Family - Mary (Silbereisen) & Michael Lynn

Bay City Times
30 Mar 1902 p12c3

After the death of Thomas Francis Madden the shipping business was managed by his brother-in-law Michael Lynn.  Like his brother in law Michael was active in the community, running for office at least once.  Michael died 19 Aug 1927 in Grand Rapids, MI.  Mary died 30 Jul 1941

"Michael J. Lynn, 68, brother of Daniel E. Lynn, 2638 Military Street, died Friday at his home in Grand Rapids.

Mr. Lynn was born in Port Huron, but had not lived in the city for many years. He is survived by his widow, two daughters, Mrs.James Schafer, Grand Rapids, and Mrs. Alec Schwall, Bay City;and three brothers, Daniel E. Lynn (Port Huron), George Lynn, Cleveland, and Edward Lynn, Cleveland.

Funeral services will be held at St. Stephen Church Monday 10 a.m., burial will take place at Mt. Hope Cemetery."  [Port Huron Times Herald 20 Aug 1927]

Mary and Michael had two daughters, Elizabeth and Catherine.  Both girls attended the academy in Monroe. (1)

• Elizabeth married James Schafer on 8 Jun 1915. They had  two children.  
• Mary Catherine (1916-1996) m. Merel Rowe (1922-2002).  They lived in Fresno County, CA.
• Elizabeth Ann died in 1919 at the age of 3 months.
• Catherine (1890-1971) m. Alec Schwall.  In 1930 she was widowed and she and her two children were living with her mother and Aunt Lena in Bay City. She was still there in 1940. Catherine had two children  
• Mary E 1914
• Lynn Alexander 1916 PA - 2000 FL

(1) Bay City Times 2 Jan 1904 p3

Family: Martin Silbereisen and Catherine Resch

 No immigration has been found for Martin Silbereisen . (1823 Bavaria - 1860 Bay City, MI).  Catherine Resch (1828 Bavaria - 1907 Bay City, MI)e sailed from Harburg on 1 September 1854 on the Luneburg, arriving in New York on 30 October.  Martin and Catherine were married in  12 Aug 1855 in Hampton, Saqinaw Michigan.  

In November of 1858 Martin  bought land from Jacob Wisheintner.  He signed an indenture for $102 for lot 5 block 220, village of Portsmouth (later incorporated into Bay City.)  A brew master by trade, he built  and was a half partner in a brewery on the land.

In February of 1860 Martin signed a petition to become a citizen, but he did not live long enough to complete the process.  Martin died on 22 Sep 1860 at the age of 37.

He left his widow and two small daughters his half share in the old brewery, which was worth only the land it stood on.  He also owned a 3/5 share in a new brewery on lot 4 block 109.  His estate was estimated at a worth of $700.

Catherine retained personal possessions valued at $80.80 which included furniture, bedding, a milk cow and a horse.  A dwelling on the original lot was worth $175 and tools of the brewing trade, including wagons and stock for delivery were worth $168.70.(1)

Shortly thereafter, on 14 Jan 1861, Catherine remarried another Bavarian brew master, John Martin Schramm.  Their daughter Magdalena was born in 1865.

Great granddaughter Mary Rowe remembers her grandmother, Mary, talking about the Indians who used to come to the brewery on ponies with their manes tied up in rags. After an afternoon of drinking they would sleep it off on the floor of the  brewery.  As Mary was a toddler when her father died, it would seem logical that she was remembering the brewery of her step-father Martin Schramm.

Catherine outlived her second husband, who died in 1903.  In 1905 she was living with her widowed daughter Elizabeth and daughter Lena, who never married.  Katherine died on 8 Aug 1907 in Bay City.

Martin and Catherine are buried in St. Patrick's cemetery in Bay City.

Martin Silbereisen and Catherine Resch had two daughters

Mary married Michael Lynn 
Elizabeth married Thomas Francis Martin

Catherine Resch and Martin Schramm had one daughter Lena.  Lena helped raise her three nephews when her sister, Elizabeth, died in 1911.  She died 4 May 1943 at the age of 78.(2)


(1) Petition for the Appt. of an Administrator Bay Co MI, 21 Dec 1861 -- State of Michigan, County of Bay, Probate Court in the matter of the Estate of Martin Silbereisen, deceased, Aug 21st 1907, 18 Sep 1907, 19 Sep 1907 (daughters had reached majority).

(2) "Michigan, Death Certificates, 1921-1952," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KF4Y-QQ2 : accessed 04 Sep 2013), Lena F Schramm, 1943.

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