Person:Wilhelm Wiedefeld (1)

1970 Family Tree: When he was a lad, he studied to be a priest and had one more year to finish, before ordination, when his father died. Since his mother could not afford the money for his last year, he had to leave the seminary. He then found a job and later married over there, before coming to America. He was in the Civil War, over here in the States. He died of dyrea resulting from too fresh pork. (around 53 years old when he died)

Wilhelm Immigrated aboard the ship Mercury. 424 steerage and cabin passengers where on the voyage. Wilhelm was in the "upper between decks" part of the ship and was the only passenger from Hanover. The ships voyage started at Le Harve, France and landed in New York, New York On October 13, 1856.

MERCURY (1) The MERCURY was a 3-masted, square-rigged ship, built by Westervelt & Mackey, New York, for Boyd & Hincken's Havre Second Line of pacekts between New York and Havre, and launched on 3 September 1851. 1,350/1,156 tons (old/new measurement); 193.6 x 38.10 x 22.2 feet (length x beam x depth of hold); 2 decks, draught 21 feet. She was the largest vessel in the Havre Second Line, and the fastest (she is often considered a "medium clipper"): in the 18 years (1851-1869) in which she sailed in the line, her westbound passages, from Havre to New York, averaged 33 days, her fastest passage being 23 days, her longest being 49 days [Robert Greenhalgh Albion, Square-riggers on Schedule; The New York Sailing Packets to England, France, and the Cotton Ports (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1938), pp. 286-287, 299; William Armstrong Fairburn, Merchant Sail (Center Lovell, Maine: Fairburn Marine Educational Foundation, [1945]55]), II.1176, 1190, 1198, 1199, 1201, 1202, 1206, 1226, 1271, 1292, 1301, 1304; V.2780, 2781, 2799, 2816; Carl C. Cutler, Queens of the Western Ocean; The Story of America's Mail and Passenger Sailing Lines (Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, c1961), p. 321]. I have no information on the MERCURY's history after 1869, or on her ultimate fate. However, it may be able to trace this history in the annual volumes of one or more of the following: 1. American Lloyd's Registry of American and Foreign Shipping (from 1858; begun in 1857 as the New York Marine Register), a "classification" society like Lloyd's and the Bureau Veritas. 2. American Shipmasters' Association (later American Bureau of Shipping), Record of American and Foreign Shipping (from 1867), also a "classification" society. 3. Merchant Vessels of the United States (from 1867), published originally by the Treasury Department, then, in turn, by the Bureau of Navigation, the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation, and the Bureau of Customs. The best collection of these registers is held by the Mariners' Museum, 100 Museum Drive, Newport News, VA 23606-3798. [Posted to the Emigration-Ships Mailing List by Michael Palmer - 12 December 1997]

1860 Federal Census: Millwood Township, Lincoln County, Missouri Value of personal property $350.00 No real estate value listed

1880 Scott County, Missouri Census: Moreland Township: William Weidfield was 50 years old and stated his occupation as a farmer. He was born in Hanover as were both his parents. The Weidfield family is not listed in the 1870 census for Scott County, Missouri.

1890 Special Census of Veterans, Scott County, Missouri: New Hamburg #33 House 161 Family 167 - Margarett Whitefield widow of William Whitefield Address- New Hamburg, Scott County, Missouri Rank - Private Company - Blank Notes - Belong to home guard and volunteer service no discharge

St. Lawrence Catholic Church History 1859-1982: Lists Wilhelm G. Wiedefeld as being born in 1830 and dying on February 1. 1884 at the age of 53 years and 8 months. It list Margaretha Oeflin as his wife. Also lists the following children: Martin Bonnaventura, Frances Catherine, Phillip John, William G., and Franz J.,

Tomb stone found at New Hamburg, Missouri in the Catholic Cemetery. Inscription in German "Wilhelm Weidfield, alt 53 Jahreand 8 monata"

1. ↑ 1880 United States Census.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Tombstone Inscription.
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