Maria Magdalena "Aunt Lena" Benkelman

1845 - 1926  (80 years)

• Name	Maria Magdalena "Aunt Lena" Benkelman  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  Nickname	Aunt Lena
  Birth	31 Aug 1845	Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany   [1, 3, 5, 6, 7]
  Gender	Female
  Death	22 Jan 1926	Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan   [1, 2, 3, 8]
  Burial	Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan   [2, 3]
  Notes	Lena was just eight years old when she left for America with her mother and three of her sisters to America. Tragically, her mother died on the long journey. German Parish records simply show "nach Amerika Ausgewandert." On the Oberant Welzheim Emmigrants list, 1818-1891, She is listed as Magdalena, g. d. 31t. August 1845 ledig, and travelling in a party headed by her mother, Maria Dorothea, the widow of Johann Leonhard Benkelmann, a farmer of Schneiderhof. BonnieMargaret's full source citation was: Staatsarchiv Ludwigsburg, "Verzeichnis der Auswanderung aus dem Oberamt Welzheim 1818-1891" F 214 B?schel 91 Fortlaufende Number 42 [or possibly 47] ). Upon her arrival to the United states, she first lived in Lancaster, New York. BonnieMargaret Jacobs writes that she may have moved to Wisconsion at the same time her older sisters Dora and Catharina did, around 1859. She married George Deverney, a union army soldier, in 1864. According to pension records, after the war George and Lena moved to Columbia County, Wisconsin, near Marsala, which is where her brother Johannes Benkelmann lived with his wife Sarah. By the time of the 1870 federal census, Lena was living in the home of her brother John in Marcellon, Wisconsin. She was shown as Mary Divina (Deverney), but her husband was not present in the home. George Deverney was said to have died a few months after this census (7 August 1870), so perhaps he was hospitalized, or already dead? Sometime after Lena was widowed, she moved from Wisconsin to Colorado live with her brother George, in Denver, Colorado. She can be found in his home at the time of the 1880 census. Mary M[agdelena] Deverney filed for a widows pension in Kansas, application number 424528, Certificate number 315555 on June 5, 1890. In 1891, she moved to Cass City, where she spent her remaining years. BonnieMargaret also writes that Lena was the only woman listed as a claim holder in the early land records of Cheyenne County, Kansas. Bonnie writes that "When beloved Aunt Lena re-joined the family in Cass City in 1891, Sam and John (Benkelman) build for her the first home she'd ever really had that was her own. Since she was orphaned at age 8, she'd spent her life with one or another of her brothers and sisters. At age 46, she finally had a home of her own. She married Johannes Schwegler, a widower, also from near B?rtlingen. After Catherine Benkelman was widowed from Adam, she moved in with Lena, and they remained close companions for the rest of her life. Cass City Chronicle Cass City, Michigan "Thirty-five years ago: January 24, 1896" (Published on Friday, January 23, 1931) At the Evangelical church, the following Sunday School officers have been elected for the ensuing year: Supt., Mrs. Lena SCHWEGLER; ass't supt., Mrs. Mary BENKELMAN; sec., J. MAIER; treas., Adam BENKELMAN; librarian, Miss Lillie Striffler; ass't librarian, Miss Maud MAIER; organist, Miss Martha STRIFFLER; ass't organist, Oscar LENZNER. Cass City Chronicle November 8, 1901 Local Mentions A farewell party was given at Mrs. J. Schwegler's Monday evening in honor of her brother, Leonard and his niece Miss Cora Benkelman, who left for their respective homes in Manitowoc and Portage, Wisconisn, Tuesday. Cass City Chronicle June 24, 1904, page 4 Mrs. M. Schwegler and Miss Esther Striffler went to Elkton Thursday to attend the Evangelical campmeeting which is being held there this week. Cass City Chronicle Friday, September 29, 1916 Mrs. M.M. Schwegler left Tuesday for Portage, Wisconsin to visit her brother, John Benkelman, who is in feeble