Bio updated on 02/04/2024
Albert Heft was the oldest child of August Ernst Hoeft and Eva Heller. He was born July 6, 1883 in the village of Radzimowice (on the eastern edge of the Sierpc Evangelical Lutheran parish) in the Plock Guberniya of Russian Poland. When he was a young child, his family moved a few miles east to the village of Mdzewo (within the Mława Evangelical Lutheran parish), where the Heller family was living. The village of Mdzewo was known as "Sewo" in German. The Hefts and Hellers were part of the extensive German diaspora living in Poland. About 25 years before Albert was born, the Hoeft family (including father August Hoeft, mother Karoline, uncle Gustav, and aunt Florentine) had emigrated from Prussia to Poland with the promise of cheap/available land, and the opportunity to better their lives. (Poland was part of the Russian empire until the end of World War I, when it became an independent country.)
NOTE - Although the headstone shows "Albert E. Heft", Albert did not have a middle name. The original version of the Heft Family Tree showed a middle name of "Ernest", but this is not correct. Albert's father did have a middle name of "Ernst", so that could be where the confusion began amongst family members. There is no middle name on Albert's birth/baptism record, or any other documents filled out by Albert (including his WWII Draft Registration card - where he specifically said "none" for middle name).
With the desire to make a better life for himself (and likely to avoid conscription into the Russian army), Albert emigrated to the United States - arriving in New York City on April 6, 1901. He traveled on to Cleveland, Ohio - which was a popular destination for German immigrants from Poland. Albert's uncle Gustav Hoeft had emigrated 8 years earlier (in 1893) and was also living in Cleveland.
While Albert spelled his surname as "Heft", his uncle Gustav retained the original spelling "Hoeft". The "Heft" spelling was due to Albert's Russian identity documents (Poland was part of the Russian empire, and official documents were required to be kept in Russian). Russian has few vowel combinations (unlike German and English), so "Hoeft" is rendered as "Heft" in Russian. Gustav, who was born in Prussia, undoubtedly had German language identity documents, which would have contained the correct spelling "Hoeft". The reason why Gustav later changed his surname to "Haft" is not known definitively, but may have been an effort to retain the original pronunciation.
On July 22, 1906 Albert married Ida Bayer, another German immigrant from Russian Poland. Ida had emigrated to the US only a year earlier in 1905. The Bayer family was from the neighboring village in Poland, called Strzegowo. It is likely that Albert and Ida knew each other before coming to the US, as their families would have attended the same Lutheran church in the town of Mlawa, Poland.
Ida and Albert made their home in Cleveland, Ohio - and together they had 4 sons:
1907 - William Henry
1909 - Robert Richard
1914 - Clarence Paul
1916 - Albert Herman
Life was tough for the Heft family. Being a recent immigrant with little education, making an honest living was very hard. Albert became a naturalized US citizen in 1914. Before 1930, the Hefts moved from Cleveland to rural West Springfield, Pennsylvania where they worked a small farm.
Ida had frequent health problems, struggling with diabetes in her later years. She died on September 17, 1954 at the age of 66. Husband Albert died 4.5 years later on February 24, 1959. They are buried together in the East Springfield Cemetery in East Springfield, PA.
Note that all 4 of Albert's surviving siblings also emigrated to the US or Canada:
1905 - brother Leopold (Cleveland, Ohio)
1913 - sister Emma (Cleveland, Ohio) - burial location unknown
1927 - brother Julian (Webster, Alberta)
1949 - brother Henry (Kitchener, Ontario)
2 other siblings died in infancy back in Poland; his parents also died there.
Besides his 4 siblings and his paternal uncle Gustav Hoeft (with his 3 sons), there were numerous 1st cousins on his mother's side of the family who also followed him to the United States (or Canada where noted):
Children of his mother's sister Anna Heller Radzyminski:
1903 - Julia Radzyminska Kutzke
1905 - Emma Radzyminska Schmidt
1906 - Amanda Radzyminska Bayer
1907 - Ludwig Radzyminski
1913 - Rudolph (Radzyminski) Heller
1913 - 1st cousin once removed Julianna Kutzke Seidlitz, daughter of Emilie Radzyminska Kutzke
Children of his mother's brother Karl Heller:
1910 - Wanda Heller Dischleied Rumler
1911 - Martha Heller Wenderoth
1913 - William (Heller) Haller
1926 - Carl Heller - burial location unknown
Children of his mother's brother Ludwig Heller:
1911 - Felicia Heller Bolman Hein
1912 - Adolph Heller
1913 - Anna Heller Falk
1926 - 1st cousin once removed Rudolf Schlacht (Canada), son of Emilie Heller Schlacht
1927 - 1st cousin once removed Leopold Schlacht (Canada), son of Emilie Heller Schlacht
1950ish - Maria Heller Lentz (Canada) - burial location unknown
Albert Heft was the oldest child of August Ernst Hoeft and Eva Heller. He was born July 6, 1883 in the village of Radzimowice (on the eastern edge of the Sierpc Evangelical Lutheran parish) in the Plock Guberniya of Russian Poland. When he was a young child, his family moved a few miles east to the village of Mdzewo (within the Mława Evangelical Lutheran parish), where the Heller family was living. The village of Mdzewo was known as "Sewo" in German. The Hefts and Hellers were part of the extensive German diaspora living in Poland. About 25 years before Albert was born, the Hoeft family (including father August Hoeft, mother Karoline, uncle Gustav, and aunt Florentine) had emigrated from Prussia to Poland with the promise of cheap/available land, and the opportunity to better their lives. (Poland was part of the Russian empire until the end of World War I, when it became an independent country.)
