Altogether, there were nine children - one each from previous marriages and seven together. Click on the images below for a larger view.
| Michael's previous marriage to Lana/Lanie Herrmann on April 15, 1878 gave birth to Lena Roll in January 1879. Lana died shortly after she gave birth. Lena married Fred Luth (also spelled Leuth and Lueth in Michael's and Annie's wills) and moved to Erie, PA. She had four daughters: Minnie, Gertrude, Ann, and Lillian. |  Lena and Fred Luth |
Frank Flick Roll (standing) with his maternal grandfather Jacob Zwilling, his son Harry, and mother Annie Zwilling Roll |
Annie was previously married to Frank Flick, Sr. and gave birth to Frank Flick, Jr. in 1882. Although he was never formally adopted by Michael, he took his name and was known as Frank Roll. He had a son named Michael Harry Flick who legally changed his name to Roll. |
The boys in the Roll family all had nicknames, which makes it somewhat difficult to keep track of who is who. Hopefully the information below will help.
Louis Edward Roll was known as Edward and was named as Edward L. Roll in Michael's will. He joined a circus around the age of 10 and moved to Lowell, MA where he operated a blacksmith shop. I have no photograph of him.
| George Henry Roll was nicknamed "Chuck." He married Elmira (Myra) Charlotte Zink in 1908. They had three sons: George Edward, Robert Michael, and Howard Roy. He worked on the railroad in South Buffalo and a factory in Tully, NY then moved to a farm in Delevan, NY during the Depression. |
Myra and George Henry Roll with granddaughter Karen ca. 1958 |
Gertrude and Fred (Junior) Plauman |
Gertrude lived next door to Michael and Annie. She married Frederick Plauman, Sr. and had a son also named Frederick. The spelling of their last name is also known as Plowman. |
The fourth child, Perlie, only lived three months.
| Sylvester Roll, also known as "Lester" married three times. The first time to Helen Nowicki, the second to Rosie Plauman (a cousin of Gertrude's husband), and the third time to Irene Steiger. With Rosie, he had two children, Kathleen and Charles. |
Lester and Irene Roll |
Raymond (Pat) Roll |
Raymond Roll also worked for the railroad. He was known as "Pat." He and Lester served in World War I. |
Pat and Lester Roll in their WWI uniforms |
Earl (Mush) Roll |
The last child was Earl "Mush" Roll. He also worked for the railroad. He married Thelma Lavendar. |
