Heisel History: A Story of Conquest, Missions, and Pioneering

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• The Teutonic Conquests
• A New Threat
• A Period of Frequent Change
• Baptist Missionaries
• American Pioneering
• Genetics and Re-writing History
• The Nitty Gritty
• So What? What Does It Mean?

Italicized history segments will be referenced at the bottom. Some images can be enlarged.

The earliest Heisel ancestors, to which the Heisels of northeast Wisconsin owe their namesake, were a Germanic people of Teutonic descent. This family likely originated in the 1100's (or earlier) in what is now Southern Germany; however, at the time, the area would have been the center of the Holy Roman Empire, possibly in the region of Bavaria.

Modern surname analysis in Europe supports this geographic placement. Statistically, the area of Germany with the highest number of Heisels is the southwestern German state of Saarland along the French border, approximately 35 miles southeast of Luxembourg. The geographic epicenter (see map here) of Germanic Heisels is the town of Saarlouis with the most popular cities being Puttlingen, Volklingen, Mettlach, and Dillingen. Saar is the name of the river that many of these cities sit upon and which forms a natural historical boundary between the Frankish and Germanic kingdoms. While this area is slightly further west than the traditional area of Teutonic families, it's possible many of the Heisels were displaced westward after the 1400's from the invasion of Asian peoples, such as the Magyars, and Eastern Europeans from the Balkans.

It's likely that the variation of the Heisel name, along with Heiss, Heise, Heisler, Heyse, and others, was established during the time of the Crusades. The variation 'Heisel', and possibly others as well, translates to "little house" in an old dialect of German. While the name 'Heisel' is a generally uncommon name with relatively few members around the world, our family's ancestors have made an impressionable mark throughout world history through an interesting series of conquests, missions, and pioneering.

The Conquests: Who are Teutonic Peoples?
The Teutonic Knights were a military and religious order founded in the late 1100's by German merchant crusaders of noble birth that served to defend the roads to Palestine during the Third Crusade in 1190. While the Teutonic Order stayed in Palestine until 1244 when they were defeated by the Ayyubids, the Knights embarked on an extensive military campaign in Prussia as early as 1229. When the Order was ousted from Transylvanian Hungary after growing too powerful from helping their kingdom defend against the Cuman-Kipchaks in 1225, the Order dedicated their military operations to Prussia, where they became the armed vanguard of the German eastward expansion. They expanded their territories eastwards from Germany and supported their colonization by building fortresses as they moved. Except for some church territories, the Knight's empire stretched from Prussia to Estonia on the Baltic coast.

In West Prussia, the knights built various cities and castles, the fortress at Marienburg being the most famous as it was the seat of the Order's grand master. Under the protection of the Order's fortified castles, German farmers colonized the rich lands and developed the soil's potential, while the Slavic tribes were converted to German Roman Catholicism. However, after a number of military defeats against the Polish and Lithuanians in the 1400's, and after the last grand master Albert of Hohenzollern adopted Lutheranism and secularized the order and its territories in 1525, the Order was ousted from Prussia, and they concentrated on their possessions in the Holy Roman Empire.

The first Heisels into the Prussian lands were likely Teutonic Knights from the Holy Roman Empire who were called by Duke Konrad of Masovia to conquer the Baltic Prussian tribes on his northern borders. During 60 years of struggles against the Old Prussians, the Knights established an independent monastic state (Ordensstaat) that came to control the region of Prussia. By 1237, the Teutonic Order controlled Livonia. This area of control today contains most of northern Poland and all the Baltic states up to Estonia.

A New Threat
By 1241, just a few short years later, the Order would recognize a new threat from the largest empire the world ever saw--the Mongols. After devasting and routing the lands of Rus, the vastly superior Mongol army set their sights on Central Europe. The Mongol general Subutai sent many spies into Poland, Austria, and Hungary and learned of their kingdoms prior to attack. Subutai orchestrated a multipronged attack that sent simultaneous armies into Poland, Transylvania, and Hungary. One Mongol column traveled far north through Poland into Teutonic territory before meeting other Mongol forces again to fight the forces of Poland and Silesia at the battle of Liegnitz. It's here that it's recorded, perhaps errantly, a contingent of Teutonic forces aided the Poles and also engaged the Mongols, aka the Golden Horde commanded by Batu Khan. The fragmented Polish army lost the battle handily, and few survived, but the Teutonic Order would have surely learned of this horrendous threat quickly as Mongols continued to plague Eastern Europe for many decades. The purpose of the Polish invasion was only to flank the Hungarians, the Mongol's primary target, to the south; after Liegnitz, the Mongols crushed the Hungarians at the Battle of Mohi. Half of Hungary's population was killed; those that didn't resist were forced into the Mongol army. The Mongols were utterly brutal in their rape, pillaging, and destruction of the land and people.

