The Heritage of Daniel Haston

 

Who Were the Parents of Henrich Hiestand?
And the Grandparents of Daniel Haston?


But first, learn the historical background to the possible answer to these questions.


Question: Who were the parents of Daniel Hiestand/Haston's father, Henrich Hiestand--the Henrich (Henry) Hiestand of Hempfield Township in Lancaster County, PA and later, Shenandoah/Page County, VA?

The answer to that question is possibly found in an article written by Sem C. Sutter and published in the April 1979 edition (Volume II, Number 2) of Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage--"Palatine Mennonites in Schleswig-Holstein, 1693-1698."  But even though the answer may be found in this article, there is still a problem.  There are three possible sets of parents (of Daniel Haston's father) mentioned in this article:

  1. Hans Jacob Hestandt (Heystandt) and Antie Beyers
  2. Hendrick Heistandt (Heystandt) and Barbara Mellingers
  3. Hans Hendrich Hestands (Heystandt) and Maria Gognouwers

1. Hans Jacob and Antie/Anna (Beyers) Heystandt   - In October of 1693, Hans Jacob Hiestand (a Mennonite minister) left the Palatinate with a wife and child and a group of other Mennonites on their way to Friedrichstadt in northern Germany via Amsterdam.  They were refugees escaping the plundering terror of the Nine Years War (1688-1697) that was devastating the Palatinate, much like the earlier Thirty Years War had done.  On April 29, 1694 Hans Jacob Hiestand was a widower and married Antie/Anna Beyers in Friedrichstadt.  Daniel Hiestand/Haston's father was born in 1704, so "our" Henrich could not have been the child of Hans Jacob Hiestand's wife who died between October 1693 and April 29, 1694.  But he could have been born to Hans Jacob and Antie (Beyers) Hiestand ten years after they married. 

2. Hanss Heinrich/Henrich and Barbara (Mellingers/Mallinger/Melinger) Heystandt - On November 25, 1694 Henrick Heistandt married Barbara Mellingers in Friedrichstadt, Germany.  "David Rutgers, deacon of the Lamist congregation (in Amsterdam)...wrote a church letter on October 31, 1694, on behalf of Hanss Henrik Heystand and Barbara Millinger, who had lived there for 'some time' and were only then departing for Friedrichstadt."  Apparently, this Hanss Henrik Heystand and Barbara Millinger were not married until they arrived in Friedrichstadt.  Barbara's brother Jonas was a part of the original October 1693 group headed for Friedrichstadt, although he was not a member of the Mennonite congregation at the time.

3. Hans Henrich and Maria (Gognouwers/Gochenauwer) Heystandt - On February 20, 1698 Hans Hendrich Hiestands married Maria Gognouwers.  She may have been the sister of Josep and Leysbet and Katryna Kognauwer who were also part of this Friedrichstadt group.  Hanss Gochenauwer (with wife and "siblings" - should this be "children"?) was in the original October 1693 group when they departed for Friedrichstadt.  He may have been the father of Maria.

 


According to a church letter signed April 9, 1698, twenty Mennonite church members left Friedrichstadt to return to their homeland in the Palatinate.

Six years later (1704) our Henrich Hiestand was born.  Either of these three Hiestand couples could have been his parents.  Or, his parents could have been some other Hiestand couple who were not a part of this Friedrichstadt group.


 

 

 

Hans Jacob and Anna Beyers Hiestand - They (apparently) settled in Friesenheim, Germany.

Hans Henderich and Barbara Mellinger Hiestand -
Not known where they settled, but he may have returned to Amsterdam (without a wife) in or before 1714 and Friedrichstadt by January 1715. 
Source: Hiestand.pdf from MennoSearch.com by Richard W. Davis, but not sure of the primary source for this information, so not sure if this is reliable or not.   

Hans Henrich and Maria Gochenour Hiestand
- They settled in Herrnsheim, near Ibersheim, in northern part of Worms, Germany.

Note: Variant language spellings: English = Henry; German = Heinrich; Dutch = Hendrik or Hendrick
Source: Page 43 of Across the Atlantic and Beyond: The Migration of German and Swiss Immigrants to America by Charles R. Haller (Heritage Books, 2008).

We know of no other evidence in Europe to help identify the parents of "our" Henrich Hiestand.  But we can look for evidence of significant connections in America to one of these three families--Beyers, Mellinger, or Gochenour. 

