Sep 12

Tombstone Tuesday-Marriage Symbol

Till death do us part. A phrase taken from the traditional marriage vows.

Birth and death dates are the most common dates inscribed on tombstones and marriage dates are the third most commonly inscribed dates. A couple’s marriage date is often inscribed on their tombstone with a marriage symbol.

In the 19th century it was not uncommon for a husband and wife to have separate tombstones and often times they were not even buried next to each other. A common marriage inscription on old marble tombstones was two clasped hands. Although they usually signify marriage, clasped hands may have other meanings, usually depending on the cuffs.  

Clasped hands, Greenlawn Cemetery, Wapakoneta, Ohio

This tombstone simply states wife and husband:

Greenbriar Cemetery, Van Wert County, Ohio.

Today most couples are buried side-by-side and share a tombstone. A marriage date is often inscribed on a couple’s shared tombstone. 

Riverside Cemetery, Rockford, Ohio.

One of the most common tombstone marriage symbols is a pair of wedding rings, in a variety of styles:

Decatur Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana.

Decatur Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana.

Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana.

Riverside Cemetery, Rockford, Ohio.

The wedding cross, a cross with intertwined wedding bands:

Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Adams County, Indiana.

Riverside Cemetery, Rockford, Ohio.

Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Ohio.

Another version of the wedding cross, with the Greek letter rho, similar to the Chi-Rho cross:

Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Ohio.

Here are a few other nice tombstone marriage inscriptions:

Willshire Cemetery, Van Wert County, Ohio.

Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Ohio.

Willshire Cemetery, Van Wert County, Ohio.

Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Ohio.

I really like the following verse:

Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Ohio.

 

Sep 08

Schumm Pike

Last week, while researching the 1913 postcard showing the Philip Schumm home, I noticed that according to the 1910 census, the Philip Schumm family lived on Schumm Pike in Black Creek Township, Mercer County, Ohio.

Philip Schumm farm, Rockford, Ohio, 1913 picture postcard.

Schumm Pike. Interesting. And how appropriate! A Schumm living on Schumm Pike.

Plus, it is another clue to where the 1913 postcard house was located.

Just where was Schumm Pike? Fred and J.F. Schumm owned a fair amount of property just west of Rockford, in the Labadie and Charley Reserves. What is now U.S. Route 33 ran through their property. It appears that Schumm Pike was that section of the current Route 33 going west out of Rockford, between routes 33/118/Main Street and the Van Wert County Line. Maybe even going into Van Wert County.

Several years ago, at the Shanes Crossing Historical Society, Mike Schumm mentioned that a Rockford-area road was once called Schumm Pike, and I had forgotten about that until I saw the name Schumm Pike on the 1910 census page last week.

Schumm Pike, Philip Schumm, 1910 U.S. Census, Black Creek Twp, Mercer County, Ohio.

The first column on the 1910 census is for the name of the street the family/person lived on. Black Creek Township’s census taker went the extra mile and listed the roads people lived on. Unfortunately, Dublin Township’s 1910 census taker did not list the township’s roads. Therefore, Schumm Pike is not listed in Dublin Township in 1910 and we don’t know who lived along the Schumm Pike there. However, in 1910 the Rockford street names are listed and near the end of the town’s enumeration is Fort Wayne Road. That was very likely what is now Route 33, aka Schumm Pike back then.

Did Schumm Pike stop at the Mercer-Van Wert County line? We don’t know because in 1910 the rural road names are not listed in Willshire Township either.

Let’s look at the 1910 census, where there were 17 households along Schumm Pike in Black Creek Township, between the Dublin-Black Creek Township Line and the Mercer-Van Wert County line:

Mary Schumm (widow of Fred Schumm Jr), 49
Philip Schumm, 27
Estus C. Flemming, 25
Lewis Agler, 22
Chancy Gephart, 36
Maynard Gephart, 33
Homer E. Bury, 23
Robert Watson, 62
Marcus Tice, 42
Ferdinand Dreyer, 57
Zachariah H. Hartzog, 59
William W. Hufford, 35
Joseph Mottinger, 50
Henry C. Buechner, 42
Albert Jefferies, 54
Thomas J. Friedly, 41
Elijah H. Alspaugh, 32

Two other sources, the 1900 Black Creek plat map and the 1910 Black Creek Decennial Appraisement maps show there were about 14 houses along what is now Route 33 between Township Line and the County Line.

