Martin V. & Clara H. Stamm, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. (2012 photo by Karen)
This is the tombstone of Martin V. and Clara H. Stamm, located in row 7 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:
STAMM
Martin V.
1882-1974
Clara H.
1889-1979
Martin Victor Stamm, born 1 March 1882, was the son of Peter and Mary A. (Breuninger) Stamm, of Harrison Township, Van Wert County. He died 30 March 1974 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Clara was the daughter of Christian and Margaretha (Haffner) Kessler, born in Chattanooga and from the Zion Chatt parish. Martin and Clara were married 7 April 1907 at Zion Schumm. The couple had three sons, Russell, Archie and Orval.
What is interesting is that I am related to both Martin and Clara. Read on to see how.
Obituary:
Martin V. Stamm
WILLSHIRE—Martin V. Stamm, 92, of Willshire, died at 11:55 a.m. Saturday in the Lutheran Home in Fort Wayne. He had been a resident at the home since Feb. 26 and had been in failing health for a week.
He was born March 1, 1882, in Harrison Township.
He married Clara Kessler on April 7, 1907. She survives.
A retired carpenter and farmer, Mr. Stamm was a member of the Zion Lutheran Church in Schumm.
Also surviving are three sons, Russell A. of Fort Wayne, Archie C. of Toledo and Orval P. of Atlanta, Ga.; a brother, Richard L., of San Diego, Calif., three grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
Funeral services will be held at Zwick Funeral Home in Decatur, Ind., at 2:25 p.m. EDT and at 3 p.m. EDT in Zion Lutheran Church, Schumm, with the Rev. Robert Schuler officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery.
Friends may call at the funeral home from 3-9 p.m. EDT Tuesday and Wednesday until the services.
Preferred memorials are to the church building fund. [1]
Martin’s birth and baptism were not recorded in Zion Schumm’s records.
According to the records of Zion Chatt, Clara Henrietta Kessler was born 16 February 1889 in Chattanooga to Christian and Margaretha (Haffner) Kessler. Clara was baptized 7 April 1889 there. Witnesses to her baptism were Jacob and Maria Kessler and her parents. The pastor was P.J. Oilkers. Clara died 20 February 1979 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Obituary:
Clara Stamm, 89, a resident of the Lutheran Home in Fort Wayne, Ind., and a resident of Willshire, for many years, died last Tuesday at her residence. She had lived there since 1974. Born in Ohio on February 16, 1889, she was the daughter of Christian and Marguerite Kessler, and was married on April 1907, to Martin V. Stamm, who died March 31, 1974.
Survivors include three children, Russell, A. Stamm, Fort Wayne, Archie C. Stamm, Palmer, Alaska, Orval P. Stamm, Atlanta, Georgia; one sister, Mrs. Marion (Frances) Watkins, Rockford, Illinois; three grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the Zwick Funeral Home, Decatur. Burial was in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery at Schumm. [2]
So how am I related to both of these people? Martin’s mother, Mary A. Breuninger, was the daughter of my great-great-grandfather, Louis Breuninger, making Martin my first cousin twice removed. Clara’s grandfather, Christian Kessler, was a brother to my great-great-grandmother, Marie Kessler, the mother of my great-grandfather Jacob Miller. Clara was my second cousin twice removed.
This proves once again that it is a small world indeed.
[1] The Van Wert Times Bulletin, Van Wert, Ohio, 1 April 1974 p. 2.
[2] The Photo Star, Willshire, Ohio, 21 February 1979.
