Available records change with Ferdinand and Henrietta as only their Birth/Baptism records are found within the St. Cyriakus church records. To my knowledge, they are the first family members in the United States. However, there were other families from Schmerlecke whom had already made the journey - Siedhoff for sure.

The 1900 Census of Saline County, Nebraska tells that Ferdinand immigrated to the United States in 1885, his first child [Bertha] in 1866, and Henrietta in 1887.

It appears that Ferdinand completed his required military service as a member of the Prussian Calvary and made the move to the US soon after. I believe he returned to German in 1887 in order to return with Henrietta and they were married on November 1st in David City, Nebraska. I have no idea how Bertha got to the US and I have yet to find any ship passenger lists for the family.

They started farming in David City and relocated to Crete later in life. I’m working on locating the farms and determining how he and his brother Heinrich interacted in personal and working capacities.

Per news articles and his obituary, Ferdinand was hit by a truck at age 80 and succumbed to his injuries which were exacerbated by pneumonia.

Henrietta went on to live another 26 years and from what Gene tells me, she had/has quite the family reputation. It seems she was quite a force and well respected.
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