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Sigmund William Spencer

Male 1906 - 1993  (87 years)


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Generation: 1

  1. 1.  Sigmund William Spencer was born on 5 Mar 1906 in Sterling, Arenac County, Michigan (son of Hiram Spencer and Adeline "Addie" Krapf); died on 30 Dec 1993 in Deland, Volusia County, Florida.

    Notes:

    Valerie Atkinson instead shows that he died in Deland, Florida. He and Eva were buried in the Poincianna Cemetery in Paisley, Florida. Katherine Spencer Griffis confirmed this location. She visited him the day he died.

    Sigmund married Eva Mae Corbett on 24 Nov 1926 in Belding, Ionia County, Michigan. Eva was born on 29 Jul 1908 in Walford, Ontario, Canada; died on 11 May 2001 in Orange City, Volusia County, Florida. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

    Children:
    1. Margaret I. Spencer was born on 27 Aug 1927 in Belding, Ionia County, Michigan; died on 24 Aug 1972 in Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii; was buried in River Ridge Cemetery, Belding, Ionia County, Michigan.
    2. Beatrice Mae Spencer was born on 25 Mar 1929 in Belding, Ionia County, Michigan; died on 16 Jul 2016 in Arco, Butte, Idaho.
    3. William E. Spencer was born on 16 Oct 1930 in Belding, Ionia County, Michigan; died on 10 Mar 2017 in Muskegon, Muskegon County, Michigan.

Generation: 2

  1. 2.  Hiram Spencer was born on 31 May 1861 in Gilford, Tuscola County, Michigan (son of Joseph W. Spencer and Almanza Hopkins); and died.

    Notes:

    Valerie Atkinson shows him as the son of Joseph SPENCER and Almanza HOPKINS. She notes that the family bible instead shows his date of birth as May 31, 1861, contradicting the 1880 census, with a May 1863 birthdate. That same census shows his with the middle initial E.

    She indicates that in 1870 and 1880, he was listed on the census in Gilford, Tuscola County, Michigan. In 1900, he was in Clayton, Arenac County, and in 1910 in Moffat, Arenac County.

    Hiram married Adeline "Addie" Krapf on 5 May 1892 in Caro, Tuscola County, Michigan. Adeline (daughter of Johann Friedrich "Frederick" Krapf and Maria Dorothea "Dorothy" Benkelman) was born on 28 Aug 1870 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan; died on 24 Oct 1940 in Belding, Ionia County, Michigan; was buried in River Ridge Cemetery, Belding, Ionia County, Michigan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 3.  Adeline "Addie" KrapfAdeline "Addie" Krapf was born on 28 Aug 1870 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan (daughter of Johann Friedrich "Frederick" Krapf and Maria Dorothea "Dorothy" Benkelman); died on 24 Oct 1940 in Belding, Ionia County, Michigan; was buried in River Ridge Cemetery, Belding, Ionia County, Michigan.

    Notes:

    Cass City Chronicle
    October 6, 1933
    Local Happenings, Page Four

    Mrs. Addie Cummings and son, Judson Cummings, Mr. and Mrs. Sigmund Spencer and two children, all of Belding, spent Saturday and Sunday with Mrs. D.C. Elliott.

    (Transcribed by Melinda McLemore Strong, Summer 2007)

    (Research):

    Census Listings:

    1920 Census
    Michigan, Arenac County, Adams Township
    Enumerated 23 and 24 Jan 1920
    SD 10 ED 40 Sheet 2B
    42-44
    Cummings, Addie Head F W 49 Wd Mich Germany German Germany German Farmer
    Spencer, Sagmon Son M W 12 S Mich Mich Mich
    Cumming, Judson Son M W S 10 S Mich Mich Mich

    Children:
    1. Dora Alma Spencer was born on 30 May 1893 in Gilford, Tuscola County, Michigan; died on 4 Mar 1980 in Caro, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried on 7 Mar 1980 in Riverside Cemetery, Vassar, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    2. Homer Dwight Spencer was born on 7 Aug 1894 in Gilford, Tuscola County, Michigan; died on 27 Jul 1964 in Chester, Chesterfield County, Virginia.
    3. Joseph Glen Spencer was born on 13 May 1897 in Sterling, Arenac County, Michigan; died on 22 Dec 1973 in Lapeer County, Michigan; was buried on 27 Dec 1973 in Indianfields Township Cemetery (AKA Caro Cemetery), Caro, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    4. Verne Immanul Spencer was born on 28 Sep 1899 in Clayton Township, Arenac County, Michigan; died about 1902 in Michigan.
    5. Leonard Spencer was born on 13 Sep 1901 in Sterling, Arenac County, Michigan; died on 16 Aug 1964 in Belding, Ionia County, Michigan.
    6. Arley Ivan Spencer was born on 27 Aug 1903 in Sterling, Arenac County, Michigan; died on 15 Jan 1994 in Sault Sainte Marie, Algoma, Ontario, Canada.
    7. 1. Sigmund William Spencer was born on 5 Mar 1906 in Sterling, Arenac County, Michigan; died on 30 Dec 1993 in Deland, Volusia County, Florida.


