Welker Family History

The Welker Family History

By: Lauren Welker

My Interview (primary source)

Secondary Sources

Ken Welker (father)- I talked with my dad, and he provided me with a few written documents and several artifacts of importance to his family history. Being one of three living representatives of the Welker family, much of what he could recall was vague. The other two living are his brother Keith and sister Ann. They gave me some additional information as well but no written documents or artifacts. It was hard for me to obtain a lot of specific information and dates because most of my family members passed away at an early age.

Blindauer, Debie. "Holy Rosary Cemetery - New Holstein." Holy Rosary Cemetery, New Holstein, Calumet County. RootsWeb, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

"Brarens (Ship)." WorldCat Identities. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

"History." German Beer Stein History - Beer Steins and Mugs - SteinCenter.com. SteinCenter, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

"Welker Surname, Family Crest & Coats of Arms." HouseOfNames. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

1717- Birth of the First Known Ancestor

1968- A New Beginning

1992- The Move to Green Bay

1848- Settling in America

2006- The Clock Passed Down

1895- First Documented Birth of a Welker

1997- Last Chance for the Welker Name Legacy

Sometime in 1717, Hans Juergen Thomsen was born in Bergenhusen, Germany. According to a secondary source, Bergenhusen is a municipality in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

He is considered my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather.

In 1968, my father Ken Welker, my uncle Keith Welker and their parents James and Joan moved from West Bend, Wisconsin, to New Holstein, Wisconsin. They left because of a job offering to become the primary owner of what used to be Lloyd's Cleaners. They changed the name to Imperial Cleaners, and it was a family-owned business until 2015.

Shortly after my parents' marriage on June 6, 1992, they moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, due to better job opportunities. Also, my mother had always grown up in Green Bay, so that is where her brother and parents still resided. They did not want to stay in Whitewater because neither of their families would be nearby.

Claus Tams and Anna Schnack arrived in New York on May 12, 1848, on the ship called Brarens. An outside source claims it departed from Hamburg, Germany, on April 2, 1848. Claus Tams was believed to be only twenty-one at the time coming in pursuit of purchasing land in Calumetville, Wisconsin. Germany also was in a time of economic hardship, and many left to avoid wars. The couple would become the first settlers and founders of New Holstein which was founded in the same year as the state of Wisconsin.

On February 24, 2006, my grandfather James Welker passed away from a bleeding ulcer during the night. He had a clock from Germany in his house that had been given to him by his father Stanley Welker as a birthday present. This clock was designated to be passed on to my father when both of his parents had passed away. Currently the clock sits in our living room above the fireplace.

On March 14, 1895, the first known Welker was born somewhere in Germany. His name was Leonard Welker, and he was possibly the son of Peter Welker and Dora Sievers. Little is known of Peter and his birth date, so Leonard is considered to have the first documented date of birth that can be accessed. According to a secondary source, the Welker surname refers to someone who cleaned and thickened cloth. This is ironic due to the dry cleaning operation in my family history.

A typical hanger from the business

On May 22, 1997, my only male cousin named Mitchell Welker was born in West Bend, Wisconsin. He is a sophomore in college now, and he is the last hope for the Welker name to carry on. If he does not or cannot carry it on, the name dies out altogether.

The historical marker present in New Holstein

The Welker Coat of Arms

1800

1850

1750

2000

1950

1900

2050

1700

2017- Present Day

1851- Marriage in Calumet County

1906- The German Beer Stein

1998- Sesquicentennial Year

1986- My Parents Meet

1964- Stanley's Death

Unaware of the exact date, my mother Leanne Delvaux met my father Ken Welker at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. It was a rainy day, and my father offered my mother his umbrella. They started dating shortly after and were married a few years later in 1992.

In 1998, fifty years had passed since the founding of New Holstein. In this year, a woman by the name of Ruth decided to look into the founding of New Holstein. She discovered that it tied back to my family's history, so she compiled a family tree and wrote a letter about the connection between my family and the town. She sent this to my grandfather James (Jim) Welker because they were family friends. Both of these were primary written documents used to help me obtain much of the information on my family.

Currently, I am a junior at Notre Dame Academy, and I am living in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I am seventeen years old, and I have two sisters named Carolyn and Allison. My aunt Ann is the only person of Welker descent still living in New Holstein, Wisconsin.

On December 11, 1906, Anna Tams and her husband John Jochimisen gifted their daughter Hulda Jochimsen her first beer stein from Germany for her fourteenth birthday. This turned into a collection of German beer steins that were passed down from generation to generation, and some ended up in my house. According to a secondary source, German beer steins originated in the 14th century due to the Bubonic Plague. Laws were enforced to make sure all drinks were kept in containers with lids for sanitary reasons. Now, beer steins are popular for their cultural art and can be worth a lot of money.

On January 3, 1851, Claus and Anna were married in the Chilton courthouse as one of the first recorded marriages in Calumet County. They were not married in a church because there were no churches in New Holstein at the time. Dr. Charles Bock was the Justice of Peace who married the two, and he came over on the Brarens ship as well.

1964- My Grandparents' Marriage

My parents' wedding rings

My family

In July of 1964, my great grandfather named Stanley Glen Welker committed suicide in his own home at the age of forty-nine. The cause was due to a mental illness he suffered from. He was married to my great grandmother Henrietta who had lost her previous husband due to cancer. Dying at the age of ninety-three, Henrietta ended up outliving all three of her children and both of her husbands. When she passed, the eldest relatives left in the family became my father, his brother and his sister.

This is what the courthouse looks like in the present day

One of the unpainted beer steins in my house

On August 29, 1964, my grandfather James Welker married my grandmother Joan. James had lost his father Stanley only about one month prior, so the wedding was somewhat sad. My father said his father (my grandpa) never spoke about Stanley, so he knew very little about him. My grandparents were very social and outgoing people known by everyone in New Holstein.

A photo of James and Joan later on in their marriage