Tombstone Tuesday-John Martin Schumm

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

This is the tombstone of John Martin Schumm, located in row 4 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Father
JOHN MARTIN SCHUMM
Aug. 18, 1873
Apr. 28, 1954

John Martin Schumm was born near Willshire on 18 August 1873, the first of ten children born to “River Henry” and Anna Rosine (Schinnerer) Schumm. He was baptized 24 August 1873 with Johann Schumm and Martin Schinnerer serving as his sponsors.

The Henry Schumm family in 1880: Henry, 35; Rosina, 26; John, 6; Clara, 4; William, 3; Hannah, 2; and Edward, 4 months. The father Henry Schumm was a farmer. [1]

John Martin’s mother Rosina (Schinnerer) Schumm died in 1890 and his father married Magdalena “Lena” Geisler in 1891. The Henry Schumm family in 1900: Henry, 55; Lena, 32; John, 26; Mina, 23; Hannah, 22; Gustav, 18; William, 16; Tillie, 14; Joseph, 12; Louis, 8; Herman, 6; and Theodore, 2. John Martin Schumm worked on the family farm. [2]  

By 1910 John Martin Schumm, 36, and his younger brother Joseph, 22, had left the family farm and were boarders at Willshire’s Straubinger Hotel. John Martin was a contractor and Joseph was a carpenter. [3]  

John Martin Schumm married Hester “Elizabeth” (Boroff) Smith at the parsonage of Zion Lutheran Church, Schumm, on 9 February 1911. Widow Elizabeth Smith was from Ohio City and her husband Edwin Augustus Smith died in 1909.

In 1920 the John Martin Schumm family lived on Hogan Street in Willshire, where John Martin worked as a house carpenter. The John Martin Schumm family in 1920: John Schumm, 46; Elizabeth Schumm, 34; Dolores Schumm, 2; and Leone I Smith, 12, daughter from Elizabeth’s first marriage. [4]

The John Martin Schumm family in 1930: John Schumm, 55, head; Elizabeth Schumm, 43, wife; Leone Smith, 23, stepdaughter; Dolores Schumm, 12, daughter; and Donald Schumm, 7, son. John Martin Schumm worked at a grain elevator in 1930. [5]

The John Martin Schumm family in 1940: John, 66; Elizabeth, 55; and Donald, 17. [6] No occupation is given here for John but at some point, according to his obituary, he was a marshal and constable in Willshire.

John Martin Schumm died at his home in Willshire on 28 April 1954.

John Martin Schumm
Willshire-Rites were to be held this afternoon for John Martin Schumm, 80, Willshire marshal, who died Wednesday at his home following a cerebral hemorrhage Burial was to be made in the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery in Willshire Township with the Cowan Funeral Home in charge.

Mr. Schumm, who was born Aug. 18, 1873, in Willshire Township, served as marshal and constable for 20 years.

Surviving are his widow, Elizabeth; two children; a stepdaughter; two sisters; two brothers; three half-brothers, and nine grandchildren.

John Martin’s widow Elizabeth died 31 March 1962 and is buried in Tomlinson Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio.

John Martin and Elizabeth (Boroff) Schumm had two children:
Dolores Louise Schumm (1917-1976), married Doyle C. Shady
Donald Wayne Schumm (1922-2009), married Barbara Baker

[1] 1880 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 154, p.443A, family 4, Henry Schumm; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6742/ : viewed 1 Nov 2021).

[2] 1900 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 97, p.8, dwelling 170, family 183, Henry Schumm; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602/ : viewed 1 Nov 2021).  

[3] 1910 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 114, p.14A, dwelling & family 120, Adam Stranbinger; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884/ : viewed 1 Nov 2021).  

[4] 1920 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 146, p.7A, dwelling & family 2, John M Schumm; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061/ : viewed 1 Nov 2021).

[5] 1930 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 22, p.1A, dwelling & family 14, John Schumm; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/ : viewed 1 Nov 2021).  

[6] 1940 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 81-26, p.2A, house 34, John Schman; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2442/ : viewed 1 Nov 2021).

[7] John Martin Schumm obituary, The Lima News, Lima, Ohio, 30 Apr 1954, p.2; digital image, Ancestry.com, viewed 1 Nov 2021)

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