Friederich Heller was born about 1750, in Marienhagen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Friederich's wife's name and date of marriage is lost to history. He had at least one son, Michael Fredrich Heller I, on May 7, 1775. Friederich died at an unknown date in Germany. Even though no historical record has been found regarding his place of marriage or death, both appear to have also been in Marienhagen.

Marienhagen is a town in the district of Hildesheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located southwest of Hanover, Germany.

Germany at Time of Birth

From 1713 to 1740, King Frederick William I, also known as the "Soldier King", established a highly centralized, militarized state with a heavily rural population of about three million (compared to the nine million in Austria). In terms of the boundaries of 1914, Germany in 1700 had a population of 16 million, increasing slightly to 17 million by 1750.

Quote from: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Germany accessed on July 21, 2016

Typical serf dwelling

Friedrich's occupation is not known, but based on his rural place of birth and paucity of records, was likely a peasant with status as a serf. Serfs did not own land but farmed it for the nobility. When he was about 20 years old, the emancipation of serfs began in Germany. It was at this point that their lives began to improve and they were finally able to own the land they had worked for generations.

Michael Fredrich Heller I was born on May 7, 1775, in Marienhagen, Lower Saxony, Germany, the child of Friederich. At approximately 23 years old, he married Anna Marie Oelmann about 1798, in Pommern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. They had at least two children during their marriage. One son was Christlieb Christian Heller (1785-1829) and the other was Michael Frederick Heller II (1799-1881). Michael II is our direct ancestor.

Michael I died in 1825 at the age of 50. Conflicting information places his death in either Beemer, Cuming County, Nebraska or in Germany.

Anna Marie Oelmann was born on March 28, 1779, in Flörsheim am Main, Hesse, Germany. Flörsheim am Main is located just outside of Frankfurt. Her parents' names are unknown.

At about the age of 19, she married Michael Fredrich Heller I about 1798, in Pommern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. This was four years after Pommern came under French rule and stayed under the French until the Congress of Vienna in 1815 made it part of the Kingdom of Prussia.

She died as a young mother on April 29, 1802, in Daisbach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, at the age of 23.

When Michael Frederick Heller II was born on May 7, 1799, in Pommern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, his father, Michael I, was 24 and his mother, Anna, was 20.

At the age of 22, he married Christina Schulzdorf about 1821 in Germany. Together, they had five children. Christina died approximately 9 years after their marriage. It is possible Christina died in 1829 as a result of the birth of her last child, Michael Frederick Heller III, who was born on the 13th of August. (Note: Micheal II remarried the following year)

Michael II and five of his children decided to immigrate to America after his second wife's death and the Revolutions of 1848 when many Germans also immigrated to America.

During the second half of the 1800s many German immigrants moved to the Midwest because of cheap and plentiful land available for homesteading.

The Heller family was among these Midwest German immigrants and headed directly to Wisconsin after arriving in New York. Michael's son, August Herman Heller who was 10 at the time, was listed as a homesteader in Wisconsin in 1854. By 1865, Michael Heller II and his children were living in Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

The Heller family only homesteaded in Wisconsin for about 10 years, until moving to Rock Creek (now called Wisner), Cuming County, Nebraska about 1867. In 1870, Michael and his daughter Fredericka are listed in the census for Nebraska.

• Census Year: January 10, 1870
• Census Place: Township 21 and 22 Range 4 and 5, Cuming, Nebraska
• Archive Collection Number: T1128; Roll: 3; Line: 1; Schedule
• Type: Agriculture

1870 was the same year the 15th Amendment was passed in an attempt to ensure the rights of former slaves who had been liberated in 1865 with the ending of the American Civil War.

Michael II died on April 26, 1881, in Beemer, Cuming County, Nebraska, having lived a long life of 81 years, and was buried in the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Beemer, Cuming County, Nebraska. The cause of death is not known but was likely due to old age.

Louisa Dorothea Maria Mellenthin was born in 1810 in Pommern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the child of Gottlieb Mellenthin (1764-?) and Sophia Pautsch (1771-1826). Louisa married Michael II in her hometown when she was 20. They had six children. She died about 1850, in Pommern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, at the age of 40.

When Maria Louise Dorothea Heller was born on February 28, 1846, in Pommern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, her father, Michael II, was 46 and her mother, Louisa, was 36. Maria was the 6th and last child born to the couple and was named after her mother who died when Maria was 4 years old.

Maria immigrated to America with her father and four siblings when she was approximately 8 years old. They arrived in New York City by ship in 1854. The family immediately headed to Wisconsin to homestead.

By 1865, Maria was living with her father and siblings in Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, likely farming. She was about 19 years old at this time.

August immigrated to America with his father and four siblings when he was approximately 10 years old. They arrived in New York City by ship in 1854. The family immediately headed to Wisconsin to homestead.

By 1865, August was living with his father and siblings in Fond du Lac, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, likely farming. He was about 21 years old at this time.

August married Marie Caroline Ernstine Hass Heller Jahnz on June 20, 1871, in Beemer, Cuming County, Nebraska at 27 years of age.

When Marie Caroline Ernstine Hass Heller Jahnz was born on August 4, 1848, in Germany, her father, Johann Hass (1812-1894), was 35 and her mother, Elizabeth Jaune (1807- ca1850), was 41.

Marie Caroline immigrated to America, arriving on May 18, 1871 in New York City. She arrived on a ship called Germanic and the port of departure was Hamburg, Germany.