After Hungary, the Mongols continued to invade Moravia and Bohemia (modern Czechia), the remainder of Silesia (southwestern Poland), Bulgaria, the outskirts of Germany and Austria, and Croatia before finally withdrawing back to the lands of Rus. Fortunately for the rest of Europe, the kingdoms of Bohemia, Germany (Saxony), and Austria were more successful at repelling the Golden Horde from their lands, but the real reasons for the Mongolian withdrawal had more to do with Mongolian infighting (a civil war of sorts) between Batu Khan, leader of the Golden Horde, and Güyük, son of the Great Khan Ögedei. Both were grandsons of Genghis Khan, and both sought the power of the Great Khanate Empire when Ögedei died. Additionally, there was extremely heavy rain the year the Mongols invaded, which turned the flat Hungarian plains into vast marshlands, and the Mongolian armies wished to withdraw to the lands of Rus. Ironically, Güyük died before he could fight Batu in person, and Batu died before he could finish planning a second invasion of Europe.

Batu's younger brother Berke assumed command of the great Golden Horde, and in 1259, the Mongols attacked Poland again, much harder than they did 18 years earlier. Under command of General Burundai and princes Nogai and Talabuga, the Mongolian army of 20,000 men ravaged and plundered the cities of Lesser Poland (modern southeastern Poland). Poland was devastated. Another 28 years later, the Mongols invaded Lesser Poland again with 30,000 men, but Europe, seemingly fed up with the attacks, was able to stave off the Mongols with reinforcements under Duke Leszek II. Other European kingdoms continued to fight against the invasions, such as Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia, and Germany, until 1341 when the Mongolian military units finally started to withdraw from Eastern Europe. Europeans saw the military might of the Golden Horde starting to weaken, and many kingdoms that had been essentially abolished under the Mongolian rule, such as Georgia, Lithuania, Hungary, and Russia, rose again and pushed the Asian forces out of Europe. However, while the Asian armies left, some of their seeds remained. For over 100 years, Central Asian families, families of the Mongolian armies, occupied Eastern European lands and lands adjacent to Teutonic Prussia, Poland, and other Central European countries. Many Asian families, while not necessarily of Mongolian origin, but ones based on Central Asian conscription, stayed behind, and they flourished greatly and had many, many children. The extent of the Mongolian cultural and demographic impacts from this time period is still being realized today.

For the next few centuries after this period of eastern instability, German immigrants flooded this realm that would become Ostpreußen (East Prussia) in a process called Ostsiedlung (eastward expansion). This brought changes in the ethnic composition as well as in language, culture, and law of the German lands. As most of these settlers were Germans, Low German became the dominant language. The Teutonic settlements provided a place of safety and stability for all the immigrants. Heilsburg (on the map), for instance, means "safe, healthy castle." As the immigrants came, the Teutonic knights continued to prove themselves as one of the most dominant fighting forces in the world outside of the Golden Horde. They were seen as practically invincible as they continued to push back Lithuanian, Polish, and other Baltic forces.

A Period of Frequent Change
Many Heisel families flourished in East Prussia as they would have been given land grants in recognition of their service to develop the land and establish farms throughout the countryside under the fiefdom of the Teutonic Order. Undoubtedly, many of the Heisels left the Teutonic service as they aged and became civilians. Over the years, as the kingdom of Poland and the Duchy of Lithuania rose in power, the Teutonic realm decreased in size. After a series of humbling defeats against Poland in the 15th century, the world finally saw the Teutonic knights as able to be defeated. The Order was decimated after the Battle of Grunwald in the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic War, and they again lost the Thirteen Years' War. Afterward, the Teutonic Order controlled only a small region (now Russia (Kaliningrad oblast)) along the Baltic Sea by 1466. Any German citizens would have been incorporated into Poland or Lithuania.

After the Polish-Teutonic War (1519-21), the former leader of the Teutonic Knights, Grand Master Albert I, resigned with the signing of the Treaty of Kraków in 1525. Albert I received the title of Duke of Prussia. With that, the Teutonic Order in Prussia ended, and the Duchy of Prussia, a fief of Poland, was born. It was during Albert I's rule that the Lutheran-based Reformation swept through most of the Holy Roman Empire, and Albert himself became a Lutheran Protestant. He then strove to secularize the Order's Prussian territories. The inviting and religiously tolerant policies of Albert I's successor, Frederick William I (1640-1688), and his descendants made the region a hospitable place to live, farm, and build families.

