John Merkel
Richfield Homestead Family
Richfield Homestead Family -- John Merkel was born in Bavaria, Germany and married Elizabeth Gerhard. They had 4 sons (George, Frederick, Nicholas and John) and 4 daughters (Catherine, Margaretha, Barbara and Maria). George was the only one to remain in Germany. Nicholaus married Margaretha Friess, the daughter of Anton and Margaret Friess. The Merkel and Friess families all emigrated to the U.S. via New York where John lost his friends’ 109 gulden (gold coins). John purchased 40 acres of land in 
Section 17 and 160 acres in Section 20 in 1844. Anton purchased 40 acres in Section 17. John farmed and raised cattle, dying in 1850. Anton who had 9 children died in 1852.
Nicholas and Margaretha eventually acquired 25 of John’s acres, 46 of Anton’s acres and an additional 80 acres in Section 16 in 1855, all contiguous, which comprised the farm of 151 acres. A house and stables were built on what is now Hubertus Road before 1847, south of John’s homestead. A road to Freiss Lake was built in 1863. They spoke little English and had 9 children. Nicholas died in 1882 at age 65 and Margaretha in 1900 at age 82. Their graves are at St Hubert’s Cemetery and marked by a tall monument.
Their son Fred was born in 1856 and married E
lizabeth Greulich in 1884. Elizabeth was from Germantown. He purchased most of the farm just 15 days before his father’s death at age 26. He and Elizabeth operated the farm until about 1914 when they retired to Milwaukee, but Fred often took the train to Richfield and then walked to the farm to help out one of his four daughters, Rose Mary, born in 1890, and her husband, George Raebel. Rose and George were married in 1912 and inherited the farm when Fred died in 1933 at age 76 of bronchial pneumonia. Elizabeth died in 1932 at age 68 of a cerebral hemorrhage. George and Rose operated the farm until they built a home on the farm’s 
eastern edge along Hubertus Road and one of their two children, George Jr., took over the farm. George died in 1978 at age 85 of chronic renal and congestive heart failure. Rose had died earlier in 1971 at age 80 of a cerebral hemorrhage. The land was eventually developed into residential homes.
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