Kienow Family History and Heritage

Where do we come from?

Many of the records we find in the U.S. don't provide us with the answer to this question. They mention Pomerania, Germany, Bremen, Maas, Metz, Mazo, Horst, and Massow. It wasn't until we began examining microfilmed records from different areas in Pommern that we came across birth records, death records and marriage records of some of our earlier ancestors. Those records were recorded, for the most part, in a town called Meesow (pronounced 'MAY - zo), in a county (kreis) called Regenwalde, which is in an area now part of Poland. Its currently called Mieszewo, Poland (latitude 53.5833, longitude 15.3833). It's not easy to find in any online maps, but look near Dobra (Daber), Poland. I have found it on the National Geographic website, and on another site, Worldwide Directory of Cities and Towns. You can also find information about Mieszewo and other towns in Regenwalde at the Kreis Regenwalde website. Check out our other recommended sites on our Favorites page.

How did we get here?

Most of us were born here in America, but a few came to the U.S. on ships late in the 1800's. The ships carried about 1,000 passengers and took about 2 - 3 weeks to get from northern Germany to the United States, arriving in either New York or Baltimore. They would then probably take a train to Minnesota.

How long have we been here?

The first of my ancestors arrived in 1878. They were Fredericka Kienow Pofahl, her husband Ferdinand, and their children Herman, Robert, and Bertha. In April of 1881, Emilie Kienow Wolf and her husband Friedrich Wolf, their children Auguste and Anna, along with Emilie's mother Wilhelmine (Fredericka's mother, too) arrived, traveling on the SS Hohenstauffen. In 1883, William Kienow, his wife Henriette, and their children Ernestine, Hermann, Albert, Robert, and Anna arrived on the SS Hohenzollern in Baltimore. Then in 1884, the last of our family to immigrate, Frank Kienow (Fredericka and Emilie's brother) and his wife Albertine arrive in the U.S. aboard the ship SS Strassburg.

How many of us are there?

My genealogy database reports 614 direct descendants of Ludwig Kienow, along with 314 spouses, for a total of 928 (+/- a few updates). There are 9 generations of his descendants (so far). If you visit Paul Kienow's website, you'll find several other Kienow lines that we haven't proven a connection with, yet, but they're still Kienows. 

Update June 4, 2014 - Paul's website has been offline for sometime, but the WayBack Machine at archive.org has a snapshot from 2010 I've linked to.

 

Where are we now?

Most of us are still centered around Minnesota, but there has been some spreading throughout the Midwestern United States. Many of the other branches are centered in Wisconsin, South Dakota and Nebraska, with some appearances in Oregon and Washington (the KIENOW grocery stores).