THE ERNST NEILS FAMILY Ernst Friedrich Neils was born the 2nd of May in 1819, baptized the 5th of May in the village of Tribus, in Kreis Greifenberg, the administrative district of Stettin, the province of Pommern in the kingdom of Prussia. In English this provence is known as Pomerania. Ernst’s parents were Ludwig Neils in Hohen Drosedow and Dorothee Ramelow in Holm. All three of these villages were near the town of Treptow an der Rega.

There was also an informal division of Pommern: Vorpommern west of the Oder River and Hinterpommern, east of the Oder. This division is now a formal division. The Oder flows north from southern Germany and in Pommern it passes by the city of Stettin before flowing into the big lake, Stettiner Haff, and then on to the Baltic. After Word War II, the boundaries of Poland were moved west and the Oder became the western boundary except that Stettin, on the west bank of the river, was included in Poland along with Hinterpommern. Stettin, now called “Szczecin”, is a port city 40 miles inland on the Oder. The names of the villages connected to our family have changed to Polish names as well. Tribus, where Ernst was born, is now called “Trzebusz”. Hohen Drosedow, where Ludwig Neils was from is now “Drozdowo”. Holm where Dorothee Ramelow was from is now “Chelm Gryficki”. Treptow, the city around which these villages were clustered is now “Trzebiatow”. Only the river Rega is still the Rega.

Although when Julius Neils, the son of Ernst Neils, wrote his life story, he said he was born in Tribus near Treptow an der Rega, at some time the name was changed to Triebs. This was probably during the time of the Prussian empire. It is as Triebs that the church records were found recording the birth of Ernst Friedrich Neils and what his parents’ names were. Although it is underTriebs that the records were found, in the records themselves, the village is called Tribus.

KREIS GREIFENBERG with the villages that concern us are underlined.

Ernst Friedrich Neils was mar-ried to Henriette Sophie Caliebe on the 15 December 1843 in Tribus. Henriette Sophie Caliebe was the daughter of Jo-hann Friedrich Caliebe and Dorothee Marie Cress and was born 23 January 1820, baptized 6 February 1820. In the church records of births, marriages and deaths, the name Caliebe is sometimes spelled with a “K”. Johann Friedrich Caliebe worked in the nearby village of Ziegelei, a “company town” devoted to making bricks. The first child of Ernst Frie-drich Neils and Henriette Sophie was Wilhelmine Marie Dorothee born in Tribus on the 21 of January 1844 and baptized the 31 of January. The next child was August Frie-drich Wilhelm. He was born 12 August 1847 in Tribus and baptized 22 August. Here Henriette Sophie’s name is

spelled Kaliebe. The third child was Wilhelm Friedrich Ubrecht. He was born 12 March 1850 in Tribus and baptized in April, but the date is not legible. Here Henriette’s name is spelled Kaliebe. The fourth child was Hermann Julius Bernhard. He was born 24 December 1852 in Tri-bus and baptized December 27. Here Henriette’s name is spelled Kaliebe. The fifth child was Julius Friedrich Bernhard. He was born 15 June 1855 in Tribus and baptized 8 July. Here Henriette’s name is spelled Caliebe. The sixth child was Emil Robert Bernhard. He was born 3 December 1857 in Tribus and baptized 26 December. Emil lived only 9 years and one month. He died 3 January 1867 in Robe, a village a few kilometers from Tribus where the family had moved. According to Julius Neils’ recollection in his life story, Julius was 4 ½ when the family moved to Robe. That would make it the winter of 1859/60. Now that Robe is in Poland it is called Roby. The seventh child born was Ferdinand Eduard Reinhard. He was born 23 February 1861 in Tribus and baptized 17 March. According to Julius’ life story, his father started in business in Robe, dealing in butter, ham and eggs that he shipped to Stettin and Berlin.

EVNGELICAL CHURCH AT TRIBUS/TRIEBS In 1939 Triebs was a farming village with a population of 571 covering an area of 3450 acres.

Julius Neils’ life story tells about school: “At the age of six years I entered the village school. The name of my teacher was Fenske. During the summer months the school started at six o’clock in the morning and closed at eight o’clock, to give the children an opportunity to work in the fields. I always went to school before breakfast, and, after I came back, as my father had about fifteen sheep, I had to take them home in the evening. In the winter time we had school from 9 o’clock in the morning till 12, and from 1 to 4 o’clock.”

Julius continues, “At the age of 14, I was confirmed. My teacher had a private class of four boys including one of his sons who were preparing to become teachers. My father allowed me to join that class to get a better education. After about six months I begged my father to al-low me to join that class and become a teacher. This obliged me also to take music lessons. My father bought me an old violin from an old musician in Treptow. Teacher Fenske was kind enough to let me practice on his piano. Later on I was allowed to practice on the pipe organ in church.” When Julius turned 14 in June 1869, the oldest child of the family, Wilhelmina, age 25, had already emigrated to America. So far her pas-senger record has not been found, but she had had an understanding with Carl Krause before Carl left for America in 1867. Carl already had family in Milwaukee and sent for Wilhelmina two years later. They were married 20 June 1869. In 1870 their first child, Emil, was born and in 1871, a daughter Bertha was born. They would have nine children in all. Carl had a dairy farm in Milwau-kee and delivered milk in a horse-drawn wagon about the neighborhood. Wilhelmina urged her parents and brothers to come to America. They probably also had urging from relatives of Henri-ette’s who were also already in America. So in August 1872 Ernst Neils sold his property and left for America. His son, August,

THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH AT ROBE

ROBE CHURCH INTERIOR In 1932 the population of Robe was 544.

OLD PICTURE OF ROBE CHURCH This is probably like the way the church looked when Julius practiced the organ here

had emigrated earlier in April of that year probably on the ship Hammonia, leaving Hamburg on 24 April and arriving in New York 9 May. Herman probably left before the rest of the fam-ily, too, but there is some confusion because August is listed twice, the second time with the incorrect age. The second listing is also for April and that listing includes an unnamed Neils on the same ship, the Allemania. This unnamed Neils must be Herman. In any case, there is no confusion about Ernst Neils’ date of departure. Both the Ham-burg Passenger List Index and “Germans to America, Lists of pas-sengers Arriving at U.S. Ports” ed-ited by Glazier and Filby, have Ernst Neils sailing on S.S. Frisia, 21 Au-gust 1872 from Hamburg. He is listed as a merchant and age 53. He is accompanied by his wife Sophie (Henriette’s middle name), age 52. With them are Wilhelm, age 22, Julius, age 17 and Ferdinand age 9. They arrived in New York on 5 September 1872 and went through immigration processing at Castle Garden. (Ellis Island was not the immigration center until 1892.)

They continued by train to Milwaukee and stayed at first with their daughter, Wilhelmina Neils Krause, who already was the mother of two and expecting a third. The family settled in North Milwaukee and Ernst worked for the City of North Milwaukee as a road builder and worked on Milwaukee streets after acquiring a team of horses. Wilhelm and Julius both helped their father with his work shoveling dirt, but Julius soon went on to other jobs, at the same time study-ing English with a private teacher.

CASTLE GARDEN Immigrant processing Center in New York City

Julius, who was 17 years old when he immigrated, entered the Addison Teacher’s Seminary at Addison, Illinois in September 1874 and graduated in two years in July 1876. He worked for the congregation at West Granville until November 1, 1876 when he began his teaching job at the parochial school in Reedsburg, Sauk County, Wisconsin. It was while teaching here that he met and fell in love with Mary Geiger who was visiting her aunt, Bertha Schweke. Julius and Mary Geiger were married in Milwaukee on 3 January 1878. They began their married life in Reedsburg and their first child, Julia, was born on January 10, 1879. In March of 1879, Julius received a call to Hutisford, Wisconsin to teach the upper class which he accepted. Their second child, Martha, was born at Hutisford on Oc-tober 8, 1880.

