The Wenzel branch, my paternal great grandmother's family, arrived in America with nine of their ten children in 1882 aboard the Salier out of Bremen, Germany. Ernst and Emilie Wenzel left the original family home in Kaditzsch by Grimma, in the Kingdom of Saxony, after a fire caused extensive damage to most of their barns. Ernst and Emilie raised horses on their farm, as well as having a dairy herd. Without a proper barn for their animals, catastrophe landed on their doorstep. This catastrophic event convinced them to relocate their family to America. The second reason for relocation was the Royal Prussian Army's universal military conscription of young men as soldiers. Bruno, their eldest son, was nearing the age of compulsory service, and there was concern that he would soon be drafted. Following the destruction of their their barns, the family resettled in Sproken by Muscheln, near Dresden, for a short period of time before deciding to test their luck in America.
Ernst had evidently received communication from friends who had immigrated to Wisconsin earlier and had heard of the abundant farm lands available, as well and the hunting opportunities in the state. And so, they sent the eldest child, Bruno, to America in 1881 aboard on the Vandalia. He arrived in New York on May 23, 1881.
The family followed the following year, departing from Bremen on Apr 18, 1882 aboard the Salier. They landed in New York, on Apr 18, 1882 and traveled to Wisconsin, where Ernst and Emilie purchased a farm of 80 acres in Ozaukee County.
Ernst and Emilie had 11 children.
- Alvin "Bruno"Wenzel b. Nov 6, 1863
- Reinhold Theodore Wenzel b. May 1, 1865
- Lina Laura Wenzel b. Dec 24, 1866
- Ida Flora Wenzel b. May 17, 1869
- Karl "Arthur" Wenzel b. Jul 12, 1872
- Hilma Theckla Wenel b. Oct 20, 1873
- Hugo Arno Wenzel b. Jan 27, 1875
- Martha Flora Wenzel b. May 20, 1877
- Thuska "Tosca" Wenzel b. Jan 24, 1880
- Theckla Wenzel b. Jan 24, 1880
- Tekla Wenzel b. Jun 15, 1882
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