Individual Details
Hubert Stephen Welle
(December 26, 1873 - May 25, 1943)
Close to 400 gather at Welle reunion Faith, music big part of big family
by Carol Moorman Staff writer
Freeport--Karen Welle proudly carried a purple flag bearing the name Christopher up to the front of Sacred Heart Church in Freeport Sunday, Aug. 10. She was followed by a litany of relatives who carried colored banners with one of their parents' names spelled out in large white letters.
The common thread in these banners was the Welle name.
Close to 400 descendents of the Hubert and Anna (Sand) Welle family--the Spring Hill branch--gathered in Freeport for a Welle Reunion.
"There are over 900 people connected to this Welle family. That means more than one-third of the relatives were here," said Sister Janice Welle, OSB, a member of the reunion liturgy committee. It started with an 11 a.m. Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Freeport, followed by a meal and program at the Freeport Community Center.
The reunion idea surfaced three years ago when first cousins Marion (Welle) Rehkamp, Dorine (Thull) Salzl and Franciscan Sister Janice Welle, met and had the idea for a genealogy of the grandparents, Hubert Stephan Welle and Anna Sand. Representatives from the 11 sons and daughters of Hubert and Anna became the planning committee.
"Within two years a 269-page genealogy was printed and distributed," said Sister Janice. Bud Welle, son of Alphonse Welle, compiled much of the genealogy data.
The book included the origin and significance of names, descriptions of the Welle and Sand family trees, wedding photos of the 11 sons and daughters of Hubert and Anna, along with descendents of each family, family recipes, German songs sung by the relatives, birth name index of over 900 individuals and names, addresses and phone numbers of first cousins.
"Seeing photos, reading stories, and recalling German songs printed in the genealogy led the planning committee to organize a reunion for the descendents," said Sister Janice.
Welle history
"Dwellers Near a Stream," the Welle/Sand genealogy book, is filled with vital information including not only genealogy, but photos, recipes and German songs.
According to the book, Welle ancestors were clustered around mineral springs in Westphalia, Germany. Dwellers by the springs long, long ago were already known by the name of Welle which refers to a person who lived at or near a spring or terrain with springs, "van der Well."
The genealogy stated the "origin of the Sand name seems obvious. In studying the location of the village, Schoenfels, ..., one can see it to be on the shores of the Mamer River. The soil is very sandy. Therefore, the people living there were known as Sand."
Hubert Stephan Welle, son of Christopher and Elisabeth (Primus) Welle, was born on Dec. 26, 1873, on the family farm in Spring Hill. He was the third child in a family of 10 children.
On Feb. 1, 1897, he married Anna Sand, daughter of Nicolas Sand and Christina Jacquemain/Jacquemerin, in Meire Grove and they took over the Welle family farm.
The had 13 children, two of whom died in infancy. All of the children were born on the Spring Hill farm.
Hubert began a commercial threshing operation which he ran or continued working with until he became ill. Anna was a homemaker and partner in the farming operation.
Hubert bought his first threshing machine in 1915 and it took a crew of eight to ten men to run. Threshing at 35 farms took about 65 days.
The women "had a great deal of work to do during this operation also" cooking and baking for the threshing crew.
Anna and Hubert farmed until 1929 when they retired and moved to Melrose. On Oct. 1, 1930, Anna passed away at the age of 53 and Hubert and his family continued to live in Melrose.
On June 7, 1939, he married Mary Stadtherr Hollenhorst, widow of August Hollenhorst, a blacksmith and wagon maker in Greenwald who had passed away in December of 1936. Mary had five children--Rose, Regina, Martha, Elmer and Alma.
Hubert Welle passed away on Tuesday, Mary 25, 1943 and Mary died on July 2, 1972.
They left behind a long line of descendents.
Reunion
Many were present at the reunion, coming from as close as Melrose and Sauk Centre and as far away as Japan. Father Greg Poser, a relative of the Welle family, celebrated the Mass which had family members participating, from the crossbearer and those carrying in banners to the readers, servers, Eucharistic ministers and musicians.
A meal and a short program followed.
On this Sunday a printout of the family genealogy stretched across the south wall of the community center. On the north wall were family photos many of the descendents descended on. Name tags tipped off who belonged to who, as did the colored shirts many wore which matched the banners and the colored square on each family photo display.
Their German ancestry, Catholic faith and music have played an important part in the Welle family over the years. German songs were song this Sunday--Grosser Gott (Holy God, We Praise Thy Name) during the Mass and Schnitzelbank, an old German song written by Americans farmers to teach their children some German words, during the program.
"We sing Schnitzelbank at every wedding," said Marci Welle, married to Don Welle, who is the son of Peter Welle.
by Carol Moorman Staff writer
Freeport--Karen Welle proudly carried a purple flag bearing the name Christopher up to the front of Sacred Heart Church in Freeport Sunday, Aug. 10. She was followed by a litany of relatives who carried colored banners with one of their parents' names spelled out in large white letters.
The common thread in these banners was the Welle name.
Close to 400 descendents of the Hubert and Anna (Sand) Welle family--the Spring Hill branch--gathered in Freeport for a Welle Reunion.
"There are over 900 people connected to this Welle family. That means more than one-third of the relatives were here," said Sister Janice Welle, OSB, a member of the reunion liturgy committee. It started with an 11 a.m. Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Freeport, followed by a meal and program at the Freeport Community Center.
