I republished an old post about some Schirmer’s a few days ago. I did not expect to find another Schirmer so soon after that post. Carl Theodore Schirmer was born on December 7, 1885, so today would be his 138th birthday. Carl, mostly called Charles during his life, was the son of Adolph and Clara (Wetzke) Schirmer. Charles was baptized at Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. His baptism record from that congregation’s books is pictured here.

Before I move on with Charles’s story, let me explain a little about the Schirmer names in our German Family Tree. There was a Schirmer family that was part of the New York Group arriving in Perry County in 1839. Most of the Schirmer stories that I have written on this blog have been about descendants from those Schirmer’s. Charles’s parents did not arrive in America until 1883, two years before Charles was born. I do not know if there was any connection between these Schirmer’s and the ones who had been around in Perry County for quite some time already.

Because we cannot view the 1890 Federal census, the first census in which we find Charles was the one taken in 1900. By that time, he was 14 years old, and he was no longer living with his parents. He was a farm hand in the Henry Hollmann household in the Union Township.

Meanwhile, Charles’s father was a saddler living in the village of Frohna When the 1915 plat maps were made, we find the Adolph Schirmer property in Frohna.

The Adolph Schirmer family eventually made their way to Portland, Oregon. A previous post was told about one of Charles’s older sisters who lived in Portland titled, Another Perry County Resident Makes Her Way to Oregon.

Now, we will turn our attention to the woman who would become Charles’s wife. Her name was Pauline Vogel. That also sounds like a Perry County name, but it is not in this case. Pauline was born on May 30, 1876 in Germany and did not come to America with her family until 1896. She was the daughter of Lorenz and Ernestine Vogel. That Vogel family settled in Cleveland, Ohio once they arrived in this country. Pauline is found in the 1900 census working as a domestic at the age of 24.

Charles Schirmer married Pauline Vogel on November 2, 1905 in Cleveland. I have no documentation to display for this wedding. Then, by the time of the 1910 census, Charles and Pauline were living in Akron, Ohio where Charles was a foreman in a brewery. The Schirmer’s had just one child, a girl named Alma.

According to Charles’s World War I draft registration, he had made his way to Cleveland, Ohio where he had become a scale expert and repairman. His employer was the Howe Scale Company.

Next, we find the Schirmer’s in the 1920 census in which Charles is called a merchant for a scale company.

The 1930 census shows a slightly different household. Alma is no longer included, but we find Pauline’s mother, Ernestine, living with them. Charles had the same occupation, but this time he is called a mechanic in a scale factory.

The Schirmer’s relocated before the 1940 census. In that year’s entry, we find them living in Buffalo, New York where Charles was a salesman for Howe scales.

Charles’s World War II draft card also places the Schirmer’s in Buffalo. He is called a branch manager for the Howe Scale Company.

By the time of the 1950 census, we find Charles and Pauline back in Cleveland.

Below is a photo of an antique Howe scale, one of the types of scales Charles dealt with during his career.

I found this video that gives a bit of history of the Howe Scale Company which had its origins in Vermont.

Charles Schirmer died in 1971 at the age of 85; Pauline Schirmer died in 1973 at the age of 96. These two are buried together in the Brooklyn Heights Cemetery in Cleveland.

This post demonstrates how a Schirmer family lived in Perry County for a short time before scattering out to several locations in the United States, both to the west and to the east