Of the seven children of Godfrey and Sophia Westphall, Gustav was the youngest and the only one born in the U.S. His next oldest brother, Lewis H. (b. 1845), was born on the Atlantic Ocean during the long crossing from their ancestral home in Germany.
His oldest sister, Hannah (b. 1828), married Charles T. Hyne in 1847, shortly after arriving in the Brighton Area. Hyne was also German born. The two families may well have known each other in the old country. Gus other sister, Marie (b. 1830) married John Hartman that same year. Johns parents, Martin and Maria Hartman, had arrived in this area in the mid 1830s, from the same area from which the Westphalls had come. Again, one may surmise there had been social connections before moving to the United States.
Gus obituary indicate he was born 1848 in Brighton Township, hear School Lake. The 1850 census would suggest his parents had not year purchased land. By 1859 Gus brothers are owners of large acreages in Section 24, Genoa Township. Situated on the south side of Challis Road and east of Bauer. The 1875 Atlas notes Gus owned 95 acres in the same section, on the north side of Challis, across from Godfrey C. (b. 1836) and Fredericks (b. 1838). Research makes it very apparent that land hungry European immigrants were anxious to secure acreage as soon as possible.
Altho his siblings married and had families, Gus did not marry. We find that niece, Mary Hartman, housekeeper for Uncle Gus. His Fertile Valley is a productive farm until his death in 1917. Gus grave is in Fairview Cemetery. Other area cemeteries are the resting places of many of the children and grandchildren of Godfrey and Sophia who are buried in the Old Village Cemetery.
By 1935 the Grand River Wash Sand & Gravel Company owns a total of 182 acres, which include Gus 80. By 1961 Louis and Mable Herbst are owners of most of that. And what is it today? Drive ½ mile west on Challis; the next ¼ mile on the north is the property Gus farmed.
His brothers, Lewis and Godfrey C. served in the Civil War. They enlisted the same day, served in the same unit and were discharges together.
Compiled by Marieanna Bair from county atlases and census records; Early Land Owners and Settlers of Livingston County and early obituaries compiled by Milton Charboneau.