Karen’s Chatt – Page 39 – Karen’s Chatt

Sep 15

Philip Schumm Farm, 1913

By Karen in Schumm, Springer

A couple weeks ago I featured a 1913 photo postcard of the Philip Schumm farm but I had still questioned where the house and barn were located and the name that was written on the barn.

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

I now believe this was where Velma Schumm lived on U.S. Route 33 west of Rockford. This was probably the house she was born in 1914 and back then that stretch of road was known to the locals as Schumm Pike.

The frame house pictured on the postcard was probably torn town and replaced with the current craftsman-style brick home around 1920. According to the Mercer County Auditor website the brick house was built about 1920. Also, according to that same website, the barn east of the house was built about 1900. That means the barn pictured in the postcard is still standing.

The barn looks rather new on the postcard and according to the auditor information, it would have been about 12 years old at that time. All this seems to fit the timeline.

What was once Philip Schumm property, Google Earth photo, June 2023

This Google Earth photo shows the barn as it looks today. It has been resided but it is the same shape and size and is in the same location. The house and barn are about the same distance from the road as those pictured on the postcard.

As for the names on the barn, Maplewood Farms is clearly visible on the barn but the name above it is much harder to make out. The last name just doesn’t quite look like Schumm.

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

I believe the name on the barn is Lorin C. Springer. According to the 1900 Black Creek plat map, Lorin C. Springer owned about 211 acres in the Labadie Reserve, the same section where I believe the Philip Schumm home photo was taken in 1913. Where U.S. Route 33 runs through.

Location of where Philip Schumm farm would be, 1900, Black Creek Township.

Black Creek’s 1910 Decennial Appraisement shows that Lorin C. Springer owned 111 acres in the same section. He owned the land but apparently he did not live on the property in 1900 or 1910. He and his wife Alice Luella (Bower) lived in Rockford.

Lorin C. Springer was born in Mercer County, Ohio, 15 Oct 1859, the son of William Springer (1829-1883). Lorin Springer and Alice Bower married in Mercer County in 1886. [1] In 1900 Lorin, 42, married (for 13 years), lived on East Second Street, Rockford, and was a boarder in the Emanuel Brown household. [2] His wife Alice Luella was living with her parents, in the Emanuel W. Bowers household on West Market Street, Rockford. [3]

In 1910 Lorin and his wife lived on South Street in Rockford. The couple did not have any children. [4]

There are a couple possibilities here. Perhaps Lorin C. Springer sold his property to Philip Schumm between 1900 and 1913 or Philip Schumm may have rented the home from Springer. I have not been to the recorder’s office to check the deeds, which would likely answer this question.

From Sutton’s 1882 History of Van Wert and Mercer Counties, Ohio, concerning Lorin’s father William Springer: Mr. [William] Springer was rather of a discontented mind or disposition; was never content to remain long in one place. He has twice been to California and moved from place to place a number of times, until in 1869 he bought his present home in Black Creek Township, where he proposes to remain the balance of his days.

William Springer did just that. He died there in Black Creek Township in 1883 and is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Rockford, Ohio.

The lure of California must have run in the family because by 1920 Lorin C. Springer and his wife had moved to California, where he lived for the rest of his life. [5]

[1] Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, Mercer County, Vol 1861-1887, p.394, Lorain [sic] C. Springer and A.L. Bower, 16 Sep 1886; database online, Ancestry.com.

[2] 1900 U.S. Census, Dublin, Mercer, Ohio, ED 78, p.13, dwelling 277, family 184, Emanuel Brown; Ancestry.com.

[3] 1900 U.S. Census, Dublin, Mercer, Ohio, ED 78, p.8, dwelling 172, household 179, Emanuel W. Bowers; Ancestry.com.

[4] 1910 U.S. Census, Dublin, Mercer, Ohio, ED 111, p.6a, dwelling 172, household 179, Lorin C Springer; Ancestry.com.

[5] 1920 U.S. Census, Long Beach, Los Angeles, California, ED 84, p.10B, dwelling 194, family 210, Lorin C Springer; Ancestry.com.

Sep 12

Tombstone Tuesday-Marriage Symbol

By Karen in Tombstone, Tombstone Art

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 19^th 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.