Generation: 3

  1. 4.  Joseph W. Spencer was born on 14 Apr 1824 in Kingston, Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada; died on 14 Feb 1895 in Fairgrove, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried on 16 Feb 1895 in Gilford Cemetery, Gilford, Tuscola County, Michigan.

    Notes:

    Tuscola County Advertiser, February 21, 1895

    Joseph Spencer was found dead in his barn one day last week. It is supposed that heart disease was the cause. he was an old soldier having served three years in the Mexican War. he was past 90 years of age. The G.A. R. of Reese and Gilford turned out to administer the last rites to their deceased brother at the U.B. Church in Gilford, the Sixteenth and interred in the Gilford Cemetery. He was a native of Canada, but had been a resident of Gilford for a good many years. He leaves a wife and four children.

    Saginaw Evening News, Saturday, February 16, 1895
    Pioneer of Tuscola Found Dead at Gilford
    Brother Died in the Same Way Four Years Ago, and Strange to Say the Same Barn

    Joseph Spencer, age 76 years, one of the oldest pioneers of Tuscola County, a Veteran of the Mexican and late Civil War, was found dead in his barn, rear of resident, near Gilford last night at 8:00 by a neighbor named Gilbert Quipp. A coroner's inquest was held and a verdict of death from heart disease was rendered. A wife and four children survive him. His brother Manuel was found dead in the same barn four years from the same disease. Another brother, Moses, was shot at Bay City in the 60's by a rough character, dying afterwards from the effects of his wounds.

    (Both obituaries courtesy of Valerie C. Atkinson, who also noted that his Military service included the Third Regiment of U.S. Infantry from May 1847 to Aug. 19, 1848, Mexican War, and the U.S. Army from Aug. 23, 1864 to Sept. 6, 1865)

    Joseph married Almanza Hopkins on 8 Dec 1852 in Dryden, Lapeer County, Michigan. Almanza was born on 17 Feb 1833 in Cambridge Township, Washington County, New York; died on 1 Mar 1903 in Fairgrove, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried in Brookside Cemetery, Fairgrove, Tuscola County, Michigan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 5.  Almanza Hopkins was born on 17 Feb 1833 in Cambridge Township, Washington County, New York; died on 1 Mar 1903 in Fairgrove, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried in Brookside Cemetery, Fairgrove, Tuscola County, Michigan.

    Notes:

    Married:
    They had six children... Janette in 1865, Homer in 1858, Lydia in 1861, Hiram (Arley Spencer's father) on 08/28/1890, Varnum J.W. in 1867 and Irene in 1870.

    Children:
    1. Chloe Spencer was born in Jul 1855; died in Gilford, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    2. Janette Spencer was born about 1856; and died.
    3. Milton Spencer was born on 16 May 1857 in Gilford, Tuscola County, Michigan; died on 26 May 1857 in Gilford, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    4. Homer B. Spencer was born on 11 Jan 1859 in Gilford, Tuscola County, Michigan; died on 9 Jan 1932 in Fairgrove, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried in Brookside Cemetery, Fairgrove, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    5. Lydia Spencer was born on 23 Mar 1861 in Michigan; and died.
    6. 2. Hiram Spencer was born on 31 May 1861 in Gilford, Tuscola County, Michigan; and died.
    7. Varnum J. W. Spencer was born on 10 Nov 1867 in Michigan; died on 29 Mar 1870 in Gilford, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried in Gilford Cemetery, Gilford, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    8. Eva C. Spencer was born on 29 Jan 1870 in Michigan; died about 1944 in Imlay City, Lapeer County, Michigan.

  3. 6.  Johann Friedrich "Frederick" Krapf was born on 4 Dec 1828 in Holzhausen, Donaukreis, W?rttemberg, Germany (son of Johann Friedrich Krapf and Barbara Unrath); died on 9 Feb 1906 in Versailles, Morgan County, Missouri.

