Jan 17

More Chattanooga Photos, Aftermath of the 1978 Blizzard

Over a foot of snow fell and winds made drifts as high as house roof-lines. Nearly all roads were closed and the temperature dropped to below zero. That was nearly 36 years ago, after the Great Blizzard of 1978.

Here are a few more photos of Chattanooga after the Blizzard of 1978.

Chatt, Blizzard of 1978 (a)

Chatt, Blizzard of 1978 (c)

Severe blizzard conditions continued for over 24 hours. When the winds subsided people began digging their way out of their homes and crews opened up the roads.

Chatt, Blizzard of 1978 (14)

I recognize Jim Fisher standing on the right in the photo above. I do not recognize the other two men. Maybe someone can identify them.

Chatt, Blizzard of 1978 (b) Chatt, Blizzard of 1978 (d)

That was one huge drift! Did Catherine Miller shovel all that snow herself?

Chatt, Blizzard of 1978 (6)

Chatt, Blizzard of 1978 (7)

Below is the Chatt Volunteer Fire Department, probably one of the first establishments to be dug out.

Chatt, Blizzard of 1978 (4)

Thank you to Jerry Miller for sharing the photos.

 

Jan 14

Tombstone Tuesday– Georg Frederick Schumm

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

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

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

Georg F.
Son of Louis & Anna
Schumm
Died
5 Dec. 1857
Age
2 Years, 8 Months, 4 Days

This marble marker is badly weathered and nearly illegible. To help transcribe the tombstone for this post I used Zion Lutheran Schumm’s records and Van Wert County, Ohio Cemetery Inscriptions, Vol. V, compiled by the Van Wert Chapter OGS in 1992.

The stone was partially legible in 1992 and was transcribed as: Georg Schumm, d. 5 Dec 1852, s/o J. Louis & Anna. The 7 on his year of death probably looked like a 2 when it was read by them in 1992.

I can make out a few letters and numbers on the stone and they indicate that this is the same person. The artwork on the marker apears to be a broken flower bud, symbolizing a young life cut short.   

The church death record indicates that Georg Frederick was the son of the late Ludwig Schumm and that he died on 5 December 1857, at the age of 2 years, 8 months, and 4 days. The record did not indicate his cause of death.

Georg Frederick Schumm’s baptism was also recorded in Zion’s records. That record indicates that he was born 31 March 1855 in Willshire Township, the child of Ludwig and Barbara Schumm. He was baptized on 2 April 1855, with Georg & Maria Schumm and Friederick & Magdalena Schumm as sponsors.

The Schumms, like so many others from that time period, made sure that their children were baptized within a few days after their birth because of the high infant mortality rate.

Georg Frederick was the ninth and last child born to Ludwig and Barbara Pflüger. Georg’s father Ludwig died on 22 August 1855, almost five months after Georg Frederick’s birth.

Georg’s parents were both immigrants, both born in the Kingdom of Württemberg. He was my 2nd great-uncle.

Jan 10

Photos of Chatt–The Great Blizzard of 1978

Chatt Farm Center, Blizzard of 1978.

Chatt Farm Center, Blizzard of 1978.

This past week we had a fairly nasty snowstorm, followed by sub zero temperatures. Although we had enough wind to cause drifting and to make the country roads impassable, I don’t think it was considered a blizzard. And it certainly was not of the same caliber as the Great Blizzard of 1978.

It will soon be the 36th anniversary of the Great Blizzard, which began on the evening of 25 January 1978. The storm in ’78 was truly a blizzard and we were snowbound four days afterward. We were only snowbound about a day and a half this year, but it was enough to turn my two-week Christmas vacation into a nearly three-week vacation.

What did Chatt look like after the Great Blizzard of 1978? Last year Jerry Miller loaned me a few 35mm slides that his father Glenn took after the Blizzard. The Millers always lived in Chatt and were there to experience the Great Blizzard.

Chatt, Blizzard of 1978 (3)

Chatt, Blizzard of 1978.

 

Chatt, Blizzard of 1978.

 

Catherine Miller, left, Blizzard of 1978.

Catherine Miller ( I believe), left, Blizzard of 1978.

