February 2012 archive

For Whom the Bell Tolls

This is the bell tower of Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga. Nowadays we hear the church bell ring on Sunday mornings, but many years ago church bells rang every day and played an important part in the daily lives of the people of the church and the community. When my great-great-grandfather Louis Breuninger came to America from …

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Tombstone Tuesday–Mary Schumm

This is the tombstone of Mary Schumm, located in row 11 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The gravestone is inscribed: SCHUMM, Mary, Wife of Frederick Schumm, 1861-1930. Mary was the second wife of Frederick Schumm Jr. Frederick and his first wife Margaretha Ehrenmann were featured in the two previous Tombstone Tuesday …

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John Bryan’s Bible

Last summer I visited Ed, a distant relative who lives in Jay County, Indiana. We both descend from different children of John and Hannah (Huey) Bryan. John was born in 1824 and died in 1900. During our visit Ed showed me John Bryan’s Bible. He thought this was John’s everyday Bible and the one he …

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