health. Mrs. Schwegler is expected to remain there two weeks. OBITUARY Cass City Chronicle Friday, January 29, 1926 Aunt Lena Schwegler Answers Summons- Funeral Services of Respected Citizen were held Monday- Mrs. M.M. Schwegler passed away at her home on East Main Street on Friday morning, January 22, after an illness of two weeks with heart trouble. She was 80 years of age and is the last of a family of 10, five brothers and four sisters preceding her in death. Mary Magdalena Benkelman was born in Wurttemberg, Germany, on August 24, 1845*. She sailed for America with her mother and two small sisters when she was eight years of age. They were 58 days enroute during which time the mother was buried at sea, leaving three little girls to complete the journey alone. [*BonnieMargaret Jacob's writes (p. 150) that "Lena always celebrated August 24 as her birthday, and would have loved the joke if she'd known it. Her actual birthdate, as recorded in Waldhausen parish, was August 31, 1845. As the last of 16 children, one can imagine that the entire family just threw in the towel on keeping track of birthdates.] Miss Benkelman spent her youth in New York State. From there she went to Wisconsin, and later to Denver, Colorado and Kansas. She came to Michigan in 1891 and the same year was united in marriage with John Schwegler. Mr. Schwegler passed away in 1901. Mrs. Schwegler was greatly interested in the temperance movement and for many years was a very active member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union at Cass City. She was also a member of the the Woman's Missionary Society of the Evangelical church. Mrs. Schwegler had an unusually large number of friends, and young as well as older people were made happy in her presence. The joy of her life was to be able to help others and many a person has been made happier by her expressions of love and friendship. She was called "Aunt Lena" outside of the kinship as well as by her nephews and nieces, and held in great respect by all who knew her. Funeral services were held at the Evangelical church Monday afternoon and were conducted by Rev. C. F. Smith, the pastor, and Rev. C.L. Pohly of Sebewaing, a former pastor at Cass City. Interment was made in Elkland Cemetery. Friends from out of town at the funeral included Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Craw, of Caro, Mrs. Clyde Fox, Mrs. Haist and George Klump, all of Saginaw. (Transcribed by Melinda McLemore Strong) (Research):Census Information: Census Information: 1870 Federal Census Wisconsin, Columbia County, Marcellon, P.O. Randolph Enumerated 1 June 1870 Page 21, Stamped 213 166-172 Benkelman, John 34 M W Farmer $1000 $428 Wertemburg Benkelman, Sarah 36 F W Keeping House Pennsylvania Benkelman, Franklin 6 M W At home Iowa Benkelman, Minnie A 4 At Home Wisconsin Divina, Mary 25 F W At Home Wertemburg 1880 Census Census Place:Denver, Arapahoe, Colorado Source:FHL Film 125 4088 National Archives Film T9-0088 Page 25 RelationSexMarrRaceAgeBirthplace John G. BENKELMAN Self M M W 49 WURTEMBERG Occ: Live Stock Dealer Fa: WURTEMBERG Mo: WURTEMBERG Christina BENKELMAN Wife F M W 48 WURTEMBERG Occ: Keeps House Fa: WURTEMBERG Mo: WURTEMBERG George W. BENKELMAN Son M S W 17 CO Occ: School Fa: WURTEMBERG Mo: WURTEMBERG Charles A. BENKELMAN Son M S W 14 CO Occ: Schoo lFa: WURTEMBERG Mo: WURTEMBERG Henry J. BENKELMAN Son M S W 12 CO Occ: School Fa: WURTEMBERG Mo: WURTEMBERG George A. BENKEMAN Other M M W 28 NY Occ: Cattle Dealer Fa: WURTEMBERG Mo: WURTEMBERG Barbara BENKEMAN Other F M W 27 WURTEMBERG Occ: None Fa: WURTEMBERG Mo: WURTEMBERG Mary DEVERNES Other F S Wd 36 WURTEMBERG Occ: Seamstress Fa: WURTEMBERG Mo: WURTEMBERG 1900 Census Michigan, Tuscola, Elkland Twp, Cass City Village Enumerated 6 Jun 1900 by A.C. Gillis SD 8 ED 111 Sheet 3B 61-61 John Schwaglurs Hd W M Aug 1834 65 M 8 Germany Germany Germany 1853 47 Na Day Laborer Mary Jun? Mary M Wife W F Aug 1845 54 N 8 Germany Germany Germany 1853 47
  Person ID	I1975	Strong Family Tree
  Last Modified	17 Aug 2014

