What in the world is a Wesselowski?(And solving a Mystery)

Julius Wesselowski

The Wesselowski family name is one that is carried by only a lucky few. In fact, only about 37 people in the world can call it their own. This is largely due to a German family choosing an alternate spelling from the slightly more common 'Wesselowsky', and a man named Julius Wesselowski being one of the only members of that family to have sons. Then there is the fact that many Wesselowskis chose to change their last name to one of two variants: "Wessley" or "West". My maternal grandpa is just one of the ~37 with the surname. However, whether or not Wesselowski was my grandpa's family's true surname has long been debated. Thanks to DNA, however, those rumors have come to their conclusion. This post will tell the full story of the Wesselowskis, their families, and the genetic findings that changed my personal family history.

Abraham Wesselowski and Adelheid Leidesdorff

There is a story behind every conclusion and, of course, every story has a beginning. The Wesselowski's story begins in Golub-Dobrzyń, a town located in modern-day Poland. 

It was here that Abraham Wesselowski was born to Jacob Wesselowski and Pauline Subinski in about 1829. Abraham would grow up to become a lottery collector (another word for tax-collector). He married Adelheid Leidesdorff, the daughter of Daniel Leidesdorff and Lina Saloman, on an unknown date. Both Abraham and Adelheid were Jews, and as such their three children were as well. The names of these children were: Julius Wesselowski (1858-1936), Martin Wesselowski (1861-1938) and Emilie Wesselowski (1867-?). 

Abraham would die on December 19th of 1901, and Adelheid would die on May 11th of 1911. They were buried next to each other in the Orthodox Jewish cemetery Jüdischer Friedhof Langenfelde in Stellingen, Eimsbüttel, Hamburg, Germany. 

Abraham's grave can be found here: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=148783215&ref=acom

While Adelheid's grave can be found here: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=wesselowski&GSiman=1&GScid=2582419&GRid=148783214&

The Three Wesselowski Children

While Julius Wesselowski is the source of the modern day Wesselowskis, it is important to recognize the lives of his siblings.

Martin Wesselowski

Martin Wesselowski was at the time of his father's death a lottery collector, but was later listed in phone books as a 'Kaufmann'-- a merchant or a dealer. He married Jenny Meyer and they had two children; Kurt Wesselowski and James Wesselowski. Martin Wesselowski died peacefully on the 22nd of December, 1938. His wife Jenny, however, was not so lucky. On July 16, 1942, Jenny was deported to the Nazi concentration camp of Theresienstadt. Theresienstadt was the transit camp for elderly and notable Jews. They would be kept there for months to years as the camp was used as a propaganda tool for the Nazis. They advertised a rich cultural life of the model Jewish society. Yet this was not at all what life at Theresienstadt was like. You can read more about that here. Jenny was one of only 41 people from her transport group of 925 people that was not murdered at Theresienstadt. She was only kept there for a period of a few months, she was deported to Treblinka on September 23rd of 1942 and was murdered sometime after her arrival. Sometime after her death someone (possibly one of her children) filed for information about the nature of her death. There wasn't much information, but I retrieved these records from the Holocaust Museum in DC. Those warrant their own post so I will not share them on this one.

 Thanks to my first cousin 1x removed, Sonya Wesselowski, I have some postcards and photographs of the children; Kurt Wesselowski and James Wesselowski, both of whom were soldiers during WW1. You can see those postcards here.

Emilie Wesselowski

Emilie Wesselowski would marry the merchant (Kaufmann) Efroim Franz Brück on the 17th of September 1885 in Hamburg. Julius Wesselowski, her brother, noted her name as "Amelia Franc" but no document calls her by that name. Her death date is unknown, she may have stayed in Germany or she may have traveled to one of the other far reaches of the world just like her children. She had a total of 7 known children, only some of which remained in Germany. Many of her children had experiences shaped by their identity as ethnic Jews in Nazi Germany. I wrote a post about these children here.

Julius Wesselowski

Now here he is, the subject of the rest of this post. Julius Wesselowski was born on the 7th of March, 1858 in Hamburg, Germany. He immigrated to the USA in 1876. He was a doctor, played the violin, and owned several birds during his lifetime. From what I gather he was an incredibly quirky, odd guy, the sort you could write a whole book on if you wanted to. I'll write the finest details of his life in another post. He married Elizabeth Ann Ratekin in about 1880 and made a life for himself in Jewell, Kansas. He even adopted a daughter, Bertha Lee Wesselowski.

Dr. Julius Wesselowski and Elizabeth Ann Ratekin

Then in 1905 tragedy struck. 

