Second Generation

2. Wilhelm Friedrich WIRTH Sr.^3,4 was born on 7 February 1824 in Sassenhagen, Kreis Saatzig, Regierungsbezirk Stettin, Pommern (Pomerania) Province, Preussen (Prussia).^1,2,5,6,7,8 He may have been a "Master Brewer." He was baptized on 15 February 1824 in Sassenhagen, Kreis Saatzig, Regierungsbezirk Stettin, Pommern (Pomerania) Province, Preussen (Prussia).¹ He died in 1858 at the age of 34.^8,9,10 (His wife had re-married by the time of the 1860 Census, and it is assumed that he died before then.)

Wilhelm Friedrich WIRTH Sr. and Dorothea Louisa "Louise" PERGANDE were married on 7 October 1844 in Alt Damerow, Kreis Saatzig, Regierungsbezirk Stettin, Pommern (Pomerania) Province, Preussen (Prussia).^{5,8,11,12,13,14,15} According to their marriage record, he was 20 years, 8 months and 1 day old when they married, and she was 24 years, 6 months and 6 days old. They were married in the Alt Damerow parish.

According to the 1860 and 1870 Census records, Louisa and William had 3 sons, August, Wilhelm and Leopold. The sons were living with their mother and step-father in Brookfield, Waukesha County, WI during both Census'. Their birth father is believed to have died within a couple of years after emigrating to America in 1857.

Their son August can only be found in the 1860 Census; he cannot be located after that and nothing more is known of him. William was with his mother and step-father in 1860 and 1870 (more information below). And Leopold was with them in 1860, 1870 and 1880; thereafter, no record can be found of him.

It is speculated that their son William--who, according to the Census records, was born about 1848--is the same person who married Mary Dedicair (also spelled DeDecker) in 1873 in Green Bay, raised 12 children and lived there for nearly 30 years, and then moved to Tomah Township, WI, in about 1902.

The confusing thing is that Mary's marriage record lists her husband as "Charles Benning," the son of "William Benning" and "Louise Benning"--the same given names as Wilhelm and Louisa Wirth. "Charles" used the name "Benning" until he moved to Tomah Township, at which time he changed his name to William Wirth. He also changed the surnames of most of his children, although his four oldest sons dropped one of the "n's" and used the surname "Bening."

In the 1910 Census, the family used the surname of Wirth. When he died in 1919, William's obituary also used the name of Wirth, as did that of his wife in 1940. No mention was made of the name of Benning.

Mary Wirth's obituary notes that they were married on May 10, 1873--the same date that is on the record of her marriage to "Charles Benning." So it is clear that "Charles Benning" and William Wirth were the same person.

According to cemetery records, the birth year of the William Wirth that married Mary Dedicair was 1847. That would fit closely with the birth year of "about 1848" for the William Wirth that was the son of Wilhelm and Louisa Wirth. The latter William cannot be located anywhere in Wisconsin census records after 1870, when he was with his parents. Nor can any census records be found for "Charles Denning" before 1880, when he and Mary were in Green Bay with their three oldest children. So there was no overlap of the two people in the census records.

Because there is no overlap, and because "Charles" (then William) eventually moved to Tomah Township, where his mother lived at the time of the 1900 Census, it is very probable that "Charles Benning" is the same person as the Wilhelm Friedrich 'William' Wirth that was the son of Wilhelm Friedrich Wirth and Dorothea Louisa Pergande. In fact, William Wirth's family was located in the 1910 Census only about 20 households away from the family of his step-brother, Franz Fuchs, with whom their mother was living when she passed away in 1909.

Based on the above information, we are confident that the William that used the name "Charles Benning" for about 30 years is the same person as the William that was the son of Wilhelm Friedrich Wirth, Sr. and Dorothea Louisa Pergande.

Dorothea Louisa "Louise" PERGANDE^3,4, daughter of Gottlieb Gotthilf PERGANDE and Anna Maria GRIESSENTROG, was born on 30 May 1820 in Alt Damerow, Kreis Saatzig, Regierungsbezirk Stettin, Pommern (Pomerania) Province, Preussen (Prussia).^5,16,17,18 (Her name is listed as "Dorothea Louise Pergande" in the church records of her marriage.)

(Some records list her birth place as Sassenhagen, but that is believed to be incorrect. Another source lists it as Stara Dabrova, Slupsk, Pomorskie, Poland, which may be the city's current name. She was probably born in Alt Damerow with her siblings.)

(The cemetery records list her birth date as 30 May 1820. However, the cemetery records also list her as 89 years, 5 months and 9 days old when she died on 8 Oct 1909; that would calculate her date of birth to be 28 April 1820.

Her birth date may also have been 1 April 1820 because according to the Alt Damerow, Germany, record of her marriage, she was 24 years, 6 months and 6 days old when she married. The birth date from the cemetery record is used here.) She emigrated in 1857 from Preussen (Prussia).^19,20 The 1900 Census listed her emigration year as 1857 and indicated that she had been in America for 43 years. (Unable to find her family's immigration record on Ancestry.com.) She appeared in the census in 1860 in Brookfield, Waukesha County, WI.⁹ Louise appeared in the census in 1870 in Brookfield, Waukesha County, WI.²¹ She appeared in the census in 1880 in Brookfield, Waukesha County, WI.⁶ She lived in Reels Valley, Adrian Township, Monroe County, WI after 1882.²² Louise was Lutheran in 1889 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.²³ She is listed in the Communion Register of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. She appeared in the census in 1900 in Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.¹⁹ She was living next door to her son Frank and his family. She died on 8 October 1909 at the age of 89 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.^16,22,24 Obituary Notes: "At the home of her son in this city at 4:15 A.M. on Oct 8th 1909, Mrs. Dorothea Fuchs, aged 89 years 4 months and 9 days. Dorothea Louisa Fuchs was born on May 30th, 1820, in Pomerania. The maiden name was Perganda.

In the year 1845, she was married to Mr. Wm. Wirth of the same place. They came to America in 1856 and located in the town of Brookfield, Waukesha Co., Wisconsin, where her husband died in 1858.

To them were born three sons, August, William and Leonard F. August preceded her in death 40 years. In 1860, she was married to Mr. Henry Fuchs, and to them one son was born, Frank.

In the year 1882, they came to Reel's Valley, in the town of Tomah, where she lived until two months ago, when she came to spend her last days with her son, L. F., in Tomah. Death was caused by old age.

She also leaves three sisters who survive her: Mrs. Wilde of Ridgeville, Mrs. Frank Brehmer of this city, and Mrs. Brandenberg of the village of Wilton.

The funeral services were held in the Evangelical Church on the 11th of October, 1909, at 2:00 o'clock. May she rest in peace."

Obituary Notes: "Mrs. Dorothea Fuchs, mother of Mr. Frank Fuchs of the town of Tomah and Mr. Leo Wirth of this city, died at the home of the latter last Friday night at the age of 88 years. The funeral took place at the Lutheran Reformed church in this city on Tuesday and was largely attended. The deceased was one of the old residents of Reel's Valley."

(The cemetery records list her date of death as 10 Oct 1909; that was in error.) Louise was buried on 11 October 1909 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.^16,17,22 in the Oak Grove Cemetery. (In the birth record of her son Wilhelm her surname was initially listed as "Pergande," and then that name was crossed out and it was changed to "Periander."

Wilhelm Friedrich WIRTH Sr. and Dorothea Louisa "Louise" PERGANDE had the following children: