I have been working on a big project all year long and I finished it just this week. The project, an updated Schumm family genealogy and history book, is now at the printer and is probably being printed as I write this. I hope.
My great-great-great-grandfather, John George Schumm, immigrated with five of his children in 1833 and today there are thousands of his descendants in the U.S. Not all of them are mentioned in the book, but the book is still quite substantial, about 570 pages. That’s a big book!
As hubby Joe was proofreading some of the material, he noticed something about my branch of the family, the children of John George Schumm’s son George “Ludwig” (1817-1855).
Ludwig Schumm and his wife Maria Barbara Pflueger had nine children and seven of them lived to adulthood. Of those seven, four married Schinnerers, two married Breuningers, and one married a Germann. These four families all lived near Schumm.
This is a perfect example showing that couples in the mid-late 1800s usually did not venture far from home to find a marriage partner. They usually found a mate within about three miles of their home. Plus, all but one of these families attended the same church, a very good place to meet a spouse.
Below are Ludwig and Maria Barbara (Pflueger) Schumm’s children and their marriage partners.
Elizabeth Schumm (1841-1917) married Frederick Schinnerer (1824-1905) in 1862.
Elizabeth (Schumm) Schinnerer (1841-1917)
Friedrich Schinnerer (1824-1905)
Henry Schumm, aka River Henry, (1844-1922) married Rosina Schinnerer (1854-1890) in 1872. Rosina was the daughter of the above Frederick Schinnerer, from his first marriage. I guess Elizabeth was Rosina’s step-mother and sister-in-law at the same time.
Schumm, Henry “River Henry” (1844-1922)
Rosina (Schinnerer) Schumm (1854-1890)
Mary Schumm (1842-1870) married Martin J. Schinnerer (1934-1930) in 1860. Martin J. and Frederick Schinnerer were brothers. Mary (Schumm) Schinnerer died in 1870 and:
Rosina Schumm (1848-1909) married widower Martin J. Schinnerer (1834-1930) in 1871. Rosina and the late Mary (Schumm) Schinnerer, Martin’s first wife, were sisters.
Breaking the family tradition of marrying a Schinnerer, Hannah Schumm (1853 -1926) married Carl “Charles” F. Germann (1849-1932) in 1872. Carl was from Harrison Township and attended St. Thomas Church there. Hannah was quite the rebel!
Hannah (Schumm) Germann (1853-1926)
Charles Germann (1849-1932)
Then a new family settled in the area. The Louis Breuninger family, from Wisconsin. A family with 4 young daughters. After several Schumm-Schinnerer marriages, the two youngest Schumm brothers decided to get brides from a different family. Two of the Schumm brothers married two of the Breuninger sisters.
John Christian Schumm (1849-1926) married Wilhelmina “Minnie” Breuninger (1860-1899) in 1880.
John C. Schumm (1849-1926)
Minnie (Breuninger) Schumm (1860-1899)
Louis J. Schumm (1851-1938) married Sarah Breuninger (1861-1921) in 1883.
Louis J Schumm (1851-1938)
Sarah (Breuninger) Schumm (1861-1921)
Minnie and Sarah Breuninger were sisters.
I wonder if the Schumm-Breuninger couples knew they were second cousins? We call that Pedigree Collapse now.
It happened. Probably more than we think. Here is how that happened in the case:
Maria Barbara Pflueger (1822-1908), Ludwig Schumm’s wife, and Maria A. Seckel (1827-1910), Louis Breuninger’s wife, were first cousins.
Maria Barbara (Pflueger) Schumm’s mother, Anna Barbara (Seckel) Pflueger (1791-1846), was the sister of Maria A. (Seckel) Breuninger’s father, Georg Andreas Seckel (1798-1830).
Anna Barbara Seckel married Christian Pflueger (1781-1877) and they lived near Schumm. That could be the reason the Louis and Maria (Seckel) Breuninger moved from Wisconsin to Willshire Township. To be near Maria’s cousins, the Pfluegers.
How do I fit in? Louis J. Schumm and Sarah Breuninger were my great-grandparents. Their son Cornelius was my grandfather.
And as a side note, of the thousands of given names in our Schumm family, there is only one Cornelius Schumm.
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Karen, how fortunate you and your family are to have all these wonderful photographs of family members. You are a true gift to your family for keeping all these records. I sure hope you are donating your book to your local libraries. Make sure you get one to the Allen County Public Library as well!
Author
Thanks, Deb. I do really appreciate that I have so many wonderful family photos. Photos seem to add something special to the story. Thanks for writing!
Karen..You make everything so interesting. I just love genealogy especially the stories, I can stay up half the night “in the trees”
Author
Thank you so much. I agree that genealogy is very interesting and so much fun. Nice to hear from you and thanks for writing.
Will your book be for sale? if so how would we get a copy?
Author
We will have copies for sale at the upcoming Schumm reunion. A digital copy will also be available on a USB drive. It is the descendants of John George Schumm. Let me know if you are interested in a copy.