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Leonhard Hegnauer: Ancestry member media and stories

· 15 min read · 3 people named

Transcribed on screen during the Ancestry survey stage, 2026-09-25, from member photos and stories offered as hints on tree person 102705356450 (Hegnauer/Putt tree 206849982). Nothing was downloaded. Every item below is a member-contributed copy (derivative). Where the item is a photograph of a document, the original's repository is given. Readings in [brackets] are editorial; ? marks an uncertain reading.

1. "Hegnauer - Hirschi Marriage" (member photo)

  • Viewer URL: ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/154982007/person/212045609209/media/40f4d991-5611-4255-8484-cefc52e18065
  • Contributor: jnel126 (tree 154982007, person 212045609209 "Leonhard (Leonard) Hegnauer"); originally shared 10 Nov 2018; saved by 12 users.
  • Ancestry metadata: date 4 Jul 1866; category Document / Certificate; description "Marriage Certificate taken from Civil War pension application".
  • What it is: a phone photograph (4032 x 3024) of a printed "Holy Matrimony" certificate (printer: Geo. D. Barnard & Co., St. Louis), filled in by hand. It is a duplicate certificate drawn from church records in April 1917, sworn before a notary, evidently filed with Susanna K. Hegnauer's widow's pension claim. Original repository: NARA, Civil War and later pension files (RG 15), Leonhard Hegnauer, Co. E, 4th Missouri Infantry; widow's claim of Susan K. Hegnauer (certificate numbers not visible in the photo).

Transcription

This Certifies that Mr. Leonhard Hegnauer of Kanton Graubuenden, State of Switzerland [Europe] and Susane K Hirschi of Amseldingen [Amsoldingen] Kanton Bern, State of Switzerland, Europe were united in Holy Matrimony At Highland According to the Ordinance of God and the Laws of the State of Illinois on the Fourth day of July in the year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty-Six. Witnesses: Johann Zimmermann; [Ann?] Elisabeth Mollet Rev. Nicolas Schupbach, Pastor allg. ev[ange]l. Kirche [?"allgemeine evangelische Kirche"] License returned July 5th 1866.

Below the border: "Duplicate by Rev. C. E. [surname unclear: Menke? / Kiehle?]"

Left margin, written vertically: "This duplicate drawn from records [of the church? edge of photo cut off] ... Book ... Page 213 ..." and, inside the border, "Highland Ill. Apr. 21-1917."

Right margin, written vertically (notary's jurat): "State of Illinois } County of Madison } Rev. C. E. [Menke?], being duly sworn, upon oath, states that [the] duplicate certificate is a correct copy taken from the Church records. Subscribed and sworn before me this 21st day of April 1917. Chas. Hoefle[?], Notary Public."

Assessment. Shows this couple: names, the 4 Jul 1866 date and Madison County (Highland) all agree with the county marriage register (page 204, "Leonard Hagnauer" and "Susan K Hirschi"). New detail beyond the county index: (a) the marriage took place at Highland, (b) officiant Rev. Nicolas Schupbach, pastor of a German evangelical congregation, (c) witnesses Johann Zimmermann and [Ann?] Elisabeth Mollet, (d) the bride's origin Amsoldingen, Canton Bern, and (e) the license was returned 5 Jul 1866. It is a 1917 duplicate from church records, not the 1866 original, so it is derivative but made from an original register. Accept as a member photo on the marriage fact; it is about this couple.

2. "Leonhard Hegnauer Death Cert" (member photo)

  • Viewer URL: ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/154982007/person/212045609209/media/6af430cc-6928-4920-82bf-b8d190ca6eeb
  • Contributor: jnel126; originally shared 10 Nov 2018; saved by 12 users.
  • Ancestry metadata: Document / Certificate; "Death certificate taken from Civil War pension application".
  • What it is: a photograph (3024 x 4032) of a Missouri State Board of Health death-certificate form headed in ink "Copy of Original Death Certificate" by G. C. Bates, M.D., i.e. the attending physician's copy made for the pension file. It bears the U.S. Pension Office receipt stamp "NOV 17 1916" (matching the 17 Nov 1916 date in the pension organization index). A "Declaration for Pension" form is faintly visible through the paper (bleed-through, not legible). Original repository: NARA, pension file of Leonhard Hegnauer (Co. E, 4th Mo. Inf.), widow's claim.