Another interesting document from the Shanes Crossing Historical Society, an undated land survey by A.J. Dellinger of 37 acres of land located on the north end of Rockford. Schumm Road is labeled on the map and is used as a reference point for the survey:

Schumm Pike, undated survey by AJ Dellinger

It reads: Said tract of land out of North East Corner of Lands now owned by J.F. Schumm in Charles Reservation Town four (4) South of Range one (1) East Lot four (4) in Mercer County Ohio…to center of said Schumm Pike thence along center of said Schumm Pike about 60 degrees…to south bank of St. Marys River thence south…

Schumm Pike, undated survey by AJ Dellinger

Schumm Pike was also mentioned a couple times in The Celina Democrat:

Claims Allowed…C.J. Schumm, Supt. Schumm Pike, $14.81… [1]

PIKE DIRECTORS
COMMISSIONERS
A petition was filed with the board last Friday by J.F. Karns, et al, praying for the improvement of a pike along the following route: Beginning at the junction of the Addy pikes 1 and 2; thence north along the township line between Dublin and Black Creek townships, until it intersects the Schumm pike, a distance of about a mile and a quarter…

Addy Pike(s), another road name from the past. I wonder if one section of Addy Pike was what is now Rockford West Road. Perhaps someone has heard of Addy Pike and knows where it was.

It is interesting to look at the 1910 census of Black Creek Township and see the local roads that were named after a family who probably lived on that road. Road names include Eichler Pike, Leininger Pike, Baker Pike, Brandt Pike, Winkler Road, Addy Pike, Schumm Pike, Dudgeon Road, Cross Road, Hoblet Road, Evans Road, Dellinger Road, Rutledge Pike, Robinson Road, Huffmann Road, Harb Pike, Bartlet Road, and Stover Road. Brandt Pike seemed to be quite long and I suspect it ran from the Van Wert-Mercer County Line to Chatt. Some of those road names are still used today, such as Winkler Road.

Many of the family-related road names were changed over the years. Roads such as Schumm Pike and Brandt Pike were renamed as State or U.S. highways. No road names were listed in the 1920 census but in 1930, what is now U.S. Route 33 west of Rockford was named State Road 54, at least in Black Creek Township and maybe even a longer section of the road. By 1940 the road was renamed as U.S. 33. Column one of the 1940 census specifically lists the road as Route U.S. 33, Formerly Route U.S. 54.

Sometime between 1915 and 1930 that section of highway was no longer called Schumm Pike.

[1] The Celina Democrat, Celina, Ohio, 24 Jun 1910; Newspaperarchive.com, viewed 4 Sep 2023.

[2] The Celina Democrat, Celina, Ohio, 4 Feb 1915; Newspaperarchive.com, viewed 4 Sep 2023.

Sep 05

Tombstone Tuesday-John G. Kable

John G Kable, Kessler/Liberty Cemetery (2023 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of John G. Kable, located in row 13 of Kessler, aka Liberty, Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. This marker is badly stained but some of the inscription is still legible. In 1990 the Mercer County Chapter OGS read the tombstone and recorded its inscription as [1]:

John G
Son of
F & C Kable
Died 21 Sept 1865
Age 10 years, 6 months, 12 days

John G. Kable’s death is recorded at Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, Ohio, which states there was a church burial for Johann George Kable, who died 23 September 1865, at the age of 10 years, 6 months, and 13 days. He was the son of Ferdinand (1827-1912) and Catharine (Bollenbacher) (1832-1922) Kable, both German immigrants. John G. Kable was born 8 March 1855, as calculated from the church record.

