Sep 25

Tombstone Tuesday–Some Tombstones from St. Augustine Cemetery

This past Sunday was an absolutely perfect autumn day. The temperature was in the mid-70s and there was not a cloud in the sky. It was the perfect time to walk through a cemetery.

I lead a walk through Minster’s St. Augustine Cemetery Sunday afternoon, hosted by Minster’s Historical Society. I was not acquainted with St. Augustine Cemetery, but after several visits there and a little bit of research I was able to tell about a few Minster notables buried there and point out interesting artwork on some grave markers. I learned there is a lot of history in this beautiful cemetery.

St. Augustine Cemetery is a large cemetery. Situated on 27 acres, the first land for the cemetery was purchased in 1838. Find a Grave shows that there are over 4500 interred there.

My focus Sunday was in the old section and most of the inscriptions in this section are in German. A couple of the attendees could speak fluent German and it was fun to hear them talk.

Here are a few tombstone photos from the old section of St. Augustine Cemetery.

Monument, dedicated in 1891, located in the center of St. Augustine Cemetery. (2017 photo by Karen)

Steinemann Chapel was erected in 1855 by John Henry Steinemann (1808-1877), in thanksgiving for his wife Catherine Gertrude Meyer’s (1808-1872) recovery from a serious illness. It is constructed of brick from the Steinemann brickyard.

Steinemann Chapel. (2018 photo by Karen)

John Henry and wife Catherine Gertrude (Meyer) Steinemann are buried near the Steinemann Chapel, under the tree.

Tombstones of John Henry Steinemann (1808-1877) and wife Catherine Gertrude (Meyer) (1808-1872). (2018 photo by Karen)

The section was reserved for sisters and brothers of the Society of the Precious Blood. A few orphans are also buried here.

Section reserved for sisters and brothers of the Society of the Precious Blood. (2018 photo by Karen)

Metal angel monument for Henry Beckman (1905-1909).

Henry Beckman (1905-1909). (2018 photo by Karen)

A devastating cholera epidemic struck Minster in 1849. Some of the victims were buried in individual unmarked graves but over 300 were buried in an unmarked mass grave consisting of several trenches. This monument was erected in 1937, dedicated to the memory of all the cholera victims. Inscription: In Pious Memory of All Our Cholera Victims, over 300, Especially in the Year 1849. The tombstones in the background are those of the Irish Catholic immigrant cholera victims.

Monument erected in 1937, in memory of over 300 cholera victims in 1849. (2018 photo by Karen)

Irish Catholic immigrants, hired by canal contractors to excavate the stretch of the Miami-Erie Canal from Piqua to Deep Cut, were buried in the northwest section of the cemetery between 1838-1842. The damp conditions in which they worked exposed them to many diseases, including typhus, cholera, and malaria. There used to be many more of their sandstone markers in this section but only a few remain today. Most are inscribed with the county in Ireland from where they came.

Sandstone marker of Irish canal worker William Carroll, a native of the Parish of Donemagin, Baroney, Kells Co. Kilkenny Ireland. (2018 photo by Karen)

Another view of the old section of St. Augustine Cemetery.

Old section of St. Augustine Cemetery. (2018 photo by Karen)

Cross and clasped hands. (2018 photo by Karen)

Inscribed by engraver J. Ley, Minster. (2018 photo by Karen)

 

Sandstone marker of M.M. Wehrmann, born Scheper (1786-1848). (2018 photo by Karen)

 

R.I.P. (2018 Photo by Karen)

Joint Depweg children’s marker with lambs and crosses, likely siblings. (2018 photo by Karen)

We found two wooden tombstones! Wooden tombstones are very unusual and are seldom seen because they usually did not survive. Unfortunately we could not see an inscription on either and do not know how old they are, but they looked very old.

Wooden tombstone, St. Augustine Cemetery. (2018 photo by Karen)

Wooden tombstone, St. Augustine Cemetery. (2018 photo by Karen)

This monument is in honor of Franz Joseph Stallo (1793-1833), the German immigrant who founded Minster. A school teacher and printer/book binder, he came to America in 1831 and first lived in Cincinnati. He and a few others formed a stock company in 1832, purchased 1200 acres in what was then Mercer and Shelby Counties, and, with several other German families, founded the town of Minster. The town was first known as Stallowtown.

Franz Joseph Stallo, founder of Minster (1793-1833). (2018 photo by Karen)

Thanks to the Minister Historical Society for inviting me to speak and a thank you to the nice group of people that attended the cemetery walk and talk this past Sunday. It was a fun afternoon.

Sep 21

Book about 1872 Murder Near Chatt

Most everyone who grew up in the Chatt area has heard about the murder of 13-year-old Mary Secaur in June 1872 and of the lynching of the two men who were jailed for her murder, Absalom Kimmel and Alexander McLeod.

Mary Arabelle Secaur was murdered on her way home from church one Sunday, murdered east of Chatt on Tama Road, nearly across the road from where the Farmer’s Picnic is held. Kimmel and McLeod were accused of murdering Mary and were being held in the Mercer County jail when a mob overcame the sheriff, took the prisoners from the jail, and hung two them.