    Notes:

    John Frederick Krapf was on the same ship to America as Dorothea Benkelman. He had been orphaned as a boy, and bound out to others until he came of age. Truman Krapf, his great-grandson of Hornersville, Missouri has a picture of John and Dorothea taken upon their arrival in America. They were married shortly thereafter. They first lived in Wisconsin, and later moved to a farm in Cass City.

    Fred and Louisa were charter members of the Evangelical United Brethren Church in Cass City.

    Art Peck shows that Fred Krapf remarried after Dorothea, to Christiana Weinhardt, and that they were the parents of Christian Frederick, Mary Caroline, Daisy Theresa, Mary Magdeline and Louisa Roceny KRAPF.

    Bonnie Petee abstracted the following regarding the Evangelical Association from "The History of Tuscola County, Biographical Sketches and Illustrations," H. R. Page Co., Chicago, 1883. "A class of this church which is commonly known as the German Methodist, was organized in the town of Elkland about the year 1866, by the Rev. Stephen Henne in connection with the Sebewaing mission. The class numbered about fifteen members. It has had regular services from that time to the present, and a regular succession of pastors. Services being held in the school-house, one mile north and one-half mile east of Cass City. In the latter part of 1882, a formal organization was effected at Cass City, and steps taken for the construction of a house of worship, which is now in course of construction. The earnest zeal of the members and their individual labors and contributions of material have reduced the estimated cost of the building to about $1,500. The pastor of the church at the present time is the Rev. B. F. Wade, who resides on his farm in the town of Elkland. The membership is about fifty. There is a preaching every second Sunday; prayer-meeting and Sunday-school every Sabbath. The trustees of the church are, John Benkelman, Fred Krapf, Oscar Sencner, Levi Muntz and Adam Benkelman."

    (Research):
    Census Information:

    1860 Census
    Wisconsin, Milwaukee County, Greenfield, Post Office Root Creek
    Enumerated 18 Jun 1860
    275-262
    Frederick Krapf 32 M W Farmhand $300 $100 Wertenberg
    Doretha Krapf 34 F W Wife Wertenberg
    Maria Krapf 5 F W Wisc
    Rosina Krapf 4 F W Wisc
    William Krapf 2 M W Wisc

    1870 Census
    Michigan, Tuscola County, Elkland, P.O. Elkland
    Enumerated 22 July 1870
    Page 8
    63-63
    Krapf, Gottlieb & Caroline
    64-64
    Krapf, Frederick 42 M W Farmer $1200 $300 Ger Wirtemberg
    Krapf, Doretha 44 F W Keeping House Ger Wirtemberg
    Krapf, Roseanna 14 F At Home Wisc
    Krapf, William 11 M W At School Wisc
    Krapf, John 9 M W Wisc
    Krapf, Matilda 7 F W Mich
    Krapf, Louisa 5 F W Mich
    Krapf, Emanuel 2 M Mich

    1880 Census
    Household: Name Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation Father's Birthplace Mother's Birthplace

    Frederick KRAPF Self M Male W 51 WERTENBURG Farmer WERTENBURG WERTENBURG

    Mary D. KRAPF Wife M Female W 53 WERTENBURG Keeping House WERTENBURG WERTENBURG

    Rosa KRAPF Dau S Female W 24 WI Without Occupation WERTENBURG WERTENBURG

    John KRAPF Son S Male W 19 WI Farmer WERTENBURG WERTENBURG

    Emanuel KRAPF Son S Male W 12 MI At School WERTENBURG WERTENBURG

    Adeline KRAPF Dau S Female W 9 MI At School WERTENBURG WERTENBURG

    Source Information: Census Place Elkland, Tuscola, Michigan Family History Library Film 1254607
    NA Film Number T9-0607
    Page Number 93A

    1900 Census
    Nebraska, Phelps County, Rookfalls Twp
    Enumerated 22 and 23 Jun 1900 by John R. Gainsforth
    SD 5 ED 150 Sheet 8B (Bottom) and Sheet 9A, Stamped 109A (Bottom)
    149-149
    Krapf, Frederick Hd W M W M Dec 1839 (sic) 60 M 11 Germany Germany Germany 1870 30 N Farmer
    Krapf, Christina Wf W F Feb 1859 41 M 11 5/5 Germany Germany Germany 1899 21
    Krapf, Fredrick C Son W M Nov 1889 10 S Michigan Germany Germany Farm Laborer
    Krapf, Mary C Dtr W F July 1891 8 S Nebraska Germany Germany At School
    Krapf, Daisy Dtr W F Apr 1893 7 S Nebraska Germany Germany At School
    Krapf, Mary M Dtr W F Jun 1895 4 S Neb Germany Germany
    Krapf, Rosina L Dtr F July 1899 11/12 S Nebraska Germany Germany

