Johann Carl Wilhelm was baptized two days after his mother's death! Most records list him as Wilhelm.
His mother's Beyersdorff family was a very well known miller-family in Pomerania. They have a family-chronicle, which was not published. This chronicle is kept in the "Heimatstube Greifenhagen" in D-49593 Bersenbrück, Germany.
The Henning and Beyersdorff families with their mills, lived in Pomerania, Prussia, east of the river Oder, but very close to that river.
In the church-record of his father's second marriage in 1844 (LDS Film 1334809), it is noted that his father had come judicially to an agreement with his son about their property. So it is clear that the young man had enough money to pay passage to America, and to buy a piece of land there.
The mill of his father became insolvent so as many mills in 1850, because at that time the conditions had changed by the great land-reform in Prussia and it had become necessary to invest much money, to drive the mill by steam.
Wilhelm and Mathilda emigrated to the US and arrived aboard the "Fulton" on 25 Oct 1869 in New York. Their place of origin is listed as Greifenhagen, and the ship departed from Copenhagen, Denmark and Swinemunde, Germany.
In the 1870 Nebraska census he is listed as William a saloon keeper (29, Prussia) with his wife Mathilda (18, Prussia) with 3 month old daughter Minnie (Aug 1870, NE). Living with them was a saloon keeper boarder and a housekeeper.
By 1880 they had moved to California, and are listed in Santa Clara. William is still a saloon keeper (37, Prussia) with Mathilda (28, Prussia) and they have children Minna (9, NE), Frieda (7, NE), Lucy (6, CA), Bruno (3, CA) and Walter (1, OR).
Wilhelm died from a lung hemorrhage on the Steamer Columbia while coming home from Seattle.