Carroll County IAGenWeb

HISTORY OF CARROLL COUNTY IOWA

A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement

VOLUME II ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1912

Transcribed by Sharon Elijah June 26, 2020

Rev. George F. Wessling, a member of the Catholic priesthood now serving as assistant to Rev. Father Kuemper of SS. Peter and Paul’s church at Carroll, was born in Breda, Carroll county, Iowa, December 23, 1883, a son of Joseph and Christina (Hoelter) Wessling, both of whom were natives of Germany. The father, who was born in Westphalia, was a farmer by occupation and came to America in 1861. The mother also arrived in this country about the same time and they were married in Dubuque county, New Vienna, Iowa. In 1871 they removed to Carroll county, settling in Breda, where the father engaged in farming, owning and cultivating two hundred forty acres of rich and productive land. He was a member of St. Bernard’s Catholic church of Breda, as are his family. He died in May, 1901, and is survived by his widow.

The Rev. George F. Wessling pursued his education in the district schools and the Catholic parochial school of Breda, after which he continued his studies at Mount Cavalry, Wisconsin, spending five years in St. Lawrence College. He next entered St. Meinrad Seminary of Indiana, from which he was graduated with the class of 1909. Ten years before he had begun his studies for the priesthood and was ordained to the Catholic ministry on the 5th of June, 1909, at St. Meinrad. He said his first mass at his old home at Breda and on the 24th of June of that year was appointed assistant to Father Kuemper. His extended course of study made him a well informed man concerning topics of general knowledge as well as of church history and doctrine, and his devotion to the work ranks him with the able representatives of the Catholic priesthood in this section of the state.

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