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What part of Michigan? Our family was in Allegan and Muskegon, and a few in Kent as well.
I can tell you that the Punches name in Michigan started out in Pennsylvania as Pontius, Pontzius or Pontious. There were two men (assumed to be brothers), Nicholas and Johannes Pontius, who immigrated from Germany in 1738, and there were two other Pontius men, David and Marcus, who took the Oath of Allegiance in 1768 in Philadelphia. There was also a Johan Christian Pontius who immigrated to New York City very early. And there have been a few other immigrants named Pons or Pontius or Poyntz as well. Most of the Punches descendents come from Nicholas and Johannes, but the other lines haven't as yet been as well explored.
There is also a remote possibility that the Irish name Punch has been altered to Punches, but I have personally found no evidence of it in the various records. The German name Punches or Pontius or even Pointz, however, has definitely been listed as Punch in census records, and at least one German in PA was listed as Punch. (His will was written in German.)
If you can give us some clues, I am sure some of us can help you determine which line you descend from. The Michigan Punches families have been (and is still being) researched pretty heavily by several of us.
Len
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