Maria Catherina Kruempelmann was both on September 6, 1857 in Bokel, Germany. She is Walt’s great-grandmother Wellman.

Maria Catherina Kruempelmann is the oldest of 8 children born to Johann and Maria Kroeger Kruempelmann. She was born on September 6th, 1857. She usually went by the name Katherine.

Part of her birth and baptism certificate.

I covered a document about her birth and baptism in this post. The document was dated August 24, 1855. A few weeks later, on September 17, 1855, Katherine arrived on the ship Nurnberg at Baltimore, Maryland. She came to Illinois in the area across from Lee County, Iowa, to join her brother. It is possible that she and her family knew the Wellman family in Germany.

On January 26, 1886, Katherine married Gerhard Wellman at St. Mary’s Church in West Point, Iowa. They had 6 children together, 5 sons and one daughter. One son, Franziscus, died at the age of 4. Their daughter Elizabeth is Walt’s grandmother. I wrote about Gerhard in this post.

Katherine Kruempelmann Wellman died on February 18, 1904.