  
  

  Father	Johann Leonhard Benkelmann,   b. 6 Feb 1796, Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany d. 24 Feb 1848, Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany (Age 52 years)
  Mother	Maria Dorothea St?hle,   b. 5 Jan 1800, B?rtlingen, G?ppingen, Donaukreis, W?rttemberg, Germany d. 22 Oct 1853, Transit to America, Lost At Sea (Age 53 years)
  Marriage	20 Nov 1822	Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany   [9, 10]
  	BonnieMargaret and her husband Bruce visited Germany in September, 1980. In a letter to Ben and Avis dated October 13, 1980, she shared the following information "Then we were on to B?rtlingen, where Adam and Catherine were married. The church there was built in 1484 and is one of the most beautiful we saw anywhere. I decided to see the village of Breech--for no particular reason except I that I'd heard Elsie Anthes speak of it and it had turned up in various records. WE had no real family association there--but it was nearby. What a stroke of dumb luck! Without that decision we might never have found the Schneiderhof, where Adam and his siblings were born and lived until they emigrated. The Schneiderhof is not a town and is not on any map. It's just a cluster of about 4 houses and supporting buildings, just down and across the road from Breech, and if you were looking away for just a second, you'd miss the sign to it. I cannot tell you my excitement! ...There is nothing new there. Adam would recognize it as if he had never left. The tools and equipment are there as they have been for who knows how long. It is surrounded by orchards (apples) and small plots of vegetables. B?rtlingen is on a hill and is lovely with good views. The Schneiderhof is on top of the world, looking out on miles of hills and valleys and villages. It is incrediably beautiful. Again I found myself out in some cabbage patch, trying to explain to some farmer that this was my family heimat (home)...Clearly Americans are accepted as eccentric and harmless!...Vocabulary doesn't reach the beauty of that hilltop and its vistas out over hazy valleys, looking at other hills where red tiled houses form little villages. I can just imagine it at night--looking out over perhaps two dozen sparkling little villages on other hills around. One climbs from B?rtlingen to the Schneiderhof. But going down the back side of the mountain, through dense forest, the trail winds back and forth across the mountain into Waldhausen--which the Schneiderhof also looks down upon. This is the trip the family took to get to church, and probably to work." In her 1981 unpublished manuscript, BonnieMargaret noted that only the top floor of the Benkelmann home shows from the road leading in. The house is three stories high on the back side, two stories high in the front. It was built in 1733, by the state, to provide housing for state licensed artisans who were not allowed in the town as guild craftsmen. Apparently it gained its name from its first inhabitants, since the name literally means "the place of tailors." The official state description of the Schneiderhof in 1845 states that it was a place with 22 Evangelical residents, lying on the mountain top about one-half an hours walk from Waldhausen. The rents were paid to the city of G?ppingen, in 1845 twelve of those residents would have been Leonhard and Dorothea and their 10 living children, others would have included Leonhard's widowed mother and some of her children by Herr Heller, and likely their families. The land was described as rocky and and lying on a mountainside, "even today it is impossible to use machinery to work the land" and that the "people who lived there would have to have outside work." The house itself lies on the very crest of the mountain, with the house built on the downside of the mountain, overlooking Waldhausen. A very small patch of is on the level crest at the top of the mountain. When BonnieMargaret visited the home in 1981, she said it had four or five dwellings in all, and barns and sheds nearby the house and in the orchards. Just west of the house stands the old Bauernhaus, perhaps the homestead of Leonhard's maternal grandparents. The fields to the south were planted in potatoes and turnips, the high production crops that all of southern Germany turned to in the early 1800's. Beyond the westernmost buildings were apple orchards, beautiful and well tended. (pp. 68, 69 and accompanying photos). BonnieMargaret also noted that German life centered in the family. Even today we're told that day to day life included few close relationships with people outside the family. Certainly they were cordial and friendly with neighbors and cooperating artisans, but the joy of living was carefully protected within the walls of the home. Country people had no protection but each other, and the trusted "other" were kinsmen. Unlike the towns that were structured to protect the citizens from difficult times, the country folk were on their own, in good and bad times. Parents