THE HESSLER-KULER FAMILY HOMEPAGE

Julius was the third child of eight born to Johan Johansen Hessler (1806-1867) and Dorthe Marie Nilsdatter (1804-1883). Johan and Dorothy Marie were married in Oslo in 1838 when they were 22 and 24 years old, respectively. Johan was a master shoemaker.

Marriage Record of Johan and Dorthe Marie (entry #68)

These were their children:

1) Carl Edvard (1829-after 1849) - born in Son, Vestby, Akershus, Norway; emigrated to America in 1849 birth record (entry #59)
2) Johan "John" (1831-1878) - born in Skien, Telemark, Norway; emigrated to America sometime in or before 1860 birth record (#3)
3) Niels Julius (1833-1903) - born in Skien, Telemark, Norway; emigrated to America sometime in or before 1863 birth record (entry #1)
4) Gunda Sophie (1836-1858) -born in Skien, Telemark, Norway; married Ole Isaksen birth record (entry #9)
5) Bernhard Invald (1838-1870) - born in Skien, Telemark, Norway; birth record (entry #8)
6) Johanne Marie (1841-1848) - born in Skien, Telemark, Norway; died young birth record (#13)
7) Theodore Martin Luther Joachim (1843-1908) - born in Skien, Telemark, Norway; emigrated to America in 1868 birth record (entry #10)
8) Gottfried Oskar (1845-1905) - born in Skien, Telemark, Norway; remained in Norway birth record (entry #5)
*9) Georgina Aletta Hansen (1846-1908) - she was their foster child (pleiebarn) in 1865 census

Julius was born on 03 Nov 1833 in Skien, Telemark, Norway and baptized on 10 Jan 1834. His given name in the church records is "Niels Julius" although he seems to have gone by Julius most of his life, and Neils is sometimes spelled as Nils.

Baptismal Record of Niels Julius Hesler (Skien Ministerialbok nr.A5, 1814-1843, s.58, #1)
Baptismal Record of Niels Julius Hesler (Skien Klokkerbok nr.2, 1814-1842, s.573, #1)
Confirmation Record of Niels Julius Hesler (Skien Ministerialbok nr.6A, 1843-1856, s.189, #6)
Confirmation Record of Niels Julius Hesler (Skien Klokkerbok nr.4, 1843-1867, s.185, #6)

More about his early life in Norway and his first four wives/partners to be included here but for now read these:

Chapter 9 on Nils Julius Swenson from a booklet by Steve Heimerle (it was written in 2011, so some information may be in need of updating/correcting as a result of new discoveries)

Blog on Anne Marie Müller (in Swedish) by Knut Lindelöf (link) and an English translation, such as it is, using Google Translate (PDF)

It is not exactly clear when Julius emigrated to America because there is conflicting information. The 1900 census record for Julius indicates that he emigrated in 1858. Anecdotal evidence and family stories indicate that Julius and his brother John emigrated to America together in 1858 although no ship record as been found yet. Their brother Carl Edvard had already emigrated to America in 1849, and perhaps they came to visit him. However, there is no record of Carl Edvard after his emigration to America. Although his brother John may have emigrated in 1858, it seems unlikely that Julius did unless he traveled to America twice since he has children born in Norway in 1859, 1860, and 1861.

A family story told by Janet Van Heyest, a great granddaughter from Julius's sixth family, says that the two brothers came here on a tour of the country. They ran through their money and were in New York awaiting passage back to Europe (or more money) when the news came of the California gold mines, and they headed to California. This story may be at least partially true because John is in the 1860 census living in Mariposa County, California as a shoemaker although Julius is nowhere to be found in this census.

Julius was a painter in California and sometime concert manager as evidenced by the folloing newspaper advertisements. Julius's first known advertisement in California ran on 13 Jun 1863, so he was in America by at least 1863. Julius's last advertisement in California ran on 03 Mar 1866, and he must have left California shortly thereafter.

This is basically all we know of Julius's time in California.

[Note: much of the following information comes from interview notes of John E. Swenson by his daughter Esther Swenson (Olsen) in 1954.]

Julius seems to have arrived in Texas in the early part of 1866. Mary Pierson Swenson, born as Olena Marie Olsdatter Songe on 16 Nov 1837 at Songe gård in what is now Arendal kommune in Aust-Agder fylke in Norway, had become a widow three years earlier when her first husband Nils Swenson died while coming home on furlough from the Civil War. She had two young children, Neil and Clara, and a farm to run. Julius Hessler, a good-looking debonaire man appeared in Bosque County and began to court her. This Nils Julius Hessler was from Skien, Telemark, Norway but spoke several languages and was a musician (especially with a violin). If Julius left California around March of 1866, this must have been quite a whirlwind romance. On 19 Apr 1866, Mary and Julius were married by Justice of the Peace J. W. Fields in Bosque County.

