Aug 03

Faces of the First Schumm Reunion

1924 Schumm Reunion

The Schumm reunion is this coming Sunday. The descendants of John George Schumm have had a reunion nearly every two years since 1924 at Zion Lutheran Church in Schumm. John George Schumm and his five children immigrated to America in 1833 and they established the village and church at Schumm in about 1838.

The Schumm family in America has grown ever since. We updated the Schumm History and Genealogy in 2010 and there were over 7600 individuals and over 2500 families in the database at that time.

I have been studying the large photo of that first Schumm reunion in 1924. The complete photo is shown on the blog post, “It’s Family Reunion Time”, posted a few weeks back. After I scanned the photo I enlarged it so I could see the details of the faces of those gathered in front of the massive barn that was once on the Schumm homestead. Below are some of those images.

I believe the gentleman in the photo below was my great-grandfather, Louis Schumm (1851-1938). He looks like he may be dozing off.

My great-grandfather, Louis Schumm. (1851-1938)

Or perhaps Louis could not keep his eyes open because of the bright summer sun. This little girl looks like she was trying to shade her eyes from the sun:

Some of the ladies wore splendid hats:

Hats were also popular with the men, who seemed to favor the straw variety:

Some of the children just couldn’t hold still and their faces will forever be a blur:

While others were caught on film while doing, well, who knows?

There was entertainment at the reunion, too:

I would love to know the identities of the individuals in the photo. Perhaps someone has their names written down. I’ll try to find out Sunday.

The vast majority of those in the photo are gone but a few are still alive today. Velma Schumm and her third cousin Karl Schumm are both now 98 years old. They were probably among the children sitting on the ground in front and both plan to be at Sunday’s reunion. Maybe they remember where they were positioned in the photo.

We have asked people to bring family photos Sunday and I will scan as many as I can with my portable Flip Pal Scanner. I plan to create a slide show with the scanned photos and pass out copies at the 2014 reunion.

I’m sure John George Schumm would be very pleased to know how much his family has grown and that they and reside in nearly every state in the Union. He would also be pleased to know that many of them carry on the Lutheran faith. The Bible he brought with him from Germany will be donated to Zion’s congregation during Sunday’s church service.

John George will probably be looking down fondly from heaven at everyone gathered at this year’s Schumm reunion.

Jul 31

Tombstone Tuesday–Friedricka Beberstein

Friedricka Beberstein, Kessler Cemetery, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio.

This is the tombstone of Friedricka Beberstein, located in row 14 of Kessler Cemetery, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed: Friedricka, Wife of A Beberstein, Died Sept 15, 1905, Aged 74 Y, 7 d. She is buried near her husband, with two tombstones between theirs.

According to the church records of Zion Lutheran, Chattanooga, Friedricka “Biberstein” died 15 September 1905 of pneumonia. She was aged 74 years and 7 days and was buried on the 18th. Her survivors included 1 son, 2 daughters and 16 grandchildren.

Other church records show that Friedricka’s maiden name was Stretter and that she was born in Murr, Württemberg.

A search on FamilySearch.org indicates that Abraham “Bebertson” married Frederica Streiter on 12 Jun 1856 in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. [1] This location is confirmed by another church record at Zion that states that their son George Washington was born in Sandy Township, Tuscarawas County, Ohio.

However, it appears that Abraham was married before this. The 1850 US census shows Abraham and Anna M “Beverstone” living in Sandy, Tuscarawas County. Abraham was 55 years old and Anna was 46. [2]

In 1860 Abraham and Fredericka “Beverstine” were still living in Sandy, with George W (2) and Mary (1) in their household. Abraham was 63 and Fredericka was 29. [3]

By 1870 the family was living in Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio: Abraham “Bastian” (72), Fredrcka (38), Washington (13), Abraham (11), and Lydia (7). [4]

In 1880 the “Beaverstein” family was still living Mercer County, Ohio: Abraham (83), Fredricia (48), George W (23), Mary (21), Minnie (16), and Caroline (5). [5]

Abraham passed away in 1885 and was the subject of last week’s Tombstone Tuesday.

Friedricka Beberstein, Kessler Cemetery, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio.

Sources:

[1] Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org  : accessed 29 July 2012), Abraham Bebertson, 1856.

[2] 1850 US Census, Sandy, Tuscarawas, Ohio; Roll: M432_735; Page: 264B; Image: 93 (http://www.ancestry.com  : accessed 29 July 2012).

[3] 1860 US Census, Sandy, Tuscarawas, Ohio; Roll: M653_1043; Page: 354; Image 297; Family History Library Film: 805043 (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 July 2012).

[4] 1870 US Census, Liberty, Mercer, Ohio; Roll: M593_1243; Page: 148B; Image: 301; Family History Library Film: 552742. (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 July 2012).

[5] 1880 US Census, Liberty, Mercer, Ohio; Roll: 1048; Family History Film: 1255048; Page: 472C; Enumeration District: 188; Image: 0656. (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 29 July 2012).

 

 

Jul 27

More Photos From the Barn

The new Miller horse trough. Howard Caffee, Ruth, Helen, Em, Carl Miller. (c1925)

Here are a few more photos from the group that I found in the Miller barn a few weeks ago. My Aunt Ruth was able to identify individuals in a few of the photos last weekend.

We had quite a discussion about last week’s photo that was labeled Gertrude Brewster Miller. A couple of us thought the girl in the photo looked like Gertrude’s mother Pearl but Aunt Ruth believes the girl in the photograph is indeed Gertrude. Brian pointed out that the chair Gertrude was sitting in is identical to the chair Augusta Brewster was photographed sitting in. Augusta was born in 1897 and Gertrude was born in 1896. They were close in age and both photographs may have been taken by the same photographer.

The above photo was taken after pouring a horse trough at the Miller farm. The Millers and Caffees were neighbors and Howard’s wife Caroline was my Grandpa Miller’s sister.

Vernon Caffee, son of Howard:

Vernon Caffee (1915-1977)

Ralph and Alpha (Brewster) Derrickson and daughter Pauline. Alpha was Grandma (Gertrude Brewster) Miller’s sister. Aunt Ruth said that Ralph was a very good baseball player:

Ralph and Alpha (Brewster) Derrickson with daughter Pauline. (c1917)

Dorothy (Brewster) Weaver, Grandma (Gertrude Brewster) Miller’s sister:

Dorothy (Brewster) Weaver (1916-2009)

Wesley and Ardella Kallenberger:

Wesley and Ardella Kallenberger. (c1910)

Mike and Maggie (Rueck-Miller) Kallenberger with children Ardella, Wesley and John. Maggie was Grandpa Miller’s half sister. Aunt Ruth remembers that she enjoyed eating pop corn at Aunt Maggie’s. She also said that the Kallenbergers had a Delco system for generating electricity:

Mike and Maggie (Rueck-Miller) Kallenberger with children Ardella, Wesley and John.

Wesley and Minnie (Johnson) Kallenberger with children:

Wesley and Minnie (Johnson) Kallenberger with children Max, Jean LaVonne, baby Donald.

Please let me know if any of you readers have additions or corrections to any of these photos.

 

Jul 24

Tombstone Tuesday–Abraham Beberstein

Abraham Beberstein, Kessler Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio.

This is the tombstone of Abraham Beberstein, located in row 14 of Kessler Cemetery, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed: BEBERSTEIN, Abraham Beberstein Died Sept 4, 1885, Aged 87 Y, 6 M, 26 d.

The broken column is now on the ground, facing west and leaning against the base. The base faces east and is inscribed BEBERSTEIN.

Although Abraham Beberstein and his family attended Zion Lutheran Church in Chattanooga, they were buried in Kessler Cemetery. Kessler Cemetery, also known as Liberty Cemetery, is located on Oregon Road, about 2 miles from Chattanooga and one half mile from the Indiana State Line.

According to Zion Lutheran’s records Abraham Beberstein was born 17 February 1798 in Betringen, Canton Bern, Switzerland, and died 3 September 1884, He was aged 87 years, 6 months and 16 days. Note that the tombstone and church records disagree slightly.

An 1876 map of Mercer County shows that Abraham “Bevestine” owned land in the southeast quarter of Section 18 of Liberty Township. This land would have been about 2 miles south of Chattanooga and about 1/2 mile from Kessler Cemetery, on what is now State Route 49.

Abraham’s tombstone is between those of his children and his wife Friedricka.

This surname was spelled several different ways in the church records and on their tombstones: Baberstein, Beberstein, Beiberstein and Biberstein.

 

Jul 20

Found! A Stash of Photos

Photo labeled Gertrude Brewster Miller.

I spent this past week working with photos–rearranging family photos that my dad had on his computer and scanning a group of photos I found while helping clean out the Miller barn.

We spent several Saturdays this summer cleaning out the barn. I had hoped to find a few treasures there but until that last Saturday I had only found a few horse shoes, some granite containers, some old blue Ball jars, an old school desk and a crude handcrafted wooden cupboard that Joe and my mom could not believe that I insisted we drag home.

But on that last Saturday, after we had almost filled a second dumpster, I found a box of old books, papers and photos. That was it! That was what I was hoping to find. My work gloves came off and my barn cleaning work came to a halt so I could rummage through the photos.

Among the items in the box were loose photos and an old black photo album. I do not know who originally owned the album but there were some Miller, Caffee, Brewster, and Kallenberger and photos in it. Perhaps the album belonged to my grandma, Gertrude (Brewster) Miller. There were photos that I had not seen before and others I had seen but only had copies of.

So this past week I sorted through the photos, arranged them and set out to digitize them. I scanned over three hundred photos in just a couple hours with my Flip Pal portable scanner. After I scanned them I put them on my PC and cropped and edited them. Here are a few of photos from the album.

The above photo has Gertrude Brewster Miller written on the back. However, the girl in the photo looks a lot like her mother Pearl. I also wonder about the clothing style in the photo. The photo may have been taken about 1910 if that is Gertrude in the chair. Gertrude was born in 1896 and Pearl was born in 1880.

This is a photo of Gene, Fern and Vernon Caffee, cousins to the Millers:

Gene, Fern and Vernon Caffee

Mice had chewed the corners of many of the loose photos in the box. It is a good thing the picture portion wasn’t very tasty to them. Below is an old Sunday School photo with Elsie Byers as the Sunday School teacher. It was taken in what is now the kitchen at Zion Lutheran, Chattanooga. You can see where mice chewed the corners of the photo.

Sunday School Class, Zion Lutheran, Chattanooga. (c1950)

Here is a photo of Johnny & Clara (Miller) Reef and her mother Christina (Rueck) Miller:

Johnny & Clara (Miller) Reef, Christine (Rueck) Miller.

I also found a WWII photo of my dad in one of the worst picture frames I have ever seen. I have seen this type of glass frame before and even have one at home. It is not a photo friendly frame because it leaves 4 screw holes in the corners of the photo.

Glass picture frame with 4 screws.

And of course, no Miller photo album would be complete without a porch swing photo:

Early porch swing photo.