Wilhelm Joseph Selker (1865 - 1916)

Born 8 Oct 1865 in Fürstenau, Bersenbrück, Hannover, Deutscher Bund

Descendants

Died 4 Sep 1916 at age 50 in Warren, Warren, Pennsylvania, United States

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Biography

Wilhelm Joseph Selker was born in Fürstenau (currently district Osnabrück, Lower Saxony) on 8 October 1865 as son of mason master Georg Selker and his wife Elisabetha nee Hofhaus.^[1] On 10 October 1865 he was baptized in the Protestant church there. Witnesses were dayworker Wilhelm Hofhaus and wife Margaretha Josephine Schäfer nee Weitzel, both from Fürstenau.^[2]

He emigrated from Germany to the United States via Rotterdam and arrived in New York around the end of October 1885. Between then and 1905 he lived in Pittsburgh and Clarion, both Pennsylvania.^[3]

According to a letter by his brother-in-law Valentine Hüfner, William and his wife were planning to visit her uncle's family in Germany in 1906.^[4]

Cigar maker Joseph William Selker died on 4 September 1916 in a hospital in Warren and is buried in Clarion.^[5]

Research notes

• Baptism record found in St. Katharina Fürstenau which seems to be a catholic church.
• Birthday in death record has wrong year. Also it has the wrong father's name, which looking at the unknown mother, probably was due to general lack of knowledge.^[5]
• Philomena Minnie (Selker) Lauer (1887-1965) is his niece.

Sources

1. ↑ Matricula online > Deutschland > Osnabrück, rk. Bistum > Fürstenau St. Katharina > Taufen F102-1 (1. Januar 1853 – 31. März 1870, 0034) > picture 0044. Taufen 1865, #16.
2. ↑ "Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1971". Citing Baptism, Fürstenau, Bersenbrück, Hannover, Preußen, Deutschland, Bersenbrück, Fürstenau, Gehrde u. Kr, German Lutheran Collection, various parishes, Germany. FamilySearch Record: QPDH-1BC8 (accessed 22 April 2022) FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-CS8Y-53K3 Image number 00255. Wilhelm Joseph Selker baptism in 10 Okt 1865 (born 08 Okt 1865) in Fürstenau, Bersenbrück, Hannover, Preußen, Deutschland.
3. ↑ "United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV5Y-J5MD : 16 March 2018), Joseph William Selker, 1906; citing Passport Application, Pennsylvania, United States, source certificate #6831, Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 - March 31, 1925, 2, NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
4. ↑ Letter from Valentine and Amalia Huefner of 27 August 1905
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/84311543/joseph-william-selker : accessed 22 April 2022), memorial page for Joseph William Selker (8 Oct 1865–4 Sep 1916), Find A Grave: Memorial #84311543, citing Immaculate Conception Cemetery, Clarion, Clarion County, Pennsylvania, USA ; Maintained by FMF-DOC (contributor 48546734) . (includes death record)