Ancestor of the Month, February: Johann "John" Michels

We're over halfway through February, and it's my day off work so maybe I should work on my ancestor of the month. Happy Birthday to my ancestor Johann "John" Michels, as he was born in February. Okay well I started this post in February, but then I got distracted. So here it is middle of March, and I should finish it.

Johann "John" Michels was born in Spekendorf, Germany on 3 February 1842. I have his parents as Marten Michels and Altjen Janssen Saathoff. Now I have not been to Germany (but I would LOVE to go), so I am not sure of this information. I have this information thanks to some distant cousins.
I don't know much more about his childhood, so the next information I have is his marriage.
On 27 August 1864 at the age of 22, he marries Anke Margaretha "Anna" Wessels in Middels, Germany. They become the parents of 8 children, 7 of them born in Germany.

In 1886 John and Anna and some of their children immigrate from Germany to the United States. In 1900 they are living in Harlan county, Nebraska indexed as Mitchell instead of Michels with 5 of their kids. In 1910 they are still in Harlan county, just living with one son Martin. In 1920 John is widowed as his wife passed in 1917, so he is living with his daughter and her family in Jefferson county, Nebraska. John then passes away February 3, 1925 in Fairbury, Jefferson county, Nebraska. He is laid to rest beside his wife in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery just northwest of Fairbury.

The one picture I have of him looks A LOT like my grandfather.

John Michels

This is my grandparents, Pamelia & Lester Seggerman. So you can compare Lester on the right, with his maternal grandfather above. I think they look quite a bit alike. How about you?

I have a cemetery photo for John Michels, and I have found him in the 1900, 1910 and 1920 censuses as I previously stated. Early information is hard for me to find since I live in the USA and that information would probably be found in Germany.