After Poland ceded Prussia and when it became necessary to establish a powerful military to protect the growing state's disconnected territories, the Duchy of Prussia became the Kingdom of Prussia under Frederick I in 1701. Starting with his rule, the Kingdom of Prussia saw great expansion and began to grow beyond Prussia proper (East Prussia) and Brandenburg; it also included Pomerania, western Germany, Silesia, and parts of Austria, Poland, and the Holy Roman Empire. King Frederick II, "the Great", introduced a general civil code, abolished torture, promoted an advanced secondary education, built up Prussia's military power and made it the best army in the world capable of winning most battles, opened Prussia's borders to immigrants fleeing from religious persecution, such as the Huguenots, and allowed Prussia to become a safe haven similar to how the United States did in the 19th century.

It was during this time of great prosperity from the mid 1700's to the early 1800's that any German-based Heisel families would have been re-annexed into Kingdom of Prussia from Lithuania and Poland, and Lutheranism would have spread like wildfire into the region. It's likely many of the Heisels would have converted to Lutheranism.

Unfortunately, Prussia's great prosperity halted once Napoleon attacked during the French Revolutionary Wars. Under the Treaties of Tilsit in 1807, Prussia lost about one-third of its area, incurred large debt, was forced to limit its army, and were to allow French troops to pass through Prussia, effectively making Prussia a French satellite. Additionally, the Holy Roman Empire was abolished. After Napoleon's defeat in Russia, however, Prussia regained autonomy and fought against the French at the Battle of Waterloo. Afterward, in 1815, Prussia regained her lost territories and also gained Rhineland, Westphalia, 40% of Saxony, and some other territories at the Congress of Vienna. Prussia essentially doubled in population and gained many industrialized cities. By this time, all peasants were liberated from serfdom, Jews became emancipated full citizens, and free trade was introduced in 1818.

The Beginning of Baptist Missions
Political unrest later occurred in Poland in the form of two major uprisings, one from 1830-31 and another from 1863-64, as people were sick of high taxes, imposts, levies, and other burdens that were imposed upon the land as a result of the Congress of Vienna and Russia taking full control of the Polish Kingdom and destroying their constitution. Between these two uprisings, a large Baptist movement began, which started with the efforts of German Baptist missionary Johann G. Oncken, who traveled to East Prussia, which was primarily Lutheran, to share the gospel. After establishing many churches, one of which was in Stolzenberg (modern-day Kaliningrad, Russia), Wilhelm Weist, the pastor of that church, crossed the border into Poland in 1858 with the goal of baptizing many Baptist converts, one of which was the newly converted Gottfried Alf, a school teacher from Mentnowo, who came to trust Christ and ask for salvation on his own.

After becoming baptized, Oncken ordained Alf, and Alf began establishing many new missions of the Stolzenberg church within Prussia. Alf felt he was the head of a revival movement intended to reach everyone, no matter their religious or ethnic background. This didn't sit well with the Lutherans, and Alf and members of the Baptist movement were often persecuted, beaten, imprisoned, thrown out of towns, and had their Bibles, tracts, money and belongings taken. Despite this, Alf continued preaching and created congregations in Adamowo and Kicin as well as various mission schools. Many other Baptist congregations grew as well, including those at Rumy and Ortelsburg (modern-day Szczytno). It's this area east of Ortelsburg from Arys (Orzysz) to Lyck (Ełk) to Borszymmen (Borzymy) and up to Marggrabowa (Olecko), Dzingellen (Dzięgiele), and Regellen (Regiele) where many Heisels had been living, presumably for hundreds of years. Because of the work of Gottfried Alf, Weist, Oncken, and others, four Heisel brothers (John, Gottlieb, Ludwig, and Fred), my ancestor and his brothers, were converted to Baptists.

Starting in 1862 and continuing through the second Polish uprising to 1865, many of Alf's Baptist converts and congregations began to leave Poland for Russian Volhynia (modern-day Western Ukraine) for a number of reasons. The primary reason was because Tsar Alexander II of Russia liberated the serfs, making the Russian lands very attractive to East Germans wanting to buy cheap, unimproved land. Germans had already began colonizing the Volhynian lands starting in 1771. Afterward, Germans from Poland and East Prussia came to Volhynia in waves; a first wave was in 1816, a second wave was in 1834, and the third started in 1861-62 with Tsar Alexander's proclamation. Alf's congregants capitalized on the situation, not just because of the cheap land, but because they hoped for greater religious freedom and to spread the Baptist message as missionaries to the Russian people who were primarily of Russian Orthodox faith. Additionally, there were many cholera outbreaks in East Prussia around that time which also factored into people leaving. For all these reasons, a very large group of East Prussians, my Heisel family included, left their centuries old homeland for Russian Ukraine in 1865 in covered wagons. It took seven weeks for them to reach their destination.

