Grandfather Jonas was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany in 1823. It is uncertain when he came to the U.S., and he may have been born aboard ship, although this is doubtful, but he ended up in Quincy, Illinois and later in the St. Patrick, Missouri, area. He was married in 1848 in Quincy to Elizabeth Alice Eck, who had also emigrated with her parents and only sister from Germany. It is believed that Jonas was related to the House of Hess in Germany.
Jonas and his wife, Alice Beth, were in Clark Co., Missouri by 1870. They were farmers who had a large family of nine children, but only five of them married, and only four had children, so this branch of the family is gradually dying out.
Jonas and his wife are buried beside one another at Forest Grove Cemetery in Canton, Missouri.
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Jonas was born in Darmstadt, Hesse. He was the son of a Hessian land baron. He married Elizabeth Alice Eck on 28 March 1848 & they had 9 children.
Our Hess Ancestry
Jonas Hess was the son of a German land baron. There is a good possibility that we are related to the infamous Nazi deputy Führer and minister Rudolf Hess through our connection with this line. Jonas was born 4 December 1824, in the province of Hesse. He immigrated to the United States, where he married Elizabeth Alice Eck, a Bavarian immigrant, on 28 March 1848. They settled in Quincy, IL. In 1858, they moved to Clark Co., MO, and purchased their first acreage. Over time, they acquired 120 acres. Elizabeth's parents, John and Mary Eck, lived on what later became known as the Jim Roach place near where Jonas settled. Jonas made the decision to move to Missouri. in order to be spared the necessity of choosing sides in the Civil War and refused to affiliate with anyone known to be pro-Union or pro-Confederate. It is said that at one time when a group of sympathizers came riding through, he was put in the root cellar and a table was placed over the rug-covered trapdoor. Elizabeth sat the children at the table and was feeding them when the riders came, and she informed them that Jonas had gone to Iowa, on business.
In later years, Elizabeth's father John made a sizeable contribution to the Catholic Church at St. Patrick, MO, in reparation for both his daughters' having married Protestants and leaving the faith of their childhood. Elizabeth's only sister Mary had married Rev. Christopher Bonn, a German immigrant preacher and lived in Canton, MO.
In 1862, Jonas and Elizabeth completed and moved into their new house. A large three-story barn was built in 1863, using the frame of an old gristmill which had stood on the banks of Honey Creek. Here they would live and raise their children. They lost one of their daughters at an early age, and two of the other girls never married. When Catherine was engaged to marry, she and her father were on the way to town in a lightweight spring wagon with big barrels of cider and sorghum to sell in order to buy her wedding dress. The team was frightened by the whistle of a threshing machine and bolted. One of the barrels hit her, breaking her back and leaving her bedfast for thirty years and crippled for life. When her fiancé learned of the accident, he broke the engagement and she tossed her ring among the weeds, where the younger generations used to have treasure hunts searching for the lost diamonds.
Matilda never married for reasons of her own, and after Amelia's return to Missouri, after the death of her husband, Tillie, Kate, and Amelia continued to live on the family farm for the remainder of their lives. Amelia's son Walter Bick eventually acquired the farm and raised his two daughters here. Inis Lucille died of scarlet fever at the age of 18, but Louise married Henry Logsdon, and they acquired the family farm after the death of Walter. Here Louise raised her eleven children, and the farm remains in the family to this day.
Jonas and his wife, Alice Beth, were in Clark Co., Missouri by 1870. They were farmers who had a large family of nine children, but only five of them married, and only four had children, so this branch of the family is gradually dying out.
Jonas and his wife are buried beside one another at Forest Grove Cemetery in Canton, Missouri.
******
Jonas was born in Darmstadt, Hesse. He was the son of a Hessian land baron. He married Elizabeth Alice Eck on 28 March 1848 & they had 9 children.
Our Hess Ancestry
Jonas Hess was the son of a German land baron. There is a good possibility that we are related to the infamous Nazi deputy Führer and minister Rudolf Hess through our connection with this line. Jonas was born 4 December 1824, in the province of Hesse. He immigrated to the United States, where he married Elizabeth Alice Eck, a Bavarian immigrant, on 28 March 1848. They settled in Quincy, IL. In 1858, they moved to Clark Co., MO, and purchased their first acreage. Over time, they acquired 120 acres. Elizabeth's parents, John and Mary Eck, lived on what later became known as the Jim Roach place near where Jonas settled. Jonas made the decision to move to Missouri. in order to be spared the necessity of choosing sides in the Civil War and refused to affiliate with anyone known to be pro-Union or pro-Confederate. It is said that at one time when a group of sympathizers came riding through, he was put in the root cellar and a table was placed over the rug-covered trapdoor. Elizabeth sat the children at the table and was feeding them when the riders came, and she informed them that Jonas had gone to Iowa, on business.
In later years, Elizabeth's father John made a sizeable contribution to the Catholic Church at St. Patrick, MO, in reparation for both his daughters' having married Protestants and leaving the faith of their childhood. Elizabeth's only sister Mary had married Rev. Christopher Bonn, a German immigrant preacher and lived in Canton, MO.
In 1862, Jonas and Elizabeth completed and moved into their new house. A large three-story barn was built in 1863, using the frame of an old gristmill which had stood on the banks of Honey Creek. Here they would live and raise their children. They lost one of their daughters at an early age, and two of the other girls never married. When Catherine was engaged to marry, she and her father were on the way to town in a lightweight spring wagon with big barrels of cider and sorghum to sell in order to buy her wedding dress. The team was frightened by the whistle of a threshing machine and bolted. One of the barrels hit her, breaking her back and leaving her bedfast for thirty years and crippled for life. When her fiancé learned of the accident, he broke the engagement and she tossed her ring among the weeds, where the younger generations used to have treasure hunts searching for the lost diamonds.
Matilda never married for reasons of her own, and after Amelia's return to Missouri, after the death of her husband, Tillie, Kate, and Amelia continued to live on the family farm for the remainder of their lives. Amelia's son Walter Bick eventually acquired the farm and raised his two daughters here. Inis Lucille died of scarlet fever at the age of 18, but Louise married Henry Logsdon, and they acquired the family farm after the death of Walter. Here Louise raised her eleven children, and the farm remains in the family to this day.
Grandfather Jonas was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany in 1823. It is uncertain when he came to the U.S., and he may have been born aboard ship, although this is doubtful, but he ended up in Quincy, Illinois and later in the St. Patrick, Missouri, area. He was married in 1848 in Quincy to Elizabeth Alice Eck, who had also emigrated with her parents and only sister from Germany. It is believed that Jonas was related to the House of Hess in Germany.
Jonas and his wife, Alice Beth, were in Clark Co., Missouri by 1870. They were farmers who had a large family of nine children, but only five of them married, and only four had children, so this branch of the family is gradually dying out.
Jonas and his wife are buried beside one another at Forest Grove Cemetery in Canton, Missouri.
******
Jonas was born in Darmstadt, Hesse. He was the son of a Hessian land baron. He married Elizabeth Alice Eck on 28 March 1848 & they had 9 children.
Our Hess Ancestry
Jonas Hess was the son of a German land baron. There is a good possibility that we are related to the infamous Nazi deputy Führer and minister Rudolf Hess through our connection with this line. Jonas was born 4 December 1824, in the province of Hesse. He immigrated to the United States, where he married Elizabeth Alice Eck, a Bavarian immigrant, on 28 March 1848. They settled in Quincy, IL. In 1858, they moved to Clark Co., MO, and purchased their first acreage. Over time, they acquired 120 acres. Elizabeth's parents, John and Mary Eck, lived on what later became known as the Jim Roach place near where Jonas settled. Jonas made the decision to move to Missouri. in order to be spared the necessity of choosing sides in the Civil War and refused to affiliate with anyone known to be pro-Union or pro-Confederate. It is said that at one time when a group of sympathizers came riding through, he was put in the root cellar and a table was placed over the rug-covered trapdoor. Elizabeth sat the children at the table and was feeding them when the riders came, and she informed them that Jonas had gone to Iowa, on business.
In later years, Elizabeth's father John made a sizeable contribution to the Catholic Church at St. Patrick, MO, in reparation for both his daughters' having married Protestants and leaving the faith of their childhood. Elizabeth's only sister Mary had married Rev. Christopher Bonn, a German immigrant preacher and lived in Canton, MO.
