There are not many surnames in our surname collection that end with “pf”, but today I will tell the story of a marriage between two such surnames. We also have a small collection of surnames that begins with a “pf”…Pfau, Pfeiffer, Pfennighausen, and Pfisterer. The bride and groom for today’s post who each have a “pf” at the end of their name would be celebrating their wedding anniversary today. I will begin with the groom.

Frederick Schrumpf was born on April 9, 1836 in Erbenheim, Germany. Frederick was the son of William Johann and Maria Christiana (Schreiner) Schrumpf. When Frederick was 17 years old, he made the voyage to America either aboard the ship, Reams, (which is the ship’s name on Family Search) or the ship, Adonis (which is the ship’s name on Ancestry.com) in 1854. On the passenger list for that ship shown below, you will not only find Frederick, but also his older brother, George Schrumpf, and his wife, Susan. I think Susan likely died not long after her arrival in this country because George would get married again during the same year as his brother, Frederick.

Frederick and his brother made their way to Perry County. It would be only a few years later that Frederick would get married, so let’s shift our attention to the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Johanna Catharina Kropf, who was born on March 5, 1837 in Thurnau, Germany. Johanna was the daughter of Johann George and Margaretha Barbara (Poehner) Kropf. Johanna’s family came to this country in 1851 aboard the ship, President Smidt. Johanna was 14 years old when she made that voyage.

We do not find Frederick Schrumpf and Johanna Kropf in American census records prior to their marriage because their wedding took place in 1857. These two were married on August 24, 1857. That means today would be their 168th wedding anniversary. It is a bit debatable where this wedding took place. I cannot display a church marriage record for this pair, but I am able to show two different records from Perry County. Here is the first one. Rev. Charles Theodore Gruber, the son of Rev. Charles Gruber from Uniontown, performed this wedding. Rev. Theodore Gruber had just become pastor at Peace, Friedenberg during that year, but this record says that they were married at the church in Paitzdorf, which is what Uniontown was called before it was renamed. However, there is no church record for this marriage in the Grace, Uniontown books.

Below is a second document for that wedding.

Family Search lists 8 children born to this couple. Their first child was baptized at Peace, Friedenberg. When the 1860 census was taken, there was just one daughter in their household. Frederick was a farmer in the St. Mary’s Township. That child would die later that year.

Frederick served in the Union Army during the Civil War. His military record below says he served during 1862 and 1863.

Two more children were born in Missouri, but shortly after Frederick’s Civil War service, this Schrumpf family moved to Madison County, Illinois where we would find them the rest of their lives. When the 1870 census was taken, the Schrumpf’s had 5 children in their household. Starting with the child listed on this form as being 5 years old, the children were born in Illinois. Frederick was a farmer.

Next, we find the Schrumpf’s in the 1880 census. One more child had been added to their family. This time, the census says that they were living in the Saline Township of Madison County, which is where the city of Highland is located.

The next census we can view is the one taken in 1900. Only one daughter was still living with her parents. Frederick was still farming in Highland.

The last census entry in which we find Johanna was the one taken in 1910. Frederick and Johanna had an empty nest.

At some point later in their lives, the Shrumpf’s had this family photograph taken. The photo is captioned so you can identify all the folks in the picture.

Johanna Schrumpf died in 1918 at the age of 81. She died on Christmas Eve. Her Illinois death certificate is pictured here.

Frederick is found as a widower in the 1920 census. He was living with his son, Peter, and his family in the Saline Township. Peter was a farmer.

Frederick Schrumpf died in 1925 at the age of 89. We can also view his Illinois death certificate below.

Frederick and Johanna Schrumpf are buried together in the Highland Cemetery in Highland.

I did not have to add either the name, Schrumpf, or the name, Kropf, to our collection of surname folders. Several folks with those names remained in the Perry County area and are likely to still be found around here. However, this Schrumpf/Kropf couple moved and spent most of their lives in Madison County, Illinois, not far from Interstate 70.