carefully nutured the bonds of affection and caring, and though they may have experienced the sibling rivalry that modern children do, it was not expressed in the German home, where only mutual caring and consideration were approved and encouraged. Names and birthdates for this family were from the Waldhausen Parish Kirchlichen Familienregister Band I, Blatt 244, Dekanat Welzheim, Schw?bisch Gm?nd. BonnieMargaret noted that all the family information shown on pages 95 and 96 of her book were certified by Pastor Rau of the Ev. Pfarramt Waldhausen to be the complete record of the family of Johann Leonhard Benkelmann, with the exceptions of the dates of death, which were included by BonnieMargaret from other sources. They had one stillborn child, neither name or sex listed, on 4 July 1838. She also noted that they were married on November 20, but the year was illegible. The family register for the family of Georg Friedrich St?hle and wife, Anna Maria Leins shows that Maria Dorothea was the fifth of their 15 children. She was married at the Schneiderhof on 20 Nov 1822, approximately 10 months after the birth of eldest son Friedrich.
  Documents » Slide Show		Benkelmann, Johann Leonhard and Dorothea (St?hle), Church Family Registry (German), page two German Church Family registry, second page, which lists the fifteen children born to Leonhard and Dorothea. Four of these children died young, the twelfth child was stillborn ("todgeborenes"), and the remaining 10 children all emigrated to the United States between 1849 and 1873.
  		Striffler-Benkelman Annual Labor Day Family Reunion, 1936 Newspaper article In the mid 1850's, in Erie County, New York, two sons of Jacob & Otilla Striffler married two Benkelman sisters. Shortly after their marriages, the couples moved to the Michigan frontier, many of their brothers and sisters following them. The two families remained intertwined for subsequent generations. At a reunion of the Henry Striffler family in 1930 it was decided to enlarge the scope of the reunion to include descendants of Henry, Jacob, Joseph, Christian, John and Susan Striffler. Members and "in laws" of these families first gathered at the Assembly grounds in Sebewaing for a reunion in 1932. As the Benkelman-Striffler family had remained very close over the years, all branches of the Benkelman family were invited to their Sixth Reunion, and since that time it remained a joint event. This articles from the 1936 "Cass City Chronicle" details one of the earliest joint reunions. Attended by over 170 family members, the reunion was held on the John Striffler homestead northeast of Cass City, with attendees travelling from Ontario, Ohio and many places in Michigan. President W.D. STRIFFLER presided at a business meeting in 1936, and Harry HUNT, Mrs. S.G BENKELMAN (the former Mary Striffler), and Mrs. Ben SCHWEGLER (the former Joanna Mark) were elected officers for the ensuing year. The first volume of the STRIFFLER-BENKELMAN BROADCAST was published for the September 1936 reunion.
  		Striffler-Benkelman Reunion 1954 Handbill Handbill advertising the annual Striffler-Benkelman Reunion, 1954, featuring Cass City's Main Street. At the fiftieth Striffler-Benkelman Reunion in 1981, Ruth Schenck Esau recalled a time when on Main Street, the owners of the newspaper, a farm implement store, both meat markets, the grocery store, paint store, insurance agency, funeral home, and photography studio were all members of the Striffler-Benkelman clan; not to mention a bank teller, many clerks, the music teacher, and many of the town's farmers.
  		Striffler-Benkelman Reunion Photo, 1961 Group Photo fromthe 30th Striffler-Benkelman Reunion, held September 4, 1961 at the Cass City Evangelical Church, founded by members of the Striffler and Benkelman families
  		B?rtlingen, Germany B?rtlingen 1683/1685 im Kieserschen Forstlagerbuch
  Family ID	F35	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	George Deverney,   b. 1840, Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin d. 7 Aug 1870, Wisconsin (Age 30 years)
  Marriage	12 Feb 1864	Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin   [1, 8, 11]
  	Groom's Name: George Devesney Groom's Birth Date: Groom's Birthplace: Milwaukee City Wis. Groom's Age: Bride's Name: Mary Binkelman Bride's Birth Date: Bride's Birthplace: Bride's Age: Marriage Date: 12 Feb 1864 Marriage Place: Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Groom's Father's Name: George Devesney Groom's Mother's Name: Mary Bride's Father's Name: Leonard Binkelman Bride's Mother's Name: Dorah Groom's Race: White Groom's Marital Status: Groom's Previous Wife's Name: Bride's Race: White Bride's Marital Status: Bride's Previous Husband's Name: Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M01221-0 System Origin: Wisconsin-EASy Source Film Number: 1013959 Reference Number: V1 P460 Collection: Wisconsin Marriages, 1836-1930
  Family ID	F1291	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	5 Jul 2013

