Michael Ernest Brauer was born in Prussia in 1823. His parents are unknown; his father left the family and ran away to America. His sister married a man named Schusky; his brother Jacob became a tailor and emigrated to America. Michael was dissatisfied with farming so his mother
apprenticed him to a tailor.

Charlotte Rotike was born July 1826 in Prussia; little is known of her family. Her sister married a man named Phillipuffsky (changed to Phillips in America). Charlotte married Michael in 1845 after he had become a journeyman tailor and saved some money.

They had eight children:
 

Caroline	b. 1845 Prussia	d. 1859 Iowa of diphtheria
Carl	b. 1848 Prussia	d. 1848 as an infant
Oscar Gustav	b. 1851 Prussia	d. 1943 Calif
John Lewis	b. 1855 Ohio	d. 1912 Calif
George	b. 1859 Iowa	d. 1862 Calif - from eating green peas
Henry	b. 1860 Iowa	d. 1878 Calif.
Mary	b. 1861 Calif.	m. Emil Wickert
Walter A.	b. 1866 Calif.

 
In the spring of 1852. Michael, Charlotte, and children, along with all the family and neighbors who could afford it. emigrated to America. The Brauers settled in Toledo where Michael joined his brother, Jacob in a tailor shop; Charlotte's brother-in-law. Phillips, who came with them set
up a pottery business in Toledo.

As ready-made suits replaced custom tailoring. Michael moved on to other things; the family spent about four years in Des Moines. Iowa. Then in April 1860 they joined a wagon train in Council Bluffs and headed west. Michael wanted to go to the coast but no roads and autumn weather persuaded him to buy a sheep ranch near Ono.

In 1861 Michael renounced allegiance to Frederick William, King of Prussia and in 1866 he was naturalized which made him, his wife, and all his children under sixteen American citizens.

In 1870 Michael and Charlotte managed to send $1000 to Charlotte's halfbrother. Carl Voss so he could bring his family to Shasta County. In 1872 Michael traded the store for a sawmill on Eagle Creek. He gradually retired to his garden while Oscar and Henry took over the mill. In 1878, Henry apparently suffered a dizzy spell and drowned in the millpond; that same year Michael traded the mill for 480 acres of land in Burney Valley.

In the early 1880s. Oscar and John married Crews sisters and Mary wed Emil Wickert; Walter remained at home with his parents. In the early 1890s Michael traded the Burney Valley ranch for the Malgin Ranch in Oak Run. This is the family home the grandchildren remember in Oscar
Brauer's family history. Michael and Charlotte lived out their days on this ranch. He was laid to rest in the Millville Masonic Cemetery in 1902 and she joined him in 1907.

Source:  Shasta Historical Society