Wentzel Wettengel (abt. 1845 - 1925)

Born about 1845 in Thein, Plan, Bohemia, Austro-Hungary

Husband of Mary Esther (Cooper) Wettengel — married about 1919 in Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska, United States

Died 1925 at about age 80 in Omaha, Douglas, Nebraska, United States

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Biography

Wentzel Wettengel has German Roots.

Wentzel Wettengel migrated from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the United States.

Wentzel was born about 1845 in Bohemia, at that time part of the Hapsburg Austro-Hungarian Empire.^[1] He was the son of Franz Wettengel (1834-1886) and Marianna Schreitter.

He arrived in New York from Bremen aboard the ship O Thijen with his parents, an older brother Franz and younger sister Anne in 1855.^[2]

Around 1869 he married Magdalena M Hahn, a fellow Bohemian immigrant. Over the next 12 years they had 7 children, the eldest in Appleton, Wisconsin, the rest in Iowa:

• Alvina M Wettengel 1871- m.(1) Helmkamp; m.(2) 1925 James B. Fitch
• Rebecca "Bessie" Wettengel 1872–1959 m. Frank R Thompson, one son Francis, widowed before 1910. Worked in a dried goods store. Died in Jackson, Missouri.
• Bruno Wettengel 1872–1937 Blacksmith, m. Jennie Dahlbum, sons Ralph and Roy, daughter Mrs C L Clines.
• Frank Wettengel 1874–1918 m. 1906 Emma Blackledge. Worked as foreman for a glass company. Died of acute lymphatic something. Buried in Kansas City
• Florentine (Floratina) Wettengel 1876–1963 m.1896 Benjamin S Briggs d.1951, children Robert, Jessie, Josephus, Rhoda^[3] Died and buried in Douglas, NE
• Edmund Wettengel 1879–1934, married Ethel,^[4] son Edmund Weston Wettengel, died in Bethesda, Maryland. Sometime glass worker, sometime truck driver.
• Anna Regina Wettengel 1881–1962 m.1915 George Washington Schneider (1866-1946 - previously married with children), had one son George Wenzel Schneider; died in Jackson MO.

By 1880 they were living in Dunlap, Harrison County, Iowa.

Wentzel originally plied his trade as a wagonmaker, before generalising more as a blacksmith, a trade in which he apprenticed his son Bruno.

Presumably Magdalena passed away sometime before 1900, although some accounts say she died in Iowa in 1913.

By 1900 Wentzel and some of his (now adult) children were living in Omaha, Nebraska. His son Bruno married his wife Jennie there and in 1910 Wentzel was living with their family.

Sometime around 1919, or maybe 1920, Wentzel married the twice-widowed Mary Esther Kragler, who was raising a young son on her own. For a few years he was the boy's de facto stepfather.

Sadly, he passed away in 1925 in Douglas, Nebraska. His widow did not marry again and passed away in 1951.

Sources

1. ↑ It is a majority German area even today, where it forms part of the Czech Republic.
2. ↑ New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 via Ancestry.com (subscription required)
3. ↑ see 1910 Federal Census
4. ↑ finding a maiden name is proving difficult... FindAGrave here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/82819548/ethel-e.-wettengel

• Ancestry.com