Looking For My German Ancestors - Part 5

Since today is German-American Day, I thought I would honor my German ancestors by posting another article on my continuing research into my German ancestors.

In my previous post, I mentioned the research on what I had been able to find on Fred, Carl's relative and possible brother. I also stated that I wanted to focus on another branch of German ancestors, and for this post, I'll be focusing on Carl's wife's family.

In the early 1880s, Carl married Anna in what was then East Saginaw, Michigan. Anna, like Carl, had been born in Germany, but unlike Carl, Anna had spent most of her life in the United States. She immigrated to the U. S. in the mid-1860s as a young child with her parents, Frederick and Emilia, and her siblings. Although I do not know exactly where Anna's family lived for the first six years (they might have lived in New Jersey), I do know that by the time of the 1870 U. S. census, the family was living in Cleveland, Ohio. Within ten years, the family had moved to the Saginaw, Michigan area where they were living in the 1880 U. S. census. Although I still do not know when they moved to Saginaw, I do know that it had to be after 1876 and before 1880. (In 1876, Frederick and Emilia were last mentioned in a deed, and this is the latest that I have them living in Cleveland at the moment. Of course, I might be able to narrow it down even more, if I am able to look at Cleveland city directories for that time period. At the moment, I have not had a chance to look at those city directories.)

Frederick, like Carl, worked as a baker, and he is lasted listed in the Saginaw city directories in the 1883 edition. By 1887, he is not listed, so I have assumed that he had passed away, as his wife is living with her oldest daughter in that directory. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a death record or probate file for Frederick, so I do not know when he died exactly, and in addition, the 1884 Michigan state census for Saginaw county does not appear to have survived. Thus, I am unable to check to see if he was still alive in 1884 or not. What I do know is that Emilia died in Saginaw in the early-1890s, and it is possible they are buried near each other. Of course, I won't know for sure until I can locate Emilia's grave. I still do not know where she is buried, and I have not yet had a chance to take a look at Saginaw's cemetery records. Hopefully, I'll be able to do so sometime in the future.

Of course, there are also a couple of other records that I have not checked that might help me narrow down my timeline: land records and tax records for Saginaw county. I have not yet check for those records. In my next post, I will explore the connections Anna's family had to Cleveland, Ohio, since many of Anna's siblings and a few of her relatives chose to reside in Cleveland, Ohio. Stay tuned ...