Trump family
Johann Leonhard Trump (1815-1866) was one of the original founding settlers of Frankenhilf, Michigan (later renamed Richville). He was born in Biuberback, Mittelfranken, Bavaria or possibly Hausen Am Bach, Baden/Wurtemburg, just across the border from Ansbach. I’m not exactly sure where these towns were, but Mittelfranken was part of Bavaria in what is now southern Germany. In 1843, he married Anna Margaretha Hirsch (1815-1905) who was from from Colmburg, also in Mittelfranken, Bavaria.
They arrived in Frankenhilf in 1853, listed as passengers on the ship “Wisconsin” which arrived in NY from London with their 3 oldest children. They were part of a second wave of new arrivals coming to what was then only a distant wilderness settlement, one of 4 German Lutheran colonies established in 1849 to help land-poor immigrants from the Franconia area of Germany. Living conditions were very rough as the new settlers cleared land, built cabins and gradually established prosperous farms and built their community.
The history of Frankenhilf is detailed in a wonderful book that my Aunt Betty gave to my Mom and can be found here. According to the book, there was a schism in the local church early on and Leonard was planning to leave and follow his pastor to Iowa. But he was unable to sell his property when the prospective new owner was unable to raise the money in Germany. Leonard and his family stayed in Frankenhilf and, in the book, there are many mentions of Trump descendants and their activities in the town.
Leonard and Margaretha had 11 children, although 5 died young, before he died in 1865 at the age of 50, from appendicitis in Ann Arbor. Margaretha lived until 1905, when she was 90. They are both buried in St. Michael’s Lutheran Cemetery, Richville. There is a plaque in front of Leonhard’s grave which identifies him as a founding member of St, Michaels’ Lutheran Church.
Johann George Trump (1845-1911) was the oldest son. He was born in Germany and emigrated with his parents at the age of 8. He married Anna Bierlein and they had 5 children. He was on the building committee for the new church which replaced the original log building in 1876 and served as a church elder. He was a farmer and inventor and a 1908 photo in the Frankenhilf book shows him with his grand-daughter Linda and a new plow he had invented. He is buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery, Richville.
Marie Anna (Mary) (1846-1929) was the oldest daughter and she also emigrated with her parents at the age of 6. She married George Sitterling and they had 6 children. They lived in Bay City, where she died.
George Leonard Trump (1848-1927) also emigrated with his parents at the age of 2. He married Anna Gruber they had 10 children. He was a farmer in Richville and also a church elder. He is buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery, Richville.
Johann Friedrich Trump (John) (1853-1945) was the 3rd son in the family. He was the first of the siblings born in Michigan after the family settled in Frankenhilf. He married Magdalena Leix and they had 5 children. He moved to Bay City where he was a carpenter and contractor and his firm built some of the larger buildings in that town. He is buried in Elm Lawn Cemetery, Bay City.
Margaretha Barbara (1858-1939) was the younger daughter born in Frankenhilf. She never married and ran a boarding house in Bay City. She was known to Dad’s family as “Aunt Barbie”. She is buried in Elm Lawn Cemetery, Bay City.
Johann Paul Trump (1861-1936) was my great-grandfather and the youngest of the Trump sons. He was born in Frankenhilf and died in Saginaw. He married Maria Kathrina Englehardt (1863-1934) in 1887. They had 4 daughters: Clara, Elsa (my grandmother), Emma, and Hilda. Paul was a carpenter and we have an old photo of the family house. My father took a new photo of it on his 1994 visit and it hasn’t changed much except for the now tree-shaded neighborhood. Paul died in Saginaw in 1936 at the age of 75 when he was struck by an automobile while walking. He and Kathrina are buried in St. Michael’s Cemetary.