    Johann married Maria Dorothea "Dorothy" Benkelman about 1853. Maria (daughter of Johann Leonhard Benkelmann and Maria Dorothea St?hle) was born on 13 Jul 1826 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 5 Jan 1888 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  4. 7.  Maria Dorothea "Dorothy" Benkelman was born on 13 Jul 1826 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany (daughter of Johann Leonhard Benkelmann and Maria Dorothea St?hle); died on 5 Jan 1888 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan.

    Notes:

    In her 1981 unpublished manuscript, BonnieMargaret Jacobs pointed out that as the eldest daughter Maria Dorothea would have been responsible for helping her mother with both the bulk of the household chores, as well as caring for her younger siblings. And with her father dying when she was just 22, she would have had to postpone any plans for marriage she might have had to continue to help her mother care for their large family. (p. 135).

    BonnieMargaret noted that Dorothea, along with her mother and three of her sisters, were the last of the family to leave their family home. Eldest brother Friedrich was married, well established, and raising his own family in the area. All the other brothers and sisters had already emigrated to the United States. Only Leonhards widow and four of her daughters remained. German Parish records show that they "ausgewandert nach Amerika" (left for America) in 1853.

    They left the parish in September, 1853, with just 300 florins to see them to New York; George St?hle warrented any unknown debts.

    BonnieMargeret also noted a mystery she uncovered in examining the records: "in addition to the widowed mother and four daughters, there was a fifth member of the party, 'the child Johann Friedrich Benkelmann, born April 2, 1851, the son of the single Maria Dorothea.' However, if the child had actually been the son of the younger Dorothea, he would have been recorded on the familienregister page of the Benkelmann family, but he was not. We can only conclude that the women smuggled the two year old child out of Germany for friends or kin, and that if he survived, delivered him to relatives in America. Who that child may really have been, and what happened to him, are secrets the women kept to themselves." (p. 82)

    On the Oberant Welzheim Emmigrants list, 1818-1891, She is listed as Maria Dorothea, g. d. 13t. Juli 1826 ledig, and travelling in a party headed by her mother, Maria Dorothea, the widow of Johann Leonhard Benkelmann, a farmer of Schneiderhof. The child accompanying her was listed as "sowid: deren Enkel Johann Friedrich Benkelmann g. d. 2t. April 1851 Sohn der ledigen Maria Dorothea, [blank line] s?mtl. eve. Conf."

    BonnieMargaret's full source citation was: Staatsarchiv Ludwigsburg, "Verzeichnis der Auswanderung aus dem Oberamt Welzheim 1818-1891" F 214 B?schel 91 Fortlaufende Number 42 [or possibly 47] ).

    On board the ship to America was Johann Friedrich Krapf, from a village a few milies from the Schneiderhof. He and Dorothea married immediately after their arrival in th United States, taking her two youngest sisters to family in New York, and then setting off together for Wisconsin. Sister Catharine Benkelmann accompanied them. Dorothea and Friedrich farmed in Greenfield township, just west of Milwaukee. (p. 136).

    Seometime in the early 1860s, after two of her sisters and her brother Adam moved to Cass City, Michigan, Dorothea and Friedrich moved there as well. (p. 137)

    Children:
    1. Mary Magdalena Krapf was born on 18 Nov 1854 in Greenfield, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin; died on 24 Mar 1934 in Pasadena, Harris County, Texas.
    2. Rosa Dorothea Krapf was born on 10 Jan 1856 in Greenfield, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin; and died.
    3. William Frederick Krapf was born on 20 Jan 1858 in Greenfield, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin; died on 29 Jul 1946 in Hornersville, Dunklin County, Missouri; was buried in Horner Cemetery, Hornersville, Dunklin County, Missouri.
    4. John Krapf was born on 10 Jan 1861 in Greenfield, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin; died on 24 Feb 1920 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    5. Matilda Krapf was born on 17 Mar 1863 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan; died on 26 Sep 1945 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried in Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    6. Louisa Krapf was born on 20 Jul 1865 in Elkland Township, Tuscola County, Michigan; died on 21 Mar 1925 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried in Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    7. George Emmanuel Krapf was born on 20 Sep 1867 in Elkland Township, Tuscola County, Michigan; died on 3 Jun 1959 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried in Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    8. 3. Adeline "Addie" Krapf was born on 28 Aug 1870 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan; died on 24 Oct 1940 in Belding, Ionia County, Michigan; was buried in River Ridge Cemetery, Belding, Ionia County, Michigan.


