WESTHUES-PETERS FAMILY HISTORY

Links to information and commentary about the family of Wilhelm Westhues (1848-1921) and Theresia Peters (1860-1926), and about Theresia Peters's mother and brothers

Kenneth Westhues, Professor Emeritus, University of Waterloo
January 2021

THE ESSENTIAL STORY AND FAMILY TREES

Why the Westhues family immigrated

The Westhues Family, 1988 book, 60 pages, by Sister Mary Westhues, with genealogies for all branches of the family and the extraordinary memoir of Wilhelm and Theresia's youngest child, Fritz

Westhues family tree, by J. Y. Miller II, with details for the branch of the family begun by Joseph and Mary Westhues Flaspohler

ABOUT WILHELM AND THERESIA AND THEIR CHILDREN

Westhues family love story, by J. Y. Miller II

SS Kaiser Wilhelm II, the ship on which the family came to America, webpage by Norway-Heritage

Family pictures, first 25 years in America, 1892-1918

Wedding pictures of the eight children who married

40+ grandchildren of Wilhelm and Theresia Westhues, mid-1930s

Maps showing locations of the Westhues farms in Missouri

Two truths for descendants of William Westhues on the centenary of his death, memoir, October 6, 2021

NEW IN 2024!    Heirloom trees, shrubs, annuals and perennials of the Westhues family in America

Photo of seven surviving sons and one daughter, 1932

Rev. Joseph G. Westhues (1884-1938) — photo and biographical information

Photo of Father John H. Westhues with his great-uncles, Fathers John and Fritz Peters, 1948

Photo of six surviving sons and one daughter, 1956

Uncle Henry's Public Life— biographical essay about Judge Henry J. Westhues

How Uncle Henry upstaged the outbreak of World War I

John and Olive Westhues — brief description of their family

Prairie Fire: Autobiography of Olive Conran Westhues, 1992 — description of book and excerpt from it

Prairie Fire, 2017 — 40-minute biopic by Kevin Westhues, marking the 25th anniversary of the publication of Olive Conran Westhues's autobiography

Military History of the Westhues Family in America, 2020, PDFs by Henry Evans

The Westhues Family and Saint Mary College of Leavenworth, 2020

First visits back to the Westhues homeplace in Münsterland, 1952, 1958, 1971

Sister Mary's visit to the Westhues homeplace in Münsterland, 1986

In the summer of '62 — remembering Monsignor John H. Westhues

Passing on the Farm — University of Missouri photojournalists' slideshow about Walter Westhues surrendering his farm near Moberly to his sons Stan and Bob; photos from 2007, the year before Walter's death and the year after the death of his wife Irene.

Jim Westhues's Reminiscences, "How my old red hen with scaly legs helped Dad catch a thief"

The Highwayman, a brother's memoir of Eugene J. Westhues, 2020

THE PARISH AND TOWN CONTEXT OF THE WESTHUES FAMILY IN GLASGOW, MISSOURI

Photo of the first St. Mary's Church, Glasgow, Mo., built 1866

Financial account of the new St. Mary's Church, 1914 — insight into the family's deep Catholic faith

Boone's Lick Literature — history of the town and region in Missouri where Wilhelm and Theresia settled

ABOUT THERESIA PETERS WESTHUES'S MOTHER AND BROTHERS

Theresia Dilkaute Peters and her sons — Catholic colonists, essay on Theresia Dilkaute Peters and the five sons who immigrated to America

Beware the Missouri Backwoods — letters to their parents' home in Glasgow MO from seminarians Fritz and John Peters, Theresia Westhues's brothers, 1894-1900

The great trek, Glasgow to Glennonville, 1906

Postcard from Colorado, Fritz Peters to his brother George, 1912

The Founding of Glennonville, by Rev. Frederick (Fritz) Peters, 1905

The History of Glennonville, by Rev. John H. Westhues, 1947

Souvenir Booklet, Golden Jubilee of Rev. John Peters, 1952

Ancestry of Theresia Dilkaute Peters, traced back to the 1700s, by Ken Stratman