  
  

  Family 2	Johannes "John" Schwegler,   b. 27 Aug 1834, B?rtlingen, G?ppingen, Donaukreis, W?rttemberg, Germany d. 13 Feb 1901, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan (Age 66 years)
  Marriage	Feb 1892	Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan   [1, 12]
  Family ID	F1292	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	5 Jul 2013

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - 31 Aug 1845 - Schneiderhof, Waldhausen Parish, Welzheim, Jagstkreis, W?rttemberg, Germany Marriage - 12 Feb 1864 - Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Marriage - Feb 1892 - Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan Death - 22 Jan 1926 - Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan Burial - - Elkland Township Cemetery, Cass City, Tuscola County, Michigan  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		Benkelman Ranch Cowboys ca 1879 Photo taken at the Benkelman Ranch in Kansas ca 1879
  		Benkelman, Maria Magdalena " Aunt Lena" ca 1880's (Mrs. M. M. Schwegler) B. 1845 W?rttemberg D. 1926 Michigan The youngest of the ten Benkelman children that immigrated to the United States, she came to America when she was eight. Lena was twice widowed, but never had children of her own. She was known as Aunt Lena to both relatives and friends, and was caretaker and friend to many people during her long life.
  		Benkelman Immigrants, ca 1890's: Six of the Ten Benkelmann Children who emigrated from W?rttemberg, Germany to the United States Top Row, l to r, Lena Benkelman Schwegler, Maria Benkelman Striffler , Georg Benkelman, Louisa Benkelman Striffler Bottom Row, l to r, Frederick Benkelman, Adam Benkelman Children of Johann Leonhard Benkelmann and Maria Dorothea St?hle Must have been taken while George was visiting Cass City from Denver, and sometime prior to 1897, when Frederick died
  		Benkelman, Maria Magdalena "Aunt Lena" ca 1900's or later (Mrs. M. M. Schwegler) Aunt Lena Benkelman Schwegler (left), camping, with unknown companions. Maybe on a trip to Colorado and Kansas, to see the Benkelman Ranch? PLEASE EMAIL IF YOU CAN TELL US MORE ABOUT THIS PHOTO, OR CAN IDENTIFY THE UNKNOWN INDIVIDUALS
  		Benkelman, Lena and Leonhard, ca 1900's, Probably Denver, CO l to r: UNKNOWN, Lena Benkelman Schwegler of Michigan and Leonard Benkelman of Wisconsin It appears from the hilly terrain that siblings Lena and Leonhard may have been visiting their brother George's family in Denver, Colorado PLEASE EMAIL IS YOU CAN HELP US INDENTIFY THE UNKNOWN WOMAN TO THE LEFT
  		Benkelman, Maria Magdalena "Aunt Lena" ca 1900's or later (Mrs. M. M. Schwegler), with Cattle Hides Aunt Lena Schwegler, on a visit from Cass City to the Benkelman ranch near Denver, posing with cattle hides, possibly with her elder brother Leonard Benkelman of Wisconsin
  		Striffler Reunion Photo, bet. 1908-1910 Members of the John Striffler and Mary Benkelman family, around 1908-1910 Standing in the Back row, l to r, UNKNOWN woman in black, Esther Striffler Kaiser, Rudolph Kaiser, Cora Horn Striffler, George Albert Striffler holding his son Irvine, Pastor Schweitzer, Mattie Striffler, Archie Mark, Billy Bien Seated in the Middle row, l to r, Salome Striffler Bien, Paul Bien, the wife of Pastor Schweitzer, Mary Mark Buehrly, Aunt Lena Benkelman Schwegler (sister of Mary), Martha Mark Darling, Emeline Striffler Mark Front row, l to r, Mary Rommel Striffler (sister-in-law of John), Christian Striffler (brother of John), John Striffler, Mary Benkelman Striffler, Leonhard Benkelman (brother of Mary), Louisa Benkelman Stiffler (sister of Mary and widow of Jacob) Seated on ground, l to r, Alma Mark Krahling Seegar, Stanley Bien, Lena Mark Schwegler PLEASE HELP US IDENTIFY THE UNKNOWN WOMAN IN THIS PHOTO
