Aug 17

This & That During The Summer of 2012

Todd Frazier, Cincinnati Reds, and me! June 2012.

This busy summer is quickly coming to an end. As usual, I didn’t get everything accomplished that I had planned.

I wasn’t able to research as much as I had hoped and I still haven’t started my 1812 application. But I did collect, digitize and organize a lot of old family photos. I attended a national conference (NGS) in May and two family reunions a couple months later.

I signed up as a volunteer indexer for FamilySearch and enjoyed indexing Ohio batches of the 1940 census. I participated in 5 Million Record Day on 2 July, the day when volunteers were asked to index a few extra batches in order to achieve a new indexing record–5 million records in one day. Thanks to all those indexing that day we surpassed that goal, and then some. On that day over 46,000 indexers and arbitrators indexed and arbitrated over 10 million records. I indexed 19 batches of Ohio census records that day. The 1940 census has been completely indexed by now thanks to the many 1940 US Census Community Project volunteers.

We went all the way to Cincinnati for a vacation in June and attended two Reds games. While near the ballpark one afternoon Joe recognized Cincinnati Reds’ ballplayer Todd Frazier. Todd is very nice in addition to being a very versatile ball player. He was playing 3rd base for the injured Scott Rolen but has since taken charge of 1st base after Joey Votto injured his knee. Todd is also in the running for Rookie of the Year and IMHO he deserves it, hands down. Take for example that 474 foot home run Wednesday night! And there was that nifty little toss to Leake to make an out at first base during the same game. Way to go Todd! He even saved a man from choking earlier in the year. Todd and the Reds are both having a great season.

I managed to take a little time away from genealogy and my computer to venture into the great outdoors for a little yard work. Our yard was quite a mess after a hurricane-like storm went through the Midwest the end of June. My yard work went like this:

Day 1: south half of the front yard; picked up sticks, hauled away many loads in wheel barrow.
Day 2: north half of front yard; too stiff to bend over; raked sticks into 14 separate piles instead.
Day 3: blisters on hands and feet; still could not bend over; recuperated in house.

Some interesting birds passed through our yard this year. A pair of pileated woodpeckers were pounding on our trees for several months. These are the large woodpeckers, about 20 inches tall. They look like Woody Woodpecker, for those of you that remember that cartoon. We were thrilled. We thought we would never see one of these in our lifetime.

Pileated Woodpecker. This was the best photo I could get.

We also have a pair of wild turkeys that occasionally show up and wander through the yard. They like to nibble their way around the pond, possibly plumping themselves up for Thanksgiving.

Wild turkeys grazing around the pond.

Speaking of birds, this headline caught our attention a couple weeks ago:

Headline in “The Daily Standard”

We wondered what type of heron is illegal to possess. Could it be a Great Blue? The Green Heron? We often see both types on our lot. Nope, it was neither of those varieties. It seems the couple in the headline plead not guilty to possession of heroin. One little letter can change the whole story. Editors can be helpful and I do appreciate my editor Miriam.

Last, but not least, our son became engaged this past week! Wahoo! He is engaged to a wonderful girl and they make great couple. I’m sure they will be very happy together. Best of all, I will soon have a beautiful daughter-in-law. Can’t wait!

Yes, it has been an eventful summer so far and there is still have a month of it left to enjoy. And GO REDS!

Aug 14

Tombstone Tuesday–Margaretha Biberstein

Margaretha Biberstein, Kessler Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio.

This is the tombstone of Margaretha Biberstein, located in row 14 of Kessler Cemetery, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed Margaretha, tochter of A. & F. Biberstein, geb. 26 Nov 1866, gest. 26 Oct 1867, Alter 11 mo. Translation: Margaretha, daughter of A. & F. Biberstein, born 26 November 1866, died 26 October 1867, aged 11 months.  

This may be the only record of Margaretha’s birth and death.  She was not enumerated in a census because she was born and she died between census enumerations. There is no record of Margaretha’s birth, baptism, death or burial in the records of Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, or in the probate court death records of Mercer County. Mercer County began recording deaths in July 1867.

A lamb is carved on her tombstone. A lamb icon was often used to indicate an infant or child’s tombstone and represents purity and innocence.

Five Biberstein/Beberstein family tombstones are in a row in Kessler Cemetery. Margaretha’s tombstone is between the tombstones of her brother Abraham and her father Abraham. Her mother Friedricka’s tombstone is on the end. This surname was spelled several different ways in the various records and on their tombstones.

Beberstein tombstones, Kessler Cemetery. Abraham [son], Margaretha, Abraham [father], Caroline, Friedricka [mother].

