Elizabeth Mary Breimayer was the second child and second daughter of Ferdinand Breimayer and Agata Baur born 26 APR 1859 in St. Thomas, Ontario (Ontario, CA, Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1760-1923), that birth date confirmed in her 1936 MI Death Certificate, which mistakenly lists her birthplace as Washtenaw County, MI, where the family moved to later in 1859.

The June 1900 U.S. Census for ED 25 Otisco Twp excluding Belding indicates her age 42 and birth in Canada in APR 1858, immigration into the United states in 1859. Her middle name Mary appears in the 1930 Belding census that lists Elizabeth M. Little (age 71, b. 1859 Canada, immigrated 1860), as a servant in the household of Jesse G. Wilbur.

The birth record indicates her name as Maria Elizabeth, whereas all other records reverse her first and middle names. The handwritten record lists her father as Ferdinand Breemeur, her mother Agata Baur, and her godparents Joseph Mahlenbrei and Josepha Rek, nee Mahlenbrei, who emigrated with Agata from Andelfingen in 1854. Later in 1854, Josepha Mahlenbrei had married Stefan Rek in Buffalo, NY, Ferdinand Breimayer listed as best man.

Ferdinand Breimayer's MI Death Certificate indicates ten children, eight living at his death in 1901. Until very recently, only nine children had been identified. The missing tenth child appears to have been their first child, also named Elizabeth, and also born in St. Thomas according to a recently discovered birth and baptismal record from the same Ontario records. That record for Elizabeth Breimeuer lists her parents Ferdinand Breimeuer and Agatha Baur and godparents Charles Baur (Agatha's brother) and Josephine Mahlenbrey) provides a birth date of 21 November 1857 and a baptismal date of 20 December 1857 (Ontario, Canada, Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1760-1923-Ancestry.com). This first Elizabeth must have died before the birth of the second Elizabeth, but no death record has been located

The parish is not named in these records, but it may have been the current Holy Angels parish in St. Thomas. Presumably, Ferdinand, Agatha resided in the St. Thomas area with their fellow emigrants before many of the families moved to SE Michigan.

Elizabeth died on 1 SEP 1936 in the home of her son Thomas William Little and is interred in St. Joseph Cemetery, Belding, Ionia, MI, with other family members identified below. See Find A Grave Memorial 75709366. I have no information as to her schooling or earlier occupations. She married twice, but retained the surname of her first husband following the death of her second husband and is interred as Elizabeth Little.

One curious detail was found in the 1880 Otisco, Ionia, MI, U.S. Census, where she is identified as "Cisi" or "Cirsis." Her parents emigrated from Catholic villages that had been owned by the Habsburgs until they were ceded in the 1805 Treaty of Pressburg to the King of Wuerttemberg. It may be assumed that this nickname was given to her due to family affection for the then very popular "Sisi" - Empress Elisabeth of Austria, wife of Habsburg Emperor Franz Josep I who was living at that time.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Elisabeth_of_Austria.

Obituary: According to Elizabeth's obituary published by the Belding Banner News, she made her home in Belding for 25 years preceding her death and was living with her son Thomas William Little and his wife Helen M. Little at the time of her death. The obituary makes no mention of her second marriage but indicates that she had four children, two surviving at her death, Mrs. Carl Edelstein of Cleveland, OH, and Thomas Little of Belding. The surviving brothers and sisters included "Anthony and Charles Breimayer of Miriam, Mrs. Josephine Fisher of near Belding, Mrs. Cynthia Cowles of near Smyrna, Mrs. Roland Bridges of Carbondale, IL, Mrs. Ralph Russell of Luther (MI); also two grandchildren, Miss Virginia Palmer of Cleveland, Ohio and Eva Mae Little of this city survive." This obituary confirms the marriages of her sisters, and supports the conclusion that Anna Belle Little married a "Palmer" and bore a daughter Virginia Palmer before she married Carl Edelstein as described below.

Marriage to William Little: Her obituary and the Miriam Centennial booklet history state that Elizabeth married William Little, either from Smyrna or Cook's Corner, Otisco, MI, as a Little family owned land there according to the early Ionia County history or from Mississippi given that the family moved there after their marriage and birth of Thomas William Little in Michigan. The date and place of their marriage have not been located in Michigan or Mississippi records.

The dates and places of his birth and death, his family, and his place of interment have also not been determined. According to her obituary, William Little died 40 years before she did, which would have been about 1896 given her death in 1936. The obituary for Thomas William Little indicates that his father William Little died while the family was residing in Mississippi after his birth in 1885. A baptismal record for Thomas William Little at St. Joseph, Catholic Church, Belding, Ionia, MI, confirms his birth date and indicates that he was baptized on 27 SEP 1891, sponsor Ferdinand Breimayer. So, if the baptism occurred after the return from Mississippi, then it would be assumed that Thomas Little died in Mississippi before September, 1890. A search of Mississippi records did indicate that one J. W. Little b. 1865 died and was interred in the Speed-Little private cemetery near Meridien, MS, in 1889 (Find A Grave Memorial 25013619).

Identifying their children and grandchildren has been made especially difficult by numerous differing birth dates and birth places in the official records, and it is only possible to identify three children from census records. Her 1936 obituary stating that she had four children, two living at her death, is either mistaken or could signify a fourth child born and died early in her marriage to William Little. However, the 1900 and 1910 U.S. Censuses state that she had three children, all living as of 1900 and 1910. The three known children who died after 1910 are interred in St. Joseph Cemetery with Elizabeth and are:

Mae Eva Little b. 1884, d. 1919, was married three times and final married name Mae Little Joel is inscribed on Elizabeth's tombstone; no children;

Thomas William Little b. 19 FEB 1885 in Six Lakes, Montcalm, MI, d. 31 JUL 1941 (Michigan Death certificate and baptismal record), m. Helen M. Gagner, b. 23 DEC 1880, d. 6 DEC 1972 (birth date from her obituary published by the Belding Banner News – but Michigan Marriages 1868-1925 record and 1920 U.S. Census indicate her birth in 1885), on 09 APR 1912 in Pinconning, Bay, MI; they had one daughter Eva Mae Little b. 30 APR 1919, d. 3 OCT 2008, m. David D. Steere, b. 25 AUG 1914, d. 10 JAN 1994, in 1956, three daughters, seven grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren all surviving her according to her obituary. David Steere and Eva Mae are interred in the Little family plot in St. Joseph Cemetery (Find A Grave Memorials 79819702 and 82893131); and

Anna Belle "Anne" Little b. 27 AUG 1889 (exact date from St. Joseph baptismal record, sponsor Josephine Fisher) in Meridian, MS (1900 U.S. Census in household of John Hinds and Michigan Marriages 1868-1925 to George W. Phillips), d. 10 MAR 1980, at Bay Village, Cuyahoga, OH (Ohio Death Index 1958-2007 indicating her age 87; interred with her third husband Carl Edelstein in the Little family plot in St. Joseph Cemetery (Find A Grave Memorials 175086425 and 175037178); one daughter, Virginia Elizabeth Palmer from marriage with George Robert Palmer.

Marriage to John P. Hinds: Michigan Marriages 1822-1995 also reference Elizabeth Breimyer (sic) Little, age 36, father Breimyer (sic), married John P. Hines (sic) b. 1848, d. 5 FEB 1914, (Michigan Genwebs Smyrna Cemetery interments) of Smyrna in the city of Ionia on 23 FEB 1895 (film 2342501). She executed her quitclaim deed to the Hawley Hwy farm in 1910 as "Elizabeth Hinds."

The 1870 and 1880 U.S. Censuses and Michigan Marriages 1822-1995 identify his father, Emerson Hinds, mother Maria Oviett (Louisa Mariah in other records), brothers Morris and Edger (d. 1872), and a sister Ella in Otisco Twp. The 1891 and 1906 Otisco Twp plat maps show a Morris Hinds farm of 80 acres just east of Smyrna. The 1880 census indicates that John P. Hinds was single at age 32.

The June 1900 U.S. Census for ED 25 Otisco Twp excluding Belding indicates that the household of John Hinds (b. JAN 1847 in Michigan) included wife Elizabeth (b. APR 1858 in Canada, immigrated into United States in 1859), stepson Thomas Little (b. FEB 1885 in Michigan), and stepdaughter Anna Little (b. SEP 1890 in Mississippi).

The May 1910 U.S. Census lists Elizabeth Hinds as a housekeeper residing in the household of Joseph Albert and his son Theodore Albert. It indicates that she was born in Canada in 1858 of German parents, is married for the second time (the "years married" left blank) and as noted above, had three children, all three living. John P. Hinds is not in the 1910 U.S. Census although the Morris Hinds family is listed.

John P. Hinds died on 4 Feb 1914 in Otisco, Ionia, MI, his Michigan Death Certificate indicating his status as "married" and the informant as "Mrs. E. Hinds" of Belding; he is interred in Smyrna Cemetery with his parents and a brother Edgar per Smyrna Cemetery records (Find A Grave Memorial 71651193).