The Quest for Michael and Marie (Schumann) Sedlmayr)

The first in an ongoing series of essays and notes about my research into the origins of Michael Sedlmayr (1848-1929) and his wife Marie Schumann (1849-1921) of Bavaria, Germany and Denver, Colorado.

Part 1: The Brewing Sedlmayrs of Munich

Michael Sedlmayr is said to have been born in Bavaria on 14 February 1848. A biography of his future wife, Marie Schumann Sedlmayr, says that Michael was a son of the prominent Sedlmayr brewing family in Munich. "Among their children they had two sons. Marie first met the son who was lame but a good solid citizen. The other son named Michael was the black sheep of the family. And like most black sheep [he] was very good looking and an excellent dancer." [1]

Gabriel Sedlmayr the Elder (1772-1839). Most versions of this portrait around the internet are cropped more closely than this one. [2]

The paterfamilias of the brewing Sedlmayrs was Gabriel (1772-1839), generally known now as Gabriel the Elder. He married Maria Franziska Heiss (Heiß) (1778–1828), and they had eight children:

1. Caecilia (1804-1878), who married Augustin Deiglmayr (1799-1874), burgher and brewer in Munich,

2. Franziska (1806-1873), who married Georg Bar (d.1863), royal forester (kgl. Revierförster) in Niederaltaich, Niederbayern,

3. Joseph (18 July 1808-1886), brewer in Munich, who on 8 April 1845 married Helena Baumann (1822-1875),

4. Gabriel the younger (Gabriel II) (26 February 1811, Munich-1 October 1891, Feldafing, Oberbayern), who in 1840 married Anna Rosalia Schwangart (1818-1892),

5. Amalia (1813-1854), who married Alois Wegmaier (1811-1885), burgher and professional cook (Garkoch) in Munich,

6. Theresia (1815-1898), who married Anton Seidl (1806-1869), burgher and master-baker (Hofbäckermeister) in Munich,

7. Anna (1817-1889), who married Maximilian Wieninger (1809-1884), brewer in Teisendorf, Oberbayern, and

8. Karoline (1821-1891), who married Joseph ritter von Dall'Armi (1816-1853). [5]

Joseph Sedlmayr in 1861. [9]

Gabriel II in later life. [3]

Joseph had with his wife Helena Baumann two sons, Gabriel III (1850-1931) and Georg (1854-1879).

"Übergabe der Brauerei an die Söhne, 1874" [transfer of the brewery to his sons]. Unfortunately, none of the men is identified. Since Gabriel II had only four sons, presumably at least two of these are sons-in-law or nephews. [10]

Gabriel II had with his wife Anna Rosalia Schwangart nine known children (Wikipedia says ten),

1. Joseph (1845-1871),

2. Johann (1846-1900),

3. Carl (1847-1915), who married Josepha Seybold (1854-1930),

4. Anton (1849-1920),

5. Maria (1851-1897) who married Hugo Oberhummer (1844-1905), Kaufm., Inh. d. Kaufhauses Roman Mayr in M., KR, s. NDB X* u. 19*),

6. Rosina (1854-1918), who in 1875 married Johann Joseph "Fritz" von Miller (1840-1921), bronze caster, goldsmith and sculptor, [4]

7. Caecilia (1856-1916), who married Adolph Halbreiter (1839-1898), Bildhauer, Ziseleur, Prof. an d. Kunstgewerbeschule in Dresden, bayer. Prof., s. ADB 49),

8. Helene (1858-1926), who married Wilhelm von Miller (1848-1899), o. Prof. f. allg. Chemie an d. TH München, s. NDB 17), [4] and

9. Lina (1860-1942) who married Max Schlagintweit (1849-1935). [5]

"Der Alte Südfriedhof" (1830) by Wilhelm Scheuchzer. [7]