Despite Volhynia being an untamed and uncultivated wilderness with nearly no roads, Alf's congregations quickly established churches in the towns of Horstschick (Horschyk), Sorotchin (Sorochen), Neudorf Kolonie (Solodyri), and Toporitsche (Toporysche). As was common for these German immigrants, who totaled around 200,000, most of them were within a triangular region within the Zhitomir oblast of Volhynia that went from Zhitomir north to Korosten, southwest to Nowograd-Volhynsk (Zvyagel), then back to Zhitomir, with major population centers at Pulin (Pulyny) and Heimtal (Yasenivka). The church at Toporysche was called the Church of the Masuren as the particular dialect those members spoke was Polish Masuren (from the region of Masuria (Mazury)); Masuren was a combination of Polish and German. My Heisel family lived in this area of Ukraine from 1865 to 1888 and were leading members within the churches at Neudorf and Toporysche, the settlement of my ancestor John Heisel. Many church members, including the Heisels, were able to pool their funds and invest in multiple large estates in the area and became land barons. The adjacent picture is of a deed from around 1868 that lists names of Alf's congregants who purchased land in Toporysche; my grandfather Jan Heyzel [sic] is listed. Today, many of the original churches established by Alf's converts are either destroyed, dilapidated, or have been converted to Orthodox churches; however, the church at Neudorf became so large that it became known as the "mother church" and was the start of the modern-day Evangelical Baptist Union of Ukraine. In 1905, congregants at Neudorf built a larger sanctuary out of brick that could seat 2000 people; today, it is still a functional evangelical church in Solodyri, Ukraine.

Becoming American Pioneers
The mass settlements of Germans continued until about 1875 when the Tsar and the Russian government began to harbor anti-German feelings. Their resulting policies made it more difficult to acquire land, and it required the men to serve in the Russian army. This slowed the settlement process, and many Germans left for the Baltic states, Canada, the United States, South America, and Australia. Today, there are Germans from Volhynia scattered all over the world, with the greatest concentration being in western Canada. Starting in 1887, the four Heisel families began to emigrate out of Russia. John Heisel's daughter's family (William and Mary Mattrisch et al) was the first to emigrate to America. Then in 1888, John, Gottlieb, Ludwig, and Fred decided to come to America as well. It's unknown how many branches of the Heisel family decided to stay in Prussia and Russia; however, genetic testing has shown cousins living today in Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltics, indicating that there were at least some who stayed behind.

As was common for German emigrants leaving Europe, the Heisels all traveled to Hamburg, Germany with their families (not all at the same time) then sailed to New York. They all arrived at Castle Gardens in the battery in New York, which was the primary landing depot before Ellis Island was finished in 1892. John, Gottlieb, and family arrived on August 10, 1888; Ludwig and his family arrived October 29, 1888. Fred Heisel apparently made two trips, first arriving June 26, 1888 then arriving again on May 5, 1890. Fred's family arrived December 2, 1889. From New York, they took a train to Chicago, then continued north on the Northwestern line through Milwaukee, Green Bay, then finally stopping at the Coleman train depot. There were several reasons they chose that part of the country to settle. First, they were following William and Mary to Pound, who had come nearly a year before they did. Secondly, there was a similar Prussian culture gathering in Northeast Wisconsin. Thirdly and predominantly, Wisconsin was selling land so cheap, they were almost giving it away, and at that time, the train line only went as far as Ellis Junction (Crivitz) or possibly Wausaukee; however, Coleman and Pound were slightly more developed, so Coleman was essentially the end of the line where a lot of the land was being sold.

At that time, the primary occupations in town were in either lumber or farming. John's family and Gottlieb settled on the Eastern side of White Potato Lake and worked as farmers. Ludwig and Fred settled closer to Pound where they farmed and had their own businesses, Ludwig as a shoemaker. A couple of them were also influential in the coordination and foundation of the Baptist churches in Pound, first with the Union Church (now First Baptist Church), then later with the First German Church (now Pioneer Baptist Church). Most of the Heisels born outside the United States applied for citizenship in 1895 or later at the Marinette County Courthouse, a couple of them at the Brown County Courthouse. For many decades, Heisels flourished in the Coleman-Pound area. Most were farmers. Many lived in the area their whole life, and if they did, they were typically buried at the First Baptist Cemetery in Pound, Wisconsin. As others married, they moved away, some to Idaho, some to the East Coast, some to California, some to Milwaukee and other parts of Wisconsin, and everywhere in between. Many Heisels preferred to be farmers, but others decided to take on other professions in industrial work, commercial work, local politics, or starting their own business. The associated video was taken in Coleman and Pound in the 1940's, and it provides a great view of what life was like. While more antiquated, people were quite happy. In the video, you can see the public school in Coleman, which is now Faith Christian School, where I graduated; the public school in Pound, which is now the Roosevelt apartment building, currently owned by another Heisel family; First Baptist Church in Pound, which was about to or just changed its name from Union Baptist Church as well as its official language from Polish to English; and many other businesses throughout the two-village community.