Generation: 4

  1. 12.  Johann Friedrich Krapf was born on 15 Nov 1791 in Baiereck, Donaukreis, W?rttemberg, Germany (son of Johannes Krapf and Christina Schindler); died on 3 Dec 1836.

    Johann + Barbara Unrath. Barbara (daughter of Andreas Unrath and Ursula Magdalena Daiber) was born on 21 Jul 1792 in Holzhausen, Donaukreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 11 Jan 1838. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  2. 13.  Barbara Unrath was born on 21 Jul 1792 in Holzhausen, Donaukreis, W?rttemberg, Germany (daughter of Andreas Unrath and Ursula Magdalena Daiber); died on 11 Jan 1838.
    Children:
    1. Johann Michael Krapf was born on 28 Jan 1814 in Holzhausen, Donaukreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; and died.
    2. Anna Catharina Krapf was born on 17 Dec 1816; and died.
    3. Johann Friedrich Krapf was born on 26 Sep 1818 in Holzhausen, Donaukreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 20 Jun 1825 in Holzhausen, Donaukreis, W?rttemberg, Germany.
    4. Andreas Krapf was born on 10 Jan 1820; and died.
    5. Magdalena Krapf was born on 8 Jul 1821; and died.
    6. Johannes Krapf was born on 18 Jul 1823; and died.
    7. Johann Gottleib Krapf was born on 14 Oct 1824 in W?rttemberg, Germany; and died.
    8. Johann Friedrich Krapf was born on 14 Oct 1826 in Holzhausen, Donaukreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 31 Mar 1828 in Holzhausen, Donaukreis, W?rttemberg, Germany.
    9. 6. Johann Friedrich "Frederick" Krapf was born on 4 Dec 1828 in Holzhausen, Donaukreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 9 Feb 1906 in Versailles, Morgan County, Missouri.
    10. Anna Barbara Krapf was born on 2 Oct 1830; and died.
    11. Christina Krapf was born on 15 Aug 1832; and died.
    12. Carolina Krapf was born on 28 Feb 1834; and died.

  3. 14.  Johann Leonhard Benkelmann was born on 6 Feb 1796 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany (son of Johann Jakob Binkelmann, III and Maria Catharina Baur); died on 24 Feb 1848 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany.

    Notes:

    In a 1979 letter that Margaret-Bonnie Jacobs wrote to Ben Benkelman, Jr she said: "You may have heard from one source or another that I'm putting together rather a comprehensive history of the Benkelman family. To date, it's taken me most of my time just to track the original 10 immigrants and get them firmly placed and dated and documented. This year I am concentrating on the reach back to Germany. I have hired a genealogist there to see how far back we can go with the family before the mass emigration of the '50s. Just by collecting the data on the 10 immigrant children I have learned a great deal. All of the boys were artisans with trades. In Germany that usually meant long apprenticeships. Since Adam and his brothers and sisters were born in different villages I assume the father, Leonhard, was also a tradesman of some sort rather than a farmer."

    BonnieMargaret later concluded they were all actually born at the Schneiderhof, across from Breech, on the outskirts of B?rtlingen, and Parish records discovered later showed Leonhard's occupation as bricklayer

    In her 1981 unpublished manuscript, BonnieMargaret wrote that "On February 6, 1796 Johann Leonhard Benkelmann was born to Katharina Bauer, and according to the parish record, he was born at the Schneiderhof. The pastor dutifully recorded that he was unehelic (illegitimately) born and that he bore the name of his unehelic father, Johann Jacob Benkelmann of Pl?derhausen. BonnieMargaret indicated that His mother was refered to on Leonhard's and his wife Dorothea's family register page as "Maria Katharina, frueher des Johannes Haeller auf dem Schneiderhof Ehefrau geborene Bauerin." This means that she was then the wife of Johann Haeller, and was born Maria Bauer. (pp. 56-58)

    When Leonhard's father, Johann Jacob, married another woman the year after Leonhard's birth, he was first required to provide 75 of the 200 florins he had inheritied from his grandfather to his "Weibsbild" for the upbringing of his son born out of wedlock. (p. 58)

    Leonhard was only 2l when his stepfather died , and as a result became the head of his mother's household. He must have discharged all of his responsiblities admirably, because only five years later he was allowed to be married to Dorothea St?hle, the daughter of a respected citizen and farmer of B?rtlingen. (Jacobs, p. 70).

