First Generation

1. Johann Gottlieb KUHL¹ was born on 3 December 1807 in Preussen (Prussia).^{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8} (This a map of Prussia as it existed in the mid-1800's.)

He may have been an older brother of Friedericke Kuhl, who was born in 1810. She married Friedrich Backhaus, Sr. in about 1833.

(The St. John's Lutheran Church, Ridgeville, death and cemetery records list his birthdate as 3 Dec 1807. The MyHeritage.com and Find a Grave websites list it as 17 Dec 1807. The 1860 Census listed his age as 50, indicating a birth year of about 1810; that was an error.)

(The 1870 and 1880 Census' and his death records listed his surname as Kuhl. His children used the name of Kuehl.) He emigrated in 1858 from Daber, Kreis Naugard, Pommern (Pomerania) Province, Preussen (Prussia).^3,9,10 Monroe County Heritage Book Article: "Gottlieb Kuhl and Dorothea Monkie ... came to Mayville, Dodge County, WI, and then to the Township of Adrian, Monroe County, WI. (Gary Griggs is unable to locate his family's immigration record on Ancestry.com.) The family settled on a farm in Reels Valley and in 1862, Gottlieb was one of the twenty-five heads of families that united in the organization of the first Lutheran Church in the area, The congregation was incorporated under the title 'The Evangelical Lutheran Saint John's Church'." Between 1858 and 1871 he was a farmer in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.³ Johann appeared in the census in 1860 in Adrian Township, Monroe County, WI.⁴ He was Lutheran in 1862 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.^11,12,13 Gottlieb Kuehl was one of the charter members of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church. He is listed as member number 15 of the first 100 members in the church records. (His surname was listed as "Kuehl.") He appeared in the census in 1870 in Adrian Township, Monroe County, WI.¹⁴ He and his wife were living next door to their daughter, Albertina, and his occupation was "Farmer." Johann died on 31 December 1871 at the age of 64 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.^3,5,6,15 He was buried on 2 January 1872 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.^5,6,9 in the St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery. He has Ancestral File Number LD99-GQG.¹⁶ (His name was listed as "Johann Gottlieb Kuhl" in the birth record of his son Heinrich, and as "Gottlieb Kuhl" in the record of his son Wilhelm.)

Johann Gottlieb KUHL and Dorothea Friederike "Dora" MAHNKE were married before 1828 in Preussen (Prussia).^3,9,12,17 (Their names are listed in the Marriage Registration Records of their daughter, Auguste.) Dorothea Friederike "Dora" MAHNKE^18,19 was born on 16 July 1807 in Preussen (Prussia).^{2,4,5,12,20,21} (The 1860 Census listed her age as 50, indicating a birth year of about 1810. Her gravestone lists her age at death as 82, indicating a birth year of about 1807.) She emigrated in 1858 from Daber, Kreis Naugard, Pommern (Pomerania) Province, Preussen (Prussia).⁹ She appeared in the census in 1860 in Adrian Township, Monroe County, WI.⁴ Dora appeared in the census in 1870 in Adrian Township, Monroe County, WI.¹⁴ She appeared in the census in 1880 in Adrian Township, Monroe County, WI.² She was living alone in a household next door to her son Charles. She died on 19 September 1889 at the age of 82 in Adrian Township, Monroe County, WI.^5,21 Dora was buried on 21 September 1889 in Ridgeville Township, Monroe County, WI.^5,9,21,22 in the St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery. She has Ancestral File Number LD88-GLB.²³ The German birth and baptism record of her son Wilhelm lists her surname as "Manske." The birth record of her son Heinrich lists it as "Manke."

Johann Gottlieb KUHL and Dorothea Friederike "Dora" MAHNKE had the following children: