Weiherman

Weiherman Family Links

Pictured above: The Weiherman Family Farm  (DeKalb County) The Weiherman Family history is under construction. Lineage needs to be charted, connections refined, immigration established and records organized. The Table of Contents...

The German Immigration: Our Version of the Boat People

It is interesting to note that my Irish and German ancestors arrived simultaneously during two waves of immigration that marked the fifth thru seventh decades of the 19th century– the...

Weihermans & Kopfers

John George Weiherman was born September 22, 1863 in Thunhofer, Ansbach, Bayern.  We will refer to him as George to set him apart from his son and our grandfather,  John....

Laura Clara Lena Kopfer

I will introduce the basic biographical sketch info but this page will come alive when we add our memories of Grandma Laura (third face from the left in the photo below)....

John Weiherman

My grandfather John Mathias Weiherman, was born on October 15, 1890 in DeKalb County, Illinois. Names changed as Europeans came to America: Johann became John, Mathias would become Matthew. He...

William Frederick “Chief” Weiherman & “Wifey’”

Frederick William (“Chief”) Weiherman was born in 1894.  He was a brother to my grandfather, John Weiherman. That would make him a great uncle to those of us who descend from...

Tracking Down the Immigrant Grandparents

“You have to have skills.” Napolean Dynamite coached Pedro. “Numchuk skills.” It takes more than skills to find some of our ancestors, especially those who began life in a foreign...

Letters from Siberia, 1919

Private Harvey Kopfer, born April 18, 1890 in DeKalb County, Illinois, was the oldest of the Kopfer children. His WWI draft card in 1917 identified him as “medium height, medium build, dark...

Townships in the Plat Map Research

To help those unfamiliar with DeKalb County I am providing this partial map of the county (southern end), showing the three townships thus far examined for family farms on the...

Part III: Family Farm Properties: Victor Twp, DeKalb Co. IL

DOCUMENT ONE: Northern Victor Township This is a really classic example of a 19th century network of family farms. The Sawyer clan dominates the northwest corner of Victor Township. Census...