    On the Parish records, he is referred to as a "Bauer and Maurer"...farmer and bricklayer.

    After Leonhard's death early in 1848, each of his 10 children that had survived into maturity emigrated to the United States. The first to leave was his namesake son, Leonhard, in the summer of 1849, who was age 21. The last was eldest son, Friedrich, and he left in 1873 at age 50, taking a large group of family members with him.

    The Benkelmanns were not alone. A huge number of Germany left their homeland in and around 1848. This excerpt, from a website about the "The Origins of the Forty-Eighters" in Davenport, Iowa applies to the Benkelmann family as well, even though Leonhard and Dorothea's children instead settled in first in New York, and later Wisconsin, Michigan and Colorado, versus Iowa.

    Letters ... sent back to Germany were instrumental to channeling the influx of immigrants from Germany.....

    Historian Scott Christiansen explains the purpose of the letters:

    "They wanted to tell their friends back home how good it was in America. And they tended to exaggerate a little bit, because they were lonely and liked to have some of their compatriots come over and join them."

    The decision to emigrate from one's homeland is generally informed by two forces: the so-called push and pull forces. Letters from family and friends who had already settled in the new world certainly qualify as pull factors. Other such factors were the multitude of job opportunities, inexpensive, yet fertile cropland, and - especially important to the politically motivated Forty-Eighters - the guarantee of democratic liberties such as freedom of speech and expression.

    Many of the push factors are related to the causes of the German revolution. As the social and economic conditions in Germany worsened during the 1840s, many people were forced to look for new opportunities. [E]migration has become a matter of life or death, as one German newspaper put it. America with its promise of a new chance for everyone appealed to many Germans ready to emigrate. Reports from America, printed in German newspapers, underscored this notion. Iowa, for example, was described in 1847 as leaving little to be desired both to the productivity of its soil and the more bearable nature of its climate.

    While economic necessity might have been a major driving force for many to emigrate, political reasons also factored into the decision to leave the homeland. In fact, the Forty-Eighters are per definition political refugees who for the most part did not struggle financially. But one might argue that a majority of emigrants regarded both political circumstances and economic distress as making life in Germany unbearable. The causes for emigration thus intermingle in many cases.

    The strong early presence ...triggered a chain migration...in succeeding years. The term chain migration is defined by the Dictionary of Geography as [a] migration process which depends on a small number of pioneers, who make the first moves to set up a new home in a new place. They send information back home, and this encourages further migration from the originating area.

    BonnieMargaret Jacob's cited similar reasons in her manuscript, pointing out the decrease of demail for high-quality goods of the small town artisan, the reluctance of these artisians to move to cities to work in factories, the restrictive craftsman guild system that made it difficult to learn and advance in a trade, and the equally restrictive marriage laws.

    "The auswanderer went less to America to build something new than to regain and conserve something old...to till new fields and find new customers, true enough, but ultimately to keep the ways of life they were used to, which the new Europe seemed determined to destroy...people who traveled thousands of grim miles in order to keep their roots, their habits, their united families and the kind of future they wanted for their families. They did not wait passively for their roots to be broken, to be sure; yet they were conservatives, who acted radically in order to preserve, and who journeyed to another world to keep their homes." (Walker, Mack, GERMANY AND THE EMIGRATION 1816-1885, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1964, Page 69, as transcribed by BonnieMargaret Jacobs on pages 77 and 78 of her manuscript).

    Johann married Maria Dorothea St?hle on 20 Nov 1822 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany. Maria (daughter of Georg Friedrich St?hle and Anna Maria Leins) was born on 5 Jan 1800 in B?rtlingen, G?ppingen, Donaukreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 22 Oct 1853 in Transit to America, Lost At Sea. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]


  4. 15.  Maria Dorothea St?hle was born on 5 Jan 1800 in B?rtlingen, G?ppingen, Donaukreis, W?rttemberg, Germany (daughter of Georg Friedrich St?hle and Anna Maria Leins); died on 22 Oct 1853 in Transit to America, Lost At Sea.

