Sophia (Geitmann) Heibein migrated from Meckenburg-Schwerin to Canada West.
Sophia was born 1 Nov 1820 in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Deutcher Bund, to Joachim Geitmann and Dorothea Falken. She was baptized Johanna Sophia Maria Geitmann on 5 Nov 1920 at Mulsow Parish, Passee, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Deutcher Bund. Interesting that Sophia's given names are the same as the first names of the three godparents: Johann Falk from Warw., Sophia Matz & Maria Steinhase.[1]
Sophia married Friederich Christoph August Heibein on June 18, 1847, in Kirch Mulsow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Deutcher Bund.[2]
Sophia and Friedrich had eight children:
Carl Ernst Friedrich (17 Nov 1848 - 31 Jul 1920) m. 20 Feb 1877 to Elizabeth Ries
Dorothea Wilhelmine Luise "Christina" (1 Sep 1850 - ) m. 6 Mar 1878 to Alexander Scroggie
George (abt. 1853 - ) m. 24 Sep 1875 to Mary Ann Hazlitt
Ludwig "Louis" (abt. 1856 - ) m. 1 Mar 1881 to Magdalena Ries
Ann Catherine "Annie" (7 Jul 1857 - 22 Dec 1935) m. 31 Dec 1879 to Amos Shoemaker
Mary (abt. 1858 - )
Eggart "Edward" (10 Oct 1859 - 1 Aug 1927) m. 27 Mar 1884 to Mary Ann Doberthain
John (abt. 5 May 1865 - 6 Jan 1943) m2. 29 Dec 1909 to Margaret Jane Stewart
Life in the Duchy/Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin could be harsh - the land was poor and the (Grand) Duke and nobles had absolute feudal power over the peasantry. Following an attempted revolt by the peasants (suppressed circa 1850), Sophia and Friedrich chose to migrate to Waterloo Co., Canada West (now Ontario, Canada) via Hamburg and Quebec City. The family departed Hamburg on Mar 1851 on two tickets: first for Friederich, wife and 5 children ages 8mo. to 13yr., and second for Luisa who was 19.[3][4]
The 1851 Census of Canada shows Friedrich, Sophia, daughter Sophia, Carl and Dorothea living in the village of Preston, Waterloo Co., Canada West. It isn't yet certain where Luisa, Christian and Heinrich were at census time - Luisa appears to have married Carl/Charles Rehkopf, and Christian and Heinrich/Henry were likely working as farm hands on nearby farms.[5]
According to the 1855 and 1857 Tax Assessment Rolls for the Township of Woolwich, Frederic Heibein had 114 acres on Lot 64 of the German Company Tract (GCT).[6][7] The Ontario Land Records for Lot 64 GCT show that the Lot had been split into 3 parcels of 116 acres each, owned (north to south), as of 1857, by Jesse Penfold, Benjamin Rosenburger and Jonathan Tribe. Since Penfold and Tribe also appear in the Assessment Rolls, Frederic was apparently leasing most of the Rosenburger parcel. Since Rosenburger purchased his parcel in 1853 while living in North Dumfries Twp., it's likely that Frederic's lease of the property started about then.
The 1861 Census shows Sophia and family living in Enumeration District Six, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Co., Canada West, which included GCT Lot 64.[8]
In 1862, Benjamin Rosenburger sold the land to Ralph Marshall who then flipped it to William Currie. In the 1864 Directory and Gazetteer, William Curry is shown on Lot 64 GCT which indicates that Sophia and family had to move. It isn't yet known where they went.