  		Benkelman Women ca 1910 Appears to have been taken at an early family reunion or other gathering, and was titled Benkelman Women, ca 1910. Lorraine "Smitty" Benkelman writes: "the lady seated in the center, on the sidewalk, just to the right of the three little kids, is "Aunt Lena", Mary Magdelena Benkelman Deverney Schwegler. On the top in the center, is Cora Belle Horne Clark Striffler with the white shirt. Behind her, just in front of the door is Minnie Benkelman." PLEASE HELP US IDENTIFY THE UNKNOWN INDIVIDUALS.
  		Benkelman, Mary and Lena, ca 1910 Sisters Mary (Mrs. John Striffler) and Lena (Mrs. Maria Magdalena Schwegler)
  		Benkelman, Adam and Anna Catherine (Schaufele) Descendants ca 1912 Family Reunion Back, Standing, l to r: Mae Benkelman, Kate Schwegler, John Benkelman Sr., Ester Ackerman Benkelman, Minnie Jesse Benkelman, Joe Benkelman, Augusta Krehl Benkelman, Dorus Benkelman, Will Schwegler, Ward Benkelman, Ben Schwegler, Sam Benkelman Middle Row, kneeling, l to r: Alvin Benkelman, Harold Benkelman, Ruth Benkelman, Marie Benkelman (standing), Lena Benkelman Schwegler, Barbara Rommel Benkelman, Louisa Benkelman Schwegler Bottom Row, seated, l to r: Bertha Benkelman, Glen Benkelman, Ida Benkelman, Lottie Benkelman, Ben Benkelman Sr. behind his nephew John Donald Benkelman, Lois Benkelman, Ben Benkelman Jr., Alice Ross Schwegler with her baby Edward William Schwegler, and ,facing left, Mary Striffler Benkelman (Mrs. Sam) (Legend Courtesy of Bonnie-Margaret Benkelman Jacobs)
  		Benkelman, Maria Magdalena "Aunt Lena" ca 1920's (Mrs. M. M. Schwegler) Lena moved to Cass City after living with her brother in Denver for many years. She was twice widowed, from George Deverney and from Johannes Schwegler
  		Benkelman, George Albert and wife, Ruth (Lockwood) with his great aunt, Lena Schwegler, ca 1920's Lena lived in Denver for many years with her brother George, and was therefore also close to his namesake nephew, also of Denver l to r: George, Lena, Ruth
  		Benkelman, Christina ca 1920's Christina Benkelman Jaus at her Farm Home with Aunt Lena Benkelman Schwegler
  		Benkelman, Maria Magdalena "Aunt Lena" ca 1920's or later (Mrs. M. M. Schwegler) and Martha "Mattie" Striffler Appears to be a proof sheet, or novelty strip of photos, featuring elderly Aunt Lena Schwegler and her niece, Martha "Mattie" Striffler.
  		At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.
  		Striffler, Uncle John Descendants A snapshot identified by Lena Mark Schwegler as "Some of John Striffler's descendants" Her granddaughter, Maggie Battel Bethel, has identified most everyone after comparision to other family photos labeled by her mother and grandmother. Back row, l to r, Mattie Striffler, Emeline Striffler Mark, Mary Ida Thompson Striffler, UNKNOWN, Aunt Lena Benkelman Schwegler, Archie Mark, Esther Striffler Kaiser, David Striffler, UNKNOWN, George Albert Striffler, UNKNOWN, Stanley Bien Front: Paul Bien, Salome Bien, William Bien PLEASE EMAIL IF YOU HAVE CORRECTIONS OR CAN IDENTIFY ANY OF THE UNKNOWN INDIVIDUALS.

  
  

  Headstones

  Schwegler, Maria Magdelena (Benkelman) "Aunt Lena"

  
  

• Sources

  [S492] Peck, Edward Arthur THE TEN BENKELMANS WHO EMIGRATED TO AMERICA Ca. 1850s AND CERTAIN OF THEIR DESCENDANTS, 1982. [S653] Cass City Chronicle, P.O. Box 115, Cass City, Michigan 48726, Published continously since 1899, archived from 1899 through 2005 at http://newspapers.rawson.lib.mi.us/chronicle/, Friday, January 29, 1926 (Reliability: 3). [S722] Elkland (Twp, Tuscola Co, MI) Cemetery Records ; http://elkland.rawson.lib.mi.us/. [S1610] Jacobs, BonnieMargaret McDonald "The Family Benkelman" Unpublished Manuscript, 276 pages, October 1981 Version, (Copy owned by Barney Benkelman, Helena, Montana; which he xeroxed and sent to Melinda McLemore Strong in San Antonio, Texas), p. 96 (Reliability: 3). [S311] Bonnell, Kathy Brandt (kbonnell@byu.edu) "G?ppingen, W?rttemberg, Germany and surrounding villages" http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=kbonnell, (RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project: G?ppingen, W?rttemberg, Germany and surrounding villages. This database is one large family tree; everyone is connected by birth or marriage. Many of the families were inputted from the family books which were compiled by the pastors of each village beginning in 1808. Villages include Heiningen, Bartenbach, Gruibingen, Faurdau, Schlat, Hattenhofen, Eislingen, Holzheim, Auendorf , D?rnau, Bezgenriet, Ebersbach , Maitis, Gammelshausen, B?rtlingen, Boll, and others. Kathy Brandt Bonnell work directly from German records to the computer.). [S653] Cass City Chronicle, P.O. Box 115, Cass City, Michigan 48726, Published continously since 1899, archived from 1899 through 2005 at http://newspapers.rawson.lib.mi.us/chronicle/, Friday, January 29, 1926, lists dob as August 24, 1845 (Reliability: 3). [S1610] Jacobs, BonnieMargaret McDonald "The Family Benkelman" Unpublished Manuscript, 276 pages, October 1981 Version, (Copy owned by Barney Benkelman, Helena, Montana; which he xeroxed and sent to Melinda McLemore Strong in San Antonio, Texas), p. 96, 144, shows dob as 31 Aug 1845 (Reliability: 3). [S1610] Jacobs, BonnieMargaret McDonald "The Family Benkelman" Unpublished Manuscript, 276 pages, October 1981 Version, (Copy owned by Barney Benkelman, Helena, Montana; which he xeroxed and sent to Melinda McLemore Strong in San Antonio, Texas), p. 144 (Reliability: 3). [S469] Williams, Dorothy Ball--Family Researcher (dotwfl@comcast.net) 3331 Southwest Villa Place, Palm City, FL 34990 ; based in part on BonnieMargaret Benkelman Jacob's unpublished typescript, THE FAMILY BENKELMAN. [S1610] Jacobs, BonnieMargaret McDonald "The Family Benkelman" Unpublished Manuscript, 276 pages, October 1981 Version, (Copy owned by Barney Benkelman, Helena, Montana; which he xeroxed and sent to Melinda McLemore Strong in San Antonio, Texas), p. 95 (Reliability: 3). [S724] Ancestry.com - Wisconsin Marriages, pre-1907. [S1610] Jacobs, BonnieMargaret McDonald "The Family Benkelman" Unpublished Manuscript, 276 pages, October 1981 Version, (Copy owned by Barney Benkelman, Helena, Montana; which he xeroxed and sent to Melinda McLemore Strong in San Antonio, Texas), p. 145 (Reliability: 3).