Version 6.01

11 February 2025

David March © 2014

WILLIAM WISMER/WISSNER

Wilford Nash Wismer was born on 19 September 1876 in Dunnville, Ontario to Abraham G Wismer and Susanna W Nash. His siblings were Abraham Nash (1871-1921), Harvey N (b 1873), Florence N (b 1877), Delos N (b 1880) and Fannie N (1882-1888).

Wilford married Marie Bailey on 10 October 1906 in Gilbert Plains, Manitoba. She was born on 25 April 1882 in Ontario. Two daughters, Winnifred “Muriel” (b 1907) and Marjorie Christine (1909-2009) were born in Manitoba.

By the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where Wilford was a tinsmith. Two more children, Margaret Jane (b 1912) and Robert Wilfred (1914-2005) were born in Saskatoon.

In 1916, the family resided at 318 Ave K North and Wilford was still a tinsmith, but by 1921, the family had moved to 417 Ave K North and Wilford had become a plumber.

Wilford died on 10 July 1940 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. By this time he was proprietor of a sheet metal contracting firm. Marie died in Toronto, Ontario on 24 February 1972. Both were buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Saskatoon.

This family tree can be found on Ancestry under the title 3rd Ave Wismer Tree.

Candidate 1

Candidate 2

Ulrich Wissner was born on 9 March 1883 in Stuttgart, Germany to Gottlob Christian Wilhelm Wissner and Bertha Murschel. It could not be determined if his parents came to Canada or if he had any siblings.

He married Elise Katharina Bernhard who was born in Ittlingen, Baden, Germany on 5 June 1881 to Jakob Bernhard and Maria Stupp.

According to census records, Ulrich came to Canada in 1909 and Elise in 1910. At the time of the 1911 census, the couple were living in Red Deer, Alberta. A son, Ulrich Carl was born on 5 July 1911 in Alberta.

In 1916, the family was living at 710 Eastlake and Ulrich Sr was secretary/treasurer for the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Several passenger lists were found and on these documents, Ulrich Sr & Elise were identified as missionaries.

In 1941, their permanent address was still Saskatoon. Their son, Ulrich Carl, married Evelyn Beulah Harris in Orange, California on 3 January 1941 and died on 12 September 1975 in San Bernardino California.

Elise and Ulrich were living in Glendale, California in 1953. A date and place of death could not be found for Elise. Ulrich Sr married Jessie Bernhard (née Humann) on 21 June 1954. He died on 20 March 1969 in Los Angeles, California.

This family tree can be found on Ancestry under the title 3rd Ave Wissner Tree.

Although the name on the quilt looks more like Wissner and no document could be found where Wilford Wismer was referred to as Willie, he was the closest candidate that we could find for the Willie Wismer/Wissner name. There is a bit of ambiguity around the second s in the signature. The top of the 2nd s could be the first hump of an m and the bottom of that s could be a sloppy tail on the first side of the m. Perhaps the embroiderer had trouble interpreting how the last name was supposed to be spelled. The only other person that we could identify as any type of possible match was Ulrich Wissner. Willie would be an unlikely nickname for Ulrich, but it is possible that he had a brother Willie or that his father, who had Wilheim as part of his name, may have been in Saskatoon at the time the quilt was being made.