I am lookingfor info on my Great Great Grandfather Ferdinand Haevers.. I know he was born in 1842 in St. Agatha Rode Brabant Vlaams Belgium, and died here in Green Bay Wi in 1909. he was in the civil war and up till now we believed he was raised in the historic Tank Cottage by the Tank family from an infant , he was sent here because of a scandle due to his mother being a Belgien princess, and his father being possibly Napoleon ...well the Napoleon thing is fable because the dates dont match up (Napolen died 21 years before Fredinands birth) and we found out he came here when he was 13 with 2 brothers... I don't even have names for the brothers because we never knew thy existed.. Tank cottage historical society says they do have record of him being there in the 1800s but know nothing of how long he was there or his parents..I have looked everywhere ..I can't find a birthcirtificate or anything on his birthparents .. if anyone can help please do
Kisha

I am a descendant of Ferdinand Haevers too. But this is the first time I heard anything about his being a princess or anything. There is really very little info about his parents out there, but I thought his parents were from France for some reason.

Ferdinand Haevers was also my great great grandfather. I know he had twelve children. My great grandfather was his son Martin. Which of his children are you descended from?

I am a descendant of Ferdinand's son Phillip, who is my g-g-great grandpa. It seems that Ferdinand had no recollection at all of who his parents were. One of his obituaries I read said he claimed to live in a Catholic instition/ophanage in Brussels being looked after by nuns before going to America. He said that a nun brought him to "great tomb" and she said that his mother laid in there. That's all I know of his parents. Then again, the obituary said that he liked to romanticize his life. He still was very accomplished and lived a colorful life.

HI !!! Ferdinands son Amos, had a son Clifford, who was my Grandfather who had Claude, my dad... the stories of royalty being in the family probobly started from Ferdinand himself.. we were always told when we were kids that Ferdinand was the son of a Belgien Princess, possibly also the son of Napleon or one of his men... the dates don't match for Napoeon, however I do know that he was raised at the historic Tank Cottage in Green Bay WI, they don't know much about where he comes from either... I did find a few interesting documents on him though, theres a history book thats out of print called "Our belgein ancestors in the civil war" that has a picture of him and a whole chapter !!7 pages on his life and it does say that he was quite the story teller about his past... newspaper article from his death saying that he shot the horse from under Mckinnley!! , I also know that the farm he had in Luxemberg is still being run by his ghreat great grandson I believe who is an artist that did these huge dinosaur sculptures for the Green Bay meuseum. so very very interesting guy ... just wish I knew who his parents were..

Hi Kisha,

The guy who does the dinosaurs is my brother, Donald DeBaker. I along with my brother Don and sisters, Barbara, Sharon, and Jeanne were raised on the original farm which is now considered a century farm. The house I was raised in had been the original log cabin. My parents renovated this home.

My father, Clarence DeBaker, and my mother, Juliette Haevers DeBaker lived at this farm from the time of their marriage which I believe was in 1934. They lived and cared for my mother's parents, Nathalie Van Caster Haevers and Martin Haevers. Martin, my grandfather, was a son of Ferdinand.

Our mother, Juliette Haevers DeBaker, is 92 and resides at the Odd Fellows Home.

oh thats awsome..I never knew I had so many relatives out there, this all started as a Geneology project for my step Daughter for school, looking up her family tree started getting me back into mine, My Dad is Claude, son of Clifford,who was son of Amos, one of Ferdiands sons. My Parents new of some distant cousins, some older ladies that were so into figuring out this royalty thing that they actually went to elgium and France looking for answers but unfortunitly I believe they passed away and all of thier answers with them.. but I will keep searching.. there has to be a record of his birthparents somewhere.. Thanx for the info !!!!! Kisha

Kisha, Everything you have heard about Ferdinand's beginnings, I have also heard but have had difficulty believing. I heard he was stowaway on a boat that docked at the New Orleans harbor and that he was the son of a Belgian princess. The stowaway story sounds more credible because he did serve in the South during the Civil War. The rest, I think, is perhaps his own fantasy.

Actually I do know ..from the book "The Second Battle, A history Of aour Belgiun Ancestors in the Civil War" that he did come over in a ship called The Emrald Isle with another family. the Pieare Drey(sp?) family.. I did some research and found the ships log with thier names on. as I have been seasrching I came accross an 80 year old man who also was also related to ferdinand.. he found a ton of info for me, I saved all his Emails, and in one of them he describes the chapter in the book about the civil war, it says that ( and you may already know this ) but he spoke 7 languages, he was, raised in Tank Cottage by Mary tank, who tought him to read etc. then he went to the civil war..then settled in New Orleans I beleive.. the oposit side of the war he was on, ran for office and won, over the very popular incumbant, even considering he fought for the other side, but the incumbant refused to turn over the books and give him office so he settled in Luxemberg, where his grave is I believe, he held an office there too. an obituary I have also tells the story of how he shot the horse from Mckinnley, a story we were also told as kids. I found a Plat map of the old farm too.. its very interesting ..oh theres aslo a book I havent had a chance to read yet ..its by the Reentmeesters about Belgiun ancestors who setled in Luxemberg.. theres suposed to be alot of stuff about him there too... and it also I guess says Ferdinand had a brother.. but theres nothing on the ships records or anything, I am sure he may have had sibblings but I doubt they will be easy to find. Kisha

Kisha--if you are still interested, I may be of help. I have recently spoken to several of our relatives in GB and am re-starting my quest for answers to some of your questions. The princess thing was a mistake I think--closer to a marquis. Several things don't make sense in his story and but colorful he was indeed. I have pictures of his grave, home, church, and gradually acquiring those of his children. Father Charlie Duerr (Albertine who owned the hat shop was his mother)who was a lawyer for the Catholic church in GB did much research and visited St Agatha, according to my father, Ferdinand. Father Charlie died years ago, but he has a sister and niece somewhere. That is where I hope to start.