On the 1871 Census, Friedrich's widow, Sophia, is living alone in her own home on a 75-acre property run by son Henry. This was adjacent or near to son Christian who had another 75 acres. The 1867 Directory and Gazetteer shows that these properties were within Lot 7 of the Allan's Survey, Woolwich Twp., however, tax assessments state that the farms were parts of Lot 7, Concession A (Hitching's Survey), north of (West) Montrose, Woolwich Twp. It isn't yet known where Sophia's minor children were living.[9]In the 1871 Census of Canada Sophia Hiebien (age 50) was recorded as widowed in Woolwich, Waterloo North, Ontario. Right after her is her married step son Henry[10]
The 1881 Census is essentially the same as 1871, just that Henry and Christian's families had grown.[11]
On the 1891 Census, Sophia had moved in with her son Louis and his family in Elma Twp., Perth County.[12]
By the 1901 Census, Sophia had moved in with son Edward and family in Proton Twp., Grey County.[13]
Sophia died of old age on August 29, 1903, on Edward's farm - Lot 27, Concession 4, Proton Twp., Grey Co., Ontario.[14][15] She was buried at Walker Cemetery, Row 1[16].
"Died on Sunday, the 30th Aug., on the 4th con., Proton at her son's residence, Mrs. Heibein, formerly of the County of Waterloo, aged 83 years. The funeral was on Tuesday, Sep. 1st, to the Presbyterian cemetery on 5th con. The pallbearers were her six sons, the most of them being from Waterloo county. The funeral was large. Rev Mr Morrison and Mr Carter, student, officiated at the house and grave."
The six sons who were pallbearers for Sophia were Henry/Heinrich (step-son), Charles/Carl, George, Louis/Ludwig, Edward/Eggart and John/"Jack".
Research Notes
Place of birth isn't given on the baptism record but was most likely in the Mulsow Parish area within Passee.
Note that Sophia was born after the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin joined the Deutcher bund (English: German Confederation) - the state where she also married.
Heiliges Römisches Reich (Holy Roman Empire until 1806)
↑Baptism: "Deutschland, ausgewählte evangelische Kirchenbücher 1500-1971," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPV9-CF22 : 25 October 2021), Johanna Sophia Maria Geitmann, 5 Nov 1820; images digitized and records extracted by Ancestry; citing Baptism, Passee, Bukow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Deutschland, Passee, German Lutheran Collection, various parishes, Germany. Ancestry Sharing LinkAncestry Record 61229 #14818004
↑Marriage: "Deutschland, ausgewählte evangelische Kirchenbücher 1500-1971," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPV9-49XB : 25 October 2021), Sophia Maria Johanna Geitmann in entry for Friedrich Christoph August Heibein, 18 Jun 1847; images digitized and records extracted by Ancestry; citing Marriage, Passee, Bukow, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Deutschland, Passee, German Lutheran Collection, various parishes, Germany. Ancestry Sharing LinkAncestry Record 61229 #914823190
↑Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934 for Fr. Heibein; 1850-1859; Direkt Band 002 (6 Mär 1851 - 31 Dez 1851); Staatsarchiv Hamburg; Hamburg, Deutschland; Hamburger Passagierlisten; Volume: 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 002; Page: 3; Microfilm No.: K_1701 Ancestry Sharing LinkAncestry Record 1068 #5713101
↑ Friedrich Heibein in the U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s; U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s; Source Bibliography: SMITH, CLIFFORD NEAL. Reconstructed Passenger Lists for 1851 via Hamburg: Emigrants from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Scandinavia, and Switzerland to Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the United States, and Venezuela. (German and Central European Emigration Monograph, 2.) McNeal, Ariz.: Westland Publications, 1986. Parts 1-4. 168p. Ancestry Record 7486 #3650496
↑"Census of Canada, 1851," online database with images. Entry for Sophia Heibein; Province: Canada West (Ontario), District Name: Waterloo (County), District Number: 38, Sub-District Name: Preston, Sub-District Number: 365, Page Number: 11, Microfilm: C-11755, Reference: RG31 - Statistics Canada, Item Number: 636067. Scanned image PDF Library and Archives Canada: Censuses (https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1851/Pages/item.aspx?itemid=636067 : accessed 4 Sep 2022).
