Herman (10 December 1863 - 18 January 1945)
Photo above is from about 1930, with l-r Herman Schweim, daughter Hortense Schweim, second wife Louise (aka Lena), daughter Mildred (aka Milda) Ryan.
Address Records 1870-1890
The 1870 census shows Herman (age 7) living in Hamtramck with mother Anna and sisters Caroline (17) and Anna (3).
In the 1880 census, his home is 207 Mullett in Detroit. He lived with his mother Anna and sisters Julia (23) and Anna (13). Sister Caroline does not appear in this census or future marriage records or death records.
The address at 207 Mullett would have been between Russell and Riopelle in the 1880s. Detroit streets were later renumbered. A guide to street numbers is found here. (Ancestry incorrectly reads the handwriting for the address as 186 Doucett on that page and Mallet on the previous two pages.)
A Detroit Public Library image of a home at 1336 Mullet (in the next block between Rivard and Riopelle) from 1949 is available here. Mullett street was destroyed in the 1950s and 60s to be replaced by housing projects and freeways. See this article from the Detroit Historical Society.
A city directory from 1881 shows Herman (age 18) as living at 203 Mullett in Detroit and employed as a Machinist. He lived with mother Anna who works in Notions, and sister Julia, a Dressmaker. An 1882 city directory shows he is employed as a Machinist with the Detroit B & I Works. An excellent article about the Detroit Bridge and Iron Works company can be found here.
City directories continue to list Herman at 203 Mullett until 1890.
Marriage and Children
Herman is married to Alice Appel on 18 April 1891. She is most often known as Margaret in census and directory documents, but is also listed as Gretchen, Grace or Magaretha. Alice was born to Henry J. Appel and Catherine Wagener on 1 August, 1871 in Detroit.
An 1896 Detroit City Directory lists Herman as employed at the Acme Hoist company, 69 Maybury Grand Avenue, Detroit.
The 1898 Clark's Detroit City Directory lists "Schweim Herman, genl foreman Detroit Bridge and Iron Works, h. 30 Maybury Gd Av."
The 1900 census shows him living at 30 Maybury Grand Avenue in Detroit with wife Margaret, son Egmont (age 8), daughter Milda (7) and daughter Hortense (3). He is employed as Foreman Bridge Works. The census shows that he owns the home without a mortgage. Maybury Grand Avenue appears to have been destroyed by the Jeffries freeway.
The 1903 Polk's Detroit City Directory lists "Schweim Herman, supt, h 306 Pennsylvania av." In 1903, 306 Pennsylvania Avenue would have been between Jefferson and St. Paul. The street numbers have since changed to between 1200 and 1500 for that part between Jefferson and St. Paul. Only a single home remains today on that block, at 1291 Pennsylvania.
In the 1910 census, Herman and Margaret lived at 306 Pennsylvania Avenue, Detroit, along with children Egmont (17), Mildred (16), and Hortense (13). Herman owned the home with no mortgage.
Herman's mother Anna, sister Julia E. and sister Anna L. live up the street at 420 Pennsylvania, between Kercheval and Navarre.
At this time, the family is operating the A L Schweim Company. The 1910 Detroit City Directory lists the A L Schweim Co with Anna L., Julia and Herman, plus young Mildred (17) working as a cashier. Egmont is listed as an elevator operator.
The Detroit Directory of 1913 (below) lists Herman (Schweim's Bazaar), his son Egmont (book keeper), and daughter Mildred (clerk) at 306 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Death of Wife Margaret
Herman's wife Margaret (listed as Gretchen on the death certificate) died at home on 30 December 1914 of Bright's Disease (now called nephritis, an inflammation of the kidneys) and Mitral Regurgitation (basically a leaky heart mitral valve). She was 43.
On a happier note, daughter Mildred marries John Patrick Ryan on 24 November 1915.
A 1916 Detroit city directory shows Herman and Egmont living at 306 Pennsylvania Avenue, but their occupations have changed to Real Estate.
A Difficult Time - Death of Mother, Son, Sister
More sad news follows: first, the business operated by the Schweim family, known as Schweim's Bazaar, is closed in early 1916 (see "Schweim's Bazaar" article here).
Then, Herman's mother Anna died on 6 September 1916.
Later, son Egmont applied for a U.S. Passport (Egmont's passport photo, below) to depart for South America on the steamship Vestris on 10 November 1916.
According to an American Consular Service Report of the Death of an American Citizen document, "Young Schwiem arrived in Buenos Aires on December 20, 1916 per S.S. Vestris from New York seeking employment, and, having found none, was preparing to return to the United States on the 4th instant, but was stricken with acute peritonitis and died practically under an operation performed on him for this and appendicitis."
His death at the Sanatorio Central, Buenos Aires, Argentina was on 13 January 1917. He was 25 years old. He is buried in the Chacarita Cemetery (Cementerio del Este) in Argentina, grave 29, space 7, square 7, of section 11.
On 4 September 1917, his older sister Julia (age 56) died at home (960 Beaconsfield in Grosse Pointe Park) of Cerebral Apoplexy, just shy of a year after mother Anna died.
The 1920 census shows Herman living with daughter Hortense at 306 Pennsylvania Avenue in Detroit. It reports that he owned the house without a mortgage and is retired (at age 57).
Also recorded as living at 306 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1920 are a mother in law Katherine Appen (her correct spelling should be Catherine Appel) and sister in law Clara Appen. No other verified data has been found about Catherine or Clara.
Real Estate Developer
Various sales of lots from the property that Herman and his sister Anna Schweim purchased in 1912 are recorded beginning in 1917.
The first instance in the Macomb County Clerk/Register of Deeds regarding sales of lots in the property that will be known as Schweim's Poplar Beach Subdivision is a sale of lot 11 (22859) to William Druckert in 1917. The subdivision is officially recorded in 1924. See "Land Records" article here >
Below: Photo of Herman in front of his home at 22864 Poplar Beach in the 1920's. The ladies with him have not been identified.
The house is being heated with tons of coal delivered through the door in the basement wall to the right of the brick chimney. The car is an early 1920s Ford Model T Touring. The best clue yet for the age of the photo is the license plate on the car. There is a vertically stacked MICH logo with a two-digit year legend to the left of the license number 240-268. The vertical MICH logo appears only from 1920 to 1926. The best match from the photo to possible plates is 1926. (see photo below)
The original paint color on the first floor stucco was a darkish brown. The bricks appear to be the same kind as those used on the pump house in the park. The mortar between the bricks was also tinted brown. A sample of exterior paint colors through the years has been left inside the garage on the left wall near the door. Window trim was white.
Above: In the bottom row, left, is a detail enlarged from the license plate on the car in the photo of Herman and the ladies in the 22864 driveway. Other historical plates from 1920-1926 are shown. The design on Herman's plate shows that the car was parked there in 1926 or early 1927 because it only matches the 1926 plate to its right. The home was built before 1926!
Turner Member
Herman was apparently a member of the Turners association. His property sale of the northern half of the Poplar Beach property to the Turners in 1913 is known from county land records. He is listed in a newspaper clipping (below) from the Detroit News of September 23, 1926 provided by Pat Ryan (Grandson of John P. Ryan who married Herman's daughter Mildred in 1915).
The headline is "Turners Lay Cornerstone." The article is about the impending construction of the new $400,000.00 Turner Hall headquarters at 8731 Jefferson between Crane and Fisher Avenues. The article states "...With Bodden on the platform were Dr. Tobias Sigel, Herman Schwein (sic), Ernst Mildner, Mrs. Charles Bodden..." More about the new building here >
Interestingly, Richard Mildner (not Ernst as in the article) is a principal in the architectural firm Mildner and Eisen. No records have been found of an Ernst Mildner in Detroit.
Architectural plans exist for Herman's house at 22864 Poplar Beach titled:
Unfortunately, no date exists on the set of plans and there is no Lake Shore Drive in Mt. Clemens. There is a Lakeshore Drive in Harrison Township. No record has been found that Schweim held a deed in Mt. Clemens. The home at 22864 Poplar Beach matches the plans, with the exception of the garage being a few feet narrower. This smaller garage is accounted for in the 3/10/1925 sale of lot 15 and part of 14 to Jeffers where it is recorded that five feet of lot 14 went to lot 15.
Remarriage
Herman Schweim (age 57) and Louise Itzenga (38) are married on 18 September 1920, six years after the passing of wife Margaret (aka Grace on her death certificate).
The marriage of Herman and Louise ends in divorce after ten years on 7 February 1930. The divorce decree Libellant was Louise, on the grounds of "extreme cruelty." Herman lists his marital status in the 1930 census as Widowed. He lives at 22864 Poplar Beach with daughter Hortense.
A side note: Louise is remarried to Reinhold Zeidler a year later on 15 September 1931. Louise initiates divorce proceedings against Reinhold - also on the grounds of "extreme cruelty" - on April 2, 1936. Reinhold and Louise are released from their bond of marriage on 24 February 1937. Whether Reinhold remarries is unknown. Herman remains a widowed divorcé.
Grandchildren
Happily, Herman's daughter Mildred and husband John P. Ryan have two children, John Joseph (born 1917) and Elaine (born 24 December 1921) - and the family lives on Poplar Beach - first at 22828 (1930 census) and later at 28130 Jefferson (1940 census). Elaine Ryan lives at 28130 Jefferson until her death in January of 2011.
Below: This photo from the Ryan family archive shows Herman (center) and John P. Ryan (right) at the Poplar Beach boat launch.
The image may be from 1922. John P. Ryan was 38 in the 1930 census and young Jack was 13, so - if Jack may have been five years old in this photo - John P. would be 30 and Herman would have been 59... about eight years prior to the 1930 census data.
The sidewalk they stand on is likely still there along the launch and lakeside seawall, buried under 18 inches of new soil. The bath house looks very new.
Below: Taken on the same day as the above photo, Jack Ryan (in pedal car) and "2 Unknown" are pictured at the Poplar Beach boat ramp and bath house. The six doors on the bath house are numbered 1 to 6, with rooms 1-3 for Ladies and 4-6 for Men.
Death
Herman died on 18 January, 1945. His death record states he died in an aged home, of terminal cardiac failure and hypostatic pneumonia; was the widow of Gretchen Appel; and is to be cremated at the Detroit Woodmere Cemetery by the Charles Verheyden funeral directors of Mack Avenue.
Estate and Surviving Family
Herman's will is available in the Macomb County Clerk/Register of Deeds documents. It states that he left to his daughter Mildred Ryan lot 3, the east and west half of lot 4, and lot 5 of the Poplar Beach subdivision. He left daughter Hortense Lakey the west half of lot 23, lots 24 and 25, and the east half of lot 26 of the Poplar Beach Subdivision.
Herman's association with the Ryan family is known through his daughter Mildred and her children John and Elaine. His daughter Hortense and her husband Roland Lakey had no children.
Herman's will lists a cousin, Edward Yentsch, Sr., possibly a vice president of the First State Bank of Detroit in the 1920s. Mr. Yentsch is the son of Louise Stark (1845-1875). Louise is ten years older than Herman's mother Anna Stark. Both were born in Bavaria. So - if Louise and Anna were sisters - the son of your mother's sister would be your cousin.)