Johann Joseph Padberg (Branch D) was born April 4, 1825, in Markhausen, Westphalia. His parents were Christian Padberg (1773 – March 20, 1856) and Anna Catharina Dunnebacke (b. unknown – 1865) who were married on May 10, 1807. Christian and Anna Catharina had four sons and three daughters. Their seventh child was Johann Joseph and he emigrated from Germany in 1867. His oldest brother, Georg, was the first child of Christian and Anna Catharina, and Georg emigrated from Germany in 1865. See Branch W for more information on Georg.

Johann Joseph married Maria Anna Limberg (b. October 18, 1832) on June 25, 1857, in Isingheim, Westphalia. The couple had seven children, five sons and two daughters. They sailed with their children on April 10, 1867, from Germany bound for New York, New York. The ship was blown off-course and arrived 70 days later at the Port of Baltimore, with no food or water left on the ship. The Padberg family’s youngest daughter, Maria Franziska, died of smallpox on voyage and was buried at sea. The family travelled west from Baltimore and settled in Detroit, Michigan. Anna Catharina died December 20, 1875. Johann Joseph died March 15, 1897.