She Married His Brother??

After yesterday's post about my Great-Grandmother Hazel, my cousin Sara (she's on the Mielke side of the family), wrote to me about a brick wall that she hit, that ended up with a Grandfather remarrying after his wife's death, to his wife's great Aunt. It made me think about a similar story in our Mielke family history.

My greatgrandparents, John and Augusta Mielke,  had a daughrer named Martha Elesa Johanna Mielke. Martha was born on 27 Dec 1882 in Big Rapids, Michigan. Below is her birth record I found on familysearch.org

Birth Record for Martha Elesa Johanna Mielke

In the 1900 censusMartha was working as a servant for William and Roxy Cowden.

Martha's 1900 Census Record

On 3 May 1905 Martha married William Ebel(t) Jr., the son of William and Caroline Blanck Ebel(t), in Big Rapids, Michigan. The witnesses were Martha’s brother Conrad and William’s sister, Caroline Ebelt, and they were married by E. G. Franck. William’s last name was actually Ebelt, not Ebel. Their marriage record can be found here.

Martha Mielke and William Ebelt Marriage Record

They had a son, Edwin G. Ebelt, born on the 26 May 1906. According to Michigan Death Records William died 25 Aug 1906 in Green Township, Mecosta, Michigan.

Martha then married William's brother, Frederick John “Fred” Ebelt, on 7 Sep 1908 in Big Rapids by A L Bray and the witnesses were Seth Blossom and Fred’s sister Caroline. Fred was born on 12 February 1884 in Mecosta Township, Mecosta, Michigan.

Martha Mielke Ebelt and Frederick John "Fred" Ebelt's Marriage Record

Martha Mielke and Fred Ebelt marriage record

In 1909 they had a daughter Josephine. In the 1910 census, Fred, Martha, Edwin and Josephine were living in Mecosta, Michigan. Also living with them were Fred’s father William(61) and younger brother Albert (18).   The census record for this is very faded so I did not include a picture of it.
By the time the 1920 census rolled around, Fred owned his own dairy farm on Mocka’s Mill, Mecosta, Mecosta, Michigan. He and Martha had children Edwin and Josephine living with them.

Fred and Martha's 1920 Census Record

Fred died on 16 May 1928 and is buried at Highland View Cemetery in Big Rapids, Michigan. According to his Find a Grave Record he died in Barryton, Mecosta, Michigan.

In the 1930 census, Martha and Josephine were renting from her brother Conrad. She was working as a laundress.

Martha and Daughter Josephine's 1930 Census Record

In 1940, Martha and her daughter's family were living in Big Rapids at 572 Division Street. Her daughter Josephine had married Richard Donley and at the time of the census they had one child, Richard Jr. Richard Sr. worked as a principal at the 3rd Ward School.

1940 Census

On 23 Feb 1974, Martha died in Big Rapids, Michigan. She is buried at Highland View Cemetery. Click here to see the FindAGrave.com record.

Happy Searching!!

SueAnn

Thank you to ancestry.com, familysearch.org, and findagrave.com. Click on each of the links above to see the record from these sites!