Relatively few Heisels remain in the Coleman-Pound area, but at the Brazeau Cemetery, located less than 1000 feet to the northeast of the primary John-Louis Heisel homestead on White Potato Lake, lay a dedication to the early pioneers of the area, my ancestors. While no individual headstones remain at the cemetery, oral tradition avers that John Heisel, his wife Henrietta Jegentzky, and others are buried there. In the mid-1970's, Mary Heisel-Patz, Louis Heisel's daughter, submitted her copy of the cemetery map to the town of Brazeau before she died in 1977; unfortunately, that map, the only known copy, was lost. Subsequent ground-penetrating radar has been conducted on the grounds of the cemetery within the last decade, and while the findings were inconclusive, possible skeletal fragments may have been detected within the root systems of a line of trees on the north side of the cemetery. It's likely in lieu of headstones my ancestors planted trees to mark the plots, and the root systems then pulled apart their remains.

Today, there are only about 13 male Heisels left in the Marinette-Oconto County area; 1 from Fred's line, and the rest from John's line. Many others in the area are also descended from the Heisels but have taken on new names through marriage. My father, Edward, specialized in parts management but is now retired. He continues to occasionally serve on the board of trustees at First Baptist Church, the church founded by the German-Prussian migrants, including my ancestors, and it continues to serve the community, including the next generation of Heisels. Those Heisels who continue to live in the area as well as those who have moved on have a lot of heritage of which they can be proud.

Genetics and the Re-writing of History
All of the information above is true to the best of my knowledge.

However, if you read all of it, you would likely reasonably conclude that my family's paternal heritage would ultimately be indigenous European, specifically German. After all, the surname Heisel is German, correct? Most would probably assume that, and most would actually be wrong.

In fact, if you were to trace your own heritage to Eastern Europe, such as the area in and immediately around Poland, and you were under the assumption that your paternal ancestors were of indigenous European descent, there's about an 84% chance you'd be wrong too. But even more bewilderingly, if you fall within the majority of white Americans who trace their ancestry to the British Isles, you probably believe your paternal heritage is indigenous European too--after all, the British Isles are about as far from any other continent you could get and still be part of Europe. But shockingly, there's a 79-88% chance you'd still be wrong. Most of Europe is actually dominated by two genetic lines--R1a and R1b. These are paternal, Y-chromosome (y-DNA) lines, and they actually originate from Central Asia.

The Nitty Gritty
Despite mainstream science pointing to a very distant arrival of these Central Asian peoples into Europe many thousands of years ago, recent, cutting-edge research in genetics conducted by Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson of AiG is showing the timescale for their arrival is much more recent. For instance, the earliest people group from Central Asia to have entered Eastern Europe occurred as late as the 800's AD. Other people groups arrived in the immediate centuries that followed through the 1000's AD. From historical record, these dates line up with the arrival of the Magyars, Pechenegs, Oghuz, and Kipchaks--all Turkic peoples who swept westward into Europe from Central Asia. It's likely these people represent the R1b peoples who swept into Europe and who now dominate the genetic landscape of Western Europe; as much as 81% of Irish people belong to R1b for instance. A related group, the R1a peoples (a group that split from R1b between 300 BC and 200 AD), arrived in Eastern Europe a little later around the 1200's-1300's, and now Eastern Europe is dominated by those who descend from R1a. As much as 58% of Polish people can trace their heritage to these migrants. Who might these people have been from historical record? If you've been following along, you'll notice there is an obvious correlation of dates between the R1a people and the Golden Horde that flooded the plains of Rus, Hungary, and southern Poland almost 800 years ago; they also came from Central Asia.

How did relatively smaller migrant groups come to dominate Europe? The answer lies in math and biology. Regarding the latter, the arrival of Central Asians into Europe is the primary source of the bubonic plague, the continental pandemic that swept through Europe in the mid-1300's and which killed about 25 million indigenous Europeans, or roughly one third of the entire continental population at the time. Couple that with the fact the migrants had higher rates of reproduction, and it would have only taken a few centuries for the migrant population to equal then overtake the native population. The same phenomenon can be seen in migrant populations today, and it is a source of political concern for those who value historical native cultures. Whether it's Central and South Americans flooding across the southern American border or Middle Eastern refugees flooding into Europe or even Europeans flooding into Native American lands in colonial times, the concern that migrants with higher rates of reproduction will overtake the native culture is a present issue. In the case of the migrants of the Middle Ages, while their rate of reproduction was higher, it wasn't so high that the native population would have noticed or that the migrant population would have not assimilated into European culture. Today, native Poles, while over 58% Asian, will naturally ascribe to and take pride in their Polish history and culture; the Central Asians slowly adopted the culture, history, and religion of the natives. Additionally, as they reproduced, they slowly intermixed with the natives so that their appearances and autosomal genetics (their mixed father-mother nuclear genes) melded together, resulting in appearances most would not suspect as a typical person of Central Asian descent. Appearances are deceiving after all. Take for example America's former first lady Melania Trump. As a native Slovenian, she has features very characteristic of a European; however, many from the Slavic parts of Europe also have an eye shape that is not uncommon of someone of Asian descent. This feature is hidden in plain sight, but it makes sense in the context of Europe's relatively recent influx of Central Asians. It's only when a country is overtaken by force and permanently subjugated that the makeup of the society's religion and culture can be reduced or potentially erased. One thing that can't be erased is genetics.

