William Carl Mueller   Anna Rieckmann Mueller

Signature of William Mueller from marriage license

Wilhelm Carl Christian Mueller was born October 24, 1869, in Triepkendorf, Kr. Strelitz, Mecklenburg-Strelitz. This village is about 50 miles north of Berlin, but is in a different "state". He was the son of Karl Friedrich Adolph Wilhelm Mueller, who was a master-weaver in Triepkendorf, and Johanna Karoline Friedericke Regling. Karl had been born in Laeven, the next village north-east of Triepkendorf, and was the son of Friedrich Mueller who was also a master-weaver.

Johanna was one of a pair of twins. Her brother was named Johann Karl Friedrich. There were 9 children born to her parents, 3 pair of twins and 2 single births, but only four of them survived childhood. Johanna was born in Mechow (a village east of Triepkendorf) but her father was later listed as a farmer in Triepkendorf. Johanna's grandmother was Johanna Beier. The Beiers were a farm family in Triepkendorf, and there are still Beiers living in there today. (2002)

Life was probably hard for Karl and Johanna. They lived in a small house in Triepkendorf, with a small amount of land for garden and a little livestock. The house is still being lived in; it has a wide central hall-way, which may have been the weaving room, with small rooms off either side.

Weavers by the middle of the 19th century were in a precarious position. The industrial revolution had mechanized weaving so that the individual weavers were being forced out of business. That's probably why young Wilhelm learned the trade of shoe-making, rather than continuing in the long line of weavers from whom he descended. His uncles who were also weavers were the only other ones of his family to emigrate to the U.S. The inn-keeper uncles apparently had a good enough livelihood to remain in their homeland.

We can suspect that baby Wilhelm was not strong at birth, as he was baptized the very day of his birth. The church record notes that it was an emergency baptism. The church was about only one block from the Mueller home, and perhaps he was baptized in the marble font there.

When Wilhelm was only 8 years old, his mother died of pneumonia. Six months later his father married Hanne Jau (Gau). Three years later, baby brother Franz was born. Only six months after that, Karl died, leaving Hanne with an 8-year old stepson and an infant. We don't know how they managed; we don't even know if Wilhelm was raised by his stepmother. We do know that Johann Beyer was appointed his legal guardian.

Wilhelm most likely attended the village school. He was confirmed in the Lutheran church in the spring of 1884. Then he began his training to become a shoe-maker. His Arbeitsbuch (record of his work) shows that he entered the workplace as an apprentice on the 16th of May 1884 in Feldberg, a city near Triepkendorf. That entry in the book was signed by Ludwig Kursch. He received his certificate of membership in the shoemakers guild on April 16, 1888, signed by his trainers Ludwig Kusch and Carl Kusch. Earning this certificate required three years of apprenticeship. His Arbeitsbuch shows that he left the workplace on May 7th, 1888 as a shoemaker journeyman, again signed by Ludwig Kusch, shoemaker in Feldberg.

Wilhelm didn't enjoy working as a shoemaker; he much preferred to be outside. His guardian would not give him permission to join the army, but would allow him to emigrate to the U.S. He received permission to leave from the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg on the 10th of March 1888. On June 12 of that same year, 1888, his guardian, Johann Beyer (Beier) signed the permission paper to emigrate. He left Hamburg on the steamer Hammonia on 17 June 1888 and arrived in New York on 29 June 1888.

Two of Wilhelm's uncles had come to the U.S. earlier -- Johann "Friedrich" Christian Mueller and his wife Caroline came about 1874, and Ludwig Carl Friedrich and his wife Ida came in 1882. Both families lived in Hamilton County, Nebraska, north-east of Hampton in a German settlement there. Wilhelm joined them, and in October 1890, applied for citizenship there. (He was naturalized in Buffalo Co., 13 February 1905.) About 1890, Ludwig moved his family to Buffalo County. We don't know for sure when Wilhelm moved, perhaps at the same time. By February of 1891, Wilhelm was living in Buffalo County, Nebraska. At that time, he received some letters about the settlement of his father's estate in Triepkendorf.

On November 24th of that year, 1891, he married Anna Maria Dorothea Rieckmann, daughter of Christoph Rieckmann and his wife Elisabeth Wolle. When Anna first came to Nebraska in 1880 with her parents, brothers Henry and William and sisters Mary and Kate, the nearest Lutheran church was in Grand Island. In order to receive Christian instruction, Anna lived with the pastor's family there until her confirmation.

Not long after that, a Lutheran church was established near Watertown, called Immanuel, about 7 miles west, in Scott Township. At first there was only a sod church there, but later, about 1889, they built a frame church. The pastor preached in other places as well, and there was a "preaching station" that met at the home of Anna's parents. Later, about 1907, St. Paul's Lutheran Church was established just one and a half miles north of the Mueller home at Peake, rural Riverdale. William was a charter member there, with his father-in-law Christoph Rieckmann and brother-in-law Wilhelm Rieckmann.

Anna said she didn't even have a cookie cutter to set up housekeeping, so William made her one. Aunt Selma Mueller Hinrichs showed it to me when we visited her in about 1995.

They purchased a farm in Section 30 of Rusco Township, 6 miles north of Riverdale, and first lived in a sod house. I don't know if William built it, or if it was already there when he bought the land. They lived in it until about 1909 when they built a two-story frame house.

William owned land in Rusco Township that had originally been railroad land. At first he and Anna lived in a sod house, but in 1908 they moved into the two-story frame house that still stands (2011) on the farm owned by Rudolph Axmann, later purchased by Victor Rasmussen.

