Dr. Herman Kiefer
He fled Germany in 1849 with a sword, a diploma and a small bag of gold coins. Detroit knows his name from a hospital. This is the rest of the story — told by his family.
Dr. Herman Kiefer, Regent of the University of MichiganThue recht und scheue niemand.
“Do right and fear no one.”
The Kiefer family motto · from the family coat of arms
A revolutionary who became a pillar of Detroit — and whose son refused to have a hospital named after himself.
For a hundred years, most people knew only the name on the building. In 1951 his grandson wrote the whole story down and left blank pages at the back for the next generation. This website is that next volume.
The Story
Each chapter is also a 90-second episode. ★ marks the essential ten.
The Book in the Attic
A grandson writes everything down — and leaves blank pages for us.
The Legend
A Dutch knight, a Margrave's daughter, and Napoleon's gold snuff box.
The Mystery of 1825
Two records, two mothers — and a student dare with chloroform.
1848
A medical student helps lead a revolution for a free press and trial by jury.
Rats in a Trap
Battle, excommunication, exile — and a new life in Detroit.
The Stubborn Wife
She refused to sign — and built the family a fortune.
Lincoln's Man
Founding the Republican Party, campaigning for Lincoln, and the Civil War.
The Doctor
A window sash, a barrel hoop and a beaver hat full of money.
Consul and Regent
A U.S. consul in Germany, and the builder of a medical school.
Nine Children
Named for revolutionaries, poets and a president.
Alfred
A mining engineer with eleven duels behind him.
Arthur, Keeper of the Papers
Napoleon's dueling pistols, a professor's ashes, and the family archive.
The Artist
A prize at the Paris Salon — and a marriage to the woman in the painting.
The Tanner
The world's largest pigskin tannery — and a family's grief.
Hermina
The daughter who married her father's successor.
The Name on the Hospital
Guy built a hospital — and refused to let them name it after him.
A Broken Heart
Two years, three funerals, and a hospital that bears his name.
The Twins
One lost in Kansas City at 26; one who carried the line forward.
Marybeth
A wedding in 1942, and a name passed down to the present.
Volume Two
The blank pages are yours. Come and fill them.
The Six Children
Nine were born; six grew up. Each went in a different direction, and each left descendants we are still finding.
Alfred Kossuth
Mining engineer, banker and paper-mill founder. Fought eleven student duels in Germany.
Arthur Egmont
Engineer who saved his father's papers — and inherited Napoleon's dueling pistols.
Edwin Hans
Won a prize at the 1890 Paris Salon, then married the woman in the painting.
Edgar Siegfried
Built the world's largest pigskin tannery, in Grand Rapids and Chicago.
Hermina Cora
Married her father's successor; the old doctor spent his last year in her home.
Guy Lincoln
Built Detroit's health department and named its hospital for his father.
These are my roots
Dr. Herman Kiefer1825 – 19113rd great-grandfather
Arthur Egmont Kiefer1855 – 19322nd great-grandfather
Herman Guy Kiefer1889 – 1936Great-grandfather
Mary Elizabeth (Marybeth) Kiefer Blackburn1918 – 2007Grandmother
James Herman Blackburnb. 1956Father
James Joseph Blackburnb. 1979Me
Olivia James Blackburnb. 2019Daughter
"They wanted to call it the 'Guy Kiefer Hospital' but Guy wouldn't have it and got them to change it to the 'Herman Kiefer Hospital' after his father."Josephine "Aunt Jo" Kiefer, 1949
The blank pages are yours.
Bajis, Bayliss, Blackburn, Bonning, Danziger, Gilbert, Heym, Jones, Kiefer, Lawrie, Marr, Nilsson, Orr, Owen, Parker — if one of these names is in your family, you belong here.
