His family is on the passenger list for the P Caland which arrived in New York on 22 Jun 1887 from Rotterdam, Netherlands. August (48), Bertha (47), Ottilie (17), Heinrich (15), Frans (13), Aaron (11), Ernst (9), Ida (6), Emma (4) and Paul (2).
He is listed as Aug Bensel in the 1895 Wisconsin census, with 3 males and 3 females in the family, all from Germany.
In 1900 he is indexed as August Bemsel (Aug 1838, GER) a farmer who immigrated with his family in 1887. Listed with him is his wife Bertha (Oct 1839, GER) and children Leonard (Mar 1879, GER), Emma (Apr 1883, GER) and Paul (Apr 1885, GER); married 36 yrs with 9 of their 11 children living.
In 1905, only son Leonard is still living at home with August and Bertha.
By 1910 they had moved to Fountain City, where he is listed as August Benzel (71, GER) married 45 yrs, with only 7 of his 11 children living. With him is wife Bata R. (70, GER) and son Paul E. (25, GER).
In 1920 he and Bata are listed as being Prussian, aliens who immigrated in 1887 at age 80 and 81.

Oral History leads us to believe that the reason for their emigration from Prussia was primarily because their sons were approaching military service age and they wanted to avoid those military obligations. Oral History provided by Esther Bensel Haney also tells us that one of the sons, Rudolph, came to America before August and Beata and did not like America so he returned to Prussia. We have not been able to verify this information.
August and Beata Bonsel, along with their eight children, came to America aboard the ship "P. Caland", having sailed from Rotterdam to New York. The children and their ages as noted on the passenger list are as follows: Ottilie 17; Heimich 15; Frans 13; Marian 11; Ernst 9; Ida 5; Emma 4; and an unnamed male 2. This information was found in Volume 54, Germans :to America, Jan 87 - Jun 87. This entry recorded their arrival date of June 22, 1887. The obituaries of both August and Beata indicate that the arrival was 1885 rather than 1887. We have concluded that the passenger list was entered into the wrong Germans to America volume based upon the ages of the family on the passenger list. We have concluded that the correct year of arrival is 1885.
The family purchased 160 acres of land described as the Southwest Quarter of Section 23, Town 20 North Range 12-13 West in the Township of Milton, Buffalo County, Wisconsin. Ownership of this parcel of land is recorded in various Buffalo County Plat books dated as follows: 1878 - J. Stettan; 1896 - August Bensel; 1969 - Paul Kamrowski; 1993 - John Starkey; 2005 - John Starkey. This one quarter section of land lies mostly on the west side of highway 35 with a small part being northeast of highway 35. The main house was situated on this small easterly triangular parcel of their land which is located just northwest of the Cochrane Fountain City school site. This old house which was used by August and Beata has since been tom down. A new house is located on this triangle which, according to the 2005 plat book, is owned by Vicky Zabotowski. A bridge across the north branch of the Waumandee Creek provided access to the farm land and additional buildings located near the railroad tracks on the very west side of their property.
August and Beata farmed this land until about 1909 when they retired and moved to Fountain City. August died on May 3,1923 at the age of 84 and Beata died May 11, 1925 at the age of 86. They were married for 59 years.
Little is known of some of the children of August and Beata. At the time of her death in 1925, Beata was survived by five sons and three daughters. Her obituary noted that four sons, namely Gustav, Frederick, Adolph and Paul all lived in the western states, none of which attended the funerals of Beata or August.