I have read a little about this incident but have never really delved into it.

This past Monday Joe and I attended the program at the Shane’s Crossing Historical Society, to hear the speaker David Kimmel, an English professor at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio, who is also a descendant of one of the Secaur murder suspects. He spoke about the book he recently wrote and published, Outrage in Ohio: A Rural Murder, Lynching, and Mystery, which was released just a few weeks ago.

Outrage in Ohio, by David Kimmel, 2018.

A good number of people from the Chatt and Rockford area were also there Monday night to hear Kimmel, some of them Secaur descendants, some of them Kimmel descendants.

David Kimmel, author of Outrage in Ohio. (2018)

Monday evening Kimmel told about the families involved, discussed the murder and the lynching, and told why and how he used some of his own narrative in the book. Afterward, several members of the audience shared their thoughts and theories about the event. It was good program and Kimmel is an interesting speaker.

I purchased a copy of Kimmel’s book Monday evening and started reading it right away. It looks to be very interesting and informative.

Outrage in Ohio is an extensively-researched account of this murder and the events afterward. It appears that he has performed a “reasonably exhaustive search,” as we call it in genealogy research. He has searched through numerous sources in many places, talked to relatives and other individuals, and visited the area several times. There is a long list of end-notes at the back of the book that show his sources of information.

He has tried to learn and tell about the people living near the Secaurs and Kimmels as well. Something we call the FAN Club Principle in genealogy—researching someone’s Friends, Associates, and Neighbors. You can learn a lot by researching these other people.

David Kimmel puts all this information together in his book, with a bit of historical fiction writing, giving you an idea of what the people may have been doing and thinking and feeling at the time.

This may be the only recently-compiled account of this incident. The facts and details are all in one book.

I know that Kimmel was looking for anything related to this incident and the people involved. A couple years ago he contacted me and asked to look through the 1842 Liberty Township Estray Book. He was looking for any information about the families involved and their neighbors. He told me about the book he was writing and I had been looking forward to its publication and reading it ever since.

Out of curiosity I looked up their death records and see that Mercer County Probate Deaths record the deaths of Mary A. Secaur, Absolem Kimmel, and Alex McLeod all on the same page, one after another: [1]

Columns: Number/Name/Date of Death/Married, Single, Widowed/Age/Place of Death/Place of BirthColumns: Occupation/Father/Mother/White, Colored/Cause of Death/Residence/By Whom Reported

After 146 years, parts and details of the story will likely always remain a mystery. Although there are several theories about what really happened and who was guilty, there are just some things we will never really know for sure. And I think this mystery is one of them.

Karen with author David Kimmel (2018) (David is just a little taller than me!)

 

[1] “Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001,” database with images, FamilySearch
(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9ZR-K811?i=64&cc=2128172 : viewed 20 Sep 2018), Mary A. Secaur, 23 Jun 1872; Liberty Township, Mercer Co., Vol. 1:42; FHL microfilm 914954.

Sep 18

Tombstone Tuesday–David Kreiselmeyer

David Kreiselmeyer, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of David Kreiselmeyer, located in row 1 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

David
Sohn von
C. & S. Kreiselmeyer
geb. den. 3 October 1851
gest. den. 16 April 1865

David, son of C. & S. Kreiselmeyer, born 3 October 1851, died 16 April 1865.

David Kreiselmeyer was born on 3 October 1851, likely in Crawford County, Ohio, the son of Christoph and Susanna (Schwab) Kreiselmeyer. His baptism is not mentioned in Zion Schumm’s records because he was likely baptized before the family moved to Van Wert County.

David’s father was born in Germany and his mother was born in Ohio and they were married in Crawford County, Ohio, on 7 October 1847. [1]

The Kreiselmeyer family moved to Van Wert County, Ohio, sometime between 1850 and 1859. In 1860 they lived very close to my great-grandfather Louis Schumm, who was young boy at that time.

The Christoph Kreiselmeyer family, as enumerated in 1860 in Van Wert County: Christopher, 38; Susan, 28, Mary C, 11; David, 9; John, 6; and Hannah, 1. [2]

According to Zion Schumm’s records, David Kreiselmeyer died on Easter Sunday, 16 April 1865, at the age of 13 years, 6 months, and 13 days. He was buried on the 18th. His church death record also indicates that he was born on 3 October 1851. His death was not recorded in Van Wert probate because Ohio did not begin recording deaths until 1867.

David is buried next to his brother Daniel Gottfried Kreiselmeyer.

Several other children who were born to Christoph and Susanna Kreiselmeyer are mentioned in Zion Schumm’s records, but there may have been more children born to this couple:

Hanna Magdalena Kreiselmeier, born 24 March 1859, baptized 27 March 1859.
Georg Friedrich Kreiselmeier, born 19 May 1863, baptized 24 May 1863. [Married Marguerite Buechner]
Anna Rosine Caroline Kreiselmeyer, born 16 April 1866, baptized 22 April 1866. [Married Henry Gunsett]
Wilhelm Heinrich Kreiselmeyer, born 12 July 1869, baptized 12 August 1869.
Daniel G., born 24 March 1875, baptized the same day, died 26 March 1875.

