Heinrich Adolph Riedel (1842-1909)

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Heinrich Adolph Riedel

Individual Facts

Saxony, Germany, Adolph's birthplace

Story: "Immigrant and small business owner"

(By his great-granddaughter Anna)

Born in the German state of Saxony in 1869, Adolph was the descendant of innkeepers, but he became a weaver at an early age. As a young married man he migrated at least once within the region looking for better occupational opportunities.

In the Saxon town of Meerane he heard of a group (known as “Colonia Saxonia” (Saxon Colony)) that was planning to migrate to the United States. Adolph and his wife, Marie Augusta (“Augusta”), decided to join the group, which settled in the town of Forestville, Michigan, on the western shore of Lake Huron.

Adolph Riedel purchased a parcel, built a log cabin, and established a farm and orchard. Within a few years he had purchased additional land and built a hotel and saloon.

Drawing of the West End Hotel, Forestville, Michigan

Photo of the West End Hotel, Forestville, Michigan

Adolph Riedel’s hotel had a mixed reputation. On the one hand, it was a community center that hosted carnivals, parades, and plays. For example, the village’s first Oktoberfest in 1878 celebrated the fifth anniversary of the group’s arrival and the year when many members became American citizens.

On the other hand, Adolph was fined for selling whisky on the Fourth of July, and there were constant complaints by early-rising farmers who were being kept awake most of the night by drunken drag racing on horseback.

Perhaps to somehow compensate for some of the wilder goings-on in the hotel, Adolph’s wife, Augusta, donated land in Forestville for a Lutheran church.

Adolph also started other businesses in Forestville, including a blacksmith shop run by his son-in-law, Emil Zwicker, and a grain elevator, which was later taken over by my grandfather, Louis Riedel.

Shared Facts

Family of Heinrich and Marie Riedel

Relationships

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