With a name like Schmidt, it is surprising that today’s character is only attached to our German Family Tree by a thread. It is just a confirmation record in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim that gets Charles Schmidt into the GFT. Today, you will read about one of his sons. There is another brief connection to the GFT in this story, but that will come later.

Lewis William Henry Theodore Schmidt was born on March 7, 1870, the son of Charles and Louisa Jungblut (Youngblood) Schmidt. I will later show evidence that Lewis was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Pilot Knob, but I am unable to display an image of his baptism record. He was born early enough in 1870 to be included in that year’s census. The Schmidt’s were living in Iron Mountain, and Lewis was 3 months old. His father was called a “laborer in cut”, which was a job description for a worker associated with a mine. There were plenty of mines around Iron Mountain.

Lewis’s father died in 1873 as a result of a construction accident. Then, his mother married William Riehn in 1874. This is where there is another connection to our German Family Tree. Louisa’s second marriage took place at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim, and that event likely caused the migration of the Schmidt children back to the Friedheim area. When the 1880 census was taken, we find Lewis living in the Whitewater Township in Cape Girardeau County. He was 10 years old at the time, and his stepfather was a farmer.

We cannot view the 1890 census, and since Lewis got married prior to the 1900 census, we will now take a look at the woman who would become his bride. Her name was Carrie E. Cotner, who was born on December 12, 1875. That makes her today’s birthday girl, and she would be celebrating her special 150th birthday today. It is her birthday in our German Family Tree that directed me to tell this story on today’s date. Carrie was the daughter of Joseph and Susanna (Ried) Cotner. I do not have any baptism information for her. Carrie is found in the 1880 census at the age of 4. This Cotner family would only have daughters. Her father was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township.

That would be the only census entry in which we find Carrie prior to her wedding. Lewis Schmidt married Carrie Cotner on January 5, 1897. According to the marriage record shown below, this couple was married by a justice of the peace.

It appears that this Schmidt couple had 6 children, but none of them were born prior to the 1900 census. Lewis was a farmer in the Apple Creek Township. There were 3 others living with the Schmidt’s. Lena Seabaugh, a widow, and her son were included, and Lena is called a housekeeper. There was also a young man, Mason Trizell, who was helping with the farming.

In the 1910 census, there were 5 children in the Schmidt household. Lewis was still farming in the Apple Creek Township.

One more child was born in the 1913. In the 1920 census, we find 5 children in the Schmidt household again. Something happened to their oldest child, Joseph, but I was unable to determine what it was. This time, Lewis was called a stockman and a farmer.

The Schmidt family made a move during the next decade. When the 1930 census was taken, we find them living in Oak Ridge. Lewis was still farming. Their daughter, Lucy, was a teacher at a public school, and their son, Kennet, was a barber.

The 1940 census entry for Lewis and Carrie is shown here. Their daughter, Mary, had married Schuyler Slinkard in 1924, and one child was born to that couple. Mary is said to be married in this entry, but her husband had been living in a Veterans Administration facility near Little Rock, Arkansas for a while. Mary and her daughter, Betty Jean, were living with Lewis and Carrie in 1940.

Carrie Schmidt died in 1946 at the age of 69. Her death certificate can be viewed below.

The last census we can view is the one taken in 1950. Lewis was a widower with no occupation listed. He was living with his widowed daughter, Mary Slinkard, whose husband also died in 1946. Mary was a teacher at an elementary school. Mary’s daughter, Betty Jean Miller, was also in this entry. Betty is listed as being married but I do not know why she was living with her mother without a husband.

Lewis Schmidt died in 1952 at the age of 82. His death certificate says he died at the Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau.

I found this short biography for Lewis on Findagrave.com. This is where it says that Lewis was baptized at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Pilot Knob. Rev. H.H.F. Flachsbart was the pastor at that congregation in 1870. Rev. J.F. Buenger, one of the builders of the Log Cabin College in Altenburg, was involved in organizing that church in Pilot Knob.

Lewis and Carrie Schmidt are buried in the Goshen Cemetery in Oak Ridge, but Findagrave.com does not have gravestone photos for them.

Because Schmidt is such a common German surname, it is not surprising to find a Schmidt family that does not have a major presence in our German Family Tree. Lewis Schmidt is certainly not connected to the several Schmidt families that go way back in East Perry County history like mine.