NOTE - Although the headstone shows "Albert E. Heft", Albert did not have a middle name. The original version of the Heft Family Tree showed a middle name of "Ernest", but this is not correct. Albert's father did have a middle name of "Ernst", so that could be where the confusion began amongst family members. There is no middle name on Albert's birth/baptism record, or any other documents filled out by Albert (including his WWII Draft Registration card - where he specifically said "none" for middle name).
With the desire to make a better life for himself (and likely to avoid conscription into the Russian army), Albert emigrated to the United States - arriving in New York City on April 6, 1901. He traveled on to Cleveland, Ohio - which was a popular destination for German immigrants from Poland. Albert's uncle Gustav Hoeft had emigrated 8 years earlier (in 1893) and was also living in Cleveland.
While Albert spelled his surname as "Heft", his uncle Gustav retained the original spelling "Hoeft". The "Heft" spelling was due to Albert's Russian identity documents (Poland was part of the Russian empire, and official documents were required to be kept in Russian). Russian has few vowel combinations (unlike German and English), so "Hoeft" is rendered as "Heft" in Russian. Gustav, who was born in Prussia, undoubtedly had German language identity documents, which would have contained the correct spelling "Hoeft". The reason why Gustav later changed his surname to "Haft" is not known definitively, but may have been an effort to retain the original pronunciation.
On July 22, 1906 Albert married Ida Bayer, another German immigrant from Russian Poland. Ida had emigrated to the US only a year earlier in 1905. The Bayer family was from the neighboring village in Poland, called Strzegowo. It is likely that Albert and Ida knew each other before coming to the US, as their families would have attended the same Lutheran church in the town of Mlawa, Poland.
Ida and Albert made their home in Cleveland, Ohio - and together they had 4 sons:
1907 - William Henry
1909 - Robert Richard
1914 - Clarence Paul
1916 - Albert Herman
Life was tough for the Heft family. Being a recent immigrant with little education, making an honest living was very hard. Albert became a naturalized US citizen in 1914. Before 1930, the Hefts moved from Cleveland to rural West Springfield, Pennsylvania where they worked a small farm.
Ida had frequent health problems, struggling with diabetes in her later years. She died on September 17, 1954 at the age of 66. Husband Albert died 4.5 years later on February 24, 1959. They are buried together in the East Springfield Cemetery in East Springfield, PA.
Note that all 4 of Albert's surviving siblings also emigrated to the US or Canada:
1905 - brother Leopold (Cleveland, Ohio)
1913 - sister Emma (Cleveland, Ohio) - burial location unknown
1927 - brother Julian (Webster, Alberta)
1949 - brother Henry (Kitchener, Ontario)
2 other siblings died in infancy back in Poland; his parents also died there.
Besides his 4 siblings and his paternal uncle Gustav Hoeft (with his 3 sons), there were numerous 1st cousins on his mother's side of the family who also followed him to the United States (or Canada where noted):
Children of his mother's sister Anna Heller Radzyminski:
1903 - Julia Radzyminska Kutzke
1905 - Emma Radzyminska Schmidt
1906 - Amanda Radzyminska Bayer
1907 - Ludwig Radzyminski
1913 - Rudolph (Radzyminski) Heller
1913 - 1st cousin once removed Julianna Kutzke Seidlitz, daughter of Emilie Radzyminska Kutzke
Children of his mother's brother Karl Heller:
1910 - Wanda Heller Dischleied Rumler
1911 - Martha Heller Wenderoth
1913 - William (Heller) Haller
1926 - Carl Heller - burial location unknown
Children of his mother's brother Ludwig Heller:
1911 - Felicia Heller Bolman Hein
1912 - Adolph Heller
1913 - Anna Heller Falk
1926 - 1st cousin once removed Rudolf Schlacht (Canada), son of Emilie Heller Schlacht
1927 - 1st cousin once removed Leopold Schlacht (Canada), son of Emilie Heller Schlacht
1950ish - Maria Heller Lentz (Canada) - burial location unknown
Bio updated on 02/04/2024
Albert Heft was the oldest child of August Ernst Hoeft and Eva Heller. He was born July 6, 1883 in the village of Radzimowice (on the eastern edge of the Sierpc Evangelical Lutheran parish) in the Plock Guberniya of Russian Poland. When he was a young child, his family moved a few miles east to the village of Mdzewo (within the Mława Evangelical Lutheran parish), where the Heller family was living. The village of Mdzewo was known as "Sewo" in German. The Hefts and Hellers were part of the extensive German diaspora living in Poland. About 25 years before Albert was born, the Hoeft family (including father August Hoeft, mother Karoline, uncle Gustav, and aunt Florentine) had emigrated from Prussia to Poland with the promise of cheap/available land, and the opportunity to better their lives. (Poland was part of the Russian empire until the end of World War I, when it became an independent country.)
NOTE - Although the headstone shows "Albert E. Heft", Albert did not have a middle name. The original version of the Heft Family Tree showed a middle name of "Ernest", but this is not correct. Albert's father did have a middle name of "Ernst", so that could be where the confusion began amongst family members. There is no middle name on Albert's birth/baptism record, or any other documents filled out by Albert (including his WWII Draft Registration card - where he specifically said "none" for middle name).
With the desire to make a better life for himself (and likely to avoid conscription into the Russian army), Albert emigrated to the United States - arriving in New York City on April 6, 1901. He traveled on to Cleveland, Ohio - which was a popular destination for German immigrants from Poland. Albert's uncle Gustav Hoeft had emigrated 8 years earlier (in 1893) and was also living in Cleveland.
While Albert spelled his surname as "Heft", his uncle Gustav retained the original spelling "Hoeft". The "Heft" spelling was due to Albert's Russian identity documents (Poland was part of the Russian empire, and official documents were required to be kept in Russian). Russian has few vowel combinations (unlike German and English), so "Hoeft" is rendered as "Heft" in Russian. Gustav, who was born in Prussia, undoubtedly had German language identity documents, which would have contained the correct spelling "Hoeft". The reason why Gustav later changed his surname to "Haft" is not known definitively, but may have been an effort to retain the original pronunciation.
On July 22, 1906 Albert married Ida Bayer, another German immigrant from Russian Poland. Ida had emigrated to the US only a year earlier in 1905. The Bayer family was from the neighboring village in Poland, called Strzegowo. It is likely that Albert and Ida knew each other before coming to the US, as their families would have attended the same Lutheran church in the town of Mlawa, Poland.
Ida and Albert made their home in Cleveland, Ohio - and together they had 4 sons:
1907 - William Henry
1909 - Robert Richard
1914 - Clarence Paul
1916 - Albert Herman
Life was tough for the Heft family. Being a recent immigrant with little education, making an honest living was very hard. Albert became a naturalized US citizen in 1914. Before 1930, the Hefts moved from Cleveland to rural West Springfield, Pennsylvania where they worked a small farm.
Ida had frequent health problems, struggling with diabetes in her later years. She died on September 17, 1954 at the age of 66. Husband Albert died 4.5 years later on February 24, 1959. They are buried together in the East Springfield Cemetery in East Springfield, PA.
Note that all 4 of Albert's surviving siblings also emigrated to the US or Canada:
1905 - brother Leopold (Cleveland, Ohio)
1913 - sister Emma (Cleveland, Ohio) - burial location unknown
1927 - brother Julian (Webster, Alberta)
1949 - brother Henry (Kitchener, Ontario)
2 other siblings died in infancy back in Poland; his parents also died there.
Besides his 4 siblings and his paternal uncle Gustav Hoeft (with his 3 sons), there were numerous 1st cousins on his mother's side of the family who also followed him to the United States (or Canada where noted):
Children of his mother's sister Anna Heller Radzyminski:
1903 - Julia Radzyminska Kutzke
1905 - Emma Radzyminska Schmidt
1906 - Amanda Radzyminska Bayer
1907 - Ludwig Radzyminski
1913 - Rudolph (Radzyminski) Heller
1913 - 1st cousin once removed Julianna Kutzke Seidlitz, daughter of Emilie Radzyminska Kutzke
Children of his mother's brother Karl Heller:
1910 - Wanda Heller Dischleied Rumler
1911 - Martha Heller Wenderoth
1913 - William (Heller) Haller
1926 - Carl Heller - burial location unknown
Children of his mother's brother Ludwig Heller:
1911 - Felicia Heller Bolman Hein
1912 - Adolph Heller
1913 - Anna Heller Falk
1926 - 1st cousin once removed Rudolf Schlacht (Canada), son of Emilie Heller Schlacht
1927 - 1st cousin once removed Leopold Schlacht (Canada), son of Emilie Heller Schlacht
1950ish - Maria Heller Lentz (Canada) - burial location unknown
Albert Heft was the oldest child of August Ernst Hoeft and Eva Heller. He was born July 6, 1883 in the village of Radzimowice (on the eastern edge of the Sierpc Evangelical Lutheran parish) in the Plock Guberniya of Russian Poland. When he was a young child, his family moved a few miles east to the village of Mdzewo (within the Mława Evangelical Lutheran parish), where the Heller family was living. The village of Mdzewo was known as "Sewo" in German. The Hefts and Hellers were part of the extensive German diaspora living in Poland. About 25 years before Albert was born, the Hoeft family (including father August Hoeft, mother Karoline, uncle Gustav, and aunt Florentine) had emigrated from Prussia to Poland with the promise of cheap/available land, and the opportunity to better their lives. (Poland was part of the Russian empire until the end of World War I, when it became an independent country.)
