Banat, Michigan (MI)
Archivist: Volunteer!

BANAT, MI is located in Holmes Township, Menominee County.  It was first settled in 1909 by Austro-Hungarians, mostly from St. Louis, Missouri, and headed by Frank J. Schmidt who became its first postmaster on March 15, 1910; a station on the Wisconsin & Michigan Railroad; named after the district of Banat in Austro-Hungary, from which the settlers originally came [source-Rev. Thomas Ruppe] Holy Rosary Cemetery, off County Road 577, Banat, Holmes Township Menominee County, Michigan Cemetery Transcriptions., v. 1. Gladys Moore Reeve and Raynor L. Reeve. [no. 6 on microfilm reel]   Aloysius Martin Thesz aka "Lou Thesz"  from Modosch Aloysius Martin Thesz was born 24 April 1916 in Banat, Michigan, to immigrant parents Martin Thesz from Modosch, Hungary and Katherine (unk) b. 2 Sep 1892 in Hungary.  The family started in St. Louis Mo, where two daughters were born, Anna b. [abt. 1913] Mo., Helen b.[abt.1915] Mo. Then they moved to Holmes Thownship, Menominee, Michigan where Louis was b. 1916 Mi. & younger sister Emma b. [abt. 1918]. Sometime after Feb 1920 they moved back to Mo, where his parents would live the rest of their lives. [Complete Story] I know very little even about my own family, except that my grandfather, John Roth, and his family owned and lived upstairs from the general store in Banat, MI around 1915; until one night when it burned to the ground. Eventually, they moved to Milwaukee. They came from Vrsac in 1906. ~Richard Roth Milwaukee & Northern Railway Company (M&N) 1870-1893: Construction of the M&N began in Milwaukee in 1870, and its Northern Division was extended to Green Bay in 1873. An extension to the Michigan state line was started in 1881 under the guise of the Wisconsin & Michigan Railroad Company and took five years to complete.  The M&N was purchased by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific in 1893. Eagle Herald Marinette, Wisconsin / Menomoniee, Michigan ByeLines by Larry Ebsch: 'Ghost towns' important part of our past - A story about Banat in Holmes Township in mid-Menominee County, settled by German-Hungarians in 1909. Footnote: 1: Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities By Walter Romig; Contributor Larry B. Massie Published by Wayne State University Press, 1986; 673 pages ISBN 081431838X, 9780814318386

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Banat, MI Archivist Volunteer!

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Last updated: Monday January 26, 2009