Tombstone Tuesday–Edward Ludwig Schumm

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

This is the tombstone of Edward Ludwig Schumm located in row 1 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Edward
Ludwig
Schumm
Sohnlein von
Heinrich
u. Rosina
Schumm
Died 5 Oct.
1885
Alter
5 Jahre, 8 Mo.
u. 3 Tage.

Edward Ludwig Schumm, little son of Heinrich and Rosina Schumm died 5 October 1885, aged 5 years, 8 months, and 3 days.

Edward Ludwig Schumm was born 2 February 1880 to Henry and Rosina (Schinnerer) Schumm.  He was baptized at home on 15 February 1880, with Friedrich Schinnerer and Ludwig Schumm serving as sponsors. Friedrich Schinnerer was most likely the boy’s grandfather and Ludwig Schumm was likely his uncle. His sponsors would have been my great-great-grandfather and my great-grandfather respectively.

Edward Ludwig Schumm was enumerated in one census, the 1880 census, when he was only 4 months old. The Henry Schumm household in 1880: Henry, 35; Rosann A, 26; John C, 6; Clara R E, 4; William M M, 3; Hanah M, 2; and Edward L, 4 months. [1] The father Henry was a farmer.

Little Edward Ludwig Schumm died at 3:00 in the morning of 5 October 1885. He was only 5 years, 8 months, and 3 days old. He was buried on 6 October and his funeral text was Luke 2:49. The literal translation of the Zion Schumm’s records indicate that he died of a sore throat.

The father Henry Schumm was referred to as Heinrich Schumm I in Edward’s church death record, but in the Schumm family he is known as River Henry. There were several Henry Schumms living in the area at that time and to easily differentiate them, this Henry was called River Henry because he lived along the St. Marys River, just east of Willshire.

Henry Schumm and I descend from the same branch of the Schumm family, which is my maternal line. Henry’s parents were immigrants George “Ludwig” and Maris Barbara (Pflueger) Schumm, who were my second and third great-grandparents. And, Henry’s wife Anna “Rosina” Schinnerer was the daughter of my second great-grandfather Friedrich Schinnerer and his first wife Margaretha “Mary” Deier. They were both immigrants, too.

Henry and Rosina Schumm had 10 children before Rosina’s death in 1890. The next year Henry married Lena Geisler and they eventually had 3 children of their own.

In interesting side story about this family is that my paternal great-grandmother Christina (Rueck) Miller stayed with the River Henry Schumm family in the early 1880s. My great-grandmother Christina undoubtedly knew their son Edward Ludwig and probably even took care of him from time to time. In fact, Christina’s daughter Maggie was only about a year older than Edward Ludwig and the two children probably played together.

Christina Rueck had immigrated with her family in about 1880 and her father purchased 80 acres along the St. Marys River, close to where River Henry lived. Christina’s father sold that land and moved to Oregon in about 1882 but Christina stayed behind in Van Wert County, with the Schumms, and eventually married immigrant Jacob Miller, who lived in the Chatt area. During the time Christina stayed with the Schumms, Rosina (Schinnerer) Schumm taught Christina how to quilt, something Christina enjoyed doing the rest of her life. In fact, I have two quilts that Christina and Rosina worked on together, stitched in the early 1880s.

 

[1] 1880 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 154, p. 443A, dwelling/family 4, Henry Schumm; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com  (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?htx=List&dbid=6742&offerid=0%3a7858%3a0 : accessed 19 Nov 2018).

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