According to the Jewell County Republican, on the  27th of October 1905

 Article transcribed by Marjorie Slaughter:

We received a telegram from Dr. Wesselowski last Wednesday evening, which read. 

“Kansas City, Mo., Oct 25, ’05.

   Our Bertha died yesterday at quarter of five of diphtheria.  You know how we feel.  WESSELOWSKI.”

   We think Bertha was about nine years old.  She was an adopted child, but was as much beloved by the Dr. and Mrs. Wesselowski as any own daughter could have been.  The Dr. and Mrs. Wesselowski will have the sympathy of hundreds of their old Jewell county friends, in their sorrow and great loss.

Then later on the 3rd of November, 1905

Article transcribed by Marjorie Slaughter:

  Bertha Wesselowski was ten years and three days old when she died.  She was sick only a few days and the doctor’s folks at first hardly realized she was seriously sick.  Two of the best physicians in Kansas City were summoned as soon as the disease took a dangerous turn, but they were unable to save her life.  Dr. McGurk conducted the funeral services and other old Jewell friends who live in Kansas City were present at the funeral.

Julius was distraught, to say the least. His beloved daughter was gone. As if this weren't bad enough, just one year later his wife died. The obituary is incredibly sweet and speaks to Julius's gentle nature

Obituary transcribed by Marjorie Slaughter:

JC REPUBLICAN, 02 NOV 1906, pg 5:

MRS. J. (LIZZIE RATIKIN) WESSELOWSKI.

The people of Jewell heard with much surprise and sorrow of the death of Mrs. J. Wesselowski, which occurred at Downs last Friday morning. Mrs. John M. Hutchison of this city was with her at the time of her death, which was caused by cancer of the liver. The Doctor has known for some time the nature of her disease, but she was not told. The people of Downs did all they could for the Doctor, and the Jewell City orchestra and other organizations here to which the Wesselowski’s belonged sent flowers, and some of his Jewell City friends met the train at Glen Elder and went with him as far as Beloit. The remains were taken to Kansas City to be buried beside their adopted daughter Bertha, who died just one year to a day before the death of Mrs. W. Dr. McGurk conducted the services.

Mrs. Wesselowski was 56 years old. She was born in Ohio in 1850. Her maiden name was Lizzie Ratikin. She moved with her parents to Nebraska in 1864 and was married to Doctor Wesselowski Oct. 31, 1878 at Fall City, (NE). She was a member of the Christian church in Jewell and later became a member of the same church in Downs. Mrs. Wesselowski was a thoroughly good woman. The writer lived as a neighbor to the Doctor’s folks for many years and in all that time we never heard Mrs. Wesselowski say an unkind word to any person or of any person. Her kindness extended to every person and every living thing that came within the circle and sway of her influence and personality. The Dr. is much broken in body and spirit. He was building up a good practice at Downs, but it seems hard to stay there now. He has the sympathy of all his old friends in Jewell

So now Julius, a very caring if a slightly odd man, is  48 years old, with no wife, and no child. So what does he do in that situation? Wait two years until he is 50 then marry a 17-year-old of course!

.....Wait....What!?

Things Get Weird

Myrtle Iva Williams

The bride was Myrtle Iva Williams, born the 7th of July 1890 in Rushville, Schuyler, Illinois. So here is this perfectly nice guy, a little odd but very well respected by the town, marrying a 17-year-old as a 50-year-old. The first time I realized this it struck me as a bit odd but no biggy right? They ended up having two children together; my great-grandpa Harold Wesselowski in 1909 and Adolph Wesselowski in 1911. I forgot about it for about a week until I mentioned it offhand. That's when the theories start to come in. My grandpa Tim Wesselowski told me he didn't think Julius was his real grandpa. A grandma told me someone told her the same thing. While Julius was definitely Adolph's father, people didn't seem to think he was Harold's. There was only one problem. According to their marriage certificate Myrtle and Julius married on the 1st of June 1908, and a marriage certificate can't be wrong...right?

Julius Wesselowski and Myrtle William's marriage certificate

It definitely looks real and was picked up from the courthouse directly by a fellow Wesselowski long after they had both died. So I gave up the idea for a bit and just let it sit in the back of my head. But then I came across this:

Familysearch transcription of marriage document

This transcription has them getting married in June of 1910 when Harold was born in 1909. I still haven't figured this out and will have to order the certificate in the future, but that once again put the doubt back in my head.

That's when something else popped up. I took a closer look at the census of 1910 for my great grandpa Harold Wesselowski. Except in this census, he wasn't Harold Wesselowski. He was Harold Williams, using his mothers maiden name and living with his mom and grandpa John H. Williams. Whats more, Myrtle is listed as single and Harold's father is listed as being born in Missouri. Julius was born in Germany.