Many of the Sedlmayr family are buried in the Alter Südfriedhof or "Old South Cemetery" in Munich, among them Anna (née Schwangart, 1818-1891), Anton (1849-1920), Carl (1847-1915), Franziska (née Heiss, d.1828), Gabriel the elder (1772-1839), Gabriel the younger (1811-1891), Johann (1846-1900), Joseph (1845-1871), and Josepha (née Seybold, 1854-1930). [7] Also buried there are a little daughter of Johann's (born and died 1892), and a young Gabriel (1842-1845) who is called "our grandson" of Gabriel the elder but is not specifically assigned to a parent; is this the tenth child that Wikipedia gives to Gabriel the younger?

It seems certain that the Denver Michael Sedlmayr does not belong to the family of Gabriel II, as not only is there little room for him in the chronology of Gabriel II's children, but the list from DB seems fairly magisterial. Michael is certainly of the same generation as Gabriel's children, though, and may be a cousin of some sort. Gabriel II had only one brother, Joseph, for whom the DB gives two sons, naming only one, Gabriel III; other sources give the other son's name as Georg (1854-1879). [8]  It is possible that Michael is a son of Gabriel II's brother Joseph, but this seems unlikely.  Gabriel the elder had at least one brother, Georg (1774-1807), about whom little is yet known.

The conclusion at present is that if Michael was indeed a son of the "prominent family named Sedlmayr" of Munich, then he was probably at the closest a second cousin.  The fact that a number of Michael's sons were at some point in their lives connected to the brewing industries in Chicago and Denver unfortunately does not seem to indicate a Sedlmayr connection, as it seems to have been a common profession for German immigrants.


Sources:

[1] A typed biography of "Marie Schumann Sedlmayr", of which I have an nth generation photocopy. There is no indication anywhere as to who wrote it or when, but as there is also a similar biography of Marie's daughter Elsie, it is possibly by one of her children or grandchildren.

[2] "Spaten Brewery History" at the "Munich Beer Gardens" wiki. One good thing about being connected to an old beer-brewing family is that there are actually wikis about the history of it; the down side is that there are far more photographs of beer than of the people who brewed it.

[3] "Secrets in the Cellar: Cracking the Codes of Centuries-old Brewing Recipes" by Roger Potz, in "All About Beer" magazine, August 1, 2014.

[4] "Fritz von Miller" at Wikipedia. Note that the Deutsche-Biographie article gives his name as Friedrich von Miller.  The Wikipedia article gives his full name as Johann Joseph Fritz von Miller, but also clearly states, "In 1875 Fritz von Miller married Rosina Theresia Anna Sedlmayr, a descendant of the brewer Gabriel Sedlmayr", so that there is little doubt it is the same person. "Fritz" is in fact a nickname for "Friedrich". Also according to the Wikipedia article, Rosina's sister Helene’s husband Wilhelm von Miller was one of Fritz von Miller's numerous brothers, who included Ferdinand, sculptor and director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Oskar, founder of the Deutsches Museum of science and technology, and noted professor of chemistry Wilhelm.

[5] "Sedlmayr, Gabriel der Ältere" at Deutsche-Biographie.

[6] "Sedlmayr, Gabriel der Jüngere" at Deutsche-Biographie.

[7] "Alter Südfriedhof (München)" at Wikipedia.de (the German-language one has a much more extensive list of burials), and "Alter Südfriedhof" at WorldFlicks -- but note that while the latter has what appear to be marker transcriptions, this is not stated explicitly, nor are there photos of specific stones.  The Scheuchzer painting of the cemetery is from the Wikipedia.de article.

[8] "Sedlmayr, Joseph" at Deutsche-Biographie. At least half of this article seems to be about Gabriel II instead of Joseph, and regrettably, it does not give a "genealogy" as do those about Gabriel I and Gabriel II.

[9] "Franziskaner (Brauerei)" at Wikipedia.de.

[10] "Gabriel Sedlmayr" II, at Wikipedia.de.