Andreas Michels was born on February 29, 1820, in Sommerhausen, Bavaria. He was baptized Georg Andreas Michels on March 5, 1820, in the Lutheran Church in Sommerhausen.
As was customary at the time, Andreas was given two names at baptism. The first given name was a spiritual name and the second name was the secular or call name. So it is the second name that he was known by both within his family and to the rest of the world. This custom was originally adopted in Germanic and other regions in Europe from Roman Catholic tradition and continued by the Protestants in their baptismal naming customs. So all records besides his baptismal record have his name as Andreas or Andrew.
He married Margaretha Anna Scharrer around 1842 in Bavaria. The location is not known. Andreas and Margaretha had two sons in Bavaria, Johann Georg Michels (b. 16 February 1843) and Johann (b. 24 October 1849).
The family journeyed to the United States aboard the ship named Ocean. They departed from Bremen, Germany and arrived in the New York on June 13, 1853.
It appears that upon arriving in America the family anglicized their names and became known as Andrew and Margaret. They initially settled in Brooklyn, New York and appear in the 1855 New York Census with three children; George, Johann, and David. (Family records say they had another daughter, Anna Margaretha, that was born and died while in New York. I have not found any records related to this daughter). One family story says they had a son named Peter who died on the voyage to America. The departure records from Bremen were destroyed, so the only record we have is the one created when they arrived in New York.
By 1857, the Michels family moved to Tuscarawas County, Ohio. The remainder of their children were born there.
According to his obituary, in 1863 the family moved to Effingham, Illinois and lived there until 1868 and which point they moved to Pittsburg, Kansas where the family first shows up in the 1870 Census.
In the 1880 census, they are still in Pittsburg and their son William is living with them. Their youngest daughter Anna Elisabeth Michels and her husband Albert Alterman (my great-grandparents) are residing with them.
On 15 April 1882, at about 9:00 am, Margaretha passed away. A newspaper article states that she died of cerebral apoplexy while scrubbing the floor.
Andrew went on to build a hotel in downtown Pittsburg at 220 N. Broadway. The building has since been razed.
Andrew died at 3:35 pm on 2 August 1888 at the home of his daughter, Anna Elisabeth Michels Alterman. The newspaper reported, "The funeral services of Andrew Michels [were] largely attended yesterday, and the funeral cortege was one of the largest that has passed through our streets."
Andreas was buried in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery (GPS Coordinates: 37.3928, -94.6858) next to Margaretha. Their tombstones bear their German names, Andreas and Margaretha.
edited 20 January 2019
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