For this post, I will refer you to an old one that was written back in 2017, Two of a Kind….Later a Full House. That post told the story of the Schmidt twins that got married on the same day. What makes that story even more fascinating is that after the wedding, both of these twins brought their wives back to the house in which they had grown up, and then went on to spent most of their married lives living together. Each of the twins went on to have five children, so that made for a very “full house”. Today’s tale will focus on the fact that after their marriage, the Schmidt couples did not just make up a poker hand of “two pairs”. They also made up a full house in a different way. A full house is made up of three of a kind along with two of a kind. In the case of the Schmidt household, it was made up of a “pair of kings” (the twin husbands) and “three queens”. Two of the queens were the brides of the twins. The third queen is the main character in today’s post. The twins had an older sister who also lived in this Schmidt household. That sister never married.

Agnes Sarah Wilhelmine Schmidt was born on January 31, 1874, so today would be her very special 150th birthday. Agnes was the 5th child of 11 in the family of Jacob and Wilhelmine (Schmidt) Schmidt. Let me state that there were 4 Schmidt clans that were part of the 1839 immigration, and several other families of Schmidt’s came to Perry County later on, so there have been plenty of Schmidt’s around here over the years. I happen to be part of a different set of Schmidt’s that was part of the Gesellschaft. Agnes’s parents were part of 2 other Schmidt clans that made up this Schmidt/Schmidt marriage. Below are photos of Agnes’s parents.

Agnes was baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg. We can take a look at her baptism record from that congregation’s books.

Agnes is found in the 1880 census at the age of 6. Her father was a farmer in the Brazeau Township. The twin boys would be born 2 years later in 1882, making this large household even larger.

On a later Perry County plat map, we see several parcels of land with the names, E.&A. Schmidt, on them. E.&A. refers to the twins, Emanuel and Arthur. I think the Jacob Schmidt family in 1880 was farming the land shown toward the top of the map.

Agnes’s mother died in 1894, so when the 1900 census was taken, Jacob Schmidt was a widower. We find several Schmidt households on the same page of that year’s census. Agnes was living with her father and two of her brothers, including one of the twins, Emanuel. The other twin, Arthur, can be found at the bottom of this image living in the household of his older brother, Martin Schmidt.

Agnes’s father died in 1909, so when we find Agnes in the 1910 census, she is called the head of the household which included her twin brothers, along with a servant, Anna Grebing, and two farm laborers, Martin Lorenz and Rudolph Stueve.

The twins each got married in a double wedding on September 19, 1915 at Trinity, Altenburg. As said before, these two pairs of newlyweds then both moved into the house in which they had been living. That household also included Agnes, their older sister. We see this “full house” household with 3 queens and 2 kings and a few young children in the 1920 census. Emanuel is called the head of the household.

Next, we find the Schmidt household in the 1930 census. The household had gotten bigger, and this time Arthur was called the head of the household. Agnes was 56 years old. There was a combined number of 8 children in this entry.

The 1940 census displays the 2 Schmidt families in 2 separate households. Agnes is included with the Arthur Schmidt family.

I think it must have been around this time that 2 photos were taken of the Schmidt families and Agnes. One was taken outdoors in front of the family home. It has been displayed on this blog before. Agnes is sitting in the middle of the front row, between her twin brothers.

The other photo looks like a studio photograph. It was supplied to me by Ray and Carolyn Schmidt. Ray is a grandson of the twin, Emanuel. These two photos must have been taken on the same day. All of the characters shown are wearing the same clothes in both pictures.

Agnes is found in one more census, the one taken in 1950. Agnes is listed in Arthur’s family this time. You can see Ray Schmidt in this entry at the age of 5.

Agnes Schmidt died in 1952 at the age of 78. We can view her death certificate below. It says she died at the Perry County Memorial Hospital in Perryville.

Agnes Schmidt is buried in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Altenburg.

I keep trying to picture in my mind what happened in this Schmidt family. I figure that when the 1910 census was taken, Agnes must have been the boss of the house. The twins would have been out farming with the farm hands, and Agnes would be using the young female servant as an assistant, also probably teaching her the skills of housekeeping. Then, in 1915, Agnes was put in the position of welcoming two young brides into the house that she might have considered “hers”, and sharing the duties of housekeeping and cooking with them. I wonder especially about what happened in the kitchen. How would this trio of women share the responsibilities of preparing food for this double-Schmidt family? Would they always get along with each other? Would they each have their own family recipes they knew how to make? Would they take turns being in charge in the kitchen? The two wives of the twins were from the Buck and Darnstaedt families. Did they introduce some new family traditions to add to the Schmidt family traditions? Then there is the other side. Would the males in the family be happy with the food placed on the table before them? Would they have a favorite cook? I have so many questions, none of which I can answer.

I figure there were 3 queens in the Schmidt family. Being the oldest, the most experienced of the 3, and the one with the Schmidt genes, I figure Agnes might have been held in the highest regard in this blended Schmidt family. I know she remained as part of the twin Schmidt’s families throughout her life. I find it a fascinating tale and would love to hear anecdotal stories that might have been passed on through the generations in this family.