Fred Meikle

Emil Mielke’s father — Don’s 3x-great-grandfather. File created 2026-07-15 when the stop rule was lifted and the Meikle deep-dive ran.

Summary

Farmer in the Sturgeon Bay area, Door County, Wisconsin. Married Mary (Johnsen). At least four children: Emil (b. Apr 29, 1881, town of Sturgeon Bay), Ernest, Oscar, and Iva. Documented in the Fish Creek/Egg Harbor area 1899 and in Sawyer (west Sturgeon Bay) 1917. Probable son of William Meikle (b. Feb 6, 1813 near Glasgow, Scotland; emigrated 1848; d. May 1, 1893 Sturgeon Bay) — same rare surname, same town, same Bayside Cemetery family cluster, right generation — but no record yet names Fred’s parents.

Relationships

• Wife: Mary (Johnsen) Meikle — per FindAGrave (Emil’s memorial) and Emil’s 1970 obituary (“Fred and Mary Meikle”). Johnsen is a Scandinavian form; combined with the family’s Sturgeon Bay Moravian membership (a historically Norwegian congregation), a Norwegian origin is suspected — unproven. A “Mary Meikle” appears as a Ward Three Sturgeon Bay property holder in a 1918 tax-sale legal notice (Door County Democrat, May 31, 1918) — candidate for Mary as widow.
• Children: Emil (1881–1970, direct line), Ernest (Green Bay, 1970), Oscar (Chicago, 1970), Iva (Mrs. Linquist, California, 1970) — siblings per Emil’s 1970 obituary. WHS index birth “Unnamed Female Meikle, Aug 30, 1890, Door County” is a candidate for Iva.
• Probable father: William Meikle (1813–1893) — see emil-mielke.md “RESOLVED” section for the full cluster. William’s FindAGrave links only Alexander (1839–1914), James (1841–1917), and John (1845–1931) as children; Fred is unlinked.
• Probable brothers: Alexander, James (m. Adelaide Pinney, d. 1882), John — all Sturgeon Bay, all Bayside Cemetery.

Sources (all found 2026-07-15)

• Emil Meikle obituary, Door County Advocate, Apr 21, 1970 — names “Fred and Mary Meikle” as Emil’s parents.
• FindAGrave #126311941 (Emil) — “Fred and Mary (Johnsen) Meikle.”
• Door County Democrat, May 21, 1899 (Fish Creek/Egg Harbor column): “A valuable horse, owned by Fred Meikle, died Tuesday night of swelling of the throat.”
• Door County Democrat, Mar 6, 1917 (Sawyer Short Notes): “Mr. and Mrs. Fred Meikle went to…” — alive, married, in Sawyer.
• Also unread hits: The Democrat May 4, 1893 (item near William’s obituary — retrieve); Door County Democrat Mar 3, 1911.
• Confirmed negatives: no Fred × Mary marriage in the WHS pre-1907 index (~1875–1881, any spelling — they may have married in Canada, New York, or under a mangled spelling); no Fred/Mary FindAGrave memorials found in Wisconsin (search bot-walled, not exhaustive); no “Fred Meikle” newspaper hits after Mar 1917.

Next steps (ranked — the top two are each a one-shot answer)

1. Order Emil × Margaret’s original marriage record — Oct 16, 1902, Door County, WHS Vol 2, p. 243, seq 04639 (index MR2175482, under “Pfister, Magart”). Wisconsin marriage registrations name both parties’ parents and birthplaces → confirms Fred + Mary and likely gives Fred’s birthplace (Scotland/Canada/New York slots him into or out of William’s family). ~$15 from WHS, or free on FamilySearch with a login.
2. 1900 census, towns of Sturgeon Bay / Sevastopol / Sawyer (free FamilySearch account) — Fred & Mary’s own entry: birthplaces, immigration year, children at home; Emil’s line gives father’s/mother’s birthplaces independently.
3. Wisconsin Necrology Vol. 14, pp. 42–43 (WHS Madison) — Alexander Meikle’s longer clipped obituary may enumerate all surviving siblings, potentially naming Fred.
4. Newspaper sweep 1918–1935 on archive.co.door.wi.us for Fred’s and Mary’s deaths (try “Frederick Meikle” and OCR variants; also the second “Mary Meikle” hit, Democrat Jun 14, 1918). Method: POST query1=“exact phrase” to /jsp/RcWebSearchResults.jsp; OCR text from /servlet/RcWebTextData.
5. Bayside Cemetery sexton (Paul Wickmann, 920-743-5322 per PGS) — ask for Fred/Mary Meikle burials; the family cluster is mostly Ward B.
6. James Meikle’s Civil War pension file (b. 1841, veteran) — a family-documenting file that may name brothers.