Clara Maria Barbara (1889-1974) was oldest of Paul and Kathrina’s daughters. She was born in Richville and died in Bay City. She finished the 8th grade and was a dressmaker at the time of her marriage to Walter Quast (1891-1970) in 1912. He was from Bay City and sold printing supplies. They had 2 children: Raymond Quast (1913-1997), and Dorothy (Oakley) (1918-1996). Both of these cousins of Dad’s show up in some of the old photos. Clara and Walter are both buried in Elm Lawn Cemetery in Bay City.
Elsa Anna Helena (1892-1986) was my grandmother. She married Erwin F. Rohde in 1915 and my father was born the following year. More about her is in the section on my grandparents here.
Emma Barbara (1894-1989) was the 3rd daughter. She was born in Richville and died in Frankenmuth. She also completed the 8th grade in school. In 1916 she married Walter Mavis (Maves?) (1892-1973). He was from Saginaw and they made their home there and raised 3 children: Dorothy (DePreckel) (1918-2006), Ralph Maves(1924-1987), and Marion (Klement) (1928-1962). Walter worked in the newspaper business as a linotype operator. After Walter died, Emma lived in the Lutheran Home in Frankenmuth where Elsa also spent her last years. Walter and Emma are both buried in Oakwood Mausoleum, Saginaw.
The youngest daughter was Hilda Maria (1898-1973). She was born in Richville and went to high school for 2 years. In 1920, she married Arthur Zaske (1898-1988) and they made their home in the suburbs of Detroit, where he was in real estate. They had 1 son, Arthur Jr. Zaske (1928-?). Hilda and Arthur are buried in Utica Cemetary, Utica, Michigan.
Englehardt family ancestors
Johann Michael Englehardt (1825-1919) was born in Ansbach, Mittelfranken, Bavaria. He married Elisabetha Margaretha Weisskopf (1832-1912) in 1957 in Wayne City, Michigan, after they had emigrated from Germany. They arrived in Frankenhilf around 1856. Elisabetha’s parents, George Thomas Weisskopf and Anna Catharina Heindel from Gettelsdorf, Bavaria, also emigrated around the same time and lived in the same area.
Michael and Elisabetha Englehardt were among the early settlers in Frankenhilf, arriving when it was still a struggling wilderness community with only 24 families in 1856. According to my grandmother, Michael was a carpenter and also a caretaker on a farm and worked for 50 cents a day. He walked long distances, including 8 miles to Frankenmuth (the nearest town) for food. He built himself a shanty and then a block house, and used it for storage, probably when he built a larger home for his family. He was 94 when he died; both he and Elisabetha are buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery, Richville. There is a photo of the couple at an advanced age in the Frankenhilf book. They had 6 children: George Andreas, Kathrina (my great-grandmother), John August, Lorenz, and Eva Maria. There are many photos of Englehardts in the Frankenhilf book.
George Andreas Englehardt (1860-1915) was the oldest son. According to my grandmother, he owned a slaughterhouse and “did well”.
Maria Kathrina (1863-1934) was my great-grandmother. She was born in Frankenhilf/Richville and married Paul Trump in 1887. They had 4 daughters including Elsa, my grandmother. (See more under the Trump family, above.) Kathrina died of a heart condition at the age of 70 and is buried along with Paul in St. Michael’s Cemetery, Richville.
Johann August (1866-1940) was the 2nd son. He was born in Frankenhilf/Richville and died in Saginaw. According to my grandmother, he was a farmer on 60 acres of government land which was not expensive, but the interest was high. He died at the age of 74 and is buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery, Richville.
Johann Lorenz Englehardt (1867-1915) ( Lawrence) was the 3rd son. He was also a farmer in Richville, and my grandmother included him along with his brother John as paying high interest for government land. He was only 47 when he died of tuberculosis and is buried in St. Michael’s Cemetery, Richville.
Eva Maria (Mary) (Hecht) (1870-1940) was the younger daughter of Michael and Elisabetha. She married married Johannes Georg (John) Hecht and they had 9 children on a Richville farm. I was very excited to piece together her story and link her to a photo in the Frankenhilf book! More about my discovery here.
Here is more about the history of Frankenhilf/Richville.