Name appears as Heinrich Christoph in the German records and as Johann Heinrich in the Heidemann Genealogy.

From the Heidemann Genealogy, pp. 5-2 to 5-4:

Henry came with his family from Germany to Illinois (south of Chicago) in the 1860s. They came to Nebraska in 1872 and homesteaded 80 acres in Section 28 of Olive Township, Saline County. The family consisted of the parents (Hans and Maria) and five boys: Christoph, Hans, Henry, Conrad and August. Christ Bartels bought 160 acres in Section 16 of Blakely Township in Gage County east of Plymouth from the State of Nebraska (school land) and in October of 1878 deeded over 5 acres to the First Trinity Church where their brick church, school and parsonage stand to this day along Highway #4. Conrad Bartels also lived around Plymouth, and is buried west of town in the St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery. The rest of the family lived on the homestead in Saline County, and according to the record made various improvements.

Young Henry was farming in Fillmore County when he applied for his marriage license in May of 1876. He probably rented the land he farmed as his name does not appear as a landowner in the Fillmore County records. On Nov. 14, 1879, Henry and Lotta purchased 160 acres of land in the southeast part of Section 35 in Olive Township, Saline County, from Samuel C. Smith and his wife Nellie who lived in Webster County at the time. They paid $800.00 for the land which was located along Swan Creek about two miles south of where the Heidemann family lived.

The first child born to Henry and Lotta was Henry F. Bartels, who was baptized by Pastor C. H. Lentzsch from First Trinity east of Plymouth. Seeing the need for a church of their own, on Feb. 2, 1879, several families gathered together and drew up the constitution for the German Evangelical Zions Congregaton. Henry Bartels, his father Hans Heinrich C. Bartels, his brother August Bartels, his father-in-law F. A. Heidemann, his brother-in-law Fred W. Endorf, and a cousin of his father who just came from Illinois, F. C. Bartels and F. C.’s oldest son Fritz Bartels were seven of the nine original charter members who signed the constitution.

The first Zion Church was a sod house with lean-to in F. A. Heidemann’s pasture in Section 26. It also served as a parsonage for Pastor Simon Meeske and as the parochial school. In 1880, Henry’s father donated five acres of land in the northeast part of his homestead for the Zion congregation to build a frame structure for its church and school. Hans Heinrich C. Bartels passsed away in 1882, and in settling his estate in 1884 the following family members deeded over the five acres to the Zion congregation: Maria his widow, Christ and wife Catherine, Hans and wife Anna, Henry and wife Charlotte, Conrad and wife Johanna, and August and wife Caroline.

August and Lena Bartels farmed the homested land next to the old Zion Church, school and cemetery, and also bought the 80 acres joining it to the west giving them the northwest quarter of Sction 28. Henry and Lotta continued to farm along Swan Creek in Section 35, and attended the Zion Church as seven on their 11 children were born in this area. Six were baptized at Zion with the daughter Dora dying in infancy and buried in the old Zion Cemetery. Henry F., the oldest son, was confirmed by Pastor Meeske in 1891, and the last son born in the Tobias area, Louis, was baptized in March of 1892.

Henry and Lotta sold their quarter in Section 35 on July 29, 1892, to Christian Schwiesow for $4,800.00. They had a $2,500.00 mortgage that was due in September of 1896 which they paid off. They moved to Webster County and bought the northewest quarter of Section 4 in Catherton Township. Their last four children were born on this farm located southeast of Campbell, Neb.

Henry and Lotta were founding members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Campbell, founded in 1897. They retired from farming and moved into a two-story house in the southwest part of Campbell in 1920. The house now serves as a combination parsonage and Wesleyan church.

Henry and Lotta had a granddaughter, Dora (daughter of their son Henry), who used to drive her grandparents' car (a big Chrysler) back to Tobias, Plymouth, and Beatrice so that Henry and Lotta could visit relatives.

Henry’s youngest brother August and wife Lena Bartels sold the family homestead land near Tobias in 1905 and moved to South Dakota settling in the Pierre area. The Bartels families around Campbell are distant cousins to those who live around Tobias, although the Campbell families pronounce their last name “bar-TELLS” while those at Tobias are known as “BAR-tuls.”

From the Heidemann Genealogy (p. 5-2):

First Trinity Lutheran Church is east of Plymouth in Gage County. The church building they used at that time was the brick schoolhouse that still stands today just west of the Homestead National Monument on Cub Creek.

Charlotte Heidemann and Henry Bartels were married there by Pastor Lentzsch.