About two years ago, I wrote a post titled, Henry V’s Angel. In that post, I mentioned the fact that it was the fifth time that the name, Henry Miesner, had been a main character in one of these stories. It was also mentioned that Henry had a wife named Engel, which means angel in German. I found another Henry Miesner to write about today, so I just had to call him Henry VI (Henry the Sixth) and believe it or not, this Henry’s second wife was named Engel. This is likely to be a rather short story because I found very few documents to be included in Henry VI’s life history. His story, though, is a difficult one for me to set aside because today would be Henry VI’s bicentennial birthday.

Claus Heinrich Miesner was born on May 25, 1825, thus making today his 200th birthday. Henry was the son of yet another Heinrich Miesner and his wife, Margaretha (unknown maiden name). Henry was born and baptized in Scheeßel, Germany, and we are able to view his German baptism record.

Most of Henry’s life was spent in Germany. I think Henry was married twice in Germany. Our German Family Tree says that his first wife was named Anna Meyer. Below is information found in the GFT about Anna.

Regardless of her maiden name, according to the GFT info shown above, Anna died in February of 1871 in Germany. Prior to her death, our GFT indicates that this couple had 3 children, one of which probably died in Germany. Then in around 1872, Henry married again. Our GFT says her name was Engel Meyer, and she was born on September 30, 1838. She was the daughter of Johann and Engel (Grobruegge) Meyer. I am not aware if Henry’s 2 Meyer wives were related to one another.

If I have found the correct immigration documentation for Henry, it indicates that he came to this country in 1884. Below is a passenger list for the ship, Westphalia, that includes the names of Henry, Engel, and Margaretha Miesner. The ages for these three are correct, so I think this is the correct Henry Miesner family. The only questionable item is that it says they were headed to Michigan.

Another son of Henry Miesner by his first marriage named Johann Heinrich Miesner must have come to this country aboard another ship at a different time. A record in the books of Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob, Illinois says that Henry Miesner became a communicant member at that church in 1885. His son, Johann Heinrich became a voting member of that congregation in 1888.

Since both Henry and his second wife, Engel, died prior to the 1900 census, and since we cannot view the 1890 census, we never see them in an American census entry. Several events took place in this Miesner family in the late 1890’s. First of all, the son, Johann Heinrich, married Anna Dreyer in April of 1896. This Miesner/Dreyer couple had their story told in the post titled, Widowed in Winter – Joined during June in Jacob. That son was also called Henry Miesner during his life, and he is one of the 5 Henry Miesner’s whose stories have been previously told on this blog.

Not long after that wedding, today’s birthday boy, Henry Miesner, died in September of that same year, 1896. Henry’s death record from the books of Christ Lutheran Church in Jacob is displayed below. The pastor who wrote this death record included plenty of information about him. For one thing, it mentions that his first wife, Anna Meyer, died in Germany in 1871, and it mentions that his second wife was named Engel Meyer.

In February of 1897, the daughter of Henry, Margaretha Miesner, married Ferdinand Kloepper at Christ Lutheran Church in St. Louis. That couple’s church marriage record found on Ancestry.com is pictured in 2 images below. Margaretha’s brother, Heinrich Miesner, is listed as one of her witnesses.

In August of 1898, Engel Miesner died at the age of 59. Her death record from the books of Christ, Jacob is shown here.

Both Henry and Engel Miesner are buried in the Christ Lutheran Cemetery in Jacob.

Now, the blog has gotten up to Henry the Sixth. I don’t know if we will ever get all the way up to Henry the Eighth, but, as I have done in the previous post about Henry the Fifth, I am going to share this video of Henry the Eighth performed by Herman’s Hermits. Perhaps this may be a good way to sing “Happy Birthday” to today’s Henry the Sixth.