as it relates to my Grandfather and his descendants.

Before leaving for my Army post in Heidelberg, Germany in 1984, my Grandmother penciled a rough genealogy for me in a note which I have carried around for the past 40 years. It is only now beginning to make some sense: I know who the Herman is who is listed above my great grandfather Paul. Not sure what the date 1873 refers to as Paul was born in 1870. Regardless, it has been quite the journey of discovery as I learn more about their Coming to America story.

Note: Census photos taken from https://www.familysearch.org/