    Notes:

    On "January something" in 1983, Bonnie Jacobs wrote "A search for some years has finally yielded information for me. As you have probably heard, the last of the 10 Benkelman children to emigrate from Germany were the four girls and their mother [Dorothea, age 52, and daughters Dorothea age 23, Catharina, age 21, Maria, age 13, and Lena, age 7]. We had heard from family legends that the mother died at sea and I have pursued that information for years. I have finally retrieved it. It is a painstaking process to get the facts, but I finally found an obituary that identified the port of entry as Baltimore---a stroke of luck since Baltimore was one of the few American ports of entry that did have a Customs passenger list. I have retrieved the film from the Archives in Washington--but it has brought a new mystery. It is remarkable that finding the answer to one question almost always raises another. Missing from the party of four daughters and the mother is the second eldest daughter, Catharina. She was released from the Empire with the others on 20 September of 1853--but there is no record of her having arrived in Baltimore!

    At least I have a death date on the mother now. She died at sea on 22 October, barely a month into the voyage. The ship arrived in Baltimore on December 15. Can you imagine being packed into one of those filthy sailing vessels for six to nine weeks? Try to imagine the day to day living with no privacy, no way to bathe or attend to personal needs and only buggy, dried food to eat! Our ancestors suffered much. I will go and try to retrieve the Captain's actual report now that I know the ship and the Captain--to see if a cause of death is listed. Cholera was rampant that year, but I think it was not the cause since the part of the list I have seen shows only one other death during the voyage."

    BonnieMargaret Jacobs shows her, on her transcription of the familienregister page of the Benkelmann family, as a daughter of George Friedrich St?hle and Anna Maria REIK or RECH. However, Anna Maria REIK is actually the mother of Dorothea's daughter-in-law Catharina Schaufele, who married Dorothea's son Adam Benkelmann. Kathy Bonnell, on her transcription of G?ppingen church records, shows her mothers maiden name was LEINS. BonnieMargaret appears to have been simply confusing the two Anna Maria's. Additionally, the family register for the family of Georg Friedrich St?hle, listing his wife and children, shows his wife Anna Maria was born to Georg Friedrich Leins, a farmer.

    On the Oberant Welzheim Emmigrants list, 1818-1891, She is listed as Maria Dorothea, Witwe (widow) des Bauers Johann Leonhard Benkelmann von Schneiderhof, Gd. Waldhausen geb. den 5ten Januar 1800. Their guarantor was Johann Georg St?hle, Bauer von B?rtlingen.

    (BonnieMargaret's full source citation was: Staatsarchiv Ludwigsburg, "Verzeichnis der Auswanderung aus dem Oberamt Welzheim 1818-1891" F 214 B?schel 91 Fortlaufende Number 42 [or possibly 47] ).

    Notes:

    Married:
    BonnieMargaret and her husband Bruce visited Germany in September, 1980. In a letter to Ben and Avis dated October 13, 1980, she shared the following information "Then we were on to B?rtlingen, where Adam and Catherine were married. The church there was built in 1484 and is one of the most beautiful we saw anywhere. I decided to see the village of Breech--for no particular reason except I that I'd heard Elsie Anthes speak of it and it had turned up in various records. WE had no real family association there--but it was nearby. What a stroke of dumb luck! Without that decision we might never have found the Schneiderhof, where Adam and his siblings were born and lived until they emigrated. The Schneiderhof is not a town and is not on any map. It's just a cluster of about 4 houses and supporting buildings, just down and across the road from Breech, and if you were looking away for just a second, you'd miss the sign to it.

    I cannot tell you my excitement! ...There is nothing new there. Adam would recognize it as if he had never left. The tools and equipment are there as they have been for who knows how long. It is surrounded by orchards (apples) and small plots of vegetables. B?rtlingen is on a hill and is lovely with good views. The Schneiderhof is on top of the world, looking out on miles of hills and valleys and villages. It is incrediably beautiful. Again I found myself out in some cabbage patch, trying to explain to some farmer that this was my family heimat (home)...Clearly Americans are accepted as eccentric and harmless!...Vocabulary doesn't reach the beauty of that hilltop and its vistas out over hazy valleys, looking at other hills where red tiled houses form little villages. I can just imagine it at night--looking out over perhaps two dozen sparkling little villages on other hills around. One climbs from B?rtlingen to the Schneiderhof. But going down the back side of the mountain, through dense forest, the trail winds back and forth across the mountain into Waldhausen--which the Schneiderhof also looks down upon. This is the trip the family took to get to church, and probably to work."

