Justine Amalia Markworth was born on August 24, 1848, so today would be her special 175th birthday. Amalia was the daughter of Gottfried and Fredericke (Mueller) Markworth. Amalia’s mother was the sister of J.A.F.W. Mueller, the first graduate of Concordia Seminary, Altenburg. So, I guess you could say that Amalia could have called him Uncle Alphabet, because that is the nickname we give J.A.F.W. Both of Amalia’s parents were part of the Gesellschaft that arrived in America in 1839. They were married in Altenburg even before the year 1839 was over. Our German Family Tree lists 8 children in this Markworth family, and Amalia was child #5. She was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. If this was a church baptism, then it would have taken place in the 1845 church (the front gallery of our museum) and conducted by Rev. G.H. Loeber. Her baptism record is shown below.

Amalia is found in the 1850 census at the age of 2. Her father was a tailor in Altenburg.

Next, we find Amalia in the 1860 census when she was 12. This time, her father was called a farmer.

It was after this census that the Markworth name disappears from Perry County. For one reason, the Markworth parents moved to Wisconsin in the 1860’s. A second reason can be seen in this list of Markworth children that is found in a Mueller family binder that we have. You can see that the sons became church workers and the girls married pastors.

Amalia got married during the next decade, so I will now discuss the early life of the man who would become her husband. His name was George Martin Schumm, who was born on December 20, 1841. It is not often that you find a person who carries the same name as the town in which he was born. Although it is a very small village, if you do a map search, you will find a place called Schumm, Ohio. Despite being in Ohio, it is not far from Indiana.

The town of Schumm is named after George Schumm’s family, who arrived in this country before the Perry County immigrants. In this brief history of the Schumm family, it says the Schumm’s came to America in 1833, and then established their home in what would later be called Schumm, Ohio. It also connects this family to the establishment of Zion Lutheran Church in Schumm, which would become one of the charter members of the Missouri Synod.

The article below gives some more details about the beginnings of Zion Lutheran. Rev. Friedrich Wyneken was involved in organizing that congregation.

Before I move on, let me show you what Zion, Schumm looks like now.

The George Martin Schumm who is highlighted in this post, was the son of George Martin and Maria (Pflueger) Schumm. His father was one of the founding members of Zion, Schumm, which was established in 1846. His son would have been about 5 years old when that congregation started, so his baptism record would not be found in their church books. Below is a photo I found of George’s parents.

George is found in the 1850 census at the age of 8.

In the 1860 census, George was a teenager and still living with his parents. His father was a farmer.

It must have been soon after the above census was taken that George went off to school to become a Lutheran pastor. I think there’s a good chance that he first attended college in Fort Wayne before he finished his studies in St. Louis. Then, on July 28, 1867, George Schumm married Amalia Markworth in St. Louis. A civil marriage record for that wedding is displayed here.

This wedding took place at Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Louis. The church record is found below.

I was unable to locate the 1870 census which would have included George and Amalia. Because of that, I cannot display any census record that includes these two. That is because Amalia died in 1874 at the age of 26. I think Amalia gave birth to 3 children before she died. Amalia Schumm is buried in the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Schumm, Ohio.

A year later, Rev. George Schumm married Charlotte Breuninger on October 10, 1875 in his home county of Van Wert in Ohio. A license from Van Wert County for this wedding is shown below.

It looks as if the next church at which Rev. Schumm served was St. John Lutheran Church in Kendallville, Indiana. We find the Schumm’s in the 1880 census living in Kendallville with 5 children, 3 from George’s first wife and 2 from his second wife. Charlotte’s younger sister also lived in their household.

In the next census we can view, the one taken in 1900, we find the Schumm’s in Lafayette, Indiana. At that time, 4 sons remained in their household.

In a 1905 Lafayette city directory, we find that Rev. Schumm was serving St. James German Lutheran Church and was called the superintendent of that congregation’s school.

It was in that same year, 1905, that Charlotte Schumm died, thus leaving Rev. Schumm once again as a widower. The 1910 census was the last one in which we find Rev. Schumm, who, at the age of 68, was still serving as a pastor in Lafayette.

I think Rev. Schumm traveled back to Schumm, Ohio when a new church had been built there in 1915. This photo of him and 3 of his brothers was taken.

At some point in time, this portrait of Rev. George Schumm was taken.

Rev. George Schumm died in 1917 at the age of 75. He died when he was in North Dakota. His son, Paul, was the informant on this form, and he was a Lutheran pastor.

Both George and Charlotte Schumm are buried in the Greenbush Cemetery in Lafayette.

The Mueller binder mentioned earlier makes the point that many descendants in that family became Lutheran pastors and teachers. That publication includes this list of descendants who qualified as those full-time church workers.

This list is impressive, but it is only goes up to about 1970. I’m sure the list would be longer now. Not only that, but for some unknown reason, this Mueller binder does not include Amalia Markworth and her descendants. Rev. George Schumm had at least 3 sons who became pastors.

Just a side note: The first principal I had as a student at St. Jacobi Lutheran School in St. Louis was Kenneth Markworth…#36 in the above list.

***This post is published rather late today because Altenburg experienced a lengthy loss of internet service this morning and afternoon.