Barbara Mellinger - mother of our Henrich Hiestand?

Henrich Hiestand of PA and VA did name his oldest daughter "Barbara," which might indicate that this was Henrich's mother's name.

But there is uncertainty about where Hans Henderich and Barbara Mellinger Hiestand settled after leaving Friedrichstadt.  And we know that our Henrich Hiestand's family settled in Ibersheim, at least at the time that Caspar Wistar was trying to secure money from Henrich's family in 1733. 

 
Maria Gochenour - mother of our Henrich Hiestand?
  1. Joseph Gochenour purchased 403 acres in Hempfield Township of Lancaster County, PA adjacent to Henry Heistant's (Hiestand) land. 
  2. Joseph Gochenour and Henry Heistant's surveys were made on the same day, the only two surveys in that area on May 20, 1735.
  3. Joseph Gochenour, like Henry Hiestand, apparently arrived to America prior to the fall of 1727, when passenger lists for immigrant ships began to be required.  We know of no record indicating when either of them arrived in America.   
  4. Joseph Gochenour's name appears five names above the name of Henrich Hiest__ on the 1728 naturalization list. 
  5. Question: Did Joseph Gochenour and "our" Henrich Hiestand come to America together and search for land together?  If so, did they do so because of a close family relationship?  Cousins, perhaps?
  6. Henry Neave (Neff) and Jacob Neave (Neff) were appointed guardians over the estates of the minor children of Joseph Gochenour who was deceased in Hempfield Township by February 20, 1764.  And Henry Neff was the administrator of the goods of the deceased Joseph Gochenour.  The Hiestand and Neff family relationships are well document.
  7. Later (1822) a Jacob Hiestand (descendant of immigrant Jacob Hiestand) in Hempfield Township had made a Joseph Gochenauer (descendant of the immigrant Joseph Gochenour) one of the trustees for Jacob's son Christian Hiestand. *See the link at the bottom of this section.
  8. A Jacob Gochenour (near Woodstock, VA) died in 1772 and made his wife and Peter Histand/Hiestand executors of his estate, even though Jacob Gochenour had four sons who could have co-executed the estate.  Note:  Richard W. Davis and others have speculated that this Jacob Gochenour was a brother of the Joseph Gochenour of Hempfield Township in Lancaster County, PA. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Gochenour-40** Where this Jacob Gochenour lived (outside Woodstock, VA) is about 25 miles from where Peter Hiestand lived, a few miles west of what is now Luray, VA.  And the imposing Massanutten Mountain separates Woodstock and where Peter lived.  Peter would not have been chosen to be an executor of Jacob's estate because they were neighbors.  Some other connection must explain why Jacob Gochenour chose Peter Hiestand to execute his estate, along with Joseph's wife.  Perhaps they were cousins.
    **Note: This translated document says "Peter Kinstand" but other sources say "Peter Histand."  Peter Histand was the son of Henrich Hiestand and the brother of Daniel Haston.
  9. Same document as above: This Jacob Gochenour's eldest son (Jacob) married Elizabeth Roads (daughter of the Reverend John Roads, who was murdered, along with most of his family, across the river from the Henry Hiestand family in Virginia).  Also, see page 69 of A History of Shenandoah County Virginia by John W. Wayland.  Perhaps, this Jacob Gochenour, Jr. met Elizabeth Roads while visiting the Henrich Hiestand family.
  10. A Joseph Gochenour married in 1822 (Elizabeth Neff) into Shenandoah County, VA Neff family - same family that Daniel Hiestand/Haston married into.  And there were other Gochenour-Neff connections.

Some Gochenour sources referenced for this information:

  • Gochnauer Genealogy, 1660-1940 by Harry W. Gochnauer, March 1940.  (unpublished paper in the Gochenour family file at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society)
  • Descent on the Ladder - Gochenaur by Dwayne Coughenour.  (unpublished and undated paper in the Gochenour family file at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society)
  • History of the Descendants of Jacob Gochenour by Robert Lee Evans. (Boyce, VA: Carr Publishing Company, 1977).
  • Gochenauer document, pages 182-184 of some "Volume I" unpublished document found in the Gochenour family file at the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society. 

*https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=4_DzAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA168