In 1892, Wilhelm and Theresia Peters Westhues migrated from Münsterland to Missouri. They had ten children in all, eight of whom raised large families of their own.

In 1988, one of their grandchildren, Sister Mary Westhues, r.c., (< Theodore and Lena), compiled a 60-page book of genealogical information about Wilhelm and Theresia's ancestries in Germany, with a family tree for each of their children and that child's descendants.

Sister Mary completed this project to mark the 40th anniversary of ordination of another of Wilhelm and Theresia's grandchildren, Monsignor John H. (Jack) Westhues (< Henry and Helen), then pastor of St. Mary's Parish in Joplin MO. Yet another grandchild, Harold Westhues (< Fritz and Eulalia) had copies printed for distribution at the large family reunion held in Joplin on 3 July 1988.

A special treasure in the book was the memoir of Wilhelm and Theresia's youngest child, Fritz, describing life in the immigrant family in its first decades in America. In 1983, when Fritz was 82 years old, his daughter Jenny (Dr. Genevieve Westhues Ames) had asked him to write his recollections down and she had helped him weave them into a coherent account.

In 2021, at the request of Jenny and me, Sister Mary, now living in a Chicago retirement home and approaching her 96th birthday, graciously gave permission for digital publication of the 1988 book on this website.

Ken Westhues (< John and Olive)
10 January 2021

PDFs IN ORDER OF PAGINATION

Introductory letter to relatives, June 1988

German origins, pp. 1-3

Peters genealogy, pp. 4-7

Westhues genealogy in Germany, pp. 8-13

Westhues genealogy in America, pp. 14-17

Memoir by Fritz Westhues, Wilhelm and Theresia's tenth child, pp. 18-25

Theodore and Lena Moorman Westhues, family tree, pp. 26-30

William G. and Emma Weber Westhues, family tree, pp. 31-34

Joseph Westhues, priest, p. 35

Henry and Helen Roer Westhues, family tree, pp. 36-40

Ben and Viola Heddinghaus Westhues, family tree, pp. 41-44

Joseph and Mary Westhues Flaspohler, family tree, p. 45

John and Olive Conran Westhues, family tree, pp. 46-49

Jule and Anna Westhues Oidtman, family tree, pp. 50-53

Fritz and Eulalia Himmelberg Westhues, family tree, pp. 54-59