The mother Susanna died in 1894 and the father Christoph died in 1900. Both are buried in Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm.

 

[1] “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013,” FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939K-BJ3K-HQ?i=46&cc=1614804 : viewed 17 Sep 2018), George Christopher Kreiselmeyer and Susanna Schwab, 7 Oct 1847; Crawford County Marriages, Vol. 3:46.

[2] 1860 U.S. Census, Willshire Twp, Van Wert Co, Oh, p.150 [penned], dwelling 1072, family 1066, Christopher Railselmeyers [Kreiselmeyer]; Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7667&path= : viewed 17 Sep 2018).

Sep 14

Zion Chatt’s Quartet

Here is a photo of a very handsome group, known years ago as Zion’s Quartet.

Zion Chatt’s Quartet, Howard Caffee, Stubby Bollenbacher, Rev. Carl Yahl, Paul McGough, and Pauline (McGough) DeArmond. (c1931-1942)

In the photo, left to right are Howard Caffee, Stubby Bollenbacher, Rev. Carl Yahl, Paul McGough, and Paul’s twin sister Pauline (McGough) DeArmond. Pauline was the pianist for the quartet. Rev. Yahl was Zion Chatt’s minister from 1931-1942, so the photo was taken some time during those years.

I never heard the quartet because they were before my time, but Pauline was also Zion’s organist for many years and I remember when she played for services every Sunday. Pauline married Dale DeArmond and their daughter Mary Jane was a very accomplished pianist.

Twins Paul and Pauline McGough.

Rev. Yahl could also play the organ and played a number on Zion’s Page pipe organ when it was dedicated back in the 1930s. People say that Howard Caffee had a nice voice and played at least one musical instrument. I have heard of Stubby Bollenbacher, which was more than likely his nickname, but I do not know his given name. I am sure someone does and can fill in that information.

In addition to the nice photo of the group I notice several other things in the background.

The old wooden doors and the stained glass above doors are no longer there. They have been replaced by glass doors and matching window, but I remember these wooden doors that were painted white.

In front of the overgrown shrubs is an old well pump. Later, when I was a child, the pump was replaced with a drinking fountain.

What I nice photo! I wish there was a recording of Zion’s Quartet so I could hear them sing today.

Sep 11

Tombstone Tuesday–Daniel G. Kreiselmeyer

Daniel G. Kreiselmeyer, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. (2018 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Daniel G. Kreiselmeyer, located in row 1 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Daniel G.
Sohn von
C. & S.
Kreiselmeyer
geb. den. 24 Marz.
1875
gest. den. 26 Marz.
1875

Daniel G., son of C. & S. Kreiselmeyer, born 24 March 1875, died 26 March 1875.

According to Zion Schumm’s records, Gottfried Daniel Kreiselmeyer was born 24 March 1875 to Christoph and Susanna (Schwab) Kreiselmeyer. Gottfried Daniel was baptized on the same day, with Gottfried Brenner and [illegible] Kreiselmeyer serving as his sponsors.

Gottfried Daniel died 2 days later, on 26 March 1875 and was buried on the 27th. His death is record in the Van Wert County Deaths, with his given name as Godfried and their residence as Willshire, [1] although they lived in rural Willshire.

Gottfried Daniel’s father was born in Germany and his mother was born in Ohio. They were married in Crawford County, Ohio in 1847 and moved to Van Wert County, Ohio, between 1850 and 1859.

Several other children born to Christoph and Susanna Kreiselmeyer are mentioned in Zion Schumm’s records:

Hanna Magdalena Kreiselmeier, born 24 March 1859, baptized 27 March 1859.
Georg Friedrich Kreiselmeier, born 19 May 1863, baptized 24 May 1863. [Married Marguerite Buechner]
Anna Rosine Caroline Kreiselmeyer, born 16 April 1866, baptized 22 April 1866. [Married Henry Gunsett]
Wilhelm Heinrich Kreiselmeyer, born 12 July 1869, baptized 12 August 1869.
David Kreiselmeyer, born 3 October 1851, died Easter, 16 April 1865.

Those children were mentioned in Zion Schumm’s records, but they may have had more children.

The mother Susanna died in 1894 and the father Christoph died in 1900. Both are buried in Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm.

And of course there is a connection between the Kreiselmeyers and the Schumms. Georg Friedrich Kreiselmeier, son of Christoph and Susanna, married Marguerite Buechner at Zion Schumm in 1885.

 

[1] “Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001,” database with images, FamilySearch.org (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-672G-MV?i=201&cc=2128172 : viewed 10 Sep 2018), Godfored Kreiselmeyer, 26 Mar 1875; FHL microfilm 1015858.