Transcription Thursday ~ Claude Schmitt

The day before yesterday, I shared a death notice from the 1876 Cincinnati Volksfreund for Nicolas Schmitt, my third great-grandfather.

My latest trip to the Family History Center was really exciting. To the left is the death record of Nicolas' grandfather, Claude Schmitt.

(Note to the grandkids - Claude is your seventh great-grandfather. Read on to see the names of your eighth great-grandparents!)

My attempt to transcribe and translate Claude's record is below. Any and all comments that may refine my rough draft are welcome and appreciated:

Deces d’ Claude Schmitt

L’ an mil huit cent quatorze le douze Novembre à huit heures du matin par devant nous maire officier de l’ etat Civil de la commune d' Hellimer et Diffenbach est comparu François Schmitt tanneur age de quarante and et Jacob XXX XXX age de trente sept ans tous deux domicile à Hellimer les quel nous ont déclaré xxx Claude Schmitt, fils de Jean Schmitt et en d' Française xxx A Boulay, et décédé avous hui a deux heures du matin sans la maison a hellimer de quire avous dresse acte aque les decarant ont signes avec nous après lecture faite.

Death of Claude Schmitt
The year one thousand eight hundred and fourteen November 12 at eight in the morning before us Mayor officer of the civil status of the municipality of Hellimer and Diffenbach has appeared François Schmitt tanner age of forty years and Jacob XXX XXX age of 37 years both living in Hellimer xxx said Claude Schmitt, son of Jean Schmitt and of French xxx a Boulay, and died at two in the morning at home in Hellimer quire AYou presents the act Aque declares signed with us after reading done.

Translation Tuesday ~ Death Notice in Fraktur

Awhile back I shared my attempts to learn to read French. While I am still far from fluent, I can muddle through enough of a document to get the gist.

And now I have another language to learn! Of course I turned to my Rootsweb friends when I received this copy of my 3rd great-grandfather's obituary. Color me embarrassed, I referred to the font as "German script". I quickly learned this artful style of writing is called Fraktur.

My French Schmitts hail from Moselle in Lorraine, a region of France that shares a border with Germany. They spoke Moselle Franconian, kind of a mix of German and French that was unique to their birthplace. It makes sense that they would read a German-language newspaper when they relocated to Cincinnati Ohio.

Three Cincinnati courthouses (and the documents therein) were destroyed by fire, so this clipping from the February 23, 1876 issue of the Cincinnati Volksfreund may be the only source of Nicolas' date of death:

In German it says, "Todes-Anzeige. Starb am Montag, den 21. Februar 1876, Abends um 11 Uhr, unser innigst geliebter Vater: Nikolaus Schmitt, im Alter von 64 Jahren, geboren in Hellimer, Lothringen. Die Beerdigung findet statt am Donnerstag Morgen um 8 Uhr, vom Trauerhause aus, No. 637 Race Straße, und wird ein feierliches Todtenamt in der St. Johannes Kirche abgehalten werden. Freunde und Verwandte sind ohne besondere Notiz dazu freundlichst eingeladen von den trauernden Hinterbliebenen."

And in English, "Death notice. Died on Monday February 21st 1876, in the evening at 11 o’clock, our beloved father Nikolaus Schmitt, at the age of 64 years, born in Hellimer, Lorraine. The entombment will take place on Thursday in the morning at 8 o’clock, starting at [the] house of mourning, 637 Race Street, and there will be solemn obsequies at St. John’s Church. Friends and relatives are invited to this without special note by the mourning bereaved."

Success Team ~ Week Two

A simple three item list turns into the most genealogically productive week I've had in months. Why? Because I'm accountable to my team.

I could have spent hours contributing to Find A Grave, but I had already reached my goal and earned my check mark, and I had to move on to the other items on my list. Why? Because I'm accountable to my team.

Could I have accomplished as much without Jenny? M a y b e. Would it have been anywhere near as much fun? No way.

One of my goals last week was to ask the Cincinnati Library for copies of announcements from an archived German newspaper. I've wanted to do this forever, but it kept getting bumped by other tasks. This time it was a Success Team goal, so I had to check this item off my list. And because I'm accountable to my team, I now have this:

It's an obituary from February 1876 for Nicolaus Schmitt, my third great-grandfather! I learned his date of death. I verified an address I'd been following in city directories for years. I saw evidence of a relationship with his children. All because I was accountable to my team.

Checking in once a week, sharing our triumphs and failures, getting an Atta Girl or suggestions for another route, plotting next steps; it's all part of a collaboration that cannot be beat.

GO TEAM!!  

Creative Sailing to the Right Passenger List

My 3rd great-grandfather traveled from France to the US in 1854. Niçolas Schmitt and his oldest son Jules François arrived at the port of New Orleans in April of that year.

Based on the ages of the two American-born children who appear in the 1860 Cincinnati Ohio census, Nicolas' wife and French-born children joined him before 1855. Daughter Elizabeth is my direct line ancestor and it was she on whom I focused many fruitless passenger list searches.

Today instead I looked for each of Elizabeth's siblings. Within 10 minutes I located Marie-Anne with nine of the Schmitt children on the passenger list of the Ocean Home's May 1854 journey from Le Havre France to New Orleans. (See pg 6 left.)