John G. Kable was enumerated in just one census, the 1860 census, enumerated as George. He was enumerated with his parents and brother younger brother Jacob. The family lived in Liberty Township, Mercer County, and had a Skeels Crossroads Post Office: [Fred] [sic] Ferd Kable, 28; Catharine Kable, 25; George Kable, 5; Jacob Kable, 3. [2]

John G Kable, Kessler/Liberty Cemetery (2023 photo by Karen)

In that census John G.’s father was enumerated as Fred Kable, but his father was actually Ferd [Ferdinand] Kable. Ferd (1827-1912) and Fred (1817-1886) Kable were brothers, but Fred Kable did not marry until 1864, when he married Catharine Koch. Ferd Kable had married Catharine Bollenbacher in Mercer County 10 March 1853 and they had two sons in 1860. Ferd was the married brother in 1860.

John G. Kable’s younger brother Jacob died about a week earlier. Zion Chatt’s records indicate that they both died of dysentery.

John G. Kable was survived by his brother Adam and sister Caroline.

[1] Mercer County, Ohio Cemetery Inscriptions, Volume VI, Black Creek, Hopewell, and Liberty Townships, compiled by The Mercer County Chapter OGS, 1990, p.65. [note by kmb: The first two gravestones in row 13 are those of brothers Jacob and John G [George] Kable. This 1990 inscription book shows that John G Kable’s tombstone is the first stone in row 13 and that Jacob Kable’s stone is the second in the row. Somehow the stones got switched and Jacob Kable’s stone is now the first in the row and John G Kable’s stone is the second stone, at this time, Sep 2023.]

[2] 1860 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, p.360 [stamped], p.143 [penned], dwelling 1020, family 1025, Fred [sic] Kable; Ancestry.com.

Sep 01

Philip Schumm Home, 1913

This is a nice 1913 photo postcard of the Philip Schumm home, near Rockford.

Philip Schumm farm, Rockford, Ohio, 1913 picture postcard.

The photo side of the postcard is labeled, A Country Home Rockford, O-A-27

Also hand-written on at the top of that side is “Uncle Philip Home,” likely written by the recipient, Edna Germann.

The postcard is postmarked Rockford, Ohio, Aug 18, 1913 and addressed to:

Miss Edna German
RR No 2
Wren
Ohio (To S.E. German)

Dear Edna
We want you folks all to have supper with us at the picnic next Thursday Aug. 21st. Be sure and come.
With love, Leona

1913 picture postcard from Leona Schumm to Edna Germann.

The postcard was written by Leona Barbara (Schumm) Schumm (1877-1958), the wife of Philip Schumm (1882-1968). It was sent to Philip’s niece Edna German (1896-2001).

The family relationship: Edna Germann’s mother, Anna Elizabeth “Rosina” (Schumm) Germann (1868-1954), was Philip Schumm’s older sister and Rosina was married to Stephen E. Germann (1870-1962). Philip and Rosina Schumm were the children of Jacob “Frederick” (1839-1927) and Maria (Germann) Schumm (1847-1915).

Philip and Leona Schumm married in 1907 but I am not sure where the Philip Schumm farm was located in 1913. The 1910 census indicates they were living on “Schumm Pike” in Black Creek Township. An old Rockford survey document shows that Route 33 going out of Rockford was once called Schumm Pike, named because the roadway ran through Schumm properties in that section of Dublin and Black Creek Townships, on Indian reserves.

I am guessing the house on the postcard was on Route 33, west of Township Line Road, and that this photo was taken looking westward. The road appears unpaved and rough but there are a number of utility poles along the side of the road and a couple more houses farther down the road. Considering the number of houses and utility poles, this looks like an important roadway.

Was this the same location where Philip Schumm’s daughter Velma lived in her later years? Her brick house was built in 1925. Did that brick home replace the frame house seen in the postcard? I would love to hear from anyone who has any knowledge of this farm’s location.

The barn in the photo looks fairly new and may hold another clue. The words MAPLEWOOD FARMS are painted on the side of the barn. There are a couple more words above that, perhaps a name, but I cannot make out those words.

