Family - Elizabeth Silbereisen

22 Feb 1859 Bay City, MI - 19 Jan 1911

Elizabeth Silbereisen was the daughter of Martin Silbereisen and Catherine Resch immigrants from Bavaria.  Her father died when she was a year old and her mother married John Martin Schramm.

Little is known about Elizabeth's early years.  Her father and her step-father were brew masters so it is likely that she spent time in the brewery.

She was married on 18 Oct 1882 to Thomas Francis Madden.  The information on the wedding date comes from the bible that belonged to Merril Rowe (a descendant of Elizabeth's sister Mary).  There is a gap of nearly ten years between the marriage and the birth of the first known child of Thomas and Elizabeth.

Thomas's death certificate lists four children, three still living.  This was filled in by Elizabeth who would know with certainty,  so it is probable that there was an infant or stillbirth  in those early years.

When Thomas died in 1903, Elizabeth was left with three children, the youngest just four years old, and a shipping company to run.  She left the day to day operations of the business to her brother in law Michael Lynn.

Among the items found about life in those days was this notice in the Bay City Times announcing the family trip on the lakes on the Lizzie Madden in 1906.

Eliza's sister, Mary, her husband Michael Linn (Lynn) and their two daughters were living with Eliza in 1910.  By that time Elizabeth had already been diagnosed with uterine cancer, she succumbed on 19 Jan 2011 and was buried in St. Patricks's Cemetery in Bay City.

Picture taken by Jane Madden Marqueling