The village of Schumm, Ohio, once had a general store, located in a 2-story brick building that once stood on the lot next to the railroad tracks there.
General Store, Schumm, Ohio
Gustavus Jacob “Gus” Schumm (1881-1951) ran the general store in Schumm in the early 1900s. It was the major store in Schumm. The store was downtown Schumm. Schumm’s post office was also situated in the building at that time.
Gus Schumm had a free-standing, cast iron safe in the Schumm General Store. G.J. Schumm is painted on the front of the safe, from the Victor Safe & Lock Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, likely about 1905. The gold emblem on the front indicates that the company won the Highest Award-Grand Prize in St. Louis in 1904, which helps to date the safe.
Safe from Gus Schumm’s General Store, Schumm, Ohio.
Gus sold the store to George Weinmann about 1916-1917 and Gus eventually moved his family to the Convoy area. Gus kept his Victor safe and the brick building in Schumm was razed sometime after 1929. No one knows for sure exactly when.
After Gus died, his son Karl Schumm (1913-2019) inherited the safe, and after Karl died Karl’s son Bob acquired the safe. It is a true family heirloom, passed down from generation to generation.
Gus’ old safe is in very nice condition and his grandson Bob reports that the safe and its combination still work well. Bob’s dad Karl had him practice the safe’s combination, just to make certain he could always open it. Bob doesn’t lock the safe but keeps the combination nearby, on top of the empty safe.
Bob describes the safe as a massive heirloom, weighing a whopping 385 pounds. They used a forklift to move it onto a pickup truck and again off.
It will come as no surprise to many of you, but I have a safe story of my own.
My great-grandfather “Louis” John Schumm (1851-1938) also had a safe very similar to the one Gus Schumm had. Louis’ safe was from the Vulcan Safe & Lock Company, for which I could find very little information. A paper left inside with the combination indicated that the lock was a Yale Lock, with 3 tumblers capable of 1 million changes. Wow. That would keep you busy.
Louis J Schumm safe
Louis also had his initials and surname painted on the front of his safe. How nice that these safes were personalized. But why? In case the safe was lost while traveling? I don’t think so. These babies are difficult to move.
Louis J Schumm’s safe
Louis’ son Cornelius (1896-1986), my grandfather, inherited the safe and kept it in their bedroom, as I recall. Or maybe in his garage. My parents eventually ended up with Louis Schumm’s safe. Thank goodness they decided to store it no farther than their garage. Had they stored it in their basement, it would still be there today.
Louis J Schumm’s safe
Louis J Schumm’s safe
The safe sat in my parents’ garage for about 30 years and was not in as good a condition as the Schumm Store safe.
Joe and I love family heirlooms and kept many of them, but this one was just too heavy and bulky for us to keep. Remember, Bob described his safe as a massive heirloom. The weight is the problem, not so much the size. They aren’t really that big, just very heavy.
We sold the safe and the buyer came over to get it with a truck and a flat-bed trailer. Joe and the buyer tried but could not get the safe onto the trailer. It was way too heavy. I guess they needed two men and a boy, as my dad used to say.
The next day the buyer came back with another man, but after several tries the three men could still not lift the safe onto the trailer.
As they struggled to lift the safe, like magic, it suddenly flipped over. The heavy safe seemed to do a somersault right onto the trailer and landed completely upside-down! Wheels sticking straight up in the air. It was the craziest thing we ever saw.
Louis J Schumm’s safe on trailer
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and decided that the safe could travel upside-down to its next destination.
Off they went and we have no idea how they got the safe off the trailer or how they moved it after that. It was now their problem.
4 comments
Skip to comment form
Karen, I enjoyed your news about the safe in Schumm. Thank you for your fine research and excellent writing. From Mary Ann Olding, Mercer County, Ohio, now Lake Loramie, mailing address Minster, Ohio.
Author
Thank you so much and so glad you enjoy the blogs. Great to hear from you.
Karen, I had to chuckle at the safe doing a somersault and landing upside down. I have been in some of those crazy situations myself through the years so I appreciate someone else’s dilemma and extra efforts to get past it.
I hadn’t heard that saying, “It took two men and a boy” in a long time but brought back memories.
Thanks! Great story and writing as always.
Author
Thank you so much for writing!