↑"Census of Canada, 1861," online database with images. Entry for Sophia Hybine; Province: Canada West (Ontario), District Name: Waterloo, Sub-District Name: Woolwich, Page Number: 59, Microfilm: C-1079, Reference: RG31 - Statistics Canada, Item Number: 2908088. Scanned image PDF Library and Archives Canada: Censuses (https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1861/Pages/item.aspx?itemid=2908088 : accessed 4 Sep 2022).
↑"Census of Canada, 1871," online database with images. Entry for Sophia Hiebien; Province: Ontario, District Name: Waterloo North, District Number: 32, Sub-District Name: Woolwich, Sub-District Number: b, Page Number: 46, Line Number: 19, Microfilm: C-9944, Reference: RG31 - Statistics Canada, Item Number: 617844. Scanned image PDF Library and Archives Canada: Censuses (https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1871/Pages/item.aspx?itemid=617844 : accessed 4 Sep 2022).
↑1871 Census:
"1871 Census of Canada"
Year: 1871; Census Place: Woolwich, Waterloo North, Ontario; Roll: C-9944; Page: 46; Family No: 153 Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 1578 #129096
Sophia Hiebien (50), widowed in Woolwich, Waterloo North, Ontario. Born in Germany.
1871: Woolwich, Waterloo North, Ontario
Name
Age
Sophia Hiebien
50
Widowed
F
1821
Germany
Henry Hiebien
28
Married
M
1843
Germany
Elizabeth Hiebien
26
Married
F
1845
Ontario
Ann Hiebien
6
F
1865
Ontario
Elizabeth Hiebien
4
F
1867
Ontario
Mary Hiebien
2
F
1869
Ontario
Margaret Cummings
12
F
1859
Ontario
↑"Census of Canada, 1881," online database with images. Entry for Sophie Heibine; Province: Ontario, District Name: Waterloo North, District Number: 162, Sub-District Name: Woolwich, Sub-District Number: A, Division Number: 4, Family Number: 106, Page Number: 26, Microfilm: C-13265, Reference: RG31 - Statistics Canada, Item Number: 4160394. Scanned image PDF Library and Archives Canada: Censuses (https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1881/Pages/item.aspx?itemid=4160394 : accessed 4 Sep 2022).
↑"Census of Canada, 1891," online database with images. Entry for Sophia Heibein; Province: Ontario, District Name: Perth North, District Number: 107, Sub-District Name: Elma, Sub-District Number: B, Division Number: 3, Family Number: 245, Page Number: 50, Microfilm: T-6362, Reference: RG31 - Statistics Canada, Item Number: 2399021. Scanned image PDF Library and Archives Canada: Censuses (https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1891/Pages/item.aspx?itemid=2399021 : accessed 4 Sep 2022).
↑"Census of Canada, 1901," online database with images. Entry for Sopia Hiebien; Province: Ontario, District Name: Grey East, District Number: 64, Sub-District Name: Proton, Sub-District Number: G, Division Number: 6, Family Number: 55, Page Number: 6, Microfilm: T-6468, Reference: RG31 - Statistics Canada, Item Number: 2384497. Scanned image PDF Library and Archives Canada: Censuses (https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1901/Pages/item.aspx?itemid=2384497 : accessed 4 Sep 2022).
↑Death: Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1948 for Sophia Heibein; Grey; 1903; Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 110; Schedule C. Deaths. County of Grey Division of Proton Township; Pages 152-153; Line 2; Reg. #011061 Ancestry Sharing LinkAncestry Record 8946 #2017105
↑ "Canada, Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JDLQ-M6T : 2 March 2021), Sophia Heibein, 29 Aug 1903; citing Proton Twp., Grey, Ontario, yr 1903 cn 11061, Registrar General. Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 1,854,188.
↑Burial: Ancestry.com. Canada, Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: Find a Grave. Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi. Find A Grave: Memorial #126990352
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Sophia by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA.
However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line.
It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Sophia: