Johann Michael Simeth

   Cause of his death was inflammation of the bowels.

   Another name for Johann was Michael Simmet.

  General Notes:

In America, Johann Michael SIMETH was commonly known as Michael SIMMET. The name was probably changed from SIMETH to SIMMET so that Americans would pronounce the name correctly. In German SIMETH and SIMMET would be pronounced the same (In German, the H at the end of SIMETH is silent). The name was sometimes spelled with two M's instead of one (SIMMETH, SIMMET). In many records from the 1850's and 1860's in Saginaw, he is identified as Michael SMITH or Michael SCHMIDT. This is due to the fact that in the Bavarian Dialect of German, the letter S at the beginning is pronounced like Sch, so the name Simeth would sound very similar to the name Schmidt.

I have found Michael in the 1860 census of East Saginaw, Saginaw County, Michigan. He is listed as Michael Smith, a weaver, from Berlin. His wife, who he married within the last year, is listed as Catherine, also from Berlin. They had no children. I searched all of East Saginaw for a Michael Simmet from Bayern (the German word for Bavaria), but no other entry came close. It was interesting that there were many many people in East Saginaw listed as being from Berlin, but not anyone at all from Baden or Bayern. I can only speculate that the census taker must have assumed that Bayern was the German word for Berlin, and subsequently listed all people from Bavaria as being from Berlin.

In the 1870 census, Michael shows up in Buena Vista Township, Saginaw County, Michigan. Once again he is listed as Michael Smith.

He was originally buried at Brady Hill Cemetary in Saginaw. At the time of his death there was no Catholic Cemetary in Saginaw. Several years after his death, Calvary Catholic Cemetary was opened in Saginaw, and Michael's family had him reinterred at Calvary. Records from Calvary show he was reinterred on October 23, 1906.

Shortly after Michael's death, a registered letter (letter number 00529 from Post Office at Saginaw, East Side, Michigan) was mailed on 18 Aug 1894, to the following address :
Mr. Severin Simmet
No 3 Mohren St Nickala Passaw Nieder Beiern
Germany
The sender was listed as Michael Simmet, but the true sender was probably his daughter Louise. Michael's wife, Catherine, spoke little English and probably wrote only in the old German script. The letter was addressed in American script.
Michael's grandson, Walter J. Webber, has the original registered letter receipt in one of his many scrap books. I copied the address off the receipt exactly as it appeared.

Michael did not have a will, but his estate went through probate. His widow and each of his children received an equal share of the estate. There is no mention in the probate records of any relatives in Germany.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Baptism, 21 Sep 1819.

• Religion: Catholic.

• Declaration of Intention: Saginaw County, Michigan.

• Obituary.

• Immigration/Arrival: "Reinhard", from Bremen to New York, 23 Apr 1857.

• Funeral: Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Saginaw, Michigan, 2 Jun 1894.

• Reinternment: Calvary Cemetary, Saginaw, Michigan.

Johann married Katharina Fettig, daughter of Hyacinth Fettig and Franziska Baumer, on 21 Nov 1859 in St Joseph Catholic Church, Lower Saginaw, Bay County, Michigan USA. (Katharina Fettig was born on 20 Nov 1841 in Steinmauern, Baden-Württemberg Germany, died on 28 Dec 1924 in Saginaw Township, Saginaw County, Michigan USA and was buried on 28 Dec 1924 in Calvary Catholic Cemetary, Saginaw, Michigan USA.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Marriage Fact: Indiantown, Buena Vista Township, Saginaw County, Michigan, 31 May 1894.