NOTE - Although the headstone shows "Albert E. Heft", Albert did not have a middle name. The original version of the Heft Family Tree showed a middle name of "Ernest", but this is not correct. Albert's father did have a middle name of "Ernst", so that could be where the confusion began amongst family members. There is no middle name on Albert's birth/baptism record, or any other documents filled out by Albert (including his WWII Draft Registration card - where he specifically said "none" for middle name).
With the desire to make a better life for himself (and likely to avoid conscription into the Russian army), Albert emigrated to the United States - arriving in New York City on April 6, 1901. He traveled on to Cleveland, Ohio - which was a popular destination for German immigrants from Poland. Albert's uncle Gustav Hoeft had emigrated 8 years earlier (in 1893) and was also living in Cleveland.
While Albert spelled his surname as "Heft", his uncle Gustav retained the original spelling "Hoeft". The "Heft" spelling was due to Albert's Russian identity documents (Poland was part of the Russian empire, and official documents were required to be kept in Russian). Russian has few vowel combinations (unlike German and English), so "Hoeft" is rendered as "Heft" in Russian. Gustav, who was born in Prussia, undoubtedly had German language identity documents, which would have contained the correct spelling "Hoeft". The reason why Gustav later changed his surname to "Haft" is not known definitively, but may have been an effort to retain the original pronunciation.
On July 22, 1906 Albert married Ida Bayer, another German immigrant from Russian Poland. Ida had emigrated to the US only a year earlier in 1905. The Bayer family was from the neighboring village in Poland, called Strzegowo. It is likely that Albert and Ida knew each other before coming to the US, as their families would have attended the same Lutheran church in the town of Mlawa, Poland.
Ida and Albert made their home in Cleveland, Ohio - and together they had 4 sons:
1907 - William Henry
1909 - Robert Richard
1914 - Clarence Paul
1916 - Albert Herman
Life was tough for the Heft family. Being a recent immigrant with little education, making an honest living was very hard. Albert became a naturalized US citizen in 1914. Before 1930, the Hefts moved from Cleveland to rural West Springfield, Pennsylvania where they worked a small farm.
Ida had frequent health problems, struggling with diabetes in her later years. She died on September 17, 1954 at the age of 66. Husband Albert died 4.5 years later on February 24, 1959. They are buried together in the East Springfield Cemetery in East Springfield, PA.
Note that all 4 of Albert's surviving siblings also emigrated to the US or Canada:
1905 - brother Leopold (Cleveland, Ohio)
1913 - sister Emma (Cleveland, Ohio) - burial location unknown
1927 - brother Julian (Webster, Alberta)
1949 - brother Henry (Kitchener, Ontario)
2 other siblings died in infancy back in Poland; his parents also died there.
Besides his 4 siblings and his paternal uncle Gustav Hoeft (with his 3 sons), there were numerous 1st cousins on his mother's side of the family who also followed him to the United States (or Canada where noted):
Children of his mother's sister Anna Heller Radzyminski:
1903 - Julia Radzyminska Kutzke
1905 - Emma Radzyminska Schmidt
1906 - Amanda Radzyminska Bayer
1907 - Ludwig Radzyminski
1913 - Rudolph (Radzyminski) Heller
1913 - 1st cousin once removed Julianna Kutzke Seidlitz, daughter of Emilie Radzyminska Kutzke
Children of his mother's brother Karl Heller:
1910 - Wanda Heller Dischleied Rumler
1911 - Martha Heller Wenderoth
1913 - William (Heller) Haller
1926 - Carl Heller - burial location unknown
Children of his mother's brother Ludwig Heller:
1911 - Felicia Heller Bolman Hein
1912 - Adolph Heller
1913 - Anna Heller Falk
1926 - 1st cousin once removed Rudolf Schlacht (Canada), son of Emilie Heller Schlacht
1927 - 1st cousin once removed Leopold Schlacht (Canada), son of Emilie Heller Schlacht
1950ish - Maria Heller Lentz (Canada) - burial location unknown
