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The Wilberdings and Joahnnings came from the southern part of the Grand-Duchy of Oldenburg in  northern Germany. They were farmers in the village of Holdorf, although earlier generations of the  Wilberdings were from the neighboring town of Steinfeld. The original pioneer of our family to  America was Father Herman Johanning, brother of Maria Anna, who was married to Carl Wilberding, 20  May 1856, Holdorf, Oldenburg, Germany. Herman migrated to America and came to Cincinnati where he  was ordained a Catholic Priest in 1862. He served the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for 14 years and  probably influenced some of the Wilberdings to settle in Cincinnati.  From the ship passenger lists, it appears that Carl Wilberding and his wife, Anna Maria, arrived in  the U.S., Baltimore, Maryland with some of their children on August 25, 1886. Their older children  had migrated earlier. The parents went to live with their son Anton, who had a farm at that time in  Dyersville, Iowa. Carl Wilberding lived only a few years in this country. He died at the age of 60  on 23 January 1888 and is buried in the cemetery of St. Francis Xavier Basilica, Dyersville. After  her husband’s death, Maria Anna went to live with her daughter Regina in Evansville, Indiana. She died in 1905 in Evansville, Indiana and was buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery, St. Bernard,  Hamilton Co, Ohio
 Carl and Maria Anna had six sons and three daughters: Herman, music teacher - Ohio and Iowa; Regina- Steinhauer - Indiana/Ohio; Anton, farmer - Remsen, Iowa; Henry, tailor - Dubuque, Iowa; Catharina  Wilhelmina-Pottebaum - Cincinnati, Ohio; Joseph, sculptor/artist - Cincinnati, Ohio; Bernard,  automobile mechanic – Cincinnati Ohio; and Charles, tailor - Indianapolis, Indiana. (Maria  Catharina died in Germany at an early age.)