The following are excerpts from the upcoming book on the story, the ancestors, and the descendants of Johannes Bastian of Michelbach, Germany.

"Borussia's" Story
Johannes Bastian's Wives and Children
Johannes Bastian's Ancestry
Catharina Hertweck's Ancestry
Ancestral Villages
Michelbach's Story
Snapshot of Michelbach, 1792

Johannes Baptista Bastian was born June 17, 1795 in Michelbach, Baden. He was the fourth of seven children to Mathias Bastian and Dorothea Bittmann. Four of his siblings married and had children in Michelbach.

Johannes married three times. He first married Susanna Hohlfelder on January 3, 1819. They had a son and a daughter, but his wife died after four years of marriage, in March 1823. His second marriage was with Maria Josepha Weber, on May 20, 1823. They had four children together, three of whom emigrated to New Orleans (but did not have grandchildren). The other, Bernhard, married and had several children in Michelbach. One of Bernhard�s children, Ludwig, emigrated to Wisconsin in 1881, and was living with his step-grandmother Catharina (Hertweck) Bastian in 1900.

Johannes� second wife died in December 1834. On March 9, 1835, he married Catharina Hertweck. At the time of their marriage, he was forty years old and she was barely twenty years old. Together they had ten children � altogether, Joannes fathered sixteen children � ten of whom married.

Johannes died in Michelbach on February 11, 1858.

Catharina Hertweck was born February 12, 1815 in Michelbach, Baden. She was the sixth of eight children to Joseph Hertweck (of Haueneberstein) and Maria Magdalena Dillinger. She also had a half-brother and half-sister from her mother�s previous, short, marriage (her mother�s first husband died just two years after their marriage). Six of her siblings had families, and she was the only one of her siblings to leave Michelbach.

Catharina married Joannes Baptista Bastian on March 9, 1835. At least five of his six children from the first two marriages were alive when Catharina married Johannes. One of the children from his previous marriage stayed in Michelbach and had five children. Three others emigrated to New Orleans. Two of those died shortly after emigrating, and the other (Michael) had four children but no grandchildren.

Catharina and Johannes had ten more children together, before he died in 1858, leaving her with six young children (and one older step-daughter). Ferdinand married within a year of his father�s death, stayed in Michelbach and raised a family there. Philomena married Bernhard Bittmann in Michelbach.

Catharina emigrated in 1865, and arrived in New York on the ship �Borussia� (see "Borussia's" Story) on October 20, 1865, with four of her children - Albin, Alois, Pauline and Margaretha (The �Borussia� sank in heavy seas in 1879, with the loss of 169 lives). In 1900 she lived in Elkhart Lake, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. All but one of her brothers settled in Wisconsin. Her brother Alois settled in Charlestown, Indiana by 1880. Her daughter Philomena emigrated with her husband, Bernhard Bittmann, in 1871.

The ship manifest of the "Borussia". Reveals how many of these records are very difficult to read. This shows Catherine Bastian (maiden name Hertweck) and her children Albin, Alois, Pauline and Margaretha. Also listed is Bertin Herm � another Michelbacher who traveled with them (but settled in Louisville, Kentucky, and had many descendants who still live there today).

Catharina lived in Elkhart Lake, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, with her daughter, Pauline, in their hotel. She died December 29, 1901, and is buried Calvary Cemetery, Milwaukee.

Next - "Borussia's" Story
Beginning - The Family History of Johannes Bastian of Michelbach, Baden
Home - Bittmann and Davis Family Genealogy