To this union, a son John Emmanuel was born. However, before John was born, Mary found a letter and probably a picture that bore evidence of another living wife. Also, Mary’s father Ole Pierson and Grandpa Berswen (father to her first husband) saw that Julius drank excessively and would stay drunk much of the time. They felt that the letter showed he was crooked as well, and the fathers thought he was only after Mary’s money and land. Hessler must have had very little if any property when he first appeared. Both fathers told him he must leave (they first told him it would be over if he got drunk again). They, along with Mary, felt Julius must go. It was reported that Mary gave him a pony, $100, and he took his fiddle (minus the case which his son John later got). Then Mary went to Judge Helton at Meridian and took back the name of her first husband. It is not clear whether there was a legal divorce, some sort of annullment, or just a name change. If Julius was divorced from his first wife Anne Marie before the marriage in Bosque County, then Mary may have still been legally married, even though she changed her married name back to Swenson.

After Hessler left, old man O.A. Arneberg came to Mary’s farm and lived there with the family for years. He had come from Hamar, Norway and stayed with Mary until John was about 10 years old. He worked for board and raised a few horses. He was sort of handy man about the house. Arneberg took John fishing when John was small. An old man named Knute Skimland told Arneburg that he had talked to a man Hessler near Thorndale,Texas, and he had made the remark that he had seen his son John when John was 7 years old. Hessler had been in Bosque County with a peddler, and he told Skimland that he had been by the farm and seen his son and gave him a little money purse. After the peddler left, old man Arneburg had remarked to Mary that the man with the peddler sure looked like Hessler, but he never revealed his identity at the time. This was the last report of Hessler in Bosque County and the last and only time John E. Swenson would have seen his father Julius.

When Julius left Bosque County, it is not clear where he went because we have not found a 1870 census record for him. However, we have found two "Certificates of Intent" to become an American citizen, one in 1871 and one in 1872, both filed in Galveston, Texas. The "Petition for Naturalization" which is the final step in becoming a citizen has not been found, but the 1900 census indicates that he was a naturalized citizen.

By then, Nils Julius Hessler had changed his last name to Kuler, dropped his first name, and taken a middle name of Russell. Thus, he was now know as Julius Russell Kuler. It is not exactly clear from where this name derived, but Julius's great granddaughter (Janet van Heyst) said that her aunt told her that her husband had said that the kaiser of Germany had given the family the title von Kuhler (changed to Kuler over here) for something that they had done. It is unknown whether that information is true or not or whether it is an exaggeration of something that really did happen. It does seem clear that the family of Julius had some ties with royalty in Europe.

Julius apparently settled near or in Columbia in Brazoria County by 1879 where he met and married Kate Elizabeth Rogers on 26 March 1879. Kate was the daughter of James Speir Rogers. Julius had five children with Kate, two of which were born in Brazoria County. He continued his profession as a painter as evidenced by his occupation in the 1880 and 1900 census and an 1881 and 1882 newspaper advertisement. Another family story related to Janet van Heyst by her aunt is that Kate's father thought that Kate had married beneath her station because Julius was not a very good farmer. However, he does appear to have been a Justice of the Peace in Brazoria County in 1881.

Sometime between 1882 and 1886, Julius, Kate, and their two youngest sons moved from Columbia in Brazoria County, to Bartlett in Williamson County TX. The last three sons were born in Bartlett. Julius was the third mayor of Bartlett.

Julius died on March 27, 1903 in Bartlett TX at the age of 68 after having led a long journey and a lustful life. He had sired 12 offspring, many of which did not know the existence of their siblings.

Neils Julius Hessler was born on 03 Nov 1833 according to the baptismal record in Norway.
Julius Russell Hessler was born on 03 Nov 1835 according to his gravestone. However, 1900 census gives his birth as Nov 1833. The gravestone is probably in error about his birth year.

Look at the similarities of the Julius Hessler painting advertisement from Mariposa, California in 1864.
Look at the similiarities of the Julius Kuler painting advertisement from Brazoria County, Texas in 1881.

Although taken some 30+ years apart, compare their photos. They have very similar facial features.

Why Julius chose to change his name to Kuler or von Kuler is still a mystery. Julius was supposedly educated at least partly in Germany. Janet Van Heyst, his great granddaughter, says that an aunt told her that the kaiser of Germany had given the family the title von Kuhler (changed to Kuler over here) for something that they had done. There is still more to Julius's story to unravel.