According to the 1877 Savannah city directory, Wessels Sr. opened a grocery store and bar at the corner of Price and Huntingdon Streets (a few blocks south of Heritage House).  He and wife Anna welcomed a baby boy named “Frederick II” on October 26, 1877, a little over a year after Heritage House was completed.  Frederick II founded the Atlantic Mutual Fire Insurance Company in 1905 and married Adeline Kuck in 1907.  The company remained in operation until 1987 when it was acquired by a larger firm. 

Frederick II and his wife Adeline had a son, “Frederick Wessels Jr.”, in 1909. Frederick Jr. carried on his father’s business and made it quite successful. He was also a WWII veteran and a committed philanthropist, just like his dad.  Fred Jr. also had a penchant for politics, and served on the Chatham County Commission for 12 years.  He and his wife Rosalie were married for 50 years, and they had 4 children: Ruth, Ann, Fred III and Charles.  Both Fred Jr. and Rosalie are no longer with us.

Note: You probably noticed the original Frederick Wessels didn’t name his son Frederick Jr.  Thus the 3rd Frederick is actually Frederick Jr. and Fred Wessels III is actually the 4th.  Maybe they didn’t use “Jr.” at the turn of the century.

Charles continued to run the family’s insurance business and later became a Georgia Senator.  He is most famous for securing the federal funds to build the new Savannah Bridge over the Savannah River.  Wessels was a Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy, and he and wife Marcia had 2 children: Anne and Charles Jr.. who still live in Savannah.

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