Census 1910 for Myrtle Williams and her family

Okay, so censuses make mistakes all the time right? Surely they were just visiting John and the census taker had a mix-up. So I looked at Julius's 1910 census. His marital status is not listed as married or single. It's listed as Widowed. This was small-town Jewell Kansas. How could they possibly mess up on both of the censuses?

Julius Wesselowski 1910 census

At this point I decided to get my Grandpa Tim Wesselowski, the son of Harold Wesselowski, a dna test. Being that his grandfather was ethnically Jewish, and the Jewish population has very distinct dna, he should show up with a fairly significant amount.

While I waited for the test results I got into contact with Marjorie Slaughter, a superb genealogist who specializes in Jewell County. I asked if she could look to see if she had any newspaper articles on Julius Wesselowski or Myrtle Williams. And she had a lot. In small towns they write about just about everything, there is even a column they use to just share the town gossip with each other! So you'd get things like "so-and-so has a LOT of corn" or "this person had lunch with these people". Since Julius was the town doctor (and also one of the only democrats in town) he got a lot of newspaper articles, even considering the fact he lived in a small town. Despite this, there was one thing there were no articles about whatsoever. The marriage. The whole thing was just glossed over. Except for this single article in 1910 talking about his "new wife"

DR. JULIUS WESSELOWSKI,  German physician and surgeon. This is a name our distant readers have no doubt tripped and stumbled over many times, and we are pleased to show you that the doctor is not nearly so fierce to look at as his name sounds. He has a good practice in his profession and is as kind a neighbor as you ever lived beside. The Dr. made just two mistakes in his life. One when he was born a Democrat and the other when he got the notion one time that there was a better place to live in on earth than Jewell City, Kansas. He proved to himself the fallacy of the latter notion, but there is probably no help for the former trouble unless the beneficent influence of that new wife shall make a new man of him. (REPUBLICAN, 19 Aug 1910)

I would hardly consider a wife he had since 1908 'new' in 1910. However, if he had gotten married in June of 1910 the article would make perfect sense. August is just a few months after June so calling a wife of a few months 'new' would be pretty fair.

She also sent an obituary for Julius, which stated that he only returned to Jewell from his residence in Oklahoma Territory in January of 1909.

Yet another point worth mentioning is the lack of resemblance between my Great grandpa Harold, Julius. For comparison, this was my great grandpa Harold:

Harold Wesselowski

And this was Julius Wesselowski:

Julius Wesselowski

You'd be hard pressed to find a father and son that looked that different!

Fast forward and my grandpa gets his results back. When I looked at them this is what I saw:

Grandpa Tim's DNA results

What? First of all, where did that 28% Scandinavian come from? And also where is the Jewish? That's when I look at the trace results:

Now, trace results are usually noise. They are most often mistaken ethnicities or so far back they don't actually matter very much. This is the case with the <1% Sephardic jew. That is way too low for a Jewish grandpa. Not to mention that it would make more sense as Ashkenazi jew, not Sephardic, given the location of the Wesselowski family. At this point I was nearly convinced, but I still had no definitive proof. Then I went to visit my grandpa up in Kansas.

I was able to go up and look at some records from the Jewell County Courthouse. It was a great time and I wrote all about the trip here.

Anyways, there was one document in particular that really made the whole courthouse trip worth it. That was the birth record of my great grandpa Harold Wesselowski. Except, you guessed it, he wasn't a Wesselowski. In fact, he wasn't anything. His was the only one on the page where the entry for 'father' was blank. Great. The mother, however, was Myrtle Williams and the birth date was definitely the right one so it had to be him. There was one interesting thing though, and that was the person who delivered him. Julius Wesselowski.

This could quite possibly have been how Julius and Myrtle first met, as Harold was being born. Fun fact, Julius also delivered Harold's wife and nearly everyone else in town.

So now I had some proof but that didn't change the fact that I still had no idea who Harold's father was nor did I have any genetic proof that Julius was not his father. After all, Julius had very few descendants and his ancestors didn't have many surviving children either. I needed more. So I ordered a Ydna test for my grandpa Tim.

A Ydna test tests the Y chromosome of males. Y chromosomes are only passed from father to son. This means that recombinations (basically breaking up the DNA of mother and father and sticking it in the child in funky new ways) don't happen which means very few changes to the DNA happen. So Ydna can be used to find relatives going back many more generations than autosomal, and it is only on the direct paternal line. So if his ydna was Jewish and there were no matches or the closer matches were Wesselowskis then he would be the grandchild of Julius Wesselowski. Otherwise, it was most likely someone else.