In 1862, Jonas and Elizabeth completed and moved into their new house. A large three-story barn was built in 1863, using the frame of an old gristmill which had stood on the banks of Honey Creek. Here they would live and raise their children. They lost one of their daughters at an early age, and two of the other girls never married. When Catherine was engaged to marry, she and her father were on the way to town in a lightweight spring wagon with big barrels of cider and sorghum to sell in order to buy her wedding dress. The team was frightened by the whistle of a threshing machine and bolted. One of the barrels hit her, breaking her back and leaving her bedfast for thirty years and crippled for life. When her fiancé learned of the accident, he broke the engagement and she tossed her ring among the weeds, where the younger generations used to have treasure hunts searching for the lost diamonds.
Matilda never married for reasons of her own, and after Amelia's return to Missouri, after the death of her husband, Tillie, Kate, and Amelia continued to live on the family farm for the remainder of their lives. Amelia's son Walter Bick eventually acquired the farm and raised his two daughters here. Inis Lucille died of scarlet fever at the age of 18, but Louise married Henry Logsdon, and they acquired the family farm after the death of Walter. Here Louise raised her eleven children, and the farm remains in the family to this day.
Jonas and his wife, Alice Beth, were in Clark Co., Missouri by 1870. They were farmers who had a large family of nine children, but only five of them married, and only four had children, so this branch of the family is gradually dying out.
Jonas and his wife are buried beside one another at Forest Grove Cemetery in Canton, Missouri.
******
Jonas was born in Darmstadt, Hesse. He was the son of a Hessian land baron. He married Elizabeth Alice Eck on 28 March 1848 & they had 9 children.
Our Hess Ancestry
Jonas Hess was the son of a German land baron. There is a good possibility that we are related to the infamous Nazi deputy Führer and minister Rudolf Hess through our connection with this line. Jonas was born 4 December 1824, in the province of Hesse. He immigrated to the United States, where he married Elizabeth Alice Eck, a Bavarian immigrant, on 28 March 1848. They settled in Quincy, IL. In 1858, they moved to Clark Co., MO, and purchased their first acreage. Over time, they acquired 120 acres. Elizabeth's parents, John and Mary Eck, lived on what later became known as the Jim Roach place near where Jonas settled. Jonas made the decision to move to Missouri. in order to be spared the necessity of choosing sides in the Civil War and refused to affiliate with anyone known to be pro-Union or pro-Confederate. It is said that at one time when a group of sympathizers came riding through, he was put in the root cellar and a table was placed over the rug-covered trapdoor. Elizabeth sat the children at the table and was feeding them when the riders came, and she informed them that Jonas had gone to Iowa, on business.
In later years, Elizabeth's father John made a sizeable contribution to the Catholic Church at St. Patrick, MO, in reparation for both his daughters' having married Protestants and leaving the faith of their childhood. Elizabeth's only sister Mary had married Rev. Christopher Bonn, a German immigrant preacher and lived in Canton, MO.
In 1862, Jonas and Elizabeth completed and moved into their new house. A large three-story barn was built in 1863, using the frame of an old gristmill which had stood on the banks of Honey Creek. Here they would live and raise their children. They lost one of their daughters at an early age, and two of the other girls never married. When Catherine was engaged to marry, she and her father were on the way to town in a lightweight spring wagon with big barrels of cider and sorghum to sell in order to buy her wedding dress. The team was frightened by the whistle of a threshing machine and bolted. One of the barrels hit her, breaking her back and leaving her bedfast for thirty years and crippled for life. When her fiancé learned of the accident, he broke the engagement and she tossed her ring among the weeds, where the younger generations used to have treasure hunts searching for the lost diamonds.
Matilda never married for reasons of her own, and after Amelia's return to Missouri, after the death of her husband, Tillie, Kate, and Amelia continued to live on the family farm for the remainder of their lives. Amelia's son Walter Bick eventually acquired the farm and raised his two daughters here. Inis Lucille died of scarlet fever at the age of 18, but Louise married Henry Logsdon, and they acquired the family farm after the death of Walter. Here Louise raised her eleven children, and the farm remains in the family to this day.
