History of Langlade County, Wisconsin, 
from U. S. Gov't Survey to Present Time, with Biographical Sketches
Dessureau. Antigo, WI: Berner Brothers, 1922, p 317
Submitted by Cathy Kubly

One of the pioneer families of Langlade County was that of Nicholas J. BOLL, a native of Germany who settled in the city of Antigo [earlier called Springbrook] in 1885.  Nicholas J. BOLL died on 27 May 1911 at the advanced age of eighty-two years.  Nicholas BOLL was born in Dumstadt [Darmstadt], Germany.  [In 1866 Hessen-Darmstadt was allied with Austria during its war with Prussia.  Austria lost, and Hessen-Darmstadt became a satellite state of Prussia.  What was Dumstadt appears to the submitter to now be Darmstadt and Umstadt.]  He spent the first sixteen years of his life in his native land, coming then to America with his mother, a brother and a sister.  His father died in Germany when Nicholas was but a small boy.  Landing in New York, the family soon became absorbed in the customs of their adopted country.

On 17 June 1885, Mr. [Nicholas] BOLL was united in marriage to Mary RETTINGER, who had emigrated from Dumstadt when eleven years of age.  Mr. and Mrs. [Nicholas] BOLL shortly afterward moved to Fort Atkinson [Jefferson County], Wisconsin, and from there to Manitowoc County, settling at Clark's Mills in 1864.  Here he engaged in the hotel business for about nineteen years and then moved to Antigo [Langlade County].  He then took up a homestead in Rolling Township [Langlade County].  While in Antigo he conducted a hotel and lived an honorable and useful life.  He lived to see Antigo grow from a little hamlet to a thriving city of nearly ten thousand inhabitants.

Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. [Nicholas] BOLL:  (1)  Barbara, now Mrs. Henry HEIM, of Santa Rosa [Sonoma County], California; (2)  Anna, now Mrs. Anna SMITH [husband deceased or his given name unknown?], of Norwood Township [Langlade County, Wisconsin]; (3)  Mary, now Mrs. William YENTZ, of the city of Antigo; (4)  Elizabeth, now Mrs. Thomas SCHMITZ, of the city of Antigo; (5)  Anthony, former Langlade County Sheriff, a resident of Antigo; (6)  Theresa, now Mrs. Anton MOWOTNY, the wife of the Clerk of the Circuit Court; (7)  Maggie, now Mrs. John HERMAN, of Antigo; (8)  Joseph, a prominent lumberman of Antigo; (9)  Nicholas Jr., deceased; and (10)  Emma, now Mrs. R. A. BLOEDORN, of Polar Township [Langlade County].  Mrs. Nicholas BOLL, Sr., is living at 417 Hudson Street.

From his first connections in the county, Nicholas BOLL, a Civil War veteran, became deeply interested in all that was for the general betterment of the community.  He was a member of the Catholic faith, and lies at rest in the Catholic cemetery beside the remains of his son, Nicholas Jr.  With his death there passed from earth one of the real pioneers of the picturesque new north.