1923 Detroit Catholic Churches

**grander54** · February-06-11, 06:42 PM

Hello Detroit...new to this forum. I'm doing genealogy research on my Ritter Surname [[paternal line). From going through City Directories and census records, I find that I had relatives living at 1246 Trumball Ave and at 71 Lothrop. Does anyone know what the most likely Catholic Church they would have been members of in 1923...they were of German heritage. I'm in California so, not easy for me to drive around and look. Thanks!

**Neilr** · February-06-11, 08:23 PM

Welcome, grander54,

The relatives on Trumbull most likey attended Most holy Trinity Church on Porter & 6th Street, about 4 blocks from their home.

The ones on Lothrop could have gone to Our Lady of the Rosary on Woodward & Midbury [[I94), 10 or so blocks to the south or they could have attended St. Agnes on 12th Street also about 10 blocks away but to the west [[now closed). Or perhaps they chose to attend Blessed Sacrament Cathedral a mile or so the the north.

If they had a strong ethnic identity they may have chosen to attend a church that had services in their native language.

Good luck with your research.

GUSHI · February-06-11, 08:25 PM

The AOD may have some kind of record of its members back then. You could try contacting them.

**grander54** · February-06-11, 09:59 PM

Thanks for the tips! I did send an email to Archdiocese of Detroit and they provided a list of over 70 churches in Detroit in 1923. I needed to narrow it down. This will be more manageable now. Great site, I've spent hours looking at previous postings.

**SWMAP** · February-07-11, 07:33 AM

The German church very near the address on Trumbull was St. Boniface. It was just west of Tiger Stadium. Sacramental records dating from approximately 1910 andbefore can be researched at Detroit's Burton Collection in the Main Library. Marriages, baptisms are available.
Likely they would have been members there. Both the Church and the school are demolished.

**DetroitPlanner** · February-07-11, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by SWMAP

The German church very near the address on Trumbull was St. Boniface. It was just west of Tiger Stadium. Sacramental records dating from approximately 1910 andbefore can be researched at Detroit's Burton Collection in the Main Library. Marriages, baptisms are available.
Likely they would have been members there. Both the Church and the school are demolished.

I still find it ironic the Mr atrchitecture and the Catholic owner of the Tiger's bought St Boniface and tore it down for a parking lot! Way to go Tommy!

**NorthofNormal** · February-07-11, 11:39 AM

Grander54, the AoD only has records from closed parishes. MHT and Our Lady of the Rosary are still open, you will need to contact them directly for your records. On the other hand, I think the AoD archivists will do some genealogical research for a small fee [[$10, maybe? Not sure on that, but it sounds right.)

I don't believe that parish rolls are available for that time--and if they were, it would be closed churches only, not the ones still open--just the sacramental records.

**grander54** · April-13-11, 07:03 PM

I wanted to do a little follow up on this thread I started. Thanks to the info I received here, I ended up talking again to AoD, the records I wanted had been sent to the Burton Collection. I lucked out there, getting 2 answers to my email...one said the didn't have the time to research what I was looking for and I would need to hire a genealogist or researcher; the 2nd reply said they had found the name I was looking for on the Detroit Death Index for 1923. I was able to obtain an exact date of death [[which I previously did not have) and acquired a death certificate from Detroit. It arrived today!!! The young man was a student at Holy Rosary High School when he died in 1923 of Graves disease.

**DtCtyGrl** · April-19-11, 02:31 PM

Originally Posted by grander54

I wanted to do a little follow up on this thread I started. Thanks to the info I received here, I ended up talking again to AoD, the records I wanted had been sent to the Burton Collection. I lucked out there, getting 2 answers to my email...one said the didn't have the time to research what I was looking for and I would need to hire a genealogist or researcher; the 2nd reply said they had found the name I was looking for on the Detroit Death Index for 1923. I was able to obtain an exact date of death [[which I previously did not have) and acquired a death certificate from Detroit. It arrived today!!! The young man was a student at Holy Rosary High School when he died in 1923 of Graves disease.

I love a good genealogical challenge! Send me names and dates and I'll see what I can dig up.