By Julie Huebel, PCHA
ELMWOOD, WI – I first researched this family a bit back in 2020 when I was mapping out how my classmates from Elmwood’s class of 1997 were related to each other (A FUN PROJECT!).
We all went a little crazy during lockdown, and this was one of my outlets. If you wish to view my in-progress results, I have created a poster showing the connections between classmates illustrated by a vast web of lines crisscrossing every which way that’s at the Pierce County Historical Association (PCHA) History Center in Elmwood. There were three classmates of mine (Christy, Brandon, and Breeze) that I found all connected to a surname that I was pretty shocked and delighted to discover. I will warn you; I had to cheat just a little on this one, but I thought it was worth bending the rules for. We tend to take place names for granted, but everything is named for something or someone. You are going to learn here that locals still living in the vicinity have a link to some very early history in our area. Let’s plunge into it, shall we?
F is for Feiler… I have two classmates with obvious links to each other, being first cousins. They share the same grandparents, Stanley Feiler and Audrey Campbell. Stanley was born in 1926 to August Feiler and Rochelle Murphy in Rock Elm Township. I’ll come back to his wife, Audrey Campbell and share about her family tree in a moment.
August was born in 1891 in Rock Elm Township to August Sr. and Marie Sobottka and his wife Rochelle was born in 1899 in El Paso Township to John and Katheran Murphy. August Sr. was born in 1853 or 54 in Jakobsdorf, Germany to Gottlieb Feiler and his wife Maria was born in Germany as well. This is where the trail runs cold on the Feiler line, I don’t know if Gottlieb ever came to the US. If someone has more on this Feiler line, please do reach out to share with the Pierce County Historical Association.
Now, back to Audrey (Campbell) Feiler. She was born in 1926 in Salem Township to Walter Campbell born in 1898 in Rock Elm Township and Florence Walsingham who was born in 1901 in Maiden Rock Township. We are going to follow Florence’s line, her parents were Bert Walsingham born in 1878 in Hartland Township and Esther Stockwell born in 1879 in Gilmanton, WI. From here, we will follow Esther…her parents were George Stockwell and Georgia Lunderville, both buried in the Ono Methodist Cemetery. Georgia’s parents are Andrew Lundville born in 1834 and Flavie Taylor born in 1832, both born in Quebec, and both buried in Buffalo County, Wisconsin. Flavie’s parents were Stephen Taylor and Flavie Pepin… yup, THE Pepin family! We’ll call her Flavie, Sr.
Stephen and Flavie Sr. are the common ancestor link between my classmates Breeze and Brandon with another classmate, Christy, via her father’s Smith line. Flavie Sr.’s parents were Emmanuel Pepin born in 1785 and Marie-Louise-Genevieve Chartrand born in 1788, both born in Quebec. Emmanuel’s parents were Louis Pepin born in 1746 and Marie Charlotte Sylvain born in 1756, again both in Quebec. Louis’ parents were Jacques Pepin III born in 1718 and Poudret dit Lavigne born in 1718, in Quebec. Jacques’ parents are Jacques II and Marie Dufrensne. The father of Jacques II was the original Jacques Pepin, born in 1646. In the 1670’s, two of his brothers are credited with exploring the Wisconsin area that would come to be named after their family with Lake Pepin and the town of Pepin both bearing their name.
King Louis XIII is believed to have granted a huge piece of land in the Upper Mississippi River Valley to two Pepin brothers, one of these a direct descendant of the Elmwood Feiler family, Gillaume Pepin born in France in 1606 and died in Quebec in 1697. He is the father of Jacques Pepin born in 1646.
