November 17th was the birthday of a set of twins.  The parents of these twins was the couple that has been mentioned in several previous posts as the Schmidt-Schmidt couple.  Jacob and Wilhelmina (Schmidt) Schmidt were married in 1864, and then began having a bunch of little Schmidts.  Fourteen years after their marriage, with six children already in their family, they welcomed in this set of twins in 1882.  The twins were named Emanuel and Arthur, and they were baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg.

The Schmidt twins were two of the most photographed people in East Perry County in their day, as will be evidenced in this post.  Here is a photo of Emanuel and Arthur at the age of four.

Nowadays, parents get photographs of their children at least once a year through their schools.  This was not done back in the late 1800’s, but the Schmidt family had this portrait taken of their twins when they were eleven years old.

Another photograph shows up when Emanuel and Arthur were 20 years old.

In 1910, after both of twins’ parents had died, we have this interesting census entry.

Their older, unmarried sister, Agnes is listed as the head of the family.  All together, there are six adult single people living in this household with no parents.  That’s not something you see every day.

In 1915, when they were 33 years old, the Schmidt twins managed to pull off what must have been one of the most unusual events of that time period.  Both of them were married on the same day in the same ceremony.  Here is a wedding photo of both couples.

Emanuel (on the left) married Maria Buck.  Maria was the daughter of Gottlieb and Paulina (Oehlert) Buck.  Arthur (on the right) married Lina Darnstaedt.  Lina was the daughter of Gottfried and Amalia (Schlimpert) Darnstaedt.  This wedding took place on September 19, 1915, two days after their birthday.  It makes me wonder if, in addition to a wedding cake, there was a birthday cake at the wedding reception.

Although I have not seen a photo of the Emanuel Schmidt wedding party, we do have one for Arthur and Lina.

Add to this whole scenario that the older brother, Joseph Schmidt, who also had the same September 17th birthday, was married the previous June of that year to Lina’s sister, Sarah (Joseph’s second marriage).

After this double marriage, both couples in the same household with their sister, Agnes.  Just imagine for a second the situation where two new brides move in and begin sharing the same kitchen in which their new sister-in-law has been the boss for many years.  Then when both Schmidt couples started to have children, there was quite a long time when they still shared the same farmhouse.  Here is the 1930 census that shows 13 members of this household.

Arthur and Lina would have one more child during 1930, making a total of 14.  There did come a time later when the two families would separate, but I am not sure when that happened.  In this photo showing Emanuel and Arthur doing some field work, we can see a farm place in the background.  I have to assume that it is the Schmidt place, and you have to admit, it was quite a spread.

This photo shows the Schmidt families having lunch in the shade, probably with the adult men taking time out from the hard labor of the day.

Another photo of the twins and their wives is shown here.  The note on the photo says they were 62 years old.  That would mean this photo was taken around 1944.

This family photo shows 13 members of the Schmidt families.  Agnes would be the one sitting in the middle of the front row.  She died in 1952, so this must have been taken before then.

This last photo was taken when the Schmidt twins were 84 years old.  By this time, both of them were widowers.

Emanuel died in 1970 at the age of 87; Arthur died in 1975 at the age of 92.  They, along with their wives, are all buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.

So I guess all in all, you can conclude that this story starts with a hand that is made up of two of a kind….maybe even two pairs of Schmidts…..and ends with a hand made up of a full house.  I’d say not many hands can beat that.