Note: Frank Stephey married Sarah Amanda Easterheld.  This is the documentation we have on Sarah Amanda Easterheld’s family.  See below in red. 

 

 

Osterhout

~ Easterheld, Esterbeld, Esterhill ~

From Germany to Kansas

 

 

Henry Easterheld (Heinrich Osterhout) came to America between 1847 –1851 from Kassel, Hesse Darmstat, Germany.  As his migration in America continued, and his family grew, the name Osterhout was changed to many variations.  It appears he migrated first to Ohio where he married [1] Polly Hawk on April 22, 1852 in Seneca County, Ohio.  Their first child, Anna M. Easterhill was born in Ohio June 11, 1854. (Anna died March 23, 1876 and is buried in Good Hope Cemetery, Woodbury Co, Iowa).  Family history suggests that Henry knew other German families in Michigan.  Their second daughter, Lydia A. Easterheld (Higday) was born in 1856 in Michigan.  Henry wrote to his sister Ann Mary (Osterhout or Esterbeld) Maystead, still in Germany, and exclaimed such glowing accounts of the opportunities available in the new country that he persuaded Henry W. and Ann Mary Maystead to bring their family to America.  Henry W. and Ann Mary (Esterbeld) Maystead immigrated to Burr Oak, Michigan in 1855. 

 

By 1859 Henry Easterheld and his family were in Iowa.  His land purchase in Winneshiek Co, is dated December 31, 1859.  Both his 3rd and 4th  daughters were born in Iowa.  Elizabeth Easterhill (Howder) was born in 1858 and Emma was born November 22, 1864.  (Emma died April 28, 1878 and is buried in Good Hope Cemetery, Woodbury Co, Iowa).  It is believed Polly Hawk died in 1878, after giving birth to Emma. 

 

On July 04, 1867, Henry Easterheld married [2] Matilda Talitha Windell Mann.  Matilda was born October 15, 1840 in Ohio. (Matilda married [1] James Mann, son of Joseph Mann and Rebecca Gibson, of Virginia.  They had no children).

 

By 1870 Henry and Matilda appear in Winneshiek Co, Glenwood Twp, Iowa, with their first 2 children, Martha and William Henry and 2 of Henry’s daughter’s by Polly Hawk, Anna and Lydia.  Polly and Henry’s other 2 daughters, ‘Lizzie’ age 10 and Emma age 6, are living in other area households and called Domestic Servants on the 1870 Winneshiek, Co, Iowa census.

 

After an apparent dispute with neighbors sometime in 1880, Henry and Matilda moved their family to Arkansas City, Kansas.  A letter suggesting why they left Iowa has survived in the family trunk.  Henry and Matilda lived in Arkansas City, Kansas , both dying the same week from typhoid in February 1894.  They are buried in Tannehill Cemetery, Cowley County, Kansas.

 

 

Henry and Polly Hawk had five known children:

ANNA M EASTERHELD, b. June 11, 1854, Ohio; d. March 23, 1876, Iowa  21years, 9mos, 12 days.

 

LYDIA A EASTERHELD, b. June 16, 1857, Michigan Name spelled Easterhill in Iowa mg. records "Litti"; d. March 17, 1931, Sioux City, Woodbury, Iowa; m. WILLIAM HIGDAY, September 12, 1880, Plymouth County, Iowa; b. 1854, Wisconsin; d. May 04, 1928, Sioux City, Woodbury, Iowa.

 

ELIZABETH ESTHERHILL, b. June 26, 1859, Decorah, Winneshiek,Iowa; d. May 24, 1942, Richland, Benton, Washington  82years, 10mos, 28dys.  .  She married HENRY G. HOWDER November 23, 1879 in Cherokee Co Iowa, son of GIDEON HOUDER and SUSANNA GRUBE.  He was born November 09, 1844 in Lancaster, PA, and died April 08, 1919 in Creighton, Knox, Nebraska.

 

MERRI MARY OSTERHOUT, b. May 22, 1862, Iowa.

 

EMMA EASTERHILL, b. May 17, 1864, Iowa; d. April 28, 1878, Iowa 13 years, 11 mos, 11 days.

 

 

Henry and Matilda had eight known children:

MARTHA "MATTIE" ELLEN EASTERHELD, b. April 04, 1868, Sioux City, Woodbury Co, Iowa; d. October 27, 1947, Greeley, Weld Co, Colorado.

She married [1]Harvey Dwyer June 29, 1884 in Cowley Co. Kansas. [2] Max Cadoo.  [3] Hawks.  [4] Davidson.  [5] Bultena.

 

WILLIAM HENRY EASTERHELD, b. November 07, 1869, Iowa; d. October 04, 1954.

 

GEORGE LEWIS EASTERHELD, b. November 21, 1871, Iowa; d. August 21, 1929.

 

SARAH AMANDA EASTERHELD, b. January 11, 1874, Correctionville, Woodbury Co, Iowa; d. June 04, 1931, Arkansas City, Kansas. She married Frank Stephey November 05, 1895, Woodbury Co, Iowa.

 

EDWARD JAMES EASTERHELD, b. March 26, 1876 Iowa; He married MAY (Cherokee Indian).

 

MINNIE CHRISTINE EASTERHELD, b. September 15, 1880, Correctionville, Woodbury Co, Iowa; d. October 07, 1963, Glenwood Springs, Garfield Co, Colorado. She married Charles W. Gates July 20, 1896, Newkirk, Oklahoma.

 

CHARLES LOGAN EASTERHELD, b. January 05, 1883, Kansas; d. October 12, 1924. He married RUTH (Cherokee Indian).

 

MYRTLE TALITHA EASTERHELD, b. May 12, 1885, Kansas; d. October 08, 1885

 

After an apparent dispute with neighbors sometime in 1880, Henry and Matilda moved their family to Arkansas City, Kansas.  A letter suggesting why they left Iowa has survived in the family trunk.  Henry and Matilda lived in Arkansas City, Kansas , both dying the same week from typhoid in February 1894.  They are buried in Tannehill Cemetery, Cowley County, Kansas.

 

 

 

                                                            

      Henry Easterheld                          Henry and Matilda Easterheld                          Matilda Windell Mann Easterheld

              Abt 1890                                               Abt 1880                                                           Abt 1870

 

 

                        ~