THE MEIER/MEYER FAMILY
by Gerald Bade

The Meier surname is spelled this way in the 1885 Iowa State Census, but it is spelled Meyer on cemetery headstones.   I don't know if the census data are is in error or if the family changed the spelling on purpose. 

The Meier family came from Apelern, Germany which, at the time, was in the province of  Kurfürstentun, Kurhesse and is now in the state of Hanover.  

Direct ancestors of the author are shown in bold type below.

Carl Gottlieb Meier, 1785 - 1850 and Hanna Sophia Hitzemann, 1813 - ????
the author's g-g-g-grandparents, and had at least one child:

           Johann Carl Christian Meier (a.k.a. Carl or C.C., see below)

See the descendents of this couple.

Johann Carl Christian Meier, 1816 - 1894 and Engel Sophia Eleonore Hoffmann 1824-1905
the authors g-g-grandparents, in 1846 and had 7 documented children in Germany but two boys died there.  Those surviving were:

           Wilhelmina Meier (Minnie - 1847 - 1936) married Fred Riechmann
           Sophia Louise Meier (1852 - 1939) married Johann Carl Christian Sell and had ten children:
                    Carl Herman Johann Sell (1873 - 1945)
                    Emma Maria Sophia Sell (1875 - 1956)
                    Wilhelm Christian Sell (1877 - 1947)
                    Louise Charlotte Sell (1879 - 1958)
                    Wilhelmina Marie Louise Sell (1881 - 1952)
                    Johann Heinrich Carl Sell (1883 - 1949)
                    Sophia Dorothea Caroline Sell (1884 - 1884)
                    Martha Caroline Dorothea Maria Sell (1886 - 1950)
                    Mathilda Sophia Caroline Sell (1888 - 1969)
                    Johann Frederick Wilhelm Erwin Sell (1891 - 1962
           Karl Gottlieb Christian Meier (1858 - 1879) died at age 21
           Sophia (1860 - 1941) married Carl Theodore Wilhelm Sell and had three children:|
                    Karl Christian Wilhelm Sell (1880 - 1927)
                    Friedrich Wilhelm Sell (1882 - 1965)
                    Sophia Marie Sell (1890 - 1949)
           Charlotte Meier (1864 - 1940) married Heinrich C. Meier and had seven children
                    Hulda Sophia Meier (1895)
                    George Hermann Meier (1897 - 1970)
                    Wilhelm Carl Meier (1899)
                    Emma Louise Meier (1901)
                    Heinrich August Meier (1902)
                    Carl Heinrich Meier (1904)
                    Heinrich Wilhelm Meier (1905)

Carl and Sophie immigrated in 1874 and settled in Dayton Township, Bremer County where they farmed.  They belonged to the Buck Creek Evangelical Lutheran Church.  Carl was naturalized on October 2, 1876.

Wilhelmina and her sister Sophie Louise were married on the same day.

Sophie's Obituary