I have another bicentennial birthday to write about today. Lately, when I find a 200th birthday, it is for a person who has already had their story written. Today, however, I get to tell the story of today’s couple for the first time.

Johann Heinrich Schmidt was born on October 8, 1825 in Germany. His later death certificate says that his father was named Johann. Some family trees on Ancestry.com say his mother’s name was Helena Mueller. When Henry was 27 years old, he came to America, but before I tell you about how he came, I will tell just a bit about the woman who would become his bride.

Wilhelmine Naeser was born on August 14, 1834 in Germany. She was the daughter of Johann and Johanna (Friedel) Naeser. Wilhelmine was 19 years old when she came to America. What makes the immigration of Henry Schmidt and Wilhelmine Naeser interesting is that they came together to this country aboard the ship, Ernestine, in 1853. This appears to be a case where a couple decides to come to the United States to get married because it was easier to get married in this country than it was to get married in Germany. The passenger list for that ship shows Henry and Wilhelmine listed right next to each other.

The Ernestine arrived in June of 1853, and we find Henry Schmidt and Wilhelmine Naeser getting married later that year on October 11th. The marriage record for this couple is found in the books of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. We can view this pair’s church marriage record here.

I am also able to display 2 civil marriage records for this couple. Here is the first one. You can see that Rev. Christoph Heinrich Loeber was the pastor who married them.

Below is another civil record for this wedding.

Our German Family Tree lists 12 children born to Henry and Wilhelmine. The children were baptized at Concordia, Frohna. For some reason, the first child’s baptism record is not found in our GFT. A few of these children did not live to adulthood. When the 1860 census was taken, the Schmidt’s were living in the Brazeau Township with 3 children. Since Rev. Loeber is found on the same census page, I have to think that the Schmidt’s lived in Frohna. Henry was a blacksmith, just like it said on his passenger list.

Henry served in the military during the Civil War. I am able to show 2 military records for him. One record says he served under Captain Feig, and the other says he served under Captain Boehme. Both of those men were members of local Lutheran churches.

In the 1870 census, the Schmidt household included 6 children. An 8 year-old named Julia Reuschel was included in this entry.

The last of the Schmidt children was born in 1878. In the 1880 census, there were 7 children in the family. The oldest, Lebrecht, was also listed as a blacksmith, along with his father.

The next census entry we can view is the one taken in 1900. At the age of 74, Henry was still blacksmithing. Just one daughter was still living with her parents.

The 1910 census is the last one in which we find Henry and Wilhelmine. They were living in the Salome Vogel household. Salome had married their daughter, Helene. Salome was a farmer in the Union Township.

Wilhelmine Schmidt died later in 1910 at the age of 76. This was the time when Missouri was beginning to keep death certificates. We are able to view Wilhelmine’s below. This document says she died in the Shawnee Township of Cape Girardeau County. The informant on this form was Benjamin Schmidt, her son, who was living in the Shawnee Township at that time.

Wilhelmine’s church death record is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Shawneetown. That congregation began keeping records in 1909, and Wilhelmine’s death record is only the second one included in those books.

Henry Schmidt died a year later in 1911. His death certificate below says he died in the Union Township of Perry County. The informant on this document was Joseph Bachmann, who was married to Emily Schmidt, his daughter. Henry died on Christmas Eve.

Henry’s church death record is found in the books of Grace Lutheran Church in Uniontown.

Henry and Wilhelmine Schmidt are buried together in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Shawneetown.

Henry and Wilhelmine are part of a clan that I refer to as the “Frohna Schmidt’s”. From this family came several Schmidt’s that became Lutheran pastors. One of them was their grandson, Rev. Adolph Vogel, who served Trinity Lutheran Church for several decades.