How can we be sure of these findings? Like usual, the reason mainstream scientists get it wrong is because they're operating with the wrong worldview and under wrong assumptions. Specifically, they believe the earth is billions of years old and that humans have lived on earth for hundreds of thousands of years. To see reasons why this is a faulty worldview, visit Answers in Genesis, ICR, BSI, or CMI. But additionally, they reject or ignore findings that support a compressed timescale of a 4,500-year post-Flood earth. One common example is the case of soft dinosaur tissue found in dinosaur fossils, not just once in 2005 under secular scientist Mary Schweitzer, but multiple times since then; and despite their best efforts to explain away the impossibility of a 68-million-year-old fossil having soft tissue through the mysterious magic of iron, iron cannot be such a fantastic preservative as they need it to be. But in the case of genetics, secular scientists have found and published in mainstream journals that the mutation rate of y-DNA is 3-5 mutations per father-son generation. This is found in two studies: "The Y-Chromosome Point Mutation Rate in Humans" Nature Genetics 47, 453-457 (2015) and "Human Y Chromosome Base-Substitution Mutation Rate Measured by Direct Sequencing in a Deep-Rooting Pedigree" Current Biology 19, 1453-1457 (2009). When that rate is applied to the known Y-chromosome family tree (using data from the 1000 Genomes Project and other sources), we arrive at a common male ancestor who lived roughly 4,500 years ago, matching the biblical post-Flood timescale. In addition to that, the known y-DNA tree appears to converge upon 3 separate males, ie the sons of Noah (Japheth, Shem, and Ham). Genetic and historical research are coalescing with some fantastic findings, and one of the best researchers on this topic is, as mentioned above, Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson of AiG. Definitely purchase and read his latest book, 'Traced: Human DNA's Big Surprise', but also watch his video series he conducts with Ken Ham and others here and here. He has been able to conclusively show with numerous examples that when using a 4,500-year timescale for the y-DNA family tree, there are correlations between known history and the genetic record found in male-inherited DNA. His theory works, and it makes successful, testable predictions--the gold standard of science!

Why is the male Y-chromosome (y-DNA) so important and beneficial for research? It's because Y-DNA both records generational history with precision (unlike autosomal DNA referenced above), and it's not statistically noisy, unlike mitochondrial DNA (mt-DNA). Mitochondrial DNA, like y-DNA, is inherited from only one parent; instead of coming from fathers like y-DNA, mt-DNA is inherited only from mothers. This is because mitochondrial DNA, found in the powerhouses of our cells, is located in the ovum at conception; dad's mt-DNA is located in the tail of the sperm, but that falls off as the sperm enters the ovum at conception. Thus, the only mt-DNA a fertilized egg has to work with is from mom. The problem with using mt-DNA for historical research is that it's too resilient; mt-DNA only mutates once per 6 generations on average. Mathematically, it becomes statistically harder to track historical events in the genetic record with precision when using mt-DNA. Y-DNA, as mentioned above, has 3-5 mutations per generation, creating a much better system for tracking historical events. Autosomal DNA, the most talked about DNA that gets inherited from both mom and dad and which resides in the nucleus of our cells, gets far too diluted with genetic information each generation to be of any great use for long-term historical calculation. By simple math alone, you can see this. After only 10 generations, over roughly 300 years, any one person could have up to 1,024 different ancestors who contributed to their individual autosomal DNA. By that point, tracking the specific origins of any particular part of your DNA just 300 years in the past is nearly impossible. Coincidentally, this is the rough historical limit that DNA testing companies rarely, if ever, tell their customers--the $60-$100+ test one buys to test their autosomal DNA only goes about 300 years into the past, and usually people already have historical records to tell them who those ancestors are. Conversely, with y-DNA, you have only 1 ancestor 10 generations (or 300 years) ago who provided your y-DNA or your male relative's y-DNA (if you are a female), and with only 3-5 mutations per generation, you have a decent idea where that person fits in the global family tree, genetically, historically, and geographically, not just 300 years ago, but thousands of years ago.