Well, the results came back and nearly every one of his close matches at 37 markers had the last name Davis. I'll be honest, I was hoping it would be a bit easier than that. One of those one-of-a-kind surnames would have made the task of finding the biological grandfather a whole lot easier. However, despite this, I went to the task of trying to find the needle in the haystack of all the Davis families floating around. It didn't go very well. I had a few things to go off of:

1. The 1910 census said the father was born in Missouri
2. Myrtle was probably living in Illinois at the time Harold was conceived (yet another reason Julius couldn't be the father)

And that was it. Until the 27th of October, 2017. One thing you should do if you ever get a DNA test is upload the raw DNA file to gedmatch.com. It is a completely free no-strings-attached DNA upload site where everyone, no matter what company they tested with, can upload DNA to and compare results. It also offers more advanced tools that, put simply, allow you to see what ancestors you share with people without having their tree. Well, I uploaded my grandpa's DNA to gedmatch and on the 27th of October, 2017 spotted an extremely close match. This person shared 185 cM with my grandpa Tim, more than any of his known 2nd cousins did. I contacted them, then looked them up and found their ancestry tree online. And their tree was very well developed, but as I was looking through their ancestors I saw no familiar names. Until I came across the Davis family.

It was the only connection. And to make it even more definitive there was only one male Davis in the tree who was born in Missouri and not dead in 1908. They would have been 20 years old when my Great Grandpa was born, much more plausible than 50. 

That person's name was William Hampson Davis, born on the 30th of July, 1889 in  Higbee, Randolph, Missouri, USA, and died on the 28th day of June, 1949. And the resemblance between him and Harold is quite a bit more apparent than Harold and Julius:

William Hampson Davis. Photo courtesy of Heather Gardner

William would go on to marry Ruby Alta Dobbins, with whom he had 10 more children. There will be another biography specifically about him soon in a separate post.

Harold had a total of 10 half-siblings he didn't know existed. In total, Harold had 11 half siblings (including Adolph) and one stepsister (Bertha Lee).

So Why Did Julius Marry Myrtle?

One question still remains to be answered. Why did Julius Wesselowski, at 51 years old, marry a 17-year-old who had a child? I have my own theories which I will describe below.

It's easy to jump to conclusions if you don't account for the context, so let me give it to you.

When Myrtle Williams was just 3 years old her mother passed away due to unknown causes. There are only speculations at the moment, but I believe her name was Mary, that her parents were born in England, and that this was her gravestone.

Anyways, at the time it was not socially acceptable for a daughter to live with only her father. As a result Myrtle was passed around from relative to relative with her father trailing along, most notably she spent a good deal of time with the Icenogle Family. While I am not entirely sure how she met William, I think its possible that she ended up somewhere nearby him around 1908 and the rest is history. I don't believe that William knew about his son as Myrtle moved to Jewell soon afterward, where Harold was born.

Now Julius's entire life was centered around helping people. When his wife was dying of cancer he shouldered the burden alone so she could live happier. He adopted a child (Bertha Lee) that was not genetically his and cared for her until the day she died. His profession was a doctor in a small town, which meant that everyday he was the sole lifeline for the ailing residents of the town. When times got economically rough he would give his eggs out for free to those in need. He told them not to pay him back and even told Myrtle before he died not to accept any money for the eggs. His obituary describes his incredible character fairly well. (a note, although he converted to Christianity once arriving in America, he was born a full ethnic Jew.)

Obituary transcribed by Marjorie Slaughter

Jewell County REPUBLICAN, published in Jewell, KS 23 APR 1936

JULIUS WESSELOWSKI

7 Mar 1858 – 17 Apr 1936

(Jewell City Cemetery)

PIONEER DOCTOR DIES

Death Takes Dr. Julius Wesselowski Who Came to Jewell City 49 Years Ago.

The death of Dr. Julius Wesselowski early Friday morning of last week came without warning to the citizens of this community.

Dr. Wesselowski has not been feeling well for two weeks. He has had a driver on calls and in many ways he was conserving his strength. However, Thursday of last week he was up town transacting business, and Thursday evening he asked to go to his office. He spent some time in his office writing. Upon returning home he sat up to read. Mrs. Wesselowski wanted to stay up with him, but he urged her not to do so. So she lay down on a cot nearby.

About 2 o’clock Friday morning she was awakened by a groan from the Doctor. She went to his side. He tried to speak but could only move his lips. In a few moments he had slipped away.

