Georges Gastel was born in Memmelshoffen, Alsace, France, a son of Michel Gaestel (1816-1886) and Marie Anne Gerhard (b. 1817). His parents and several of his many siblings remained in France, but Georges was one of at least three of them who emigrated to the United States - his brother Joseph settled in San Francisco, brother Antoine (Anton) in South Dakota, and Georges in Wisconsin. Georges arrived about 1868 and first tried farming in Pioneer, Rice Co., KS, where he bought land in 1879. By 1885, he was in Manitowoc, WI, where he married Dorothea E. Friederike (Rika) Schroeder on 22 Aug. of that year. He was 37 years old and she was 24, an immigrant from Mecklenberg, Germany, who had come over with her family when a young child (they were in Manitowoc by the time of the 1870 census).
The couple raised four children: George Frederick William (1886-1967), Hilda M. (1887-1979), Edward Arnold (1890-1957), and Dorothea Emilie Louise (1893-1964). George died young and his widow remarried three years later, having two more sons in her second union, to Fritz (Fred) Kugler (1854-1901).
The couple raised four children: George Frederick William (1886-1967), Hilda M. (1887-1979), Edward Arnold (1890-1957), and Dorothea Emilie Louise (1893-1964). George died young and his widow remarried three years later, having two more sons in her second union, to Fritz (Fred) Kugler (1854-1901).
Georges Gastel was born in Memmelshoffen, Alsace, France, a son of Michel Gaestel (1816-1886) and Marie Anne Gerhard (b. 1817). His parents and several of his many siblings remained in France, but Georges was one of at least three of them who emigrated to the United States - his brother Joseph settled in San Francisco, brother Antoine (Anton) in South Dakota, and Georges in Wisconsin. Georges arrived about 1868 and first tried farming in Pioneer, Rice Co., KS, where he bought land in 1879. By 1885, he was in Manitowoc, WI, where he married Dorothea E. Friederike (Rika) Schroeder on 22 Aug. of that year. He was 37 years old and she was 24, an immigrant from Mecklenberg, Germany, who had come over with her family when a young child (they were in Manitowoc by the time of the 1870 census).
The couple raised four children: George Frederick William (1886-1967), Hilda M. (1887-1979), Edward Arnold (1890-1957), and Dorothea Emilie Louise (1893-1964). George died young and his widow remarried three years later, having two more sons in her second union, to Fritz (Fred) Kugler (1854-1901).
The couple raised four children: George Frederick William (1886-1967), Hilda M. (1887-1979), Edward Arnold (1890-1957), and Dorothea Emilie Louise (1893-1964). George died young and his widow remarried three years later, having two more sons in her second union, to Fritz (Fred) Kugler (1854-1901).
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