Barn on Philip Schumm farm, 1913, “Maplewood Farms”

Philip and Leona (Schumm) Schumm had four daughters:
Maria Schumm (1908-2003), married Erwin Fuelling
Emma Schumm (1911-2017), married Otto Boerger
Velma Schumm (1914-2016)
Anna Katharine “Kate” Schumm (1917-2014), married Arthur Bischoff

Edna Germann, the recipient of the postcard, never married. She had three siblings:
Lester Germann (1894-1894)
Viola Germann (1900-2001)
Wilbert Germann (1905-1972), married Rosalie Little

Aug 29

Tombstone Tuesday-Jacob Kable

Jacob Kable, Kessler/Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2023 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Jacob Kable, located in row 13 of Kessler, aka Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio.

This marker is badly stained but some of the inscription is still legible. FindaGrave.com has a fairly readable photo of the marker [1] and in 1990 the Mercer County Chapter OGS read the tombstone and recorded its inscription:

Jacob
Son of
F & C Kable
Died 11 Sept 1865
Age 7 years, 6 months, 20 days [2]

Jacob Kable’s death is recorded in the records of Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, Ohio: Johann “Jacob” Kable, son of Ferdinand Kable and wife Catharine, died 14 September 1865, age 7 years, 5 months, 20 days. This record indicates that he had a church burial based on Psalm 16:6.

Jacob Kable was born 25 March 1858, as calculated from the church record. I used the church record for the birth date calculation, considering the readability of the tombstone.

According to Zion Chatt’s records, Jacob was the son of Ferdinand “Ferd” (1827-1912) and Catharine (Bollenbacher) (1832-1922) Kable, both German immigrants.

Jacob Kable was enumerated in just one census, the 1860 census, and was enumerated with his parents and brother George. The family lived in Liberty Township, Mercer County, and had a Skeels Crossroads Post Office: Ferd Kable, 28; Catharine Kable, 25; George Kable, 5; Jacob Kable, 3. [3]

In that census Jacob’s father was enumerated as Fred Kable, but his father was actually Ferd [Ferdinand] Kable. Ferd (1827-1912) and Fred (1817-1886) Kable were brothers, but Fred Kable was not married in 1860. Fred did not marry until 1864, when he married Catharine Koch. Ferd was the married brother in 1860. Ferd Kable married Catharine Bollenbacher in Mercer County 10 March 1853 and they had two children in 1860.

Although Jacob Kable’s death was recorded in Zion Chatt’s records, the Ferd Kable family and other closely related Kable families attended St. Paul Lutheran Liberty Township soon after immigrating in the late 1840s and settling in Liberty Township. St. Paul was established in 1841, while Zion Chatt was established in 1855, as an outgrowth of St. Paul. There are Kable names in the early records of both churches. However, I could not find Jacob Kable’s baptism in St. Paul’s records. Their records do not seem to be as complete as Zion’s or I may not have a complete set of their records.

I also suspect Jacob’s parents, Ferd Kable and Catharine Bollenbacher, were married at St. Paul Liberty in 1853. They were married by Rev. JD Gackenheimer and he was St. Paul Liberty’s minister at that time, and later as Zion’s minister as well. But I could not find their marriage recorded in St. Paul Liberty’s records.

Jacob Kable was survived by his brothers George and Adam and sister Caroline. 

Jacob’s brother George died about a week later. Zion Chatt’s records indicate that they both died of dysentery.

[1] FindaGrave.com, memorial no. 29193687, Jacob Kable, row 13, Kessler/Liberty Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio; viewed 28 Aug 2023.

[2] Mercer County, Ohio Cemetery Inscriptions, Volume VI, Black Creek, Hopewell, and Liberty Townships, compiled by The Mercer County Chapter OGS, 1990, p.65. [note by kmb, 2023: The first two gravestones in row 13 are those of brothers Jacob and John G [George] Kable. This 1990 inscription book shows that John G Kable’s tombstone is the first stone in the row and Jacob Kable’s stone is the second. Somehow the stones got switched and Jacob Kable’s stone is now the first in the row and John G Kable’s stone is the second stone.]

[3] 1860 U.S. Census, Ohio, Mercer, Liberty, p.360 [stamped], p.143 [penned], dwelling 1020, family 1025, Fred [sic] Kable; Ancestry.com.