Category: Wisconsin

From Johann Leopold Schwittkowski to John Paul Hennig: A Family Name’s Journey

Every family tree has a few surprise twists—hidden stories that explain how we became who we are today. One of those stories in my family starts with a young man from Prussia who carried an impossibly long last name and an unshakable sense of purpose. His name was Johann Leopold Schwittkowski… until he decided it shouldn’t be.

This is the story of how he became John Paul Hennig, and how that decision shaped every generation that followed.

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A Boy from West Prussia

Johann Leopold entered the world on a chilly November day in 1865, in a place called Danziger Höhe, tucked inside West Prussia. His parents, Johann and Maria Elisabeth (née Hennig), were young and raising a bustling household. Over time, the house filled with siblings—Joseph, Anton, Paul, and several others. One little sister, Maria Elisabeth, only stayed for three months, leaving a small shadow of grief behind.

When Johann’s father died in 1883, seventeen-year-old Johann stepped up. He helped his mother keep the family together—likely working the land and caring for the younger children, already showing the grit that would carry him across an ocean.

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Crossing the Atlantic

By 1891, adventure was calling. Johann, 26, and his brother Anton packed their hopes, said their goodbyes, and boarded the Belgenland in Antwerp, bound for Philadelphia. They stepped onto American soil on May 25, aiming to build new lives in Milwaukee.

Two years later, love bloomed. On October 4, 1893, Johann married Augusta Julie Reikowski—and because this family never does things halfway, Anton got married the very same day. It must have been one spectacular double wedding.

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Why the Name Became Hennig

Around 1910–1911, something shifted. The family began using the surname Hennig, which had been Johann’s mother’s maiden name.

Why? According to naturalization papers from Johann’s brother Paul, the old name—Schwittkowski—sounded too Polish to people at the time. Johann was proud of his German heritage, and he wanted his family to be seen for who they were. So, he chose to honor his mother’s family name instead.

And just like that, Johann Leopold Schwittkowski became John Paul Hennig.

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A Life of Hard Work

John worked as a grain elevator operator for years, providing for his growing family. When a strike and crop shortages hit in 1921, he pivoted and went to work at the Falk Corporation iron foundry.

On February 4, 1933, at 67, he passed away in Milwaukee after a cerebral hemorrhage. It was the end of his story—but the beginning of ours under a new name.

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His Legacy

Sometimes family history isn’t about famous names or dramatic events.
Sometimes it’s about one man who quietly carried his family’s past across an ocean, chose a new name, and built a foundation for generations to come.

That’s who Johann—our John—was.
The man who turned Schwittkowski into Hennig, and gave us a fresh start.

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