I promised Jerry that I would scan and digitize these slides some day and that day was this past Wednesday.

This scanning project turned out to be a successful learning project. I borrowed a VuPoint Solution Digital Film Scanner from a friend. The scanner was a couple years old and was made to work with Windows XP. I have Windows 7 on my office PC and I could not get the scanner to work on this computer. It appeared that it had scanned something, but I could see nothing but white.

So Joe went down in the basement and resurrected an old laptop that had XP on it. Although the aged laptop was very slow, the scanner worked like a charm with the right operating system. Joe was doing such a good job with the scanner and the laptop that I allowed him to continue scanning and finish the project.

He saved the digitized images to a thumb drive and I transferred them to my office PC. The digital scans turned out very well and I would recommend this method to digitize 35mm slides.

 

Chatt, Blizzard of 1978.

 

Chatt, Blizzard of 1978 (1)

Chatt, Blizzard of 1978.

The scanner also has a tray for negatives and I asked Joe if he would scan a few negatives, too. I misplaced a group of special photos but I still had the negatives. Scanning those negatives was on my to-do list and Joe did a fine job scanning them, too. The negatives also produced nice digital images. In fact, I have a whole box of negatives that could be scanned, which would give Joe something to do now that he is retired.

I’ll post a few more Blizzard photos from Chatt next week.

Thanks for sharing the slides, Jerry!

 

Jan 07

Tombstone Tuesday–Ludwig Schumm

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

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

This is the tombstone of Ludwig Schumm, located in row 6 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

Hier ruht
Ludwig Schumm
Geboren
In Ruppertshofen
K. Würtemberg.
Gestorben
22 August 1855
Alter 38 Jahr
5 Monat, 18 Tage.

Translation: Here rests Ludwig Schumm, born in Ruppertshofen, Kingdom of Württemberg, Died 22 August 1855, age 38 years, 5 months, 18 days.

George “Ludwig” Schumm was the seventh child born to Johann Georg and Anna Maria (Fisher) Schumm, born 4 March 1817 in Ruppertshofen, Württemberg. [1] Ludwig traveled to America on the Brig Zelia with his father, sister, and three brothers, arriving at the Port of Philadelphia on 3 June 1833. [2] Ludwig was the youngest of the Schumm children that immigrated to America. He had three younger sisters and two of them died in infancy in 1819. According to Schumm history his youngest sister, Maria Rosine, remained in Württemberg to care for their maternal grandparents. She died in there in 1842.

The records of Zion Lutheran Schumm state that Ludwig resided in Holmes County, Ohio, for 5 years before he came to the Schumm area of Van Wert County on 7 June 1838. He traveled back to Holmes County to marry Barbara Pflüger. They were married on 3 November 1840 [3] at the Evangelical United Zion Church in Winesburg by Rev. Daniel Cranz. [4]

Ludwig Schumm, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm. (2012 Photo by Karen)

Ludwig Schumm, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm. (2012 Photo by Karen)

Lewis purchased the southeast quarter of Section 22 in Willshire Township, Van Wert County, from his brother George Martin in 1840. He paid $200 for the 160 acres.That deed, dated 10 March 1840, gave Lewis’ residence as Van Wert County. [5]

Lewis was naturalized 3 October 1843 in Van Wert County. Witnesses were John Tumbleson and Henry Schumm. His naturalization record states he was 16 years of age when he immigrated to America. [6] Lewis died 22 August 1855 near Schumm, at the young age of thirty-eight years. His widow Barbara married Adam Büchner in 1861. [7] Barbara died 13 Nov 1908 and she is buried in row 4 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery.

George Ludwig Schumm and Maria Barbara Pflüger had the following children:
Elizabeth (1841-1917), married Frederick Schinnerer in 1862.
Maria “Mary” (1842-1870), married Martin Johann Schinnerer in 1860.
Henry (1844-1922), married Anna “Rosina” Schinnerer in 1872; married Anna Magdalena Geisler in 1891.
Johann Jacob (1846-1855)
Rosina Maria (1848-1909), married Martin Johann Schinnerer in 1871.
John Christian (1849-1926), married Wilhelmina “Minnie” Breuninger in 1880.
Ludwig John (1851-1938), married Sarah H. Breuninger in 1883.
Hannah M. (1853-1926), married Karl Fred Germann in 1872.
George Frederick (1855-1857)

I am a direct descendant of Ludwig and Barbara Pflüger Schumm and this is where my maternal family tree gets interesting. Ludwig was my second and third great-grandfather. Ludwig’s oldest daughter Elizabeth was my grandma Hilda (Scaer) Schumm’s grandmother. And Ludwig’s son Ludwig John “Louis” was my grandpa Cornelius Schumm’s father.

 

[1] Kirchenbuch, 1555-1986, Evangelische Kirche Rüppertshofen, OA Gerabronn, Württemberg, microfilm #1528604, Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[2] Philadelphia, Passenger Lists, 1800-1850, on-line database and images by subscription, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com “ accessed 24 Nov 2013); citing Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1883-1945, Micropublication T840, RG085, rolls #1-181, National Archives, Washington, D.C.; and Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1800-1882, Micropublication M425, RG036, rolls #1-108, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

[3] “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XDP1-R4F : accessed 24 Nov 2013), Lewis Schumm and Barbara Pfluger, Nov 1840; citing Vol. 2 1831-1867, p. 109, Holmes, Ohio, United States, reference ; FHL microfilm 477144.

[4] Marguerite Dickinson, compiler, “Pastors of Zion Church,” Winesburg, Ohio, Birth Records, 1833-1897, (Privately printed, 1955).

[5] Van Wert County Deeds, Recorder’s Office, courthouse, Van Wert, Ohio, Vol.  E: 283.

[6] Van Wert County Common Pleas Court, Journal A: 166.

[7] “Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8PQ8WG : accessed 05 Jan 2014), Adam Buchner and Anah Barbary Schumm, 17 Sep 1861; citing Van Wert, Ohio, United States, reference, Vol. 2: 274; FHL microfilm 1015859.

 

 

Jan 03

Welcome 2014!

A new year. A clean slate. An empty calendar. Another opportunity to once again make resolutions and goals that will most likely not be kept for a even week. But making resolutions and goals seems to come with the New Year.

How did I do with my 2013 genealogy goals? Let’s see:

  • Digitize the family home movies taken by my parents in the 1950s. [Unfinished! Not even started. This project has once again been moved to the next year’s list. Maybe 2014 will be the year I complete this project, or at least start it.]
  • Complete and submit my BCG renewal application. [Successfully completed! My renewal application was approved and I was re-certified for another five years.]
  • Scan and digitize Zion Chatt’s old records. [Unfinished! Where does time go?]
  • Clean up my Roots Magic files. [A work in progress. Merging duplicate names and data is a big, time consuming project.]
  • Get a better photo program. [I did get Adobe Photoshop Elements II at the end of the year but have not had time to use it. The program came with my new Cannon camera.]
  • Organize my room, documents and data. [I have done a pretty good job with this goal, but it is a constant struggle to be organized. I spend a lot of time re-organizing and re-filing hard copies as well as computer files. I spent most of yesterday re-organizing computer files. Most difficult are those small, unusual documents that just don’t seem to “fit” into any folder. I do not like to create a folder for just one document, but if I don’t the document seems to get lost in the Misc Folder.]

Goals

I recently read an article by James Clear, “Forget Setting Goals, Do This Instead.” He suggests that instead of focusing on goals, you focus on your system. Rather than looking at the end result–the goal–focus on the actions that will achieve the goal. If you consistently work on your system, little by little you will get things done and complete projects anyway. I like this concept. You basically get the results you desire without the stress of focusing on the goal. It is a different way of looking at how to get things done.

 

So, instead of setting goals, here are my planned genealogy work systems for 2014:

  • Digitize the old home movies. or at least start by setting up the old projector and looking at the old movies. [One of these years I will finish this project.]
  • Use my new camera and the Adobe Photoshop program. [End result: I will learn how to use my new camera and will enjoy taking interesting photos.]
  • Do more newspaper research.
  • Visit people, listen to their stories and learn something..
  • Regularly write blog posts and journal.
  • At least once a week work at cleaning up my Roots Magic files.

Notice that I have tried to keep my list short. We’ll see how it goes in 2014. Happy New Year!