The records of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Beecher, Illinois, show Maria Dorothea Anna Rickmann, b.20 February 1869, daughter of Christoff Rickmann and Elisabeth Wolle, baptized 7 March 1869, by Rev. Lossner. Witnesses were Marie Schulz and Dorothea Wolle. There is no record of her siblings at that congregation.

Wilhelm Mueller, Sr. Family, 1919
Back row, L - R.: Clara, William, Jr., Frieda, Hulda
Front row, L - R: William, Sr.(Grosspapa), Anna, Marie, Anna (Grossmama), Selma.

Eleven Children:

1. & 2. Twins Johanna Mueller and Elisabeth Mueller dates unknown, but they lived only briefly. Born and died in Rusco Twp., Buffalo County, Nebraska, and buried on the family farm.

3. Frieda Maria Cathrina Mueller
- born 1 July 1894, Rusco Twp., Buffalo County, Nebr.
- baptized 21 July 1894. Sponsors: Maria Rusch, Catharina Rieckmann, Wm. Rieckmann
- confirmed 3 May 1908, St. Paul Lutheran Church at Peake, Buffalo County, Nebraska
- died 1 February 1982, Kearney, Nebr.
- married 16 March 1919, St. Paul Lutheran Church at Peake, Buffalo County, Nebraska
John Hermann Gustav Lammers, son of Amo Lammers and Bertha Englisch.
See John Lammers Family

4 & 5. Twins Anna Mueller and William Mueller
- born 2 October 1896, Rusco Twp., Buffalo County, Nebraska
- died 3 October 1896, Rusco Twp., Buffalo County, Nebraska
- buried on family farm.

6. Anna Elisabeth Christina Mueller
- born 21 October 1898, Rusco Twp., Buffalo County, Nebraska
- bapt. 13 November 1898, St. Paul Lutheran, Peake. Sponsors: Christoph Rieckmann, Elisabeth Rieckmann, Augusta Labs.
- confirmed 20 October 1912, St. Paul Lutheran Church at Peake, Buffalo County, Nebraska
- died 13 May 1995, Storm Lake, Iowa
- married 15 August 1920, St. Paul Lutheran Church at Peake,
Richard Martin Lammers, son of Amo Lammers and Bertha Englisch.
See Richard Lammers Family

7. Clara Ida Caroline Mueller
- born 11 May 1901, Rusco Twp., Buffalo County, Nebraska
- bapt. 27 May 1901, St. Paul, Peake. Sponsors: Karl Rusch, Ida Mueller, Elisabeth Rieckmann.
- died 14 July 1968, Buffalo Co., Nebr.
- married 11 March 1923, Riverdale, Nebr.
Ralph Herold Lammers. son of Amo Lammers and Bertha Englisch.
See See Ralph Lammers Family

8. Hulda Bertha Francisca Mueller
- born 2 May 1903, Rusco Twp., Buffalo County, Nebraska
- bapt. 24 May 1903, St. Paul, Peake. Sponsors: Amos and Bertha Lammers, Mrs. John Englisch.
- confirmed 1 April 1917, St. Paul Lutheran at Peake, Buffalo county, Nebraska
- worked many years for Dr. Gibbons family in Kearney, Nebraska
- died 31 December 1983, Columbus, Platte County, Nebraska
- buried at Columbus, Platte County, Nebraska.

9. William Carl Ludwig Mueller
- born 16 May 1905 Rusco Twp., Buffalo County, Nebraska
- baptized 4 June 1905, St. Paul's Lutheran Church at Peake, Buffalo County, Nebraska. Sponsors: William Rieckmann, Ludwig Mueller, Maria Berger.
- confirmed 8 June 1919, St. Paul Lutheran at Peake, Buffalo county, Nebraska
- died 15 October 1978, Kearney, Buffalo County, Nebraska
- buried 19 October, 1978, Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, near Amherst, Nebraska.
- married 23 September 1934, Buffalo county, Nebraska, Immanuel Lutheran Church Wedding Photo
Viola Pauline Labs, daughter of Carl Labs and Josie Schukar.
Bill had a produce station in Amherst for many years, and after that repaired typewriters at Treadways store in Kearney, and did construction work. He particularly enjoyed laying concrete blocks. CHILDREN

• Carl William Mueller, born 17 March 1934, Kearney, Buffalo County, Nebraska
  - died 29 April 1999, Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska
  - buried at Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, near Amherst, Nebraska
  - married 31 October 1960, Ayer, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, to
  Living Tweedy. Four children
  
• Living Mueller, married Living Houser. Five children
  

10. Marie Bertha Theodora Mueller
- born 9 May 1908, Rusco Twp., Buffalo County, Nebraska
- baptized 7 June 1908, St. Paul's Lutheran Church at Peake, Buffalo County, Nebraska. Sponsors: Mrs. Anton Berger, Mrs. Amanda Siebke, August Sohrweid.
- worked as a salesclerk at Woolworth's store in Kearney and Columbus
- died 26 September, 1978, Columbus, Platte County, Nebr.
- buried at Columbus, Platte County, Nebraska.

11. Selma Anna Friedericka Mueller,
- born 14 August 1911, Rusco Twp., Buffalo County, Nebraska
- bapt. 27 August 1911, St. Paul's Lutheran Church at Peake, Buffalo County, Nebraska
- Baptism sponsors: Fred Bargmann, Maria Carmann, Anna Rusch.
- worked at Woolworth's stores in Kearney and Columbus
- died 18 March 2001, Columbus, Platte County, Nebraska
- married 7 August 1966, Columbus, Nebr., Immanuel Lutheran Church Wedding Photo
George Hinrichs, born 11 February 1897
- 01 April 1978, Columbus, Platte county, Nebraska
George and Selma are buried at Columbus, Nebraska.