Marie Caroline likely entered American through Castle Garden when she immigrated. A month later, she married August Herman Heller in Nebraska when she was 22 years old and they had six children together.

August died on October 5, 1881, in Wisner, Cuming County, Nebraska, at the age of 37, and was buried in Cuming County, Nebraska.

Four years after August's death, Marie Caroline married Julius Jahnz on February 19, 1885, in Wisner, Nebraska. They did not have any children together. She died on March 22, 1921, in Wisner, Cuming County, Nebraska, at the age of 72, and was buried there. She died the year after the passing of the 19th Amendment which finally gave women the right to vote in America.

August and Marie Caroline are not buried together. August is at the Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery in Beemer and Marie Caroline is at the Wisner Cemetery.

When Bertha Karolina Heller was born on October 3, 1878, in Wisner, Cuming County, Nebraska, her father, August Heller, was 34 and her mother, Marie Hass, was 30.

The background photo is a 1990 aerial photo of the Wegner/Pagels Homestead. Taken facing northeast.

Prior to Bertha's marriage to Julius, she and two of her brothers, Carl and Herman, purchased 160 acres on April 21, 1891 from a Mr. Zajicek for $2880 (Cuming County Assessors 1891 records). In January 1903, Carl and Herman gave Bertha the 160 acres as a wedding gift. On February 5th of that same year, Bertha married Julius and they moved into the Saltbox style house which was already on the property. Note: Bertha had been born approximately 1 mile north of this property.

Bertha and Julius Wegner farmed the 160 acres and had four children, all of which were born in the Saltbox style house. The sons were Arthur (1903-1973) and Herbert (1908-1943); and daughters, Wanda Anna Bertha (1912-2006) and Arlie (1919-1985). We are descended from Wanda.

In 1917, America entered World War I. Julius was 38 at this time and registered for the draft.

In 1922, Bertha and Julius had a new main house built and eventually tore down the Saltbox. The new main house was a vernacular Prairie type of residential structure with some Colonial Revival elements. The structure was built by six local artisans and craftsmen led by John Sieverson and Herman Wisch (Wanda Pagels personal communication; 2002). The new main house was built so close to the Saltbox that according to Wanda Pagels (2002), they could climb out of the rear loft window onto the new main house balcony. The wood of the Saltbox was then used to build various structures now located on the property. This house continued to stand until about 2005 when it was destroyed by fire from lightening.

Bertha died on June 2, 1941, in her hometown, at the age of 62, and was buried there. According to her daughter, Wanda, Bertha suffered from several "women's health" problems during her latter years and some time before her death was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy. Her health problems and mastectomy occurred during the Great Depression when families were struggling financially. Her situation was further compounded with the fact Bertha was living in rural and remote Nebraska at a time when the medical procedures for cancer treatment were primitive at best.

December that same year, America entered WWII. Julius was 63 a this time and again registered for the draft.

Two years later, Bertha and Julius' son, Herbert, was killed in a motor vehicle accident. Julius Wegner was unable to handle the farm or take care of himself after his wife’s passing so John and Wanda (Wegner) Pagels moved in to take care of him and the farm in 1945. They did not stay long due to personal conflicts and moved out in 1947.

Julius Wegner passed away in 1950 at the age of 72. Subsequently, John and Wanda (Wegner) Pagels moved back to the farm and on December 13, 1952, 80 acres of the farm were legally decreed to Wanda (Wanda Pagels personal communication; 2002). The other 80 acres were decreed to Arlie (Wegner) Hedell. Since Herbert’s children were left with nothing, John and Wanda Pagels and sister, Arlie, each deeded 40 acres apiece to Herbert’s children. The Pagels then purchased Arlie’s remaining 40 acres. The western most 80 acres ended up going to Herbert’s two daughters and John and Wanda kept the eastern 80 which had the buildings (Wanda Pagels personal communication; 2002). Their brother, Arthur, inherited another farm consisting of 160 acres in another location.

When Johann "John" Frederich Wilhelm Pagels was born on May 18, 1903, in Clearwater, Antelope County, Nebraska, his father, Friederich Pagels, was 37 and his mother, Bertha Werbelow, was 30.

When John was 33 years old, he married Wanda Anna Bertha Wegner on March 17, 1937, in Nebraska. They were married during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl era, working as struggling farm hands and later farmers during this period.

They had one son, Melvern, and one daughter, Twyla. John died on October 31, 1964, as a result of a brain tumor in Wisner, Cuming County, Nebraska, at the age of 61, and was buried at the Wisner Cemetery.

When Wanda Anna Bertha Wegner was born on July 7, 1912, in Wisner, Cuming County, Nebraska, her father, Julius, was 33 and her mother, Bertha Heller, was 33. She married Johann "John" Frederich Wilhelm Pagels when she was 24 years old. Her mother passed 4 years later when Wanda was 28.

When she was 52 she lost her husband, John, to cancer. She remained a widow for 42 years until her death on November 18, 2006, in Norfolk, Madison County, Nebraska, at the age of 94, and was buried next to her husband in Wisner, Nebraska.

Wanda and John were first cousins 2x removed. They were living in a rural to remote part of Nebraska during a time where at the time communication was largely lacking. The population was small and the options and choices we have today such as cell phones and Internet were not an option. It was not unheard of at this time for distant cousins to marry like Wanda and John. By all accounts is was a love match of two people.