Maria Schinnerer, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. (2012 photo by Karen)
This is the tombstone of Rosine Catherine Marie Schinnerer, located in row 8 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Schumm, Van Wert County, Ohio. The nearly illegible marker is inscribed:
Maria ?
Tochter von
F. & E. Schinner
geb. 14 Mai 1864
gest. 23 April 1875
Alter 10 Jahr
11 Monat, 9 Tage
Translation: Maria ?, Daughter of F. & E. Schinner, born 14 May 1864, died 23 April 1875, age 10 years, 11 months, 9 days.
Thanks to Sue A., who last week asked about this tombstone, which had been identified as that of Maria Schumm. Sue asked who Maria Schumm was and who her parents were.
Only a few words and dates are still legible on the stone but they are enough to compare with information from Zion Schumm’s birth/baptism and death/burial records and to correctly identify the individual.
The weathered marker was incorrectly read and transcribed in Van Wert County, Ohio, Cemetery Inscriptions, Vol. V (1992, p.81), and was also incorrectly identified on Find a Grave. Both were correct about the birth and death dates, but the surname was incorrect.
According to her baptism record, Rosine Catharine Marie Schinnerer, daughter of Friedrich and Elisabeth (Schumm) Schinnerer, was born 14 May 1864 and baptized 22 May 1864. Rosine Schumm, Catharine Hofmann, and Maria Schinnerer were sponsors at her baptism. [She was the second child born to Friedrich and Elixabeth.]
Rosine Catharine Marie died 23 April 1875 and was buried in the church cemetery 25 April. Her funeral text was Jeremiah 19:11.
Schinnerer was misread as Schumm on this old tombstone and that would be easy to do. In fact, the stone carver may have run out of room and spelled the surname as Schinner or Schinerer.
A lamb is carved at the top of the marble tombstone and represents innocence and indicates that it is the marker of a child.
1 comment
In this day and age, it is difficult to imagine what might have caused this young girl to die, but a short lesson in the trials and risks of that time might change our perspective dramatically. Nonetheless, the marker and short bio available from these records has to leave a great void in the mind of any reader, as to how, why and where such a promising beginning came to such an abrupt and final end?