It was while Julius was teaching at Reedsburg, Sauk County that Julius filed his “Declaration of Intention to Be-come a Citizen” on the 26 October 1878. Two years later, on the 19 Oc-tober 1880, while living in Hutisford, the Circuit Court of the State of Wis-consin held in the county of Dodge granted Julius Neils U.S. citizenship. After only two years in Hutisford, Julius resigned his teaching job in the summer of 1881 on account of fre-quent headaches. The oldest son, August, was 25 years old when he immigrated. He continued to live in Milwaukee until he married Hulda Berg on 30 April 1876. August went into the hardware business with his brother-in-law Berg in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. In 1881 August with his brother Julius went north to Marathon County looking for a place where they could start a hard-ware store. They found the opportu-nity in Spencer where the hardware dealer was anxious to sell. August put $1500 and Julius put $1000 into the business and with this money they were able to buy the stock of hard-ware and the unfinished store build-ing.

born January 1886; Emil, born June 1888; Minnie, born November 1890; August, born July 1893; Lily Anna Rosa, born September 1895. After moving to Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, where three of Herman’s brothers were living, Her-man and Auguste had one more child, Ida, born 25 August 1898. Herman was working as a day laborer. In the 1900 U.S. census for Sauk Rapids, Benton County, Minnesota, the family was still all together. Herman is now 45 and Auguste 41. They have been married 20 years. Unfortu-nately for all, Herman died 28 June 1900. The oldest child, Ella, was 18 years old. The oldest boy, William, was only 14 and Emil 11. The youngest was Ida, not yet 2 years old.

By 1881, August and Hulda had three children, Wilhelmina (Minnie), born November 1877, Julius C, born March 1879 and Alma M., born November 1881. While they lived in Spencer, they had a son Reinhard Gustave, born 4 September 1884. Also by 1881, Julius and Mary had the two daughters, Julia and Martha. During the time they lived in Spencer they had three more children: Anna, born 18 October 1882; Ida, born 4 October 1884; and Paul, born 25 July 1886. The summer of 1886 was hot and dry, with no rain for two months. Then one Sunday a farmer’s brush fire got out of control, fanned by a high wind and headed for town. The hard-ware store burned. August Neils’ house, the two sawmills, the two lumberyards, the planing mill, the depot plus a quarter of the town was in ashes. August and Julius were both out of busi-ness. When August’s brother-in-law in Sauk Rapids heard about what had happened, he wrote to him to come and buy him out. So August and Julius moved to Sauk Rapids in the fall of 1886 and, using their insurance money took over the hardware of the Berg Brothers. In Sauk Rapids, August and Hulda had five more children: Frieda Ella, born July 1887; Ernst, born August 1889; Emma, born August 1881; Theodore Ferdinand, born April 1895; and Otto. While this was going on with August and Julius, Wilhelm, who was 22 when he immi-grated, continued to live in Milwaukee and he married Bertha Wendt when she was only 17 on 13 December 1876. They had fourteen children, four of whom died in childhood. The children were: Ida, born February 1876; Franz (Frank), born October 1877; Emma, born December 1880; Helena (Lena), born September 1882; Emil Carl, born January 1884; Anna, born January 1887; Hilda, born November 1888; Julius I., born No-vember 1889; Adela (Della), born November 1891; Elsa, born November 1892; Rosie, born September 1894; Willie, born September 1911; and Harry Frank, born November 1896. Wilhelm was a teamster and also farmed. He raised chick-ens and sold the eggs. Wilhelm died 21 April 1923. Herman was 19 years old when he immi-grated. He married in 1880 to Auguste Tetzlaff. He worked as a grocer with his Tetzlaff cousins and also worked as a teamster and laborer. Her-man and Auguste had seven children while still living in Milwaukee. They were: Ella, born Au-gust 1881; Lena, born November 1883; William,

