Tombstone Tuesday–Mary Schumm

Mary Schumm, wife of Frederick (1861-1930), Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Ohio

This is the tombstone of Mary Schumm, located in row 11 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The gravestone is inscribed: SCHUMM, Mary, Wife of Frederick Schumm, 1861-1930.

Mary was the second wife of Frederick Schumm Jr. Frederick and his first wife Margaretha Ehrenmann were featured in the two previous Tombstone Tuesday blogs.

I found most of the information about Mary Schumm in the church records of Zion Lutheran, Schumm.

Her death and burial was recorded in 1930: Mary, wife of Fredrick Schumm, was born in 1861. Nothing more was entered but that told me her year of birth. The Ohio Death Index on Ancestry.com showed that Maria K. Schumm, Mercer County, died 16 Feb 1930. (Ohio Death Index, www.ancestry.com, accessed 31 Jan 2012.)

To learn Mary’s maiden name I consulted Zion’s marriage records. The records show that Friedrich Schumm Jr. married Maria Büchner on 6 Sep 1888 in the church.  Both were from the parish at Zion.

I then looked at Zion’s birth records. Maria Catharina Büchner was born 7 March 1861 to Johann Büchner and his legal wife. Maria was baptized 13 March 1861 at home. The sponsors at her baptism were Mrs. Catharine Dietrich and Mrs. Maria Dietrich.

Maria’s baptism record tells us her father’s name, but what was the name of her mother? I went back to Zion’s marriage records again.

I learned that Johann Büchner married Margaretha Scior 21 Apr 1853 at home. Johann was from Zion and the bride was a member of the congregation. I am uncertain of the spelling of Margaretha’s last name. It looks like Scior in a couple entries and like Zior in one entry. The handwriting is very difficult to read. Johann and Margaretha Büchner had several children but most of their baptismal entries simply listed the mother as Margaretha or Johann’s legal wife.

Frederick and Maria (Büchner) Schumm had the following children: Justina Louise (1889-1889), Amos C. (1891-1974), Erna Theresa (1894-1971) and Naomi Margaretha (1897-1982).

There was a short death notice for Mary Schumm in The Rockford Press. Death of Mrs. Schumm—Following a long illness, death claimed Mrs. Marie Katherine Schumm, 69, widow of the late Frederick Schumm, at the home of her son Amos Schumm and family. Surviving are Amos Schumm and daughter, Mrs. Arnold Schumm and Mrs. Walter Schumm, and brothers John and Henry Buechner. Funeral services were held from the home Wednesday afternoon. (The Rockford Press, Thursday, February 20, 1930, p.1.)

 

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