Hicke Osterkamp (1819-1889)

Born: December 9, 1819

Died: July 25, 1889

Hicke Jansen Osterkamp was the first of his family to come to the United States.

He was born on December 9, 1819, in East Friesland, Hanover, Kingdom of Hanover, now in north-central Germany. At age 29, he immigrated to the United States by sailing on the Amy from the German port of Bremerhaven to New York, arriving on June 14, 1849. He settled in St. Louis.

Hicke was approximately five feet, ten inches tall, with a light complexion, blue eyes, and light hair.

On January 9, 1853, in St. Louis, Hicke, age 33, married 24-year-old Caroline Nicolai, an immigrant from Württemberg. In the next five years, they had three children: Emil (1853), Robert (1855) and Julius (1858). Julius died before his second birthday, but Emil and Robert reached adulthood. The family was Lutheran, and attended Robert Immanuel Lutheran Church,3540 Marcus Avenue.

On June 10, 1857, Hicke took advantage of the Land Act of 1820 to purchase 80 acres in St. Louis' Soulard neighborhood, where he and Caroline opened a grocery and liquor store at the northeast corner of Soulard and 13th. The business was successful, and by 1860, their real estate was valued at $5,000 (about $110,000 in 2008 dollars), with their personal property worth $900 (about $20,000 in 2008 dollars). On October 22, 1860, Hicke filed his second set of naturalization papers, thereby fulfilling the requirements for U.S. citizenship.

Although he suffered from epilepsy, Hicke enlisted in the Union Army for three years on August 23, 1861, shortly after the Civil War began, and was assigned as a private in Company B of the Second Regiment, U.S. Reserve Corps, Missouri Infantry, a newly formed unit consisting of mostly German-American citizens of St. Louis' Second Ward, between the Soulard neighborhoodand Chouteau Avenue. Although much of Missouri's population sympathized with the Confederacy, the state's numerous German immigrants were generally pro-Union, in part because "many could see the parallel between the Southern 'slave baron' vs. the feudal baron that denied peasants the right to own land in the old fatherland." During much of his service, Hicke's company guarded a railroad near Rolla, Missouri.

Hicke was discharged on February 6, 1862, because his epileptic condition apparently worsened to the point that he was, in the words of the officer who filled out his disability discharge form, "hafing the fits."

After his Civil War service, Hicke returned home and continued to operate the family grocery/liquor store with Caroline. However, times were hard. By 1870, the value of the family’s real estate remained $5,000 (about $110,000 in 2008 dollars), while their personal estate declined to $500 (about $8,000 in 2008 dollars). To help his parents, 14-year-old Robert worked in a brickyard.

By the late 1870s, Hicke's epilepsy had apparently worsened to the point that he was listed as an invalid on an 1879 military pension application card, and as retired on an 1880 U.S. Census form. Caroline continued to run the grocery, while Emil, a courier, and Robert, a cloth whitener, continued to live at home. Hicke's health was so poor that when Caroline made her will in 1883, she arranged for the couple's assets to be held by Robert in trust for his father.

Hicke died of epilepsy at age 69 on July 25, 1889, at the family home, 1121 Soulard Street. He is buried at Gatewood Gardens Cemetery, formerly Picker's Cemetery.

Family
Wife: Caroline Osterkamp (Nicolai) (1829-1884)

Children: Emil Osterkamp (1853-1914) Robert Osterkamp (1855-1915) Julius Osterkamp (1858-1860)

Grandchildren: Charles Osterkamp (1884-1947) Fred Osterkamp (1885-1947) Arthur Osterkamp (1887-1974) Walter R. Osterkamp (1888-1916) Walter H. Osterkamp (1890-1963) Clifton Osterkamp (1892-1959) Ella Osterkamp (1893-1894)

Greatgrandchildren: Roy Osterkamp (1912-2002) Nanon Masconi (Osterkamp) (c.1921-1962) Walter H. Osterkamp, Jr. (1924-1993) Susan McConnell (Osterkamp) (b. 1935) Waite Osterkamp (b. 1939)

Trivia
Hicke's name was commonly misspelled, particularly as "Hecke," "Heke" and "Hirte." It was also sometimes Americanized to "Henry."