WI BIO - Adams Co - WOHLFERT, Franz

Commemorative & Biographical Record of Columbia, Sauk & Adams Counties, 
Wisconsin. Chicago: Ogle, 1901, pp 382-383

Franz WOHLFERT was born 23 February 1823 in the city of Baden, Germany, the 
son of Matthias [Mathias?] and Elizabeth (DRALL) WOHLFERT. His father, who 
was a lumberman and farmer, lived and died in Baden. Our subject came to 
America about 1853, and resided three years in New York City. He then came 
to Wisconsin, and lived for a time at Sharon, Walworth County, and in 1855 
removed to Adams County, settling in Jackson Township on his present farm. 
He now owns 200 acres of land with a good set of farm buildings, and carries 
on general farming.

In October 1864 Franz WOHLFERT enlisted in Company D, Fourth Wisconsin Heavy 
Artillery, served eleven months, and was discharged at the close of the war. 
He was stationed at Brazos City, Louisiana. On the occasion of the 
assassination of President LINCOLN, while firing one hundred guns, our 
subject lost his hearing by the discharge of artillery. While in the service 
he also suffered from diarrhea and malaria for several months. 

In October 1853 at Sharon [Walworth County, Wisconsin], Mr. [Franz] WOHLFERT 
was married to Dena MILLER, daughter of George and Cornelia MILLER; she was 
born in New Beiern [Thuringen], Germany, and came to the United States in 
1851. Her father [George MILLER] died in Germany, and her mother [then 
Cornelia HOFFMAN] died in 1870, aged fifty-five years. Mrs. [Cornelia] 
MILLER had married after the death of her husband [George MILLER], becoming 
the wife of Andrew HOFFMAN, who died in Adams County [Wisconsin] in July 
1890, aged over eighty years.

Mr. and Mrs. WOHLFERT [Franz and Dena (MILLER) WOHLFERT] were the parents of 
the following children: (1) Irvin, who married Amelia WASHBURN; (2) 
Wilhelmina, now Mrs. Horace STALKER, of Oxford [Marquette County, Wisconsin]; 
(3) Conrad, who married Mrs. Cora AURBACH, and is residing in Kilbourn 
[Columbia County, Wisconsin, now Wisconsin Dells]; (4) Andrew, who married 
Hattie JONES, daughter of Nelson JONES; (5) Jacob, who married Esther 
CARTWRIGHT; (6) George, who married Philadelphia KELSEY; (7) John, who 
married Bertha BURNHAM; (8) August, who married Kate HUFFMAN; (9) Walter, 
who carries on the homestead farm, and was married 07 March 1899 to Miss 
Millie BURNHAM, who was born in Adams County [Wisconsin], daughter of 
Theodore BURNHAM; and (10) Robert. All reside in Adams County, with the 
exceptions as noted.

Our subject and wife have seventeen grandchildren and three great 
grandchildren. Mr. [Franz] WOHLFERT was reared in the Catholic church, and 
Mrs. WOHLFERT [Dena nee MILLER] was reared in the Lutheran faith, in which 
most of the family are baptized, although they attend the Jonesville 
Congregational church, near their home. Mr. WOHLFERT is a member of the A. 
J. Miller Post, G. A. R., at Oxford [Adams County]. He is a Democrat in 
political sentiment, although his sons are all Republicans. He stands firmly 
for his convictions, is a faithful and earnest citizen, and has aided 
materially in the upbuilding of Adams County.

A son of the German Empire whose career in his adopted land has been crowned 
with success, a prominent farmer of his township, and an ex-soldier who 
bravely defended our Union, Franz WOHLFERT can look back upon his service 
with justifiable pride. His home is one of comfort and he has added 
improvements until it is one of the first farms in Jackson Township.

Submitted by Cathy Kubly