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IN SEARCH OF A NEW LIFE
My second
great grandparents immigrated to America in 1875 aboard the S. S. Oder of the
North German Lloyd line. This ship was
launched in December 1873 and she began her maiden voyage on 23 May 1874
sailing from Bremen to New York. There
was accommodation for 90 first class, 126 second class, and 650 third class
(steerage) passengers. She wrecked in a
storm on 30 May 1887 in the Indian Ocean.
So, she was new when the Wickenheiser family booked cabins, to arrive in
New York on 01 February 1875.
The family
consisted of Anton Josef Wickenheiser, his wife Thekla (Rabitz) Wickenheiser,
and their children Nicolaus, Maria, and Rosa.
Anton was 46 years of age and was listed as a merchant. Thekla was 42 and listed as wife. Nicolas was 14, unknown occupation, Marie was
9, Rosa was 5, and they were listed as children. The family originated in Baden Rohrbach,
Germany. The total number of children in the family was listed as 11 in Anton’s
obituary, a son born in Germany that never immigrated, possibly died as a child,
the 3 who immigrated, and the rest born in America. Eventually Anton’s brothers, Jacob, Philip,
and Paul joined Anton in Carleton, MI.
There was a brief stop in Pennsylvania. That is where the fifth brother,
Johan, stopped his travels, and a branch of the family tree still resides.
The reason
for leaving their homeland is unknown, but the five brothers had sons, and
Germany was in a state of turmoil. Army conscriptions were taking place, and
the economy was in a mess. The fact that Anton and his family traveled in first
class not steerage leads one to believe they were well off.
Anton and
his family settled in Ash Township, Michigan. Anton settled to a life of
farming, but also had a share in the WIckenheiser Dairy which operated in
Carleton, MI for many years. He died of
a heart attack after taking his grandchildren to school on 21 February
1908. His son Nicolaus married Anna
Knable and had 9 children, among them my grandfather August John (Gus)
Wickenheiser. Grandpa Nick lived to the
age of 91, living in the home of Gus and his wife Lena (Rivard). My grandfather Gus died in 1942, his father
outliving him until 1952, still in the home of his daughter in law Lena.
The new life
sought by Anton and Thekla Wickenheiser extends to the present day. The descendants of his grandson Gus and wife
Lena are still a close-knit group. Much of the family are still in the area
Anton and Thekla settled in, but some have moved to other locations. We gather
every two years for a huge family reunion, with cousins from all over the
United States and abroad coming to celebrate our family. We used to have the extended family as well,
but frankly the children and grandchildren and their descendants pretty much
fill the large park where we gather.
Our ties to
Germany are tenuous. My uncles and their cousins fought during WWII against
Germany, but several of us have visited the country to see where we came
from. I guess the most accurate
statement is that we are German in ancestry but American at heart.
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