A few months ago, while visiting my Aunt Esther and Uncle Al, my mom’s sister and her husband, I noticed this nice plaque on their wall. My Aunt Esther said that it belonged to her mother (who is also my grandmother), Hilda (Scaer) Schumm (1895-1997), but I do not recall ever seeing it.
It is an ornate memorial to Hilda’s grandparents (my great-great-grandparents), John and Katharina “Katie” (Emrich) Scar. Since it is in memory of Our Dear Parents, it likely belonged to John and Katie’s son John, Hilda’s father, and Hilda probably inherited it from him.
Inscribed on the plaque:
Our Dear Parents,
John Scar,
Died Nov. 26, 1894; Aged 65 Y., 7 M., 6 D.
Katie Scar,
Died Dec. 17, 1887; Aged 61 Y., 3 M., 6 D.
And have they gone—forever gone—
And left us here to weep,
Till we are called to follow them,
And in the grave to sleep.
But since they could no longer stay,
To cheer us with their love,
We hope to meet with the again,
In yon bright world above.
Published by A.C. Pringle & Co., Perrysburg, OH. Copyrighted 1898.
The plaque is quite nice, although my photos do not do it justice because of the glare from the glass.
There are several spelling variations for the Scar surname. It was spelled Scar and Scarr in the 1800s, when the family immigrated from Germany. Then, around the turn of the century, the family changed the spelling to Scaer. Today, Scaer is the most common spelling around here and the one my grandmother Hilda and her family used, although one branch of the family (Peter) changed the spelling to Scare.
John and Katie Scar are both buried in Hoffman Cemetery, also known as Schlemmer Cemetery, in Monroeville, Allen County, Indiana. I have not visited this cemetery but I looked at the photos of their tombstones on Find a Grave.com. Find a Grave spells their name Scaer, the more recent spelling, so if you search for them on that website you should enter Scaer in the surname field. Search names and dates need to be specific on their website.
John and Katie have separate tombstones and their name is spelled Scar on both stones. According to their tombstones John was born 20 April 1829 and died 26 Nov 1894, aged 65 years, 7 months, 6 days. Katie was born 11 Sep 1825 and died 17 Dec 1886, aged 61 years, 3 months, 6 days. Find a Grave shows the month of John’s death as February, not November, but looking closely, the inscription does appear to be November. [1] [2]
Of course there has to be a discrepancy with the dates. Katie’s tombstone shows she died in 1886 and the memorial wall plaque shows she died in 1887. Otherwise, the plaque and the tombstone agree.
John and Katie (Emrich) Scar/Scaer had the following children:
Peter “Scare” (1862-1946), married “Hannah” Magdalene Schinnerer
“Anna” Caroline Scaer (1863-1935), married Peter Giessler
Johann “John” Scaer (1865-1940), married Elizabeth “Lizzie” Schinnerer
Mary Scaer (1866-1937), married Henry Schlemmer
Margaret “Maggie” Scaer (1868-1917), married, Lewis C Maurer; married Frederick Kreischer
The children of John and Katie Scar/Scaer:
My grandmother Hilda (Scaer) Schumm was the daughter of John and Lizzie (Schinnerer) Scaer. John and Lizzie had children Hilda, Willie, Edna, Elsie, and Oscar.
[1] Find a Grave.com, Memorial no. 19338147, Johannes “John” Scaer (1829-1894); Hoffman Cemetery, Monroeville, Allen County, Indiana.
[2] Find a Grave.com, Memorial no. 125326344, Katharina Emrich Scaer (1826-1886); Hoffman Cemetery, Monroeville, Allen County, Indiana.
2 comments
Thank you for the pics of the Scaer family. My wife is a descendent of the Mary Scaer and Henry Schlemmer family. The plaque is very nice and we have never seen if before now. Thank you for all the information on the Scaer family.
Author
You are welcome! I was thrilled to see this beautiful plaque that I never knew grandma had. She must have had it hidden, but she always took very good care of her things. Thanks for writing!