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I’m trying to trace my family. At this point, I have found out my great grandfather was the 1st to enter the country. His name was William Koch. I’m not sure if that is the Americanized version. He was born in March 1830 in Westphalia Prussia. He entered the U.S. in 1854. He lived in Algoma, WI and died February 1,1910. I cannot find his passenger record or anything before coming here.

Can you five me advice on how to proceed?

I have no family to ask as they have all died or were estranged before I was born.

PolyGeo
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Jean M
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  • William probably comes from Willem. – J.J.D. Jul 26 '20 at 03:30
  • See https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?q.givenName=Willem&q.surname=Koch&q.birthLikeDate.from=1830&q.birthLikeDate.to=1830&c.collectionType=on&f.collectionType=4&count=100&offset=0&m.defaultFacets=on&m.queryRequireDefault=on&m.facetNestCollectionInCategory=on for several candidates. In particular, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:27RH-162 is a possible candidate. – J.J.D. Jul 26 '20 at 19:49
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    Willem is more the Netherlands or Frisian version of William. The German one is Wilhelm. – nebulon42 Jul 28 '20 at 19:00
  • Nevertheless, I also think the "possible candidate" might be a possible candidate. No idea where Wahlhosen is though. Probably misspelled. – nebulon42 Jul 28 '20 at 19:08
  • There are (at least) two Wahlhausen [phonetically close], they might be the 'Wahlhosen'... – J.J.D. Jul 29 '20 at 13:27
  • The first one is in Luxemburg, it can thus be ruled out, the second one is near Göttingen (map : https://www.google.com/maps/place/37318+Wahlhausen,+Germany/@51.3027818,5.5092173,6z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x47a4c903df0ffaeb:0x4208ec1743535c0!8m2!3d51.2939342!4d9.9791171 ) and could be the place. – J.J.D. Jul 29 '20 at 13:34
  • Thank you to the people who have offered help so far. I apologize that it has taken a bit to say anything. I will definitely check this all out. I feel like I hit a wall. – Jean M Jul 29 '20 at 21:25

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