where2look4ancestors

Category: Schmitt family history

  • Finding A Grave

    My French third great grandmother Marie Anne Schmitt (née Gury) died sometime between June 1860 and June 1870. According to the 1860 census, Marie Anne (called Mary here), her husband Nicolaus (recorded as Nick) and eight of their children lived in Cincinnati, presumably in the Over the Rhine neighborhood. Their…

  • New Collections in Ancestry

    I booted up my computer to draft a blog post about my Schmitt ancestors for this Surname Saturday. While things were warming up, I checked email. And found this: 54 is a large number of new hints, which in itself is interesting. More interesting however, are the hints that stem…

  • No Mention of the Children

    “The many friends of Mrs. Mary E. Schmitt will learn with regret of her death, which occurred at her home, on Calhoun street, early yesterday morning. Mrs. Schmitt was the daughter of the late John Kauffman, the brewer, who founded the Kauffman Brewing Company, and wife of Emil[e] Schmitt, general…

  • Just down the Street

    Literally. According to Google Maps, it was a three-minute walk from 655 W 61st Street to 538 W 61st Street in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. The other day I wondered about the possibility of my 2nd great-grandmother Elise Mueller and her brother John N. Schmitt attending the same church. I knew they…

  • Carl and Anna Plum at Oak Woods Cemetery

    While I was drafting this post, I clicked on Anna’s Find A Grave memorial to re-read her obituary. What a lovely surprise it was to see a volunteer photographer had added a headstone photo for Anna and her husband Carl! Many thanks to Andy Gappa, a Find A Graver extraordinaire!

  • Chicago’s Daylight and People’s Liberal Churches

    My second great-grandparents Elise [Schmitt] and Jacob Mueller were married by a Justice of the Peace in Chicago in November of 1874. Elise grew up in the Catholic faith, but she may have left the church. I haven’t had any luck connecting Jacob or Elise with a church, so I’ve…

  • Schmitt Siblings

    I know I shouldn’t have favorites. But I do. One of my favorite ancestors is Jean Nicolas Schmitt, born on this day in 1841 in Hellimer, Moselle, Lorraine, France. He was the third of what would ultimately be 13 children born to Nicolas Schmitt and his wife Marie Anne Gury.…

  • A True and Accurate Extract from the Records

    Fifty-three years after her wedding in St. John’s Church in Cincinnati Ohio, Sophia Biedinger needed to prove that the event had taken place. You see her husband was a bit of a wanderer. In this instance his wanderings had kept him away from home for more than six months leaving his wife…

  • Schmitt Siblings

    This picture has appeared on my blog before, but it is so special it deserves another post. Four Schmitt siblings are in this photo. The gentleman in the center was born Jean Nicolas Schmitt on 16 May 1841 in Hellimer Moselle Lorraine France, the third son of Nicolas Schmitt and his wife Marie-Anne…

  • In Loving Memory

    Recently I compared the lives of my third great-grandmother Elisabeth (nee Schmitt) and her sister Christina Kirchheiner. While drafting that post, a document inside Christina’s file caught my eye; a receipt for her funeral arrangements. Three obituary notices were listed. Why hadn’t I followed up on these leads? Immediately I sent a request to the…