Minnie Otillia Altwein was born December 25, 1835 in Pomerania, Prussia, not far from the Baltic Sea. This area is now part of Poland. She was the daughter of Gotthulf Altwein and Wilhelmina Quandt.

In 1851 this family traveled by ship to America. They left Bremen, Germany on September 9, 1851 onboard the ship Franciska. The ship carried 183 passengers and arrived at Galveston, Texas on November 4, 1851. The family settled in Guadalupe County near Schumannsville, Texas. Minnie was 15 years old.

On February 18, 1857 Minnie Otillia Altwein married Thomas Franklin Day in New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas. The service was performed by a German Methodist Minister.

Thomas and Minnie had 10 children: Mary L., Frances Otillia, Lucinda, George W., Martha C., John Henry, Sarah Ellen, Josephine F., Walter Mark, and William T. Minnie could read only in German, but could speak English fairly well. She taught her children from a German Bible, but spoke to her grandchildren only in English.

Following the outbreak of the Civil War, Thomas enlisted in the Confederate Army and was mustered into Company B of the 36th Cavalry as a sergeant. The 36th which is also known as the 32nd Texas Cavalry (Trans Mississippi Army) was assigned to patrol the borders and protect the ports of Texas.

In the late 1880's or early 1890's Thomas and Minnie, along with the younger children who were still at home moved to Center Point, Kerr County, Texas, between Comfort and Kerrville. While at Kerrville, two of Thomas and Minnie's daughters (Sarah and Josephine) married Lowrance brothers (John Francis and Albert). In 1899 their daughters Mary (Day) Word and Sarah Ellen (Day) Lowrance moved with their families to Oklahoma Indian Territory (Greer County). In 1900 daughter Josie (Day) Lowrance and son John Henry Day also moved to the same area.

Thomas and Minnie Day lived in Oklahoma for a time, but the dates are unclear. John Henry's wife Blanche died in December 1900 and at some point after her death he returned to Texas with his children. Thomas and Minnie probably returned to Texas about the same time, as she cared for the grandchildren for seven years until John Henry remarried.

On March 10, 1917 Minnie Otillia (Altwein) Day died at the home of her son John Henry near Carrizo Springs, Dimmit County, Texas. She is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Carrizo Springs. No marker has ever been located for Minnie. However, John Henry's son Ernest "Buster" Day remembered that he was 17 when his grandmother died and he drove the wagon carrying her to the Mt. Hope Cemetery at Carrizo Springs to be buried.

My great-great-grandmother