    In her 1981 unpublished manuscript, BonnieMargaret noted that only the top floor of the Benkelmann home shows from the road leading in. The house is three stories high on the back side, two stories high in the front. It was built in 1733, by the state, to provide housing for state licensed artisans who were not allowed in the town as guild craftsmen. Apparently it gained its name from its first inhabitants, since the name literally means "the place of tailors." The official state description of the Schneiderhof in 1845 states that it was a place with 22 Evangelical residents, lying on the mountain top about one-half an hours walk from Waldhausen. The rents were paid to the city of G?ppingen, in 1845 twelve of those residents would have been Leonhard and Dorothea and their 10 living children, others would have included Leonhard's widowed mother and some of her children by Herr Heller, and likely their families. The land was described as rocky and and lying on a mountainside, "even today it is impossible to use machinery to work the land" and that the "people who lived there would have to have outside work." The house itself lies on the very crest of the mountain, with the house built on the downside of the mountain, overlooking Waldhausen. A very small patch of is on the level crest at the top of the mountain. When BonnieMargaret visited the home in 1981, she said it had four or five dwellings in all, and barns and sheds nearby the house and in the orchards. Just west of the house stands the old Bauernhaus, perhaps the homestead of Leonhard's maternal grandparents. The fields to the south were planted in potatoes and turnips, the high production crops that all of southern Germany turned to in the early 1800's. Beyond the westernmost buildings were apple orchards, beautiful and well tended. (pp. 68, 69 and accompanying photos).

    BonnieMargaret also noted that German life centered in the family. Even today we're told that day to day life included few close relationships with people outside the family. Certainly they were cordial and friendly with neighbors and cooperating artisans, but the joy of living was carefully protected within the walls of the home. Country people had no protection but each other, and the trusted "other" were kinsmen. Unlike the towns that were structured to protect the citizens from difficult times, the country folk were on their own, in good and bad times. Parents carefully nutured the bonds of affection and caring, and though they may have experienced the sibling rivalry that modern children do, it was not expressed in the German home, where only mutual caring and consideration were approved and encouraged.

    Names and birthdates for this family were from the Waldhausen Parish Kirchlichen Familienregister Band I, Blatt 244, Dekanat Welzheim, Schw?bisch Gm?nd. BonnieMargaret noted that all the family information shown on pages 95 and 96 of her book were certified by Pastor Rau of the Ev. Pfarramt Waldhausen to be the complete record of the family of Johann Leonhard Benkelmann, with the exceptions of the dates of death, which were included by BonnieMargaret from other sources. They had one stillborn child, neither name or sex listed, on 4 July 1838. She also noted that they were married on November 20, but the year was illegible.

    The family register for the family of Georg Friedrich St?hle and wife, Anna Maria Leins shows that Maria Dorothea was the fifth of their 15 children. She was married at the Schneiderhof on 20 Nov 1822, approximately 10 months after the birth of eldest son Friedrich.

    Children:
    1. Johann Friedrich "Fredrick" Benkelman was born on 6 Jan 1822 in Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 28 Aug 1897 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried on 29 Aug 1897 in Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    2. Leonhard Benkelmann was born on 22 Dec 1823 in Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 18 Jul 1824 in Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany.
    3. Johann Adam Benkelman was born on 13 Feb 1825 in Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 30 Dec 1897 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried on 2 Jan 1898 in Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    4. 7. Maria Dorothea "Dorothy" Benkelman was born on 13 Jul 1826 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 5 Jan 1888 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    5. Johann Georg Benkelmann was born on 7 Aug 1827 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 19 Sep 1827 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany.
    6. Johann Leonhard "Leonard" Benkelman was born on 5 Jul 1828 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 25 May 1913 in Manitowoc, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin; was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin.
    7. Johann Georg "George" Benkelman was born on 25 Jun 1830 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 16 Jan 1908 in Denver, Denver County, Colorado; was buried in Fairmount Cemetery, Denver, Denver County, Colorado.
    8. Maria Catharina Benkelman was born on 16 Aug 1831 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 9 Dec 1883 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried in Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    9. Anna Maria Benkelmann was born on 18 Oct 1832 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 25 Nov 1832 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany.
    10. Luise "Louisa" Benkelman was born on 14 Sep 1833 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 22 Oct 1910 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried in Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    11. Johannes "John" Benkelman was born on 3 Apr 1836 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 18 Jan 1917 in Portage, Columbia County, Wisconsin.
    12. Anna Maria "Mary" Benkelman was born on 22 May 1839 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 4 May 1913 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried in Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan.
    13. Magdalena Benkelmann was born on 13 Sep 1840 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 22 Sep 1840 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany.
    14. Rosine Benkelmann was born on 10 Mar 1842 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 25 Nov 1844 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany.
    15. Maria Magdalena "Aunt Lena" Benkelman was born on 31 Aug 1845 in Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany; died on 22 Jan 1926 in Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan; was buried in Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan.