Maria E. (Germann) Dietrich, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. (2012 photo by Karen)
This is the tombstone of Maria E. Dietrich, located in row 5 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:
Hier ruhet in Gott
Maria E. Ehefrau
von
Adam Dietrich
Geb. 20 Feb 1833
Gest. 28 Nov 1888
In Alter von 55
Jahr, 9 M. 8 T.
Here rests in God Maria E, wife of Adam Dietrich, born 20 Feb 1833, died 28 Nov 1888, at the age of 55 years, 9 months, and 8 days.
Maria Elizabeth Germann was born 20 February 1833 in Germany, the daughter of Peter Adam and Anna Elizabeth (Lauer) Germann, [1] who immigrated to America in the mid-1830s.
Sutton’s 1882 History of Van Wert and Mercer Counties, Ohio, indicates that two Germann brothers, Henry Jacob and Peter Adam, immigrated about 1834 and settled in Harrison Township, Van Wert County. “By intermarriage with the Reidenbachs and other early German settlers they are divided into what is known as the North and South Germann settlements…” The Peter A., Henry J., and Charles P. Germann families were also the first members of St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Harrison Township, which was organized in 1847. [2]
Maria Germann married Johann “Adam” Dietrich in Van Wert County on 21 November 1854. [3] Their marriage is not recorded in Zion Schumm’s records so they likely married at St. Thomas Lutheran Church.
The couple lost several children in the early years of their marriage. Their first son Jacob Dietrich died in infancy in 1857. Two years later, Catharina, one of their twin daughters, died the same day she was born. Their son Wilhelm died in 1863, just a little over a year of age. Six of their children lived to adulthood.
The Adam Dietrich family resided in Willshire Township in 1860: Adam, 32, born in Hesse Darmstadt; Mary E, 27, Hesse Hamburg; Mary M, 1, Ohio; Eserbert Zimmerman, 19, Bavaria; and Margaret Airaman, 15, Ohio. [4] They lived next door to Jacob and Catharine Dietrich.
The Adam Dietrich household in 1870, where Adam was a farmer and Maria “Mary” kept house: Adam, 42; Mary, 37; Augustus 7; Magdalene, 11; John, 9; Arnst, 6; Sophia, 3; and Henry, 9 months. The parents were born in Hesse Darmstadt and the children in Ohio. [5] The 1872 plat map of Willshire Township shows that Adam owned 160 acres, the northwest quarter of Section 23.
The Adam Dietrich household in 1880: Adam Dietrich, 52; Mary, 47, wife; Mary MM, 21; John, 19; Ernest, 15; Sophia, 13; Henry, 10; Emma, 6. Adam farmed and Mary kept house. [6] The 1886 plat map of Willshire Township shows that Adam owned most of the north half of Section 23, 300 acres. A 20-acre plot in the northeast corner was owned by Magdalene Sauer, likely Adam Dietrich’s daughter, who married Adam Sauer in 1883.
Maria E. (Germann) Dietrich, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. (2012 photo by Karen)
Maria (Germann) Dietrich died in Willshire Township shortly after noon on 28 November 1888, after suffering with liver problems and jaundice for 13 weeks. She was 55 years, 9 months, and 8 days old. She was buried on 30 November and her funeral text was Phil. 1:21.
Her husband Johann “Adam” Dietrich died in 1912 and is buried in row 4 of Zion Schumm’s cemetery.
Adam and Maria (Germann) Dietrich, had the following children:
Jacob Dietrich (1857-1857)
Maria Magdalena “Lena” Margaretha (1859-1940), married Adam Sauer
Catharina (1859-1859), born and died on the same day, twin to Maria Magdalena Margaretha
Johann Adam (1860-1903)
Wilhelm (1862-1863)
Georg Ernst (1864-1905), married Clara Schumm
Anna Maria Sophia (1866-1945), did not marry
Jacob “Heinrich” (1869-1935), married Maria Schumm
Hannah “Emma” Magdalena (1874-1956), married Johann “Ferdinand” Schinnerer
[1] Find a Grave memorial no. 83613694, Peter Adam Germann; and memorial no. 83615128, Anna Elizabeth (Lauer) Germann, Evangelical Protestant Cemetery, Convoy, Ohio. Note by KMB: According to Zion Schumm’s records Maria was born in Becherbach, Oberamt Meisenheim der Landgrafschaft Hessen-Homburg.
[2] Sutton, History of Van Wert and Mercer Counties, Ohio, (1882; reprint, Mt. Vernon, Indiana : Windmill Publications, Inc., 1991), 232, 235.
[3] “Ohio Marriages, 1800-1958,” database, FamilySearch.org, Adam Detrick & Mary Elizabeth Germann, 21 Nov 1854, Van Wert, Ohio.
[4] 1860 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, p: 151 (penned), dwelling 1075, family 1069, Adam Dertrich; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?htx=List&dbid=7667&offerid=0%3a7858%3a0 : viewed 4 Jan 2019).
[5] 1870 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, p: 20 (penned), dwelling 136, family 137, Adam Dietrich; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?htx=List&dbid=7163&offerid=0%3a7858%3a0 : viewed 4 Jan 2019). Note by KMB: The Augustus enumerated with the family here may have been Augustus Bienz, born in 1863, and son of neighbor Johann Bienz, as recorded in Zion Schumm’s records. Perhaps he was staying with the Dietrich family.
[6] 1880 U.S. Census, Willshire, Van Wert, Ohio, ED 154, p: 449A (stamped), p.13 (penned) family 116, Adam Dietrich; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?htx=List&dbid=6742&offerid=0%3a7858%3a0 : viewed 4 Jan 2019).
