Michael was the second of seven children (siblings: Anna, John Peter, Elizabeth, Anna Maria, Veronika & Katherina) born to Joseph Werner & Maria Anna (Ganser) Minnerath; immigrating to America with his parents & two siblings in 1846.

On 15 April 1875, Michael married Elizabeth Braun at Saint Joseph Catholic Church in St. Joseph, MN; she was age 21, he was 31. Elizabeth was the third of eleven children born to Mathias & Amelia (Koster) Braun. On this day, in a double ceremony, Elizabeth's older brother, John Braun married Anna Marie Minnerath (Michael's younger sister).

Michael and Elizabeth farmed westnorthwest of Cold Spring, MN (part of an area informally called the "Bavarian Settlement" – due to the number of Germans who settled in the area.)

This "settlement" actually included land in both Wakefield & Munson Townships; reaching north & northeast from the area around Cold Spring to Jacob's Prairie and Collegeville, MN. In the 1910 Federal Census, their farm and that of their eldest son, Mathias were listed as being on Bavarian Settlement Road. [If looking at a current day map, I believe their farms were on what is now called Glenwood Road.]

This family suffered more than its fair share of grief over the years as only five of their twelve children lived to see adulthood.

In April of 1884, there was an influenza epidemic that swept across Central Minnesota. Elizabeth and Michael lost three children, all under age seven – Franz, Maria, & Amelia – within a six day period. Family history tells that they went into town to bury one of their children, only to return home and discover that another had died. In 1890, they lost John at age six to a childhood fever; in August of 1895, they lost twin infants, Rosa & Anna to cholera. Then in 1913, they lost Michael at age 13 to typhoid. Can you imagine?

CHILDREN:
-o- Mathias (Matt) (1876-1959)
-o- Franz (1877-1884)
-o- Maria K. (1879-1884)
-o- Amalia Eva (1881-1884)
-o- John (1884-1890)
-o- Peter (1886-1953)
-o- Amalia Eve (Molly) (1888-1955)
-o- Mary Katherine (1890-1975)
-o- Elizabeth (Elsie) [twin] (1892-1975)
-o- Michael [twin] (1892-1913)
-o- Anna [twin] (1895-1895)
-o- Rosa [twin] (1895-1895)