The origin of the Michigan family tree is not entirely certain, but there are several arguments for the supposition that the founding father was Ernst Jacob Bardelmeier, born 7 June 1829 in Lienen, Westfalen, Germany, as the first son of Eberhard Conrad Bardelmeier and Catharina Elsabein Peters. Without doubt these people were poor, since they choose to follow the road of so many Germans (and other Europeans as well) in those times: by emigration to America. Ernst Jacob left between 1846 and 1850, and his parents followed in 1861, together with their elder daughter and her husband.
At first Ernst Jacob lived some years in La Porte, Indiana, where he married. Afterwards he settled as a farmer in New Buffalo, Berrien County, Michigan (16 kilometers from La Porte), where he finally possessed 75 acres of farming-land.
As far as I know, nowadays there are no longer any male descendants with Bardelmeier as their surname in Michigan.

Map of New Buffalo Township from 1860, showing the division of the land into rectangular sections. The probable location of Ernest Bardelmeier's property within section 1 is marked by a red dot.
Apparently, Ernest acquired it after 1860, because on the map the area is still unoccupied. He then already lived in New Buffalo, since his son Philip was born there in 1859. In 1892 he is reported to possess 75 acres in section 1.
Sources: (1) berrien.migenweb.org/map-files, new buffalo township. (2) newbuffalogenes.com/1892dir.html, bardlemeier.