Note:  Nicholas and Anna (Kaiser) Nemmers were my mother's great-grandparents.  Their daughter, Josephine Nemmers, married Henry Kokenge, and they were the parents of Frances Klein Kokenge (my mother's mother) and the wife of Theodore Klein. 

From St. Mary's Parish--Centennial Edition--1883-1983--Alton, IA

NICHOLAS NEMMERS Family

Nicholas D. Nemmers was born in Luxembourg, Sept. 12, 1845. He was in St. Donatus, IA, in January 1870 although the exact arrival date in America is unknown. On May 2, 1870, Nicholas and sixteen other men headed for Northwest Iowa traveling by eighteen oxen-drawn covered wagons. Passing through Waterloo, Fort Dodge, Storm Lake, Cherokee, and Le Mars, they arrived May 19. All these pioneers were Catholics of Luxembourger ancestry. Since there was no town where these people settled, they journeyed to LeMars for Sunday Mass.

In 1873 Nicholas returned to St. Donatus to marry Anna Kaiser and immediately brought his bride to Northwest Iowa. Anna was born in Olm, Luxembourg, on Dec. 25, 1852. She is the daughter of Hubert and Barbara (Ehlinger) Kaiser. A sister, Josephine, was born at Olm on Oct. 24, 1854. The Kaiser family emigrated to St. Donatus in the early spring of 1870.

Nicholas and Anna had six children: Peter, Hubert, Josephine, Abigail, Catherine, and one buried in St. Mary's Cemetery who died in infancy. Nicholas died March 24, 1882, and is buried at LeMars. Anna continued farming and in 1884 married Anton Huss. Anna Nemmers Huss died Jan. 28, 1920. Services were at St. Mary's with burial at LeMars.

Peter Nemmers married Josephine Steffen of New Vienna. He was born Feb. 12, 1874 and died March 20, 1919. They had ten children. Arnold (Shorty) still lives near Granville.

Hubert Nemmers married Mary Hoffman of LeMars. They had four daughters, none of whom married.

Josephine married Henry Kokenge on June 4, 1897. She was born on May 25, 1877, and died on June 15, 1918. They had ten children. Frances Klein and Edna McCarthy live[d] in Granville [prior to their deaths.  Maureen Kokenge Van Bergen, the youngest of the children, is the only one still living.]

Abigail Nemmers married Bernard Demuth and they had seven children.

Catherine married Nicholas Welter and they had one son, Cyril.

The Nicholas Nemmers farm is located one mile east and a half mile North of Alton, IA. The Wayne Eason family now lives there and owns the farm.

Note: There is a small picture of Nicholas Nemmers on page 194.