(^) Theodor Heike Budde (122.1)

Born: 1/24/1895 Loga, Leer, Lower Saxony, Germany

Died: 9/4/1953

Parents: Conrad Jansen and Gesine Margarethe Nee. van Dieken

Spouse: Marie Johanna Nee. Harms (1/17/1918 - Minonk, Woodford County, Illinois)

Children: Bertha L. Budde 1919-2005 / Hilda Budde 1923- / Esther J. Budde 1925-2019 / Amelia Budde 1928-2017 / Herman Budde 1932-2008

Bio:

Theodor was born in January of 1895 in Northern Germany, near the border with the Netherlands. There is not much information about his life before moving to the U.S. but Leer is an interesting little village. It is suburban, and connected to the east to the city of Leer (population of roughly 35,000). His family may have been in farming, as they were once they came, but there are few houses that lie outside of the village proper. By the time that Theodor came around, Leer had been connected to the Hannoversche Westbahn for a few decades. The Westbahn was connected to the Central German Rail System, allowing nation wide access.

Theodor and his older brother Conrad Jr., aged 12 and 22, immigrated to the United States on September 17, 1907. They travelled from Bremen, Germany to New York City on the SS Grosser Kurfurst, a Barbarossa class steamer for the Norddeutscher Lloyd company. She was built in Schichau and was commissioned 1900, having room for 1600 steerage passengers and room for 300 First and Second class passengers each. It says that their final location is Meadow Grove, NE. Their uncle Johann Bohlson lives in the U.S. (they will go on to work with and for him). Theodor is listed as having blonde hair and blue eyes. Their younger siblings and parents would come to the U.S. in 1911.

In 1910,