The funeral service was held Sunday afternoon at the home. The Rev. R.A. Spence and the Odd Fellows lodge conducted the service. A mixed quartet composed of W.M. Green, O.E. White, Mrs. Ira Shindler, and Mrs. Everett Palmer, sang. The doctors of Jewell county as well as doctors from Beloit were in attendance at the service. The home was banked with beautiful flowers. A large gathering of friends and representative citizens from a wide territory were present. Burial was in the Jewell cemetery west of town.

Doctor Wesselowski will long be remembered in this community for the service he has rendered and for his many characteristics which distinguished him as an unusual personality. He first came to Jewell City 49 years ago, and has been closely identified with the community life. Many, many friends, both here and in distant places mourn his death. The following obituary was read at the funeral service.

Julius Wesselowski was born March 7, 1858, at Hamburg, Germany. He died at his home in Jewell, Kansas, April 17, 1936. 

He landed on American shores at New York City on October 19, 1876. In early manhood he was attracted to the medical profession, and studied in New York. He continued his studies throughout his busy lifetime, studying in Kansas City, New York, and his native Germany.

Eleven years after coming to America, on March 18, 1887, he opened his office in Jewell City as a practicing physician and surgeon. For sixteen years, except at times when he was away for travel and special study, he was a practicing physician in Jewell City.

Then when the Oklahoma territory was being settled, he was attracted to that new country, and on March 9, 1903, he, his wife, and their adopted daughter Bertha, left for Newkirk, Oklahoma Territory. This did not prove to be a permanent residence, however, and Dr. Wesselowski opened an office in Kansas City, Mo. Here sorrow befell him in the death of his wife and daughter. His life became lonely and he longed for his Jewell county friends. When he read in the “Jewell Republican” early in 1909, that a Jewell City physician, Dr. Close, was leaving, he wrote Jewell City friends to obtain office rooms for him, as he was returning. So it was that in January, 1909, Dr. Wesselowski returned to Jewell City to spend 27 years, active to the last, pursuing his profession and his various interests of life.

After returning to Jewell City he married Miss Myrtle Williams, who with the two sons, Harold and Adolph, the former’s wife and son, one brother, Martin Wesselowski, and one sister, Amelia Franc, of Hamburg, Germany, survive.

Dr. Wesselowski was not a man with but a single interest. He had many interests – his home, profession, music, and public affairs.

He was a man of unusual individuality. He was proud of his American citizenship, and was loyal to America no matter how severe the test.

In point of service, Dr. Wesselowski was the oldest Odd Fellow in Jewell county, having been a member of the order about 57 years. He thought much of his lodge, held all its offices and there found scope for his generous gifts of humor and debate.

The Doctor was a fine musician and for many years Wesselowski’s orchestra was a joy to the town. He had in his home a framed picture of the members of the orchestra; also a picture of the Sunday school class of 15 high school girls which he taught in the Christian church, all of whom will remember him with gratitude.

One of Dr. Wesselowski’s characteristics was his pride in his family and his love and kindness toward them. Everyone who has lived near the Doctor knows what a friendly and generous neighbor he was.

In politics he was a Democrat, but voters generally cut across party lines to vote for Dr. Wesselowski, and many times he was elected and re-elected to the offices of police judge and justice of the peace, which positions he held at the time of his death. He was always sympathetic with those who had taken a wrong step, especially the young, but did not hesitate to adjudge penalty when deserved.

The Doctor’s medical knowledge warned his of what was near. All his affairs were in order, and without alarming his family, he left notes of instructions for them, in his effects. Some of these notes were written several years ago.

It is with sorrow and regret that this town must say farewell to one who has so long and so kindly contributed to its pleasure and its welfare. But we know that he has only gone the way that many of his friends have gone before him and that all his other friends and loved ones must follow; so let us trust that those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Those who go forth weeping shall come again rejoicing in a new understanding.

So imagine it is January 24th of 1909, not even a month after Julius arrived in Jewell for the 2nd time. he delivers the baby of a worried 18 year old named Myrtle Williams. The baby has no father and the Myrtle knows her own father won't live forever, and will probably have to retire from his hard work as a farm laborer in the near future. This is what I think happened: Julius responded to his natural protective instincts. He probably started supporting Myrtle over the next year, both financially and emotionally. At some point he fell in love with both Myrtle and her child, Harold. He married her in 1910, and in 1911 had his only biological child with her; Adolph Wesselowski. He continued to care for his family until the day of his death.

Final Thoughts

Julius was most definitely Harold's father. He raised him and turned him into what he would become. In my opinion discoveries like these don't mean that families shrink or certain branches become discounted for, it seems to have expanded. There is now Julius Wesselowski and his ancestors and William Davis and his ancestors. And then some. To show the new family tree, I had to make a graphic myself since genealogy programs don't display everyone at once. So here it is: