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Note: e was the son of a large peasant family who lived near Ulm Wurttemberg, then a state in Southwest Germany. He came to America at the age of 17, shortly after the Civil War. One of his objects in leaving Germany was to escape military service.
After arriving in the United States, he worked his way westward--with extended stopovers in New York, Sandusky, Ohio, and Chicago. He eventually arrived at his future home, Chilton, Wisconsin (near Green Bay). Later, two brothers, Erhard and Max, came to America.
The 1870 US Federal Census showed Charles residing with first wife, Barbara, in Waukesha, WI. Charles' occupation was listed as brewer. Barbara was from Wurttemberg also.
Brothers, Erhard Menig, settled in Denver in 1873, established a family, and became a successful real estate developer and builder. Max Menig settled in Detroit and nothing is known of his life or career. See 1867 Immigration Record for Saxonia leaving Hamburg, Germany and arriving in New York for these two brothers.
Charles Menig became a naturalized citizen on 27 Oct 1874 in Calumet County, WI. (See Calumet County Naturalizations - Declarations of Intent).
The three American branches of the Menig family were in touch with one another by occasional letters and rare visits. But all contact had been lost by the time of Charles Menig's death in 1930.
The St. Paul, MN City Directories (1889--1891) list Charles Menig, occupation as "meat market", location 412 North Smith Avenue, St. Paul, MN.
In 1896, the Menig family moved to Cheney, WA. The decision to move to Cheney was triggered by advertising of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The railroad had reached Spokane, WA, a few years before and was attempting to attract settlers on its land grants with flashy advertisements showing pictures of the luscious fruit and bountiful grain that could be produced in Washington. So Charles Menig made the trip to Washington and selected wheat land near the university known in 1896 as the State Normal School at Cheney. The farm was unimproved and it was necessary to build a house and barn, install fences, dig wells, smooth off the "scab rock," and prepare the land for cultivation.
Charles Menig's sons, Otto (20 years old) and Albert (15 years old), did most of this grueling work, while wife, Rosa Menig, managed the household with the help of daughter, Josephine, who was then 11 years old. The farm eventually prospered and the Menig's became solid citizens of Cheney.
See: 1920 U. S. Federal Census lists Charles Menig, age 74, Spokane, Spokane County, WA, page 7A. 1930 U. S. Federal Census lists Charles Menig, age 84, Spokane, Spokane, WA, living at 1408 Euclid Avenue Spokane, WA, divorced, owner of the house. There are 3 other residents who are living with Charles, a widowed woman and her two children. The woman is listed as running a home laundry. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States Census, 1880 for Charles Menig
Name: Charles Menig Residence: Chilton, Calumet, Wisconsin Birthdate: 1847 Birthplace: Germany Relationship to Head: Self Spouse's Name: Rosa Menig Spouse's Birthplace: Wisconsin, United States Father's Name: Father's Birthplace: Germany Mother's Name: Mother's Birthplace: Germany Race or Color (Expanded): White Ethnicity (Standardized): American Gender: Male Martial Status: Married Age (Expanded): 33 years Occupation: Keeps Hotel NARA Film Number: T9-1418 Page: 68 Page Character: A Entry Number: 1598 Film number: 1255418 Household Gender Age Charles Menig M 33 Spouse Rosa Menig F 22 Child Otto Menig M 3 Child Elbert Menig M 2
Emma Weimer F 21 John Loskill M 21 George Wippermonn M 26 Lawrence Burk M 20 Joseph Staurnger M 48 John Mcgrath M 24 Henry Schobach M 28 Jacob Schaefer M 28 Barney Mccabe M 22 Martin Bass M 27 � 2010 IRI A service provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints <http://mormon.org>. Use the previous version of FamilySearch.org <http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp>
============================================================================================= Calumet County, Wisconsin Genealogy & History Chilton Times April 23, 1892 A Pioneers History: Early Days In This County
An interesting article taken from The Manitowoc Pilot to Mr. White, a pioneer settler. It will perhaps not be uninteresting to the reader of The Pilot, and it certainly will not be to the old residents, to read the biography of George White's family the oldest white resident of Calumet Co.
In October 1834 my father, who was a Methodist preacher stationed some where near Utica, New York, was sent by the Methodist Conference to Green Bay as a missionary to the Indians. I remember vividly the scene at Buffalo just previous to our departure, although I was then only eight years of age. The church members at Buffalo for miles around gathered on the pier to bid us good bye. Father delivered a short sermon and then the whole congregation joined in a well know missionary hymn. The Black Hawk War, with all its attendant horrors, had been fought only a few years before and the idea that we were going to Green Bay which was then an out-post in the center of the great north-west, and beyond humanity's reach, where we were liable to be devoured by the wild animals of the forest or scalped by the Indians, affected many of the congregation to tears.
Our family, consisting of father, mother, and four children took passage on the Lady of the Lake, a small schooner then plying between Buffalo and Green Bay. I remember but few of the incidents of the passage until we arrived at Deaths Door and stopped at one of the uninhabited islands. We all went on shore and remained there the greater part of the day picking berries and wandering around in the woods. In a few days we landed in Green Bay. I think Nov. 4th 1834.
Green Bay was at this time a village of from ten to fifteen hundred being the only place of any account east of Prarie du Chien and northwest of Buffalo, comprising mostly adventures of all nationalities. The Indians, half breeds, and French Canadians being in a large majority. There were but few Americans.
The officers and one or two companies of soldiers at Fort Howard included Daniel Whitley, George Johnson, Post Sutler, Ebenezer Childs, A. G. Ellis, Henry S. Baril, Judge Doty, John P. Arndt, Morgan S. Martin, and William Bruce were the principal Americans at this time. In 1825 the first frame house was erected at Green Bay by James Duane Doty who was afterwards Governor of this territory. There was not at that time in Brown County, which then covered all of the territory now organized as Milwaukee, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Portage, Marquette, Calumet, Washington, Ozaukee, Dodge, Outagamie, Door, Waupaca, Kewaunee and Shawano counties, a single township organized except the town of Green Bay. No government surveys had yet been made. The present State of Wisconsin then contained about eight thousand inhabitants at least on half of whom were Canadians and half breeds. The village was often full of Menominees, Potowatqmies, Winnebagos and Chippewas, who either came there to trade or moving from place to place, made the village their objective point. At such times you could see their campfires scattered up and down the Fox River, and a hundred canoes either moored at the shore, or paddling noiselessly up and down and across the river. One could hardly pass through the main street without having a drunken Indian hideous in war paint and feathers, stagger against him. When night came the music began. You could hear at one camp the monotonous gong and drum of the dances at another the war whoop and yelling of half drunken Indians and at another the snarling of drunken Indians having a regular fist fight. One not accustomed to such sights and sounds would think that all the fiends of Hades had broken loose. It was seldom that any one was killed although black eyes and broken heads were common, noses and ears bitten off, hair pulled out by the handful, for they fought with clubs, teeth and nails, and made a rule to give up their knives, hatchets and guns to t he squaws before they commenced their sprees.
At one of these drunken fights one Indian had killed another (now according to the laws of their the tribe the next of kin had the right to take the life of the murderer at any time and place but if the murderer remained at the spot where the deed was done uninterruptedly for ten days and no avenger appeared it was an evidence that the offense had been forgiven.) The Indian remained upon the spot with his blanket over his head droning his death song during ten days and nights. The people in the village went to visit him and took him victuals and water. He never noticed or spoke to them. The victuals were deposited on the ground near him. One could see that every moment he expected the death dealing blow but none came and he was then a free man. Then sitting on the log he took out his looking glass which every Indian carries, rubbed the black from his face and painted himself in a fanciful style and strutted away a free man as proud as a peacock.
It was a wild frontier life, but little attention was paid to the law, each one taking that into his own hands and dealing out justice in his own way and time. If life was taken vengeance followed. If a blow was struck it was answered by a blow with the knife or tomahawk. Men were dare devils inured to hardships and suffering, and courted life accompanied with excitement of some kind. In the spring, after the trapping season was over and the rivers were open, the Indians, trappers, and dealers began to pour into the village. The Indian in his bark canoe packed high with pelts and the trappers of the chase with his squaw and papooses packed away in the bottom comes merrily down the river whooping and yelling for pleasure at the prospect of having a good drunk. The traders in their bateaus loaded down with perhaps thousands of dollars worth pelts & c. the profits of the long months trade in the back woods came merrily down the river keeping with oars to the Canadian boat song. The excitement ran high, every Indian trader shop was supplied with whiskey, and that was dealt out in generous quantities, free to their customers until the poor Indian was in a proper spirit to be fleeced. The trapper and trader from the woods were supplied with whisky, and cards, and in every dealer's store you could see crowds of the hardy fellows risking their hard earned property upon the throw of the dice or return of the cards. =============================================================================================
History of Spokane The name Spokane was taken from the Indian people who lived in the area long before the whites arrived shortly before 1900. Spokane, translated "Children of the Sun," lies in an area with an average of two hundred days of sunshine each year. It is an area enjoyed by Canadians and Americans where both flags fly side by side in many places. Both national anthems are played at local hockey games and the parking meters accept both American and Canadian coins.
In 1889 the young town of was devastated by a fire, but everything was built bigger and better than it was before. In 1974 Spokane hosted the World's Fair. The old railroad station was turned into a beautiful one hundred acre site and remains today as a lovely park.
The silver and metals of the mines of Northern Idaho, the fields of wheat in the Palouse, and the timbered mountains made the city what it is today. The railroad played a big part in the building of the city. Many industrial companies have recently come into the area to make it a trade center for a huge area.
The city is not only a hub for the railroad, but is a regional trucking center. There is much hydroelectric power that is relative inexpensive. Spokane has an excellent school system with several major universities in the area. There are six hospitals in the area and wonderful police and fire departments.
Not only is Spokane in the center of wheat and timber, but there are 189,000 people living within the city and 401,000 in the whole county. It lies at the edge of the Columbia Basin and near the beginning of the Rocky Mountains. It is a drive of 290 miles to Seattle, 380 to Portland and nearly 500 to Calgary. With no other large cities in Eastern Washington it has grown alone with a character of its very own.
Spokane's Genealogy Section of the downtown library is the very best of the area. Volunteers man it three days each week, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, with knowledgeable genealogists. They are more than willing to help the beginner get started or the more involved solve intricate problems if they can. ============================================================================================= When the Railroad Comes by Irene Welch Grissom Raw and new lies the prairie town, In the light of a blazing sun. An idle wind goes drifting down The dusty street, where children run And shout, and play their joyous games. There is no beauty to be seen: Around frame buildings still remain Stray boards and bricks; there stands a team All wet with sweat, with shaggy limb. Their sun-burned master wears a smile For this raw town means much to him. It cuts the haul, by many miles, Of crops grown on his fertile lands. It brings world markets to his door. Where that new depot lonely stands His eyes see beauty that is more Sublime to him than marble halls That long freight train just pulling in Fills him with joy; he loudly calls A greeting to the crew, and grins At their response he dimly hears Through clanging bells and grinding wheels. The sounds are music to his ears; And standing there contentment steals Through every chamber of his mind. For that unpainted prairie town He sees a future great unwind. He casts his vision far on down Through years to come, and sees paved streets And noble trees, great, gray stone blocks And countless homes loom through the heat. A kingdom lies with doors unlocked.
[IRENE WELCH GRISSOM, Author of "The Passing of the Sagebrush, etc."]
============================================================================================= State Normal School, Cheney, WA in 1896 http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=bb2fb23b-3d06-4b9b-a843-256b27cc6efe&tid=17574515&pid=528261595
Chilton, WI 1877 http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=3174cef5-eed2-4b07-9e8e-2968e7093f07&tid=17574515&pid=528261595
Charles Menig and Susie Roth Nelson Marriage Record http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=2a3d5473-93d8-46bd-bead-4563789322a3&tid=17574515&pid=528261595
Chilton, WI 1878 http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=bfd61bbe-079f-4874-b67b-52f84947f6ac&tid=17574515&pid=528261595
Western House, Calumet, WI http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=image&guid=5f7ffff1-e225-47f8-88cc-6ac9641acb9c&tid=17574515&pid=528261595
Charles Menig Death Record
http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=a185b9b2-66aa-4fb4-a3a1-bc4b778f99c8&tid=17574515&pid=528261595
Charles Menig Death Record http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=9de0c119-26a6-4fea-8166-c0cb44285263&tid=17574515&pid=528261595
Note: Karl Charles Menig was a German immigrant coming to the United States in 1865, 1866, 1867. H
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