The first of our Wessling ancestors known to have emigrated from Germany (in this instance, actually, from the Kingdom of Hannover) appears to have been the elder Gerhard Heinrich who had arrived at the port of New Orleans, Louisiana on December 27, 1853 and had settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. Quite a few people from the vicinity of Lingen a.d. Ems made Cincinnati their destination including the Rev. G.H. Kuhr, D.D., his uncle. It is also very possible other Kuhrs went to Cincinnati. While there were several other Wesslings from the area surrounding Lingen who went to southwestern Ohio, northern Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana, it is not apparent if any of those Wesslings were related to our ancestors.

Gerhard Heinrich's younger brother, Johann Hermann, had planned to leave Lingen in 1866 for America but circumstances prevented him from departing at that time. He did, however, sail for America circa 1871 with his wife and 2 children choosing Boston, Massachusetts for their new home. They may have been accompanied by Anna Theresia Wessling whose 2 brothers, Gerhard Heinrich and Hermann, had reached Boston by late 1871.

Anna Theresia was a godparent for one of Johann Hermann's children who was christened in January of 1873 in Boston at Holy Trinity Church.

The exact date of Anna Gesina's arrival in Boston is not known. The earliest recorded fact concerning her presence in Boston was as a godparent of Franz Kamp and Anna Theresia Kamp, geb. Wessling's first child, who was christened in 1874 at Holy Trinity Church.

It appears that Anna Adelheid arrived in 1879 and stayed for at least a year before returning to Lingen because she was a witness at Gesina's wedding in September of 1879. Also, she had been enumerated in the 1880 census as being in the household headed by her brother, Hermann. The remainder of this family left Lingen at about the same time following the winding down of the family's financial affairs as a result of the death of Johann Albert. Briefly, before his widow could convey the title of their small farm to a prospective buyer, she needed to remedy some problems with that title - Johann Heinrich; his wife, Anna Aleid, geb. Kuhr; and six of their children were unwittingly named in that document. Thus, each person was deemed to have received a financial interest in that property. Although, within the family, it was clear how the inheritance was to have been made; affidavits were, nevertheless, required to be submitted to the law courts in Lingen so as establish the point that Joahann Albert would be sole heir upon the deaths of his parents. These affidavits were sent from Cincinnati, Boston, and Lingen and the matter was soon resolved. The article regarding the Conveyance of 1882 contains a fuller account of those events.

Gerhard Heinrich Johann Hermann and family Maria Adelheid, geb. Kuhr Gerhard Heinrich Hermann Heinrich Anna Theresia Anna Gesina Anna Adelheid Bernhard Heinrich Margaret Elisabeth Engeline Catharina Elisabeth Joseph Fix Gertrud Kohler Sebastian Rick and family

The image depicting emigrants at Bremerhaven circa 1850 was obtained from the Historisches Museum in Bremerhaven.

In general, when a person wished to leave Germany in the 1870's some form of governmental approval was necessary. Men had the additional burden of proving the fulfillment of their compulsory military service before they were granted the official documentation. However, it was not uncommon for men, particularly those who were unmarried, to leave without having legal permission.

That is likely the case regarding the 3 sons of Johann Albert since 2 of them, Gerhard in 1871 and Bernhard Heinrich in 1881, traveled to the port of Rotterdam as opposed to Bremerhaven, which would have been the customary port of embarkation for those emigrating from the the Lingen area.

An interesting file was located at the the law courts in Meppen regarding Gerhard Heinrich's departure. He was convicted in absentia for having left the country. For further details, see the report regarding the 6th generation of Wesslings.