Transcription

"Copy of Original Death Certificate" by G C Bates M.D. MISSOURI STATE BOARD OF HEALTH, BUREAU OF VITAL STATISTICS, CERTIFICATE OF DEATH 1 Place of death: County St. Clair; Township Appleton; Village Appleton City, Mo. (Registration District No., File No., Registered No. blank) 2 Full name: Leonhard Hegnauer 3 Sex: Male. 4 Color or race: white. 5 Single, married, widowed or divorced: Married 6 Date of birth: April 25, 1843 7 Age: 73 yrs 6 mos 6 ds 8 Occupation: (a) Farmer; (b) Retired 9 Birthplace: Switzerland 10 Name of father: Lucious Hegnauer. 11 Birthplace of father: Switzerland 12 Maiden name of mother: not known. 13 Birthplace of mother: [blank] 14 Informant: Mrs Fred Hammer. Address: Rockville, Mo 15 Filed Nov 1[1?] 1916, [W.? signature illegible] Registrar 16 Date of death: Oct 31, 1916 17 I hereby certify that I attended deceased from Oct 27, 1916 to Oct 31, 1916, that I last saw him alive on Oct 31, 1916, and that death occurred on the date stated above at 1.30 p.m. The cause of death was as follows: Cerebral Haemorrhage; Hypo-static Pneumonia (duration 4 ds). Contributory: [blank] (Signed) G C Bates M.D., [dated] 11/1/16; (Address) Appleton City, Mo. Former or usual residence: Appleton City, Mo. 19 Place of burial or removal: Bates County. Date of burial: 11/5/16 [day reading probable; see obituary: funeral Sunday = 5 Nov 1916] 20 Undertaker: Fred Luchsinger. Address: Appleton City, Mo. Stamp: [U.S.] PENSION [OFFICE] NOV 17 1916

Assessment. Shows this person (name, 25 Apr 1843 birth, Switzerland, father Lucious [Luzius], death 31 Oct 1916 Appleton City). Agrees with the state-filed certificate no. 38609 already cited (which is indexed "Leonard Hagmauer"). New beyond the index: time of death 1:30 p.m.; attended from 27 Oct; occupation "Farmer, retired"; burial date 5 Nov 1916 (probable reading); undertaker Fred Luchsinger of Appleton City. Accept as a member photo (document about him).

3. "Leonhard Hegnauer Obit" (member photo)

  • Viewer URL: ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/154982007/person/212045609209/media/f68bbbbe-a677-42bc-8e25-26e4cbac41ff
  • Contributor: jnel126; originally shared 10 Nov 2018; saved by 12 users.
  • Ancestry metadata: Document / Certificate; "Obituary for Leonhard Hegnauer".
  • What it is: a photograph of a newspaper clipping pasted on a ruled sheet (probably in the pension file). The text ends "—Rockville Booster", so it is a reprint of the Rockville Booster (Rockville, Bates Co., Mo.) obituary in another paper; neither the reprinting paper nor its date is visible. Original repository: unknown newspaper, Nov 1916.

Transcription

Gone to His Reward. Leonard Hegenauer was born in Switzerland in the year 1843 and died at his home in Appleton City, Mo., on Tuesday, Oct. 31 1916, from the effects of paralysis with which he was stricken on the Friday previous to his death. In the passing of Mr. Hegnauer, Bates county has lost an esteemed citizen whose place in life it will be hard to fill. He has been a citizen of this county since the year 1869 at which time he took a homestead and upon that place he continued to live until about ten years ago when he moved to Appleton City. As a man of business affairs, Mr. Hegnauer was [a] success. He was one of the charter members of the Bank of Rockville and later became vice president of that institution, a position which he held until the death of J. C. Laughlin who was then president of the bank. Soon after the death of J. C. Laughlin, in 1911, Mr. Hegnauer was made president and served in that capacity until his death. Mr. Hegnauer was a faithful member of the German Reformed church and his many kind deeds and cheerful disposition were evidences of the true character of this good man, and in his passing Bates county has cause to mourn. The deceased is survived by his widow, three sons, two daughters and three brothers. The sons are Christian, Leonard, and Robert Hegnauer and the daughters are Mrs. Fred Hammer and Mrs. Katie Link. The son Leonard is a resident of Washington and Robert lives in Illinois, while Christian is farming on the old home place. The brothers are Martin, Christian and John. The sisters are Mrs. Krattly of Carthage and Mrs Kamm of Rich Hill. The body will has been awaiting the arrival of relatives and is now at the home of his son Christian. Burial will be made in the cemetery near the German Reformed church at which the funeral services will be conducted on Sunday afternoon.—Rockville Booster.