Although Marianne 35, Jean Nicolas 11, Pierre Ferdinand 9, Anne-Marie 8, Sophia 7, Elisabeth 6, Christina 5, Pauline 4, Emilie 9/12, and François 5/12 are listed as Suisse (Swiss), this is clearly my French family.

This means the family was separated for only a short time - just a few weeks. But oh, how difficult it must have been for Marie-Anne to care for seven small children and two infants while crossing the ocean to their new life in America!

And while finding this passenger list was wonderfully exciting, it does raise a few questions. For starters, how can Emilie (9 months old) and François (5 months old) have the same mother?

Rather than focus on that just yet, I think I'll spend May Day enjoying this precious new genealogical treasure. And thanking Pauline, my 2nd great-grand aunt, who guided a search engine to the right page.

Sunday's Obituary ~ Carl Plum

From the March 4, 1902 issue of the Chicago Daily News;

"Carl Plum, March 3, 1902, beloved husband of Anna Plum (nee Schmitt) and father of Clara Hasse, Nana, Carl E., Julius, Robert and Arthur Plum, aged 62 years and 9 months. Funeral from late residence, 6946(?) Stewart Ave., Thursday at 10 a.m. to Graceland. Cincinnati papers please copy."

Carl was my second great-grand uncle-in law. His wife Anna-Marie was (my second great-grandmother) Elizabeth's sister. Immigrants Carl and Anna were married in Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio before relocating to Chicago shortly before The Great Fire of 1871.

Surname Saturday - Gury

My third great-grandmother was Marie Anne Gury, born April 1818 in Francaltroff, Moselle, France. After marrying Nicolas Schmitt, Marie moved to Hellimer and had 10 children before immigrating to the United States in the early to mid 1850s. The family settled in Cincinnati.

Another Gury descendant shared a photograph of a woman who may have been Marie's sister Christina. There are women named Christina in nearly every generation of the Gury family, so the possibility of a connection is strong. The Christina in question was the Mother Superior in a convent in France. This makes me cautiously optimistic; there may be some interesting records available.

Surname Saturday ~ Grosse, Gury, Schmitt

Fashionable women ~ 1850

I'm enamored with my paternal French line; learning to speak French while driving, reading French history books, translating birth records during my lunch hour, ordering films from the Family History Library every Tuesday evening. Some might say I've become addicted, but that's not true. I've been addicted all along.

New clues show themselves frequently, but most often they come accompanied by more questions. 

The knowns:

• My 3rd great-grandfather, Nicolas Schmitt, was born in 1813 in Hellimer, Moselle, Lorraine, France.
• His parents were Francois Schmitt and Elisabeth Grosse.
• His wife was Marie-Anne Gury, born in 1818 in Francaltroff, Hellimer, Lorraine, France.
• Nicolas had at least two siblings, younger sisters Elisabeth and Barbe.
• He traveled to America with his eldest son Jules in April 1854.
• Nicolas and his family settled in Cincinnati Ohio.
• Several children, including my 2nd great-grandmother emmigrated to Chicago where they raised their children.

The unknowns:

• When did the remaining family members arrive in America?
• What happened to Francois, the last child born in France?
• What happened to Joseph, the first child born in Ohio?
• Did Jules really die in Ohio, or did he relocate to Chicago leaving his wife and children behind?
• Was Nicolas the first, one of several, or the only Schmitt that left France?
• Where is the elusive marriage record of Nicolas and Marie-Anne?
• and so many more unknowns; far too many to list.

The next steps:

• Order microfilm for 1792-1810 birth, marriage, death records for Hellimer.
• Continue checking the mailbox for the will that will tell if the French-born Ohio-residing Emile Schmitt who married Mary Kauffman is "my" Emile.
• Translate Barbe's birth record; it includes her parents' ages.
• Search passenger lists for my 2nd great-grandmother and her siblings.
• Determine whether the brother mentioned as co-owner of John Schmitt's restaurant in Chicago is Jules.

And so, as we French say, la recherche se poursuit!

In memory of Nicolas Schmitt 09 Mar 1813

Nicolas Schmitt is my 3rd great-grandfather. He was born in Hellimer, Moselle, France on this day in 1813.

France was unchartered genealogical territory for me for decades. First because I believed what my family believed; we're Swedish and German. Then after coming to terms with my French DNA, I was intimidated by the enormous task of learning to research records that had been created in France.

But I was fascinated by Nicolas, who left his country of origin with his wife and seven children in 1854. The family settled in Cincinnati Ohio. Two more children were born in Ohio and sadly, Nicolas became a widower before 1870.

So little is known about this man. Schmitt, a common name with many spelling variations, isn't easy to trace. And Cincinnati experienced not one, but three courthouse fires.

So I started by learning about France. For example, when Nicolas was born, Napoleon Bonaparte was the Emperor of France. Nicolas and his children hailed from Moselle, a département (number 57 to be exact) in Lorraine named after the Moselle River. Lorraine is rich in coal and steel, commodities highly-desirable to bordering countries. Conflicts over who had the rights to these riches left the area war torn for many years.

Learning something new everyday keeps our minds sharp. I'm taking a free class in french genealogy, I signed up for a french blog, and I joined a french mailing list. France is a country rich in beauty, history, and genealogical treasures ~ ours for the taking. Vive la France!