vTHROUGH THE LENS continued from page 29 started to look at a few headstones myself only to have my breath knocked out of me as I read the name Hieb on three headstones. Knowing my mother was a Hieb, I snapped a few photographs and would later find out if there was a connection to our family. We continued onto the original homestead for the Hauck family where they first settled when they arrived to the Dakota Territory to stake out the land after arriving at the port of Baltimore, Maryland in 1876 on the S.S. Leipzeg, a German Ship. The Hauck families’ ancestors had left Germany because of economic and political conditions such as being forced to serve in the military. They had settled in southern Russia and now migrated to America. Their trials and tribulations are so similar to many immigrants that arrived and homesteaded. They spoke their homeland language and had to learn English. The weather was harsh here in the Dakota Territory, and for the first few years the winters were so bad that they considered going back. But winter wasn’t the only thing that was hard, there were other deterrents such as droughts, floods, grasshoppers and lack of transportation were just a few obstacles to overcome. Because of their determination and hard work they managed to slowly but surely make a fair living to improve their homesteads. I had a déjà vu moment as we walked around the original property, where only a windmill, a barn and a family cemetery still remain, and the remnants of the home collapsed on the ground, all but one roof peak and a screen door still upright. I knew I had been here before but could’ve sworn most of the house was standing at the time. I say my goodbyes late that afternoon to all the members of the Hauck/Burrell family and thank them for allowing me to be a part of this walk through their past. As I head home that day I can’t shake knowing that I had photographed the old homestead location before, and I spend days going through hundreds of folders on my hard drive with thousands of photos from the years of traveling the back roads to capture the many abandoned locations and document at least with photography before they are gone. I finally find the folder with the Hauck’s homestead and house still standing taken over six years ago. One mystery solved and now I must know my own connection to the cemetery holding the Hieb headstones. I reach out to my aunt who has our family tree information. These were indeed our ancestors, but I needed to know more and how we were connected. For those that have worked with their own genealogy you might have discovered how maddening it can be as you try to navigate through a web of names, birthdates, marriages, deaths and bloodlines to follow just like the roots of a tree that spread out further and further, one root stretching till it forks off in other directions and each root repeating and continuing in the same manner. After countless hours of research I was finally able to track down my line of ancestors to the original Hiebs’ that immigrated as well to the Dakota Territory and with the help of my husband who’s job requires him to track land deeds he found my Great, Great, Great Grandfather and Grandmother Patent’s (Land Deeds) and print them out. This became emotional for me to discover as I had no knowledge of where my family began. My great, great, great grandfather Jakob Hieb was born in a small village in Russia. When war broke out in Russia, he and his wife feared that they might lose some of their children, so they brought their family to America, along with two of his brothers Balthasar and Michael and their 1101 Broadway Ste. 105, Morgen Square 605.665.2448 www.scottfamilysmiles.com Experience Gentle, Personalized Dental Care For Your Entire Family! 30vHERVOICEvJULY/AUGUST 2019