A BRIEF HISTORY OF MICHAEL WINTER and ELIZABETH HICKERT
Michael Winter was born inDiersdorfer Germany in 1859. The second son of Johann and Gertrud Winter. There were four children from this marriage, Kasper, Michael, Margarete and Nikolaus. Gertrud died in 1865. Johann married Margaretta Schmitt and they had 7 more children. In 1881, at 22 Michael came to America. He arrived in Philadelphia on June 11, 1881, having crossed the ocean on the ship Waesland from Antwerp. We don’t know what he did his first year in the USA. The next year he was joined by his brother Kasper. They eventually settled in Northeast Kansas in New Almelo. (We still have a number of Winter and Hickert relatives in this area of Kansas. )
This is most likely where Michael met his future bride Elizabeth Hickert. Elizabeth arrived in America in 1883 with her brother Heinrich(Henry) and her sister Sophia Maria. They were all brought over by their brother Bernard. The Hickerts homesteaded in the New Almelo area of Kansas. In 1885 Elizabeth filed for a homestead on which she hand dug a well and built a sod house.
Michael and Elizabeth were married in Denver (link to 1887 map)
on November 21, 1887. Follow this link to see where Michael and Elizabeth lived and worked in Denver More In 1910 he had raised enough money to open his last saloon at 1140 Wazee.
Michael and Elizabeth had 7 children, two which died, one as a 19 month old and one in infancy. Michael died in December of 1912. Elizabeth was 50 years old with 5 children to take care of, Alysious (Ollie) Winter, the youngest, was 12. She ran the saloon, and boarding house and used it to support herself and their children for many years.