So What?
What do all these things mean for our Heisel family? It was mentioned at the beginning that the Heisels of northeast Wisconsin owe their namesake to a Germanic people of Teutonic descent. I said it this way because while our immediate ancestors adopted the Heisel surname, their culture, their history, their language, and their religion from this Teutonic Prussian area, genetic testing shows that at some point there was a genetic break from the Heisels of indigenous European descent. Our Y-chromosome haplogroup (major branch) is R1a. Specifically, our subbranch is R-YP270. The adjacent table shows the estimated dates for the emergence of our Heisel line, R-YP270, using a compressed 4,500-year timescale. YBP stands for Years Before Present. The secular arrival of P represents a great grandson of Shem at the Tower of Babel, one of the grandsons of Joktan. Of course, with the further back in time comes the greater the margin of error for both the secular and Biblical dates due to the larger statistical disparity between the minimum and maximum amounts of mutations per generation; additionally, there are more assumptions about the amounts of mutations per generation the closer to Noah you go due to vastly differing and superior genetics. When R emerged around 850 BC, it split from Q, the same group that the [more recent] Native Americans are from (ie, non-Mayan, non-Olmec; little did Europeans know when they began settling the Americas that they were greeting their long-lost cousins). The date of 89 BC falls right in line for the estimate of the split of R1b and R1a. Fast forward to R-M417, and that date of 1217 AD falls within the timeframe that the Golden Horde was starting their conquests into the land of Rus. A few centuries later, and R-YP270, our Heisel branch, emerged around 1736 AD. Again, these dates are estimates.

The statistics that our Heisel line would have retained our indigenous European heritage were against us. As mentioned, the German Prussians faced plagues, invasions, attacks, and other diseases. It was a hard life, and over time, the migrants to their area were simply having more kids. Only 16% of Poland remains indigenous European (haplogroup I). As mentioned above, roughly 58% of Poland is descended from R1a peoples; 12.5% are R1b (Turkic), 3.5% are African (E1b1b), and the other 10% are people descended from either Middle Eastern (groups J, G and T) or Far East peoples (groups Q and N).

Group J is Persian; group G represents the people of Magog (largely from the Caucasus region); group T is of Abraham (descendant of Peleg) and includes the Jewish diaspora and possibly the lost tribes of Israel; and groups Q and N are of Joktan (brother of Peleg who went east), with Q being part of the Native American group and N representing the Baltic, Finnic, and Ugrian people of Siberia. Q split from branch R roughly 3 millennia ago, and N split from the Chinese branch (O) around the same time. Besides Eastern Europe, R1a is highly prevalent in one other unassuming part of the world: India. That's right, the English colonials who controlled India for nearly 100 years in the 19th and 20th centuries actually ruled over a large number of their own relatives. How could this be? It again goes back to the Mongol Empire. As the Russian empire grew in power, the Mongolian empire retreated to its Central Asian lands, but they found a new land to conquer--India. Founded in 1526 by Babur, the Mughal Empire (notice the similar name) took control of India. This is when a portion of the Mongolian empire fled to India and quickly overthrew the powers that be. Eventually that Indian empire fell to another, but the seeds of that empire is what made R1a thrive in that region.

How did our immediate Heisel ancestors join the Asian R1a branch? As highlighted above, the Teutonic knights began fighting against Central Asian invasions into Europe since the early 1200's when they defended Hungary against the Cuman-Kipchak's (R1b), then later when the Mongolian Golden Horde (R1a) began sweeping into Central Europe in 1241 AD. It should be noted that the characterization of the Golden Horde being Mongolian is a bit of a misnomer--politically, it was led by Mongolian generals, but most of the lower ranks and families were conquered peoples from Central Asia. Even after the Mongolian military order was expelled from Europe in the mid-1300's, families associated with the Golden Horde remained in Southern Poland, Lithuania, and Russia, the areas immediately to the east and south of the Teutonic realm in which the original Heisels resided. Fast forward a few centuries, and the indigenous European peoples who survived the black plague and European conquests found themselves, perhaps unknowingly in some cases, surrounded by mixed and unmixed Central Asian families who reproduced in greater numbers. The same sinful world that exists today existed back then, and while it's impossible to know the exact time, 1 of 3 scenarios exist that all result in adoption. Either a Central Asian child's parent(s) were killed from disease or murder (2), giving the fatherless child or orphan an opportunity to be adopted by a Heisel father, or a Prussian woman conceived a child, either consensually or non-consensually, out of wedlock with a man of Central Asian descent (3). Due to economic conditions, it was prudent for single or widowed women with children to find an able-bodied working man and wed sooner rather than later. Upon marriage, both the wife and child would have taken on the surname of the husband, a Heisel. While the child would be adopted into the Heisel family, the child would carry on the y-DNA of the absent Central Asian father.