The reunion idea surfaced three years ago when first cousins Marion (Welle) Rehkamp, Dorine (Thull) Salzl and Franciscan Sister Janice Welle, met and had the idea for a genealogy of the grandparents, Hubert Stephan Welle and Anna Sand. Representatives from the 11 sons and daughters of Hubert and Anna became the planning committee.
"Within two years a 269-page genealogy was printed and distributed," said Sister Janice. Bud Welle, son of Alphonse Welle, compiled much of the genealogy data.
The book included the origin and significance of names, descriptions of the Welle and Sand family trees, wedding photos of the 11 sons and daughters of Hubert and Anna, along with descendents of each family, family recipes, German songs sung by the relatives, birth name index of over 900 individuals and names, addresses and phone numbers of first cousins.
"Seeing photos, reading stories, and recalling German songs printed in the genealogy led the planning committee to organize a reunion for the descendents," said Sister Janice.
Welle history
"Dwellers Near a Stream," the Welle/Sand genealogy book, is filled with vital information including not only genealogy, but photos, recipes and German songs.
According to the book, Welle ancestors were clustered around mineral springs in Westphalia, Germany. Dwellers by the springs long, long ago were already known by the name of Welle which refers to a person who lived at or near a spring or terrain with springs, "van der Well."
The genealogy stated the "origin of the Sand name seems obvious. In studying the location of the village, Schoenfels, ..., one can see it to be on the shores of the Mamer River. The soil is very sandy. Therefore, the people living there were known as Sand."
Hubert Stephan Welle, son of Christopher and Elisabeth (Primus) Welle, was born on Dec. 26, 1873, on the family farm in Spring Hill. He was the third child in a family of 10 children.
On Feb. 1, 1897, he married Anna Sand, daughter of Nicolas Sand and Christina Jacquemain/Jacquemerin, in Meire Grove and they took over the Welle family farm.
The had 13 children, two of whom died in infancy. All of the children were born on the Spring Hill farm.
Hubert began a commercial threshing operation which he ran or continued working with until he became ill. Anna was a homemaker and partner in the farming operation.
Hubert bought his first threshing machine in 1915 and it took a crew of eight to ten men to run. Threshing at 35 farms took about 65 days.
The women "had a great deal of work to do during this operation also" cooking and baking for the threshing crew.
Anna and Hubert farmed until 1929 when they retired and moved to Melrose. On Oct. 1, 1930, Anna passed away at the age of 53 and Hubert and his family continued to live in Melrose.
On June 7, 1939, he married Mary Stadtherr Hollenhorst, widow of August Hollenhorst, a blacksmith and wagon maker in Greenwald who had passed away in December of 1936. Mary had five children--Rose, Regina, Martha, Elmer and Alma.
Hubert Welle passed away on Tuesday, Mary 25, 1943 and Mary died on July 2, 1972.
They left behind a long line of descendents.
Reunion
Many were present at the reunion, coming from as close as Melrose and Sauk Centre and as far away as Japan. Father Greg Poser, a relative of the Welle family, celebrated the Mass which had family members participating, from the crossbearer and those carrying in banners to the readers, servers, Eucharistic ministers and musicians.
A meal and a short program followed.
On this Sunday a printout of the family genealogy stretched across the south wall of the community center. On the north wall were family photos many of the descendents descended on. Name tags tipped off who belonged to who, as did the colored shirts many wore which matched the banners and the colored square on each family photo display.
Their German ancestry, Catholic faith and music have played an important part in the Welle family over the years. German songs were song this Sunday--Grosser Gott (Holy God, We Praise Thy Name) during the Mass and Schnitzelbank, an old German song written by Americans farmers to teach their children some German words, during the program.
"We sing Schnitzelbank at every wedding," said Marci Welle, married to Don Welle, who is the son of Peter Welle.
Events
| Birth | December 26, 1873 | Spring Hill Twp, Stearns Co., MN | |||
| Marriage | February 1, 1897 | Meire Grove, Stearns Co., MN - Anna Sand | |||
| Marriage | June 7, 1939 | Mary Statherr-Hollenhorst | |||
| Death | May 25, 1943 | Melrose, Stearns Co., MN |
Families
| Spouse | Anna Sand (1877 - 1930) |
| Child | Christopher Ludwig Welle (1898 - 1965) |
| Child | Elizabeth Welle (1899 - 1899) |
| Child | Nicholaus J. Welle (1900 - 1900) |
| Child | Michael John Welle (1901 - 1983) |
| Child | Henry Nicholaus Welle (1903 - 1989) |
| Child | Alphonse Joseph Welle (1905 - 1970) |
| Child | Peter Martin Welle (1906 - 1967) |
| Child | Anna Marie Welle (1908 - 1991) |
| Child | Pauline Marie Welle (1909 - 2001) |
| Child | William Michael Welle (1912 - 1978) |
| Child | Hubert John Welle (1915 - 1981) |
| Child | Rose Catherine Welle (1916 - 2004) |
| Child | Alvina Henrietta Welle (1918 - 2008) |
| Spouse | Mary Statherr-Hollenhorst ( - 1972) |
| Father | Christopher Welle (1841 - 1901) |
| Mother | Anna Elizabeth Primus (1852 - 1928) |
| Sibling | John Joseph Welle (1872 - 1952) |
| Sibling | Henry Welle (1875 - 1961) |
| Sibling | Joseph John Welle (1877 - 1960) |
| Sibling | Mary Anna Welle (1882 - 1939) |
| Sibling | Elizabeth Theresa Welle (1884 - 1965) |
| Sibling | Anthony (Anton) Joseph Welle (1886 - 1953) |
| Sibling | George Welle (1893 - 1971) |