Hiestand Family History

The Hiestand surname originated in Richterswil, Switzerland, before 1401. Some descendants were in Germany by the mid-seventeenth century. Several Hiestands had emigrated to America by the early eighteenth century, settling in Pennsylvania. One emigrant ancestor was Henry ("John" Hans Heinrich) Hiestandt (1704-1779), who was probably born in Alesheim, Germany, and is buried in Dunmore, Shenandoah Co., Virginia. He and his wife (name not known) had six children born between ca. 1732 and 1752 in Hempfield Twp., Lancaster Co., Pa. and in Orange Co. (now Page Co.), Va. Solomon Hiestand (1813-1885), son of Abraham and Susannah Bretz Hiestand, was born in Fairfield Co., Ohio. Solomon moved to Marion Co., Illinois in 1840, and there married Martha Pruett (d. 1898) in 1841. Family members and descendants live in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Illinois and elsewhere.