Specific records for this last scenario might actually exist for our family. As mentioned, my direct ancestor John Heisel left Germany, Prussia, and Russia behind for good in 1888 when they emigrated to America with his brothers Gottlieb, Ludwig, and Fred. From death records and other sources, we know John was born in 1832 in Prussia, and their father's name was Frederich, and he would have been born between 1800-1812. While I haven't found any concrete evidence tying him to John, Gottlieb, Ludwig, or Fred, and while the surname doesn't match exactly, there are records for a Friederich Wilhelm Heyser, born in February 1802 in Angerburg (Węgorzewo), in the heart of the ancient Teutonic realm. The record matches the expected area, time, and given name perfectly. Additionally, his death in Arys (Orzysz) in 1868 was even closer to the area where John and his brothers are from; he moved there to perhaps rebuild the city or capitalize on cheap real estate as a fire destroyed nearly the whole village in 1826. The 'Heyser' surname isn't that problematic as spelling on records at the time varied wildly due to illiteracy, apathy, and poor penmanship. There is also oral tradition that the Heisels at one point went by 'von Heiseler', and as can be seen by John Heisel's ship manifest above, his name is listed as 'Heiser'. What I left out about the records is that he wasn't born a Heisel/Heyser. He was born a Gramadisch because he was born out of wedlock and took his mother's surname temporarily. His mother Anna Henrietta Gramadisch didn't marry Heinrich Heyser until later that year. Friederich's death record confirms he took his adopted father's name Heyser. While not conclusive evidence, it supports the theory Henrietta could have conceived with someone from an R1a branch before marrying Heinrich for economic support. The possibility exists that Henrietta could have conceived with Heinrich before bearing Friederich, but if that was the case, and Heinrich was in the picture, which he was, it stands to reason she would have given Friederich the surname Heyser right away even though they weren't yet married. Friederich's conception in 1801 could be the event, as late as it is, that placed us on the R1a branch instead of the I branch. It's completely unknown what the genetic father's name was if this was the case, but Friederich was adopted into the Heisel family regardless. These events would have happened just a few decades after the emergence of our branch R-YP270. Many don't realize adoption is a very likely scenario not just in their own family tree, but in their paternal lines. This means the likelihood that all the paternal ancestors for any one person have always had the same surname is pretty low. Adoption due to the father or both parents being absent or killed centuries ago was a much more common occurrence due to all the epidemics, hard living, and low lifespans. But adoption is the primary mechanism that makes it possible for the R1a and R1b peoples to have covertly replaced the indigenous European populations but kept the original European surnames. This is a shocking concept, but the latest genetics research is showing this is the case.

Of course, the Y-chromosome is only one small segment of any one male's DNA. It represents the most paternal line. But there are other paternal lines to consider, not Heisel lines, but paternal lines nonetheless, offset by at least one maternal line--your mother's dad (aka your maternal grandfather) for example. Moving up another generation, there are your paternal mother's dad and your mother's mother's dad. With each higher generation, the number of other paternal lines that have contributed to your genetics increases exponentially. But as the paternal lines increase, so does the difficulty of finding a male relative from those lines to research their (and your) genetic heritage. Sites like 23andMe make it a little easier by making male relative's y-DNA results accessible to you. On my paternal side, very few secondary paternal line data exist unfortunately. Of little consequence to anyone curious about the Heisels are the results of my father's mother's father, a Gromoske; like the Heisels, they came from Northwestern Poland (Pomerania), so they are also, unsurprisingly, from the R1a branch, but a vastly different subbranch (R-L365) that started splitting from ours around 1578 AD, roughly 14 generations ago. Of slightly more relevance to those familiar with the Heisels of Northeast Wisconsin are the results of the Sheve family. My grandfather's mother's mother's father was of the Sheve family; this would be Louis Heisel's (John Heisel's son) mother-in-law's father, and his genetics would be present in all the children of Louis and Minnie (Keshemburg) Heisel. This man, Frederick Shevey/Sheve, was apparently of more Baltic descent as he was actually from the N1 branch, the branch that many Finnish, Baltic, and Russian peoples descend from and which actually shares distant relations with the majority of the Chinese people.

Regarding our autosomal DNA, the DNA that comes from both mother and father, I can only speak for those descended from the children of Louis and Minnie Heisel as I don't have the genetic data from anyone older. Ancestry.com gives a fairly accurate ethnic breakdown and details that the children of Louis Heisel are 58% Prussian, 34% Baltic, and 8% Swedish. As mentioned before, this ethnic information can only be reliable to about 300 years ago, and this ethnic breakdown would be diluted by half for each generation removed from the children of Louis and Minnie.

Genetic information is the wave of the future for determining heredity and family lines. For those who enjoy researching ancestry, the addition of genetics has made it even more exciting. Like recorded history and genealogical records, it all helps tell a story of where we came from and what our ancestors had to endure to live a fruitful life and help the next generation succeed. Thanks for reading!