Wilhelm Wilhelms was born in 1832 in the village of Thunum, Ost Friesland, Germany. He was the middle son of Johann Siebelts Wilhelms and Anna Elizabeth Wilhelms. In 1855 he was united in marriage to Tetke Margaretha Hicken. Tetke, the daughter of Eilt Hicken and Anna Catharina Janssen, was born around 1830, perhaps in the neighboring town of Gabens. Wilhelm and Tetke had five children who were born to Germany: Eilt (1857-1857), Anna (1859-1922), Eilt (1861-1916), Johann (1864-1916) and Oelrich (1868-1872). The Wilhelms family sailed from Bremen on the 'Leipzig' and arrived in Baltimore on May 24, 1869. They settled in the city of Peoria, Illinois where Wilhelm worked in a lumber yard. Their last child Catherine 'Mary' was born there in 1873. Around 1882, the Wilhelms family joined the Voss family and moved to Bruning, Nebraska where they helped establish the town of Bruning. Wilhelm Wilhelms died in 1888 and his wife, Tetka, died in 1900. Both are buried in the Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery in Bruning.

Several of their children remained in Nebraska, one moved to South Dakota:

• Anna married George Hallman and remained in Bruning.

• Eilt married Margaretha Bruning and remained in Bruning.

• Johann married Dorette Middendorf and remained in Bruning.

• Catharina 'Mary' married George Voss and lived briefly near Bruning. The family later moved to Clark, South Dakota then New Underwood where both Mary and George died.

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