He married Anna Hildegard Rick on January 11, 1917 in Boston, Massachusetts at Holy Trinity Church.

The groom was a foreman at the Whiting - Adams Brush Co. in Boston at the time of their marriage.
The bride was born March 3, 1895 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Her parents were John Rick and Anne Considine.

(Witnesses were Andrew L. Wessling¹ and Catherine Lauinger.)

Joseph died on July 11, 1960, in Stoughton, Massachusetts.
Anna died on January 13, 1985 in Washington, D. C..

They were the parents of the following child:

Henry Joseph ²

was born on March 19, 1918 at his parent's home in the Roxbury section of Boston, Massachusetts and was christened at Holy Trinity Church.
(Sponsors were Andrew L. Wessling¹ and Catherina Lauinger.)

One of the earliest references about grandfather Wessling's education was discovered in the Boston College "Catalogue"s. In the 1897 - 1898 edition he was shown to have been a member of the "1st Rudiments". The 1st and 2nd Rudiments were for those young students who had or were about to complete the final year of their parochial or grammar schools. For those who had already done so, the Rudiments served as period of study in order that any academic deficiencies be remedied before entrance to the Academic School associated with Boston College could be attained.

The Academic School was, in essence, the forerunner of Boston College High School. It was a three year program designed to prepare students for admission to Boston College. In those days Boston College required the successful completion of its own examination for new students, unless the applicants could otherwise demonstrate their ability to do university level study. Obviously, satisfactory completion of the program of the Academic School would probably be sufficient to ensure acceptance to study at Boston College.

For the academic year 1898 - 1899 Joseph was placed in the 2nd Academic and was awarded the Premium in German.

The next and final reference was for the academic year 1901 - 1902, which had been his Freshman year at Boston College.

It would seem that after a single year at Boston College he began his employment with the Whiting brush company, most likely as a bookkeeper. Upon the death of his father in 1914, he became a foreman at that firm and his employment there continued until the business was acquired by Star Brush Co. in the 1930's.

Grandfather Wessling was active in many of the parish organizations of Holy Trinity Church. He was particularly active in the operations of the Germania Co-operative Bank as in 1911 and 1912 he served as an Auditor at one of its locations. At that time the regulatory authorities were requiring all of the co-operative banks to have their accounts reviewed. Later, he would serve on the Security Committee (1921 - 1932), be appointed President (1921 - 1932), as well as be elected to the Board of Directors (1914 - 1934). During his term as president, the bank achieved its zenith in terms of number of members, number of loans issued, and total capitalization. However, in the later years of his term the national economy fell into the Great Depression. Although the Germania Co-operative Bank did survive those difficult times, the administrative measures which were introduced to maintain the solvency of co-operative banks greatly changed the original characteristics of such financial institutions.

1. He was Joseph's younger brother.

2. He was the first grandchild of Henry and Victoria Wessling.