Tombstone Tuesday-Alma A. Schumm

Alma A Schumm, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Van Wert County, Ohio. (2012 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Alma A. Schumm, located in row 10 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Alma A. Schumm
1889-1972

Alma Abalonia Schumm was born 19 July 1889, the second child born to George Martin “Henry” III and Henrietta Wilhelmine “Minnie” Hoppe. Alma was baptized at Zion Schumm on 28 July 1889 with Anna Schumm, Mrs. Anna Maria Schumm, and Wilhelmine Brockmeyer serving as her sponsors.

Alma Schumm, enumerated with her family in 1900 in Willshire Township: Henry M Schumm, 39; Wilhelmina H, 40; Agnes, 12; Alma, 10 Emanuel, 9; Emil, 6; Edna, 4; Clara, 3; Alfred, 2 months; Henry Freese, 63, father-in-law; Abolonia, 61, mother-in-law. [1] Abalonia Freese was Wilhelmina (Hoppe) Schumm’s mother and Henry Freese was Wilhelmina’s step-father.

In 1910, Alma may be the 20-year-old daughter living in the Minnie Schumm household in Willshire Township. The name is basically unreadable but appears to begin with an A. Her relationship is daughter, but sex is male. Daughter Alma would have been about 20 in 1910 and this could be her. The family in 1910: Minnie [Wilhelmina] Schumm, 50, head; Edna, 22, daughter; [unreadable], 20, daughter; Emanuel, 18, son; Emil, 17, son; Edna, 15, daughter; Clara, 12, daughter; Alfred, 10, son; and Oswald, 8, son. [2] Regular readers will recall that Alma’s father Henry Schumm homesteaded in Colorado in the early 1900s but returned to the Schumm area by 1930.

In 1920 Alma resided in Willshire Township with her mother and several siblings: Wilhelmina H Schumm, 59; Agnes, 31; Alma, 30; Emanuel, 28; Clara, 21; Alfred, 19; Oswald, 17; and Abalonia Freese, 83, widow. [3] Abalonia’s husband Henry Freese had died in 1902. 

In 1930 Alma Schumm, 40, single, was a lodger at the home of Lois [Louis?] and Adele Heffner at 320 South Cherry Street in Van Wert. Alma worked as a bookkeeper for a dry cleaner. The Heffners were both 63 years old and Mr. Heffner was a barber. [4]

By 1935 Alma had moved back to the Schumm area. Her mother Minnie died in 1937 and in 1940 Alma resided with her widowed father Henry Schumm, age 79, and her brother Oswald Schumm, age 38. No occupation is given for Alma but her brother Oswald was a night watchman at a sawmill, likely the sawmill at Schumm. A lodger, Hunter Bee, age 21, also was in the household and he also worked at the sawmill. [5]

Alma’s father Henry died in 1941.

In 1950 Alma Schumm, 60, lived with her brother Oswald H, 48, and her widowed aunt Barbara A Schumm, 91. They likely lived in or very near the village of Schumm since Zion Schumm’s minister, Rev. Werner Kuhlberg, lived a house away. No occupation is given for Alma but her brother Oswald worked at the sawmill. [6]

Alma Schumm died in Van Wert County on 12 February 1972.    

Alma A. Schumm obituary:
Willshire-Alma A. Schumm, 82, died at 6:30 a.m. today in the same farm home on Rt. 1, Willshire, in which she had been born. She had been in failing health for the past three months.

Born July 19, 1889, in Willshire Township, she was a daughter of Henry M. and Wilhelmina (Hoppe) Schumm.

Survivors include two sisters and three brothers, Emanuel, Oswald, Edna and Clara, all of Rt. 1, Willshire, and Alfred of New Haven, Ind. A brother and sister are deceased.

Miss Schumm was a life-long member of Zion Lutheran Church in Schumm and its Ladies Aid Society and Valparaiso Guild.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Monday in the church with the Rev. Robert Schuler officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Friends may call at the Zwick Funeral Home, Decatur, after noon Sunday and until 11 a.m. Monday. Viewing will begin at the church at 12-noon Monday. [7]

Alma is buried very near her siblings Oswald Schumm (1902-1987) and Agnes Schumm (1888-1921).

Alma Schumm never married. She had the following siblings:

“Agnes” Wilhelmina Barbara Schumm (1888-1921)
“Emanuel” Henry John Schumm (1892-1973), married Edna Scaer
Emil Fredrick Schumm (1893-1960), married Louise Stock
Edna Alwine Magdalena Schumm (1895-1990)
Clara Anna Maria Schumm (1898-1984)
Alfred Oswald Ferdinand Schumm, Rev. (1900-1981), married Irma S. Wambsganss
Oswald Hugo Otto Schumm (1902-1987) 

[1] 1900 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 97, dwelling 183, family 196, p.9, Henry M Schumm; Ancestry.com, viewed 6 Dec 2021.

[2] 1910 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 114, p.2A, dwelling & family 37, Minnie Schumm; Ancestry.com, viewed 8 Dec 2021.

[3] 1920 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 146, p.3A, dwelling & family 48, Wilhelmina H Schumm; Ancestry.com, viewed 6 Dec 2021.

[4] 1930 U.S. Census, Van Wert, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 11, p.7B, dwelling 203, family 216, Lois Heffner; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com, viewed 18 Apr 2022.

[5] 1940 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 81-28, p.5B, household 88, HM Schumm; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com, viewed 18 Apr 2022.

[6] 1950 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 81-40, p.13, dwelling 182, Oswald H Schumm; digital image, 1950census.archives.gov, viewed 18 Apr 2022.

[7] Alma A. Schumm obituary, Van Wert Times Bulletin, Van Wert, Ohio, 12 Feb 1872, p.2; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com, viewed 18 Apr 2022.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.