Email From Gary Aden to Gary Aden
Email Dated 6/24/2001 

      OLD WORLD ORIGINS: My Aden pedigree had its roots in East Frisia^
Ostfriesland^Osfriesland, Prussia(1870) or as of 1945, Lower
Saxony^Nredersachen of the Federal Republic of Germany. Today, it is a
region according to European Union designation and may be described as
those parts of Lower Saxony and Oldenberg, south to about Papenburg, and
including the islands in the German sea between the Dutch border and
river Weser. The biggest city is Emden where the river Ems runs into the
Dollart which developed in the 13th century and is a bay between the
Netherlands and East Friesian west coast. Historical centers are Aurich,
Esens, Jever, Norden and Wittmund. Since the reorganization of
communities, structures and borders after World War II, many of the old
villages and hamlets are now part of oher communities and their names
will be lost- which may account for why I am unable to find the
self-reported village of Heye Aden's birthplace, OSTOCHD__ZON(1817).
According to a written history of the family by Hiyo Aden(1874-1961),
conversations in German  between his father, Mimke(1849-1913) and his
mother-in-law, Anna Wilts^Wiltz,  the towns of Jever, Emden, Leer,
Oldenburg, Meppin, Cloppenburg and Wildeheusen were mentioned. While his
parents were not acquainted in Germany, there was no doubt in Hiyo's
mind that they were born not far apart in the northwest corner of
Germany, somewhere between Bremen and the Holland border and raised
close enough to the North Sea that much of the land had to be dyked so
the fields would drain and could be farmed. He surmised, based on his
best guess from conversations with Mimke, that his father was born close
to Jever. Thus, other than Heye, we have no precise data on the
birthplaces of any of the immigrants to America in our pedigree line.

         To discover ancestors antedating Heye will require learning the
name of his parents. It would be fortunate to learn if he had siblings
and to find their descendants. The implications are obvious, i.e., we
might not only expand our knowledge of the pedigree, but also find out
what happened to those who did not emigrate or those who emigrated at
another point in time or to another place. With the exception of the
date and purported place of Heye's birth, we have to hope that the
ortssipenbucher(OS- roughly translated "village lineage book" or
"church lineage book"- from the Lutheran Church can assist us. Of
course, we also have clues from the date, place, ship of his emigration
as well as the names of his family members. 

          Reviewing the history of the region tells us why our task is
difficult. After the midde ages, the country was ruled by local
Chief(first class) and Free Landowners(second class). The latter were
divided into three classes: The Count, The Chief(lower nobility) and the
third class- those who owned a herd of a certain size which would
entitle them to a vote in parliament. To be a Judge, one had to be First
or Second Class. Such was the nature of political rule- rather loose,
simple, and uncomplicated, officially ruled by the Prince of East
Frisia- until 1754 when the Prince died leaving no heir. At that point,
the region was incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia. They
restructured the political system and initiated a system of dyking. The
area prospered and whatever reservations the Ostfrieslanders might have
had about the transfer was overcome, not only by the obvious
improvements, but by the popularity of the Prussian King Frederick The
Great(1712-1786). 

          The region even adjusted to incorporation into the "French
Empire"(Napoleon). The French modernized public administration and
required that people carry and use family names. Amazingly,  the East
Frisians had  been accustomed to simply allowing the father to hand out
names to the family for them to use as they saw fit, resulting in a maze
of legal complication.Traditionally, the father had been issuing names
that would insure perpetuation of the grandfather's name. The French
didn't care what the names were- they just wanted them used!

         After the Liberation War against Napoleon, East Frisia came
under the "Kingdom of Hanover." They wanted to change French
administrative procedure and certain basic rights to which East Frisians
objected. Basically, the Ostfrieslanders were just tired of having the
rules changed and the relationship was so rocky between the Hannoverians
and Ostfieslanders that the former agreed(The Hanoverians had also been
allies of the Hapsburgs whom the Prussians defeated in 1866) to transfer
rule back to Prussia in 1768, but not before a large number of
Ostfrieslanders had emigrated to America and elsewhere. By the time of
the transfer, however, Prussia under Otto von Bismarck was growing into
a German empire. Bismarck employed a mixture of intimidation (against
Denmark in 1864), war (against the Hapsburg empire of Austria in 1866)
and political guile and deception (directed at King William I).

     Bismarck's next military target was to France in 1870. However,
conscription to fulfill Bismarck's military build-up requirements had
long preceded targeting France so that Heye's sons, John and Eilt,
emigrated first to enable their brother Mimke to follow with the money
they expected to earn. As Mimke's nineteenth birthday approached, he had
to leave Germany of serve in the Army. He took the only boat which
sailed before that date, namely a sailing vessel that took five weeks to
cross.