HENRIETTA AND ERNST NEILS WITH THEIR SONS Left to right: Julius, August, Herman and Wilhelm Seated: Henrietta, Ferdinand and Ernst

born January 1886; Emil, born June 1888; Minnie, born November 1890; August, born July 1893; Lily Anna Rosa, born September 1895. After moving to Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, where three of Herman’s brothers were living, Herman and Auguste had one more child, Ida, born 25 August 1898. Herman was working as a day laborer. In the 1900 U.S. census for Sauk Rapids, Benton County, Minnesota, the family was still all together. Herman is now 45 and Auguste 41. They have been married 20 years. Un-fortunately for all, Herman died 28 June 1900. The oldest child, Ella, was 18 years old. The oldest boy, William, was only 14 and Emil 11. The youngest was Ida, not yet 2 years old. It is hard to know how the family survived. Vernon Neils, August Neils’ grandson wrote in the 1986 Timber that his Aunt Emma (August Neils’ daughter) told him that August and Julius supported the widow, Augusta, and family until Augusta died. Ferdinand was eleven years old when the family immigrated to America. As a child he lived with his parents at 1723 Fond du Lac, Milwaukee. He was a laborer and married in 1882 when Ferdinand was 21. His wife was Caroline Braeger. They had eleven children: Anna, born July 1883 in Milwaukee. After Anna was born they moved to Sauk Rapids, Min-nesota. Emil, born April 1885; Lydia, born December 1886; Edward Julius, born April 1888; Herman, born July 1890; William, born April 1892; Clara, born December 1893; Rosaline, born January 1896; Bernhard, born July 1898. After Bernhard wss born the family moved to Cass Lake, Minnesota. There, Eleanor was born February 1901; and Verona, born August 1903. After 1886, August and Julius Neils were both living in Sauk Rapids and August continued to own the hard-ware store. He sold the store after 36 years in the hardware business in No-vember 1913 to E.L. Johnson, who sold it later, but it stayed in business until the 1970’s. August Neils was still living in Sauk Rapids when he died in 1936. Julius Neils had gone to Sauk Rapids to join his brother August in the hardware business, but within a year, he dissolved the partnership and went into the lumber business. In the early 90’s, he was a partner with Mr. Thayer from Spencer. In 1895, T.H. Shevlin bought out Thayer. The J. Neils Lumber Com-pany was formed with Shevlin and H. C.Clarke; Julius Neils became general manager. His salary was $1000 per an-num.

HENRIETTA AND ERNST WITH A GRANDDAUGHTER She is probably August and Hulda�s oldest child Wilhelmina (Minnie), born 1877

In 1899 Shevlin notified Julius that they could not furnish a supply of logs indefi-nitely, so in November Julius went to Cass Lake to investigate the possibility of a sawmill there. The plan was feasible and the mill was built during the winter and completed in May. Three cottages were built at the same time so he moved the family from Sauk Rapids to Cass Lake in May 1900. The family home was completed in August. During their years in Sauk Rapids, Julius and Mary had six children: Walter Ernst, born May 1888; George, born April 1890; Martin, born April 1892; Marie, born January 1894; Henry, born April 1896; and Gerhard Frederick, born March 1898. In the new house in Cass Lake, Marcus was born September 1900 and lived only seven weeks. Victor was born in January 1902 and died in a tragic accident March 24, 1915. The new house was completed just in time for the marriage of the oldest daughter, Julia, to be married to Henry Schoknecht on August 28, 1900. It marked the beginning of twenty-four happy years for the family in Cass Lake. By 1923, Julius and Mary Neils had bought a house in Portland, Oregon where the new headquarters of the J. Neils Lumber Company was located. In 1924 the last of the family left Cass Lake and were now either in Libby, Montana or Klickitat, Washington where the new sawmills were located. The excep-tions were Julia, Martha, and Henry, married and living separate lives from the rest of the family. Julius Neils died 23 July 1933. Mary Geiger Neils died 12 February 1949. Henriette Sophie Caliebe Neils died 14 May 1896 of bronchitis. Ernst Friedrich Neils died 25 September 1901. They had spent their lives in Milwaukee after coming to America. Ernst’s death record is on the next page. Jeanette Neils Remole