Aug 10

Schumm Reunion 2012

75th Anniversary of Zion Lutheran, Schumm, 1921. Photo copied at 2012 Schumm Reunion.

The 2012 family reunion season is over for me. I was able to attend two out of three family reunions and I thoroughly enjoyed both of them.

The Schumm reunion was this past weekend. Although I wasn’t able to attend the church service, which included the dedication of the John George Schumm Bible, I went into the church as soon as I got there to look at the Bible.

John George Schumm’s Bible was donated to the congregation of Zion by the descendants of W. J. Schumm (1883-1967). The Bible is now housed in a beautiful wood case, opened to the 23rd Psalm. It is a large Bible. I didn’t measure it but it is probably about 18 inches by 12 inches. It was printed in 1692 in Nuremberg, Bavaria, and John George brought it with him when he came to America in 1833. The Bible appears to be in very good condition and it was exciting to see it.

John George Schumm Bible.

Zion’s former pastor Rev. Robert Schuler gave the message at Sunday’s church service. Back in the 1970s Rev. Schuler knew our pastor at Zion, Chattanooga. My mom said that Rev. Schuler was at our home for my grandparent’s 50th wedding anniversary in 1977. I don’t remember that but maybe she has a photo of that event somewhere. Rev. Schuler’s daughter Martha was a Parkway graduate and she came all the way from Colorado for the reunion.

After viewing the Bible I went outside to the pavilion where the reunion was being held. I had a table off to the side so I could scan photos. There were groups of photos from several people and I scanned them with my Flip Pal portable scanner and my wand scanner. Both scanners worked well and I was able to scan large and small photos as well as photos in albums. A couple people came prepared and brought digital photos on thumb drives. Thanks to everyone who shared their photos.

After the meal Mary Ann Falk from Van Wert provided the entertainment by singing several songs. There appeared to be about 200 Schumm relatives at the reunion Sunday and several attendees were recognized. The relative who traveled the farthest was from Seattle. Velma Schumm, 98, was the oldest female there and Vince Muntzinger, 92, was the oldest man in attendance. Wilbert and Ella Thieme were honored as being married the longest, 62 years.

Dave and Carol, brother and sister from New York, brought one of those long narrow photos of the 75th Anniversary of Zion Lutheran, dated 10 July 1921. I love these large group photos with so many people to look at! They said it was found in an area antique store. I really need to get out more and look around in those local shops. The wand scanner did a pretty good job scanning the long photo. It just looks a little wavy in the middle. I may have not have been moving the wand scanner steadily.

75th Anniversary of Zion Lutheran, Schumm, 1921.

A few of us were able to identify some relatives in the 1921 photo. My grandfather Cornelius Schumm is usually fairly easy to spot because he had very dark eyes and bushy hair. He is in the center of the photo below:

Cornelius Schumm, center, 1921.

I also located Cornelius’ parents Lewis and Sarah (Breuninger) in the photo. They were not sitting together and it appears that the men and women were seated in separate groups. I’m glad Sarah was holding her hat in her lap so that her face could be seen.  Sarah died 21 August 1921, a little over a month after the photo was taken. This was probably the last photo taken of her. She is in row 2, the woman to the left:

Sarah (Breuninger) Schumm, row 2, woman on the left, 1921.

Unfortunately no one knew the identities of individuals in the 1924 photo of the first Schumm reunion. I have not found my grandmother Hilda (Scaer) or her mother Lizzie (Schinnerer) Scaer in either the 1921 or 1924 photo. I know they attended church at Zion. Perhaps they were camera shy.

Louis Schumm, row 2, 2nd from left, 1921.

Alma Buechner, identified as the girl in the second row, far right:

Alma Buechner (1907-1998), row 2, far right, 1921.

Plans are already in motion for the next Schumm reunion, to be held on 3 August 2014. And I have already started going through and sorting the photos I scanned Sunday. I hope to have some digitized Schumm photos on thumb drives to pass out at the next reunion.

 

Aug 07

Tombstone Tuesday–Abraham Biberstein [son]

Abraham Biberstein [son], Kessler Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio.

This is the tombstone of Abraham Biberstein, located in row 14 of Kessler Cemetery, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed Abraham, Son of A & F Biberstein, Born 5 Jan 1861, Died 24 May 1876, Aged [unreadable].

According to the records of Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, Loudwich Abraham “Baberstein” was confirmed on 14 April 1875. He died 24 May 1876 at the age of 15 years, 3 months and 18 days. His name was recorded as “Bieberstein” in his church death record.

I recently blogged about the tombstones of his parents.

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.