On a brisk winter's day in February 1887, William traveled from Nöttingen to Karlsruhe, and then on the port of  Antwerp where he boarded the Westernland, a ship of the Red Star Line.  The Atlantic crossing was completed on March 3, 1887 when he arrived at  Castle Clinton (Castle Garden) in New York City.  He made the crossing with his Uncle George Scheidel, one of his mother's brothers.   During the crossing he met his wife to be, Magdalena Moog.

William and Magdelena (Lena) married on 28 Sep 1891 at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Columbus.  They made their new home in Cornlea, Nebraska.  The 1890 Business Directory describes "CORNLEA, as a village of 75 inhabitants on the Scribner & Oakdale branch of the F. E. & M. V. R. R.,  located in the northern part of Platte county and surrounded by industrious German and Welch farmers.

William and Lena had 12 children who attended School District #38 in Cornlea.  Lena died on 20 Mar 1909 in their home at 3:15 PM,  just days after the birth of their 12th child.  

With the help of his older daughters, William  tried to raise the children alone.  But after a year he decided it was time to re-marry.  He placed an ad in a matrimonial catalog and got a response from Hattie Lucinda Hyatt in Kansas.  He wrote to her and she to him.  Soon he was on a train to Kansas.  On March 25th, 1910, just 9 days after he sent her his first letter,  they met at the train station in Medicine Lodge, Kansas.  They were married that same afternoon.  They traveled back to Cornlea and were greeted by the community with a huge Chivaree.

William and Hattie lived at 1618 North N Street, Aurora, Nebraska. They moved into their home on August 30, 1912, from Cornlea, Nebraska.

Every decoration day, Hattie and William would travel to St. Bernard and decorate Lena's grave.

In the winter, when snow and ice was heavy on the ground, William would shoe Dr. Steenburg's horse with "never slip cork" so the horse would not fall.

William loved to play dominoes and pinochle with the children.

On the 4th of July he would buy a 5 gallon can of ice cream at the Farmers Union Creamery.

William lost a brother in WW1 - Leopold.  Another brother, Albert died a few years later in 1923.

During WWII he had 2 sons and six grandchildren in the military.    One grandson, Jerome, son of Gib, died at sea on the USS Smith.

In 1952 William and Hattie appeared on Tommy Bartlett's "Welcome Traveler" program and television show.  William was honored as being the oldest working blacksmith in the country.  Listen to the sound track of the show by clinking on this link.  Their son, Carl, arranged for the trip to Oakton Manor at Pewaukee

William loved to dance.  As a young man in Germany he would go to the dances on the "floating" dance floor and stay up night until it was time to go back to work the next morning.

In latter years he told his youngest daughter, Mildred, that the Atlantic crossing was difficult.  He missed his mother very much, and said that there were many storms during the crossing, and that he was bored and scared most of the trip.

Some of William’s Iron work still exist at house entry NW corner of M & 8th street in Aurora, Nebraska. The house was originally the Henthorn House.

Burial: Aurora, Nebraska.

Confirmation: 26 Mar 1882, Nöttingen, Germany

Immigration: 03 Mar 1887, Arrived at Castle Clinton (Castle Garden) in New York City on SS Westernland out of Antwerp.  Manifest ID # 40089

Naturalization: 28 Feb 1906, Fred H. Ball and Dave W. Lloyd were his witnesses.