Hicke Osterkamp (1819-1889)

= Hecke J. Osterkamp =

Hecke was the first of his family to come to the United States.

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

On January 9, 1853, Hecke, age 33, married 24-year-old Caroline Nicolai in St. Louis. In the next five years, they had three children: Emil (10/29/1853), Robert (10/16/1856) and Julius (11/1858). Julius died on August 11, 1860, but Emil and Robert reached adulthood.

To support their family, Hecke and Caroline opened a family grocery in St. Louis. The business was successful, and by 1860, they owned real estate valued at $5,000 (about $110,000 in 2007 dollars) and had a personal estate worth $900 (about $20,000 in 2007 dollars).

Hecke enlisted in the Union Army on May 7, 1861, shortly after the Civil War began, and served for three months as a private in the Second Regiment, U.S. Reserve Corps, Missouri Infantry. He was discharged on August 16, 1861.

Hecke returned home and continued to operate the family grocery with Caroline. However, times were hard. By 1870, the value of the family’s real estate remained $5,000 (about $80,000 in 2007 dollars), and their personal estate had declined to $500 (about $8,000 in 2007 dollars). To help his parents, 14-year-old Robert worked in a brickyard.