These documents pertain to a parcel of land in Elm River Township, Houghton County, Michigan originally owned by my 3rd great grandmother, Ernestina Zenner Schmidt (died 1922).
This first letter, dated January 16, 1975, was written from an attorney to someone at a bank regarding current (in 1975) ownership of the land.
The information at the bottom of the first page and most of the second page has been helpful to my genealogy research. Here are some highlights:
My 3rd great grandmother, Ernestina Zenner Schmidt (??-1922) acquired the title to this parcel of land in 1907.
In 1915 she sold the timber on the land.
She died on March 23, 1926 and gave each of her living children 1/7th interest in the land. The children listed match, for the most part, the information I already have. Here are the children:
Emma Schmidt Newman - my 3rd great aunt
Adelia Schmidt Sprangler - my 3rd great aunt
Fannie Schmidt Ratz (1870-1944) - my 2nd great grandmother
Wanda Schmidt Fisher (1872-1932) - my 3rd great aunt
Louis Schmidt - my 3rd great uncle
Lydia Schmidt McNamara (1876-1961) -my 3rd great aunt
Bada Schmidt Hoff (1881-) - my 3rd great aunt
The letter then details what happened to these shares of the land, and the timber on them, in the next generations. I won’t list it here (you can read the letter) but this information has been helpful in filling out my family tree.
Here is a photo of the Schmidt family mentioned above. Ernestina is on the far right. Her husband, Charles Schmidt (died 1899), my 3rd great grandfather, is on the far left. You’ll notice that there are eight children in this photo. The youngest, Flora Schmidt (1892-1903) died before the land was dispersed.
This second letter was written from John B. Houck to “Mrs. Chester Wright”. This is Florence Fisher Wright (1900-1994) a descendent of my 3rd great aunt mentioned above, Wanda Schmidt Fisher (1872-1931). Florence is my 1st cousin 3x removed. I have had some contact with the granddaughter of Florence, who provided me with the Schmidt family photograph above.
And these are the maps mentioned in the second letter.
Though I have had these documents for a couple of years, I hadn’t looked at them super closely until just today. The process of writing about them has helped me discover some new information and tell my family’s story.
Thanks for taking a look at the Family History Artifact of the Day Challenge! Every day in May I will be posting a family artifact or heirloom. I hope you’ll join!
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In May of 2020 I challenged myself and others to write every day for a month about a family heirloom or artifact. Here are 10 lessons I learned from this genealogy writing experience.