Assessment. Clearly this man (1843 Switzerland, death Tuesday 31 Oct 1916 at Appleton City, wife, children Christian, Leonard, Robert, Mrs. Fred Hammer [Mary], Mrs. Katie Link [Katherine]). A rich source; accept. New claims (leads, to be corroborated):

  • In Bates County since 1869, when he took a homestead (search BLM GLO homestead patents, Bates Co.; would put the move from Illinois in 1869, not "by early 1872").
  • Moved to Appleton City about 1906.
  • Charter member, vice president, and from 1911 president of the Bank of Rockville until his death.
  • Member of the German Reformed church (the Reform Cemetery church, Pleasant Gap).
  • Stricken with paralysis on Friday 27 Oct 1916 (agrees with the physician's "attended from Oct 27").
  • Funeral Sunday afternoon [5 Nov 1916] at the German Reformed church; burial in the cemetery near it.
  • Survivors in Nov 1916: sons Christian (on the home place), Leonard (Washington state), Robert (Illinois); daughters Mrs. Fred Hammer, Mrs. Katie Link.
  • Siblings living in 1916: brothers Martin, Christian and John; sisters Mrs. Krattly of Carthage [Mo.] and Mrs. Kamm of Rich Hill [Mo.]. Check against H0001's children list.
  • No child Emil is named; if Emil (b. 1870, Reform Cemetery) was Leonhard's, he died before 1916 (consistent with "three sons" surviving).
  • Note: the fuller Appleton City Journal obituary of 9 Nov 1916 (found by search; abstract in H0003-survey-abstracts.md) says Robert lived at Wells, Minn., not Illinois. The Booster reprint's "Illinois" is probably an error.

4. "Leonhard Hegnauer Grave" (member photo)

Transcription

[top band] MUTTER [emblem] FATTER [sic, = Vater] LEONHARD HEGNAUER 25. APR. 1843 31. OCT. 1916 SUSANNA K. SEINE FRAU 15. MAY 1846 12. APR[?] 1918 [one line of small lettering below, illegible in the photo; probably a verse] [base] HEGNAUER

Assessment. His own stone; accept. Birth and death dates agree with the baptism and death certificate. Conflict for H0038: the wife's death date reads like "12. APR 1918" in this faded photo, but the pension payment card, the 1918 Bates County history ("February 12, 1918") and the Find a Grave index give 12 Feb 1918. Check a sharper photo (Find a Grave, Susanna's memorial) before changing anything.

5. "Leonhard Leonard Hegnauer" (member photo, portrait)

  • Viewer URL: ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/9815048/person/-592008888/media/96f27ceb-5ed0-47a5-82a0-930ef1af0411
  • Contributor: MaggieOhio (tree 9815048); originally shared 16 Sep 2012 (card says 9/17/2012); Portrait / Family Photo; saved by 27 users (including a living relative).
  • What it is: a head-and-shoulders crop of an elderly white-bearded man in a check suit and bow tie. It is the seated man on the left in the family group photo (item 6). It is probably the same image as the tree person's current profile photo (the tree gallery has 1 item, "leonhard-hegnauer").
  • Assessment: shows him. Accept; no transcription needed.

6. "The photo shows Leonard Hegnauer (1843-1916) and his family." (member photo)

  • Viewer URL: ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/9815048/person/-592008888/media/d11a1395-6f45-4101-afce-c291adb417e3
  • Contributor: MaggieOhio; originally shared 16 Sep 2012; saved by 36 users. Linked by the contributor to Leonard, Leonhard, Susanna Katherine Hirschi, Robert Lucius Sr., Mary Christina, Christian and Susan Katherine Hegnauer.
  • What it is: a studio group portrait of 7 people: three seated (an elderly bearded man on the left, a young man in the centre, an elderly woman in glasses on the right in a wicker chair) and four standing behind (a woman, two moustached men, a woman).
  • Contributor's description (abridged): from Beat Stadler via Judy Yeo [private e-mail address omitted]. "The photo shows Leonard Hegnauer (1843-1916) and his family. His wife is Susanna Katherine Hirschi Hegnauer (1846 - 1918). He is the brother-in-law of Elizabeth. Back: Mary Hegnauer (born 1866), Leonard Hegnauer (b. 1872), Christian Hegnauer (b. 1868) and Katherine Hegnauer (b. 1877). Forward between his parents is Robert Lucius Hegnauer (b. 1887)."
  • Assessment: accept as a family photo. Robert looks about 18 to 22, which dates the photo to about 1905-1910. The provenance is a Swiss relative (Beat Stadler), independent of item 7's annotation. The description's order for the two men in the back row differs from item 7's labels. Lead: "brother-in-law of Elizabeth" (which Elizabeth? Possibly a Hirschi sister of Susanna, or Elizabeth Kamm; see leads).

7. "Leonhard Hegnauer and family" (member photo, annotated photocopy)

Transcription of the handwritten labels

Hegnauers Katherine (Link) 1877-1961 [standing, far left] · Christian 1868-1957 [standing, 2nd] · Leonard Jr. 1872-1963 [standing, 3rd] · Mary Christian (Hammer) 1866-1918 [standing, far right] "Does she look familiar??" Leonard 1843-1916 [seated left] · Robert Lucius 1887-1969 [seated centre] · Susan Katherine (Hirschi) 1846-1918 [seated right]

Assessment: the identifications agree with item 6. Accept as a family photo. The annotator's death year of 1918 for Mary (Mrs. Fred Hammer) conflicts with 1920 in the tree and in the RG_SM12 story (item 11). This is a lead for H0009.

8. "Bates County, MO 1877 Atlas" (member photo)

  • Viewer URL: ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/37158608/person/182479643027/media/0590c424-1033-4dc2-b52c-5ea7d68cce4a
  • Contributor: Susanna Vogt (sujavo; tree 37158608); originally shared 31 Oct 2023; place label "T39N-30W-S36"; "1877 Atlas showing properties owned by Anton Hammer and Leonard Hegnauer." Linked to Anton Hammer and Leonard C Hegnauer.
  • What it is: a scan (3661 x 4707) of the Pleasant Gap Township plat (T39N R30W) from the 1877 Bates County atlas, with two tracts highlighted. Original: 1877 Bates County atlas (the title isn't visible in the scan).

Transcription (Section 36, SW part)

A. Hammer 80 [house symbol] L. Hegnau[e]r 80 [house symbol], directly south of Hammer, on the south line of the township Neighbours: W. Bolweg 98.72; "19.29"; P. Grove 40; S. Kaser 78.10; H. Glyer 78.10; H. Brewster 20; J. P. Kamm 156.94 and J. Kamm 160 (Secs. 34-35); C & W Burrows; W. Pomeroy Hrs. 440 (Sec. 36).

Assessment: shows his property. Accept. It puts his 80-acre farm with a dwelling in Sec. 36, T39N R30W, Pleasant Gap Twp, by 1877. The Kamm neighbours are relevant to "Mrs. Kamm", named as his sister in 1916. "P. Grove" is probably Peter Grob (see the 1870 census).

9. "Bates County, MO 1895 Atlas" (member photo)

  • Viewer URL: ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/37158608/person/182479643027/media/f8e72808-5336-464f-8991-00cc80c4460d
  • Contributor: Susanna Vogt; originally shared 31 Oct 2023; "1895 Atlas showing farm properties owned by Anton Hammer, Fred Hammer, and Leonard Hegnauer." Linked to Fredrick Hammer, Anton Hammer and Leonard C Hegnauer.
  • What it is: a scan (4351 x 5925) of the "Plat of Pleasant Gap, Township 39 North, Range 30 West of the 5th Principal Meridian" (page 44) from the 1895 Bates County plat book, with tracts highlighted. The same plat book is in Ancestry's "U.S., Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918" (Bates, 1895).

Transcription (Section 36 and nearby)

Sec. 36: Fred Hammer 80 · L. Hegnauer 80 (below Fred Hammer, on the south line) · Anton Hammer 80 (strip east of these) · C. Hegnauer 80 (strip further east) · Anton Hammer 80 (north part) · Peter Schilt 80 · J. W. Oench 80 · Peter Grobe Est. 80. Secs. 22/23: Anton Hammer 160. Sec. 35, SE corner at the township line: "Ger. Reformed Church" with a church symbol. Other neighbours: F. Schapeler, H. Schapeler, Fred Egger, Fred Drawe, William Bollwegg 99, Melchior Fox Sr.

Assessment: shows his property. Accept. New facts: by 1895 his son C[hristian] Hegnauer also held 80 acres in Sec. 36, and the German Reformed Church (the Reform Cemetery church) stood at the SE corner of Sec. 35, next to Leonhard's farm. The Prairie Township plat in the same book (search candidate) shows "Leonard Hegnauer 82.05" in Sec. 1, T38N R30W, adjoining "G. Hirschi 164.61".

10. "Bates History - Hegnauer excerpt" (member story, 3-page PDF)

  • Viewer URL: ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/tree/37158608/person/182479643027/media/69b5476f-95cc-42bc-93e7-cffa2a91bf95
  • Contributor: Susanna Vogt; originally shared 4 Dec 2023; linked to Leonard C Hegnauer, Susanna Katherine Hirschi, Lucious Hegnauer and Margaret Bernet; saved by 3 users.
  • What it is: scanned pages 719-721 of History of Bates County, Missouri (running head "History of Bates County"; the 1918 Atkeson history, since it records Susan's death in Feb 1918). It is the biographical sketch of Christian Hegnauer of Pleasant Gap Township, which includes a paragraph on his father. Published county history, compiled from family information (derivative).

Abstract of claims about Leonhard (close paraphrase)

  • Christian Hegnauer has lived in Bates County nearly all his life. The family came to the county in 1869, when the nearest railroad station was Pleasant Hill, fifty miles away. Christian was born in Madison County, Illinois, 3 May 1868, the son of Leonard Hegnauer, "a native of Switzerland and a Union veteran."
  • Leonard Hegnauer was born in Switzerland, 25 April 1843, the son of Lucius and Margaret (Bernet) Hegnauer, also natives of Switzerland, who immigrated to America in 1856 and settled permanently in Madison County, Illinois, where Leonard grew up. [This conflicts with the 1860 census, which has the family in Gasconade Co., Mo.]
  • When the war began he enlisted in 1861 for three months in the Union army. In October 1861 he enlisted in Company E, 4th Missouri Volunteer Infantry, served eighteen months and was honourably discharged in February 1863. He then went back to Illinois.
  • He married Miss Susan K. Hirschi in Madison County on 4 July 1866. She was born in Switzerland on 15 May 1846, a daughter of Christian Hirschi.
  • In 1869 he moved to Bates County and bought a 160-acre farm in Pleasant Gap Township. He later owned 405 acres, was one of the county's dairy pioneers, and kept Holstein cows and Shorthorn cattle.
  • In 1911 he retired and moved to Appleton City, where he died on 31 October 1916. [This conflicts with the 1916 obituaries, which say about ten years earlier (about 1906), and with the 1910 census, which already has him in Appleton.] He was buried in the church yard of the German Reformed church.
  • Children: Mrs. Mary C. Hammer, Pleasant Gap Twp; Christian; Leonard, Washington state; Mrs. Katie S. Link, Pleasant Gap Twp; Margaret M., deceased; Robert L., Minnesota.
  • Mrs. Susan K. Hegnauer lived with her daughter Mrs. Mary C. Hammer and with Christian until her death on February 12, 1918.
  • (p. 721) The family came from Illinois across the state in wagons pulled by ox-teams, a three-week trip. Christian and his wife are members of the Reformed Church.

Assessment: accurate in outline and valuable. It gives his parents' names, the bride's father, the 1869 move, his land and dairying, and the children, including the otherwise unknown Margaret M. Accept as a story on Leonhard. Flag the 1856 "Madison County" settlement and the 1911 retirement date, which conflict with better evidence.

11. "Children of Susanna Hirschi & Leonard Hegnauer" (member story)

Claims (as written)

  1. Mary Christina Hegnauer (1866 MO-1920 MO) m. Frederick C. Hammer (1858 IL-1942 MO); Frederick was the son of Anton Hammer (1838 GER-1908 MO) and Mary Grob (1847 IL-1919 MO).
  2. Christian Hegnauer (1868- ).
  3. Emil Hegnauer (1870 MO- ).
  4. Leonard Hegnauer (1872-1963 WA) m. (1901) Clara Edith Baker (1877-1951 WA); Clara was the daughter of Harrison P. Baker (1837 OH- ) and Abbie C. Porter (1840 OH- ).
  5. Katherine Susanna Hegnaurer (1877 MO-1961 MO) m. Joseph Martin Link (1871 MO-1916 MO).
  6. Robert Lucius Hegnauer (1887 MO-1969 CA) m1 (1910 MO) Lotta Alice Donnell (1890 IN-1973 WA); Lotta was the daughter of George Johnson Donnell (1857 FL- ) and Alice J. (1862 IN- ).

Assessment: a useful but unsourced list. Mary's birthplace is wrong: she was born in Illinois (Highland), per the 1870 and 1880 censuses. The list leaves out Margaret M., whom the 1918 county history names. Emil (1870 MO) appears only here and on Find a Grave 78556009, which has no marker and no dates; the memorial's creator linked his parents. The 1900 census gives Susan 7 children, 5 living. That fits Mary, Christian, Leonard, Katherine and Robert living, plus two who died (Emil? and Margaret M.). Leonard Jr.'s 1901 marriage to Clara Edith Baker agrees with the University of Illinois alumni record. Treat these as leads, not as a source of facts. Recommendation: don't accept the story; record its claims as leads.

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