Schmidt, John D. 1838-1908 & Clara Hullerman Family

SCHMIDT, HULLERMAN, GEIN, FEIN, HEILMAN

Posted By: Wilma J. VandeBerg (email)
Date: 5/12/2024 at 07:59:26

Schmidt, John D. 1838 - 1908 and Clara Hullerman Family

This family story was taken from the Alton St. Mary’s Catholic Church Book of 1883-1983 page 209. The story was transcribed for this BIOS by Wilma J. Vande Berg of the Greater Sioux County Genealogical Society. Some research notes have been added.

The J. D. Schmidt family lived at 304 Tenth street in Alton and operated a rooming house.
They had five children: Ben, Ed, Clara, Ida and Art.

Ben was born in 1877, and married Lucinda Lieb, also of Alton. They later moved to Dell Rapids and farmed in that vicinity. They had two children: Helen, who now resided in Alton, and Marian, who lived in Sioux City. Ben and Lucinda Schmidt returned to make their home after retirement from the farm, and both passed away here.

Ed Schmidt also moved to Del Rapids. Ida Moved to California. Art owned the Alton Pool Hall, and later moved to Dubuque, Iowa. Clara Schnidt married A. Fleischer. They lived in New Jersey. Mr. Fleischer was a native of Ossain, Iowa, and the inventor of the Blood Pressure Machine.

Another daughter, Mrs. Brennan, lived in Granville. Both Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt passed away at Alton, and are buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery. Mr. Schmidt passed away as a result of burns die to a brash and hay fire on property north of our present cemetery.

(end of family story in St. Mary’s book)

RESEARCH Notes: From ancestry.com public members submitted by others, ancestry.com census records, familysearch.org and local obituaries on this web page.

John D. Schmidt was born 22 Mar 1838 Germany died 16 Apr 1908 Alton IA. His parents were not listed in the ancestry.com family report. Family search lists parents as Christ Schmidt and Margareth Gein/Fein. He married Clara Fredrika Hullerman

Clara Fredrika Hullerman was born 29 Jun 1848 at Posen, Saale-Orla-Kreis, Thuringen, Germany and died 9 Aug 1928 Alton IA. Her parents were not listed on the family report. However, in the 1925 Iowa State census her parents were listed as Bernard Hullerman and Christina Heilman. John D. and Clara had a total of eight children.

CHILDREN:
1. Ben Bernard John born 24, Apr 1877 died 1 Sep 1955 Alton IA. In 1909 he married Lucinda Lieb. They had two daughters they are Marian, Mrs. O.C. Albrecht, of Sioux City and Miss Helen, a teacher at Owatonna, Minnesota. See his obituary on this web page.
2. Elizabeth Ann Schmidt born 23 Mar 1879 Jackson Co. IA died 5 Jan 1970 married 14 Jun 1904 Sioux County IA, to Mike Brennan. 1925 census lists Michael Brennan 50, wife Elizabeth 42, children Robert 16, Charles 12, Ruth 9 and Emmet 5, they were living at Granville.
3. Clara Schmidt born June 1881 died May 3, 1960 Mrs. Andrew Fleisher of Rutherford NJ. 1930 census of Rutherford NJ, Andrew Fleischer was 49, Clara 48, Florence 21, Betty 4.
4. Ida Schmidt born Sep 1883 she was not married as of 1928, died of Long Beach CA in 1962
5. Edward Ernest Schmidt born 15 Nov 1885 died 23 Mar 1974 of Dell Rapids SD. Wife was Florence Wilson 1888-1944. Children Kenneth Edward Schmidt 1915-1998, Lucille 1918-1987, Lois Schmidt 1920-2007, and one other not named by ancestry.com, possibly Robert born 1932.
6. Arthur Mathias Schmidt born 22 Feb 1888 died 27 Apr 1962. He was not married, his obit can be found on this web page.
7. Schmidt Child born and died before 1900
8. Schmidt Child born and died before 1900

OBITUARY of John D. Schmidt

Alton Democrat of April 18, 1908
J. D. Schmidt of Alton lost his life as a result of burns in a prairie fire this week. Monday he and his sons Bernard and Arthur went to a small hayfield owned by Mr. Schmidt in North Alton to burn an old stack. The boys were on the windward side of the stack and Mr. Schmidt over toward the other side of the field. The wind took the flames into the tall grass and the fire quickly spread.
Mr. Schmidt tried to save a hay-rake that stood in a patch of weeds. The flames swept up back of him and his coat caught fire. The breeze fanned it into a flame, Mr. Schmidt endeavored to tear it from his body and also started to run toward the river. The smoke obscured him from his sons but they were called by a young girl who saw his predicament. When they got to his side he was badly burned and it was with much labor that the flames were extinguished by rolling him and beating them out. His back was a solid mass of painful burns. His hands and arms were skinless and badly cooked. His beard was gone and his face scorched till it swelled frightfully. He was carried to his home in a state of shock and two doctors were called They did what they could and Wednesday it was announced that he had survived the shock and had a chance for recovery. Thursday he took a turn for the worse owing to congestion of the internal organs—due to inaction of the burned tissue—and in spite of all that
three doctors could do he died at three o'clock in the afternoon.
The funeral will be held this Saturday afternoon from St. Mary's catholic church. Mr. Schmidt was an Alton pioneer. As such we are unable to do him justice this week and hence defer a biographical sketch till next week.
Alton Democrat of April 25, 1908
The funeral of J . D, Schmidt was held Saturday afternoon of last week at one o'clock. It was one of the largest in Alton's history-deceased being one of the town's pioneers and a man much respected in the community.
Mr. Schmidt was born on the twenty second day of March 1838. He was born in Helferskirchen Nassau Germany, He came to the United States in 1867 and located at Milwaukee where he remained for several years. He moved from there to Dubuque where he resided until 1882. At Springbrook Iowa on January fourteenth 1873 he was married to Miss Clara Hullerman. Children born to them who survive to mourn with the widowed mother are Benard of Alton, Mrs. Mike Brennan of Granville, Mrs. Andrew Fleischer of Chicago, Miss Ida and Edward and Arthur of Alton. Deceased was well known over this part of Iowa—having taken charge of the Dubuque house in Alton upon his arrival here and having operated same for eight years.
Mr. Schmidt was a shrewd business man. He early saw the possibilities of this country and invested his money in land. He formerly owned a fine farm southeast of Alton and the writer has the word of one tenant who worked the farm for many years that a better landlord than Mr. Schmidt no man could wish. In recent years Mr. Schmidt had invested considerable money in South Dakota lands about Dell Rapids and in North Dakota lands about Litchville, In addition to looking after his own land interests he had the oversight of farm properties belonging to Dr. Smith of Des Moines.
Deceased was a man of many excellent qualities and had a host of friends and to the best of our knowledge and belief no enemies. He and his estimable wife toiled together for their mutual interests and have raised a family of young men and young women of whom any one might well feel proud. Mr. Schmidt had attained to a ripe old age but was hale and strong and to all appearances might have lived from ten to twenty years longer had it not been for the sad accident which ended his life, Mr. Schmidt was a Christian man and in spite of the severe ordeal through which he passed his last hours were peaceful ones and he entered the valley of the shadow surrounded by a loving family and loving friends, To many of the old citizens of Alton his death was as the death of a brother and by all who knew him for his kindly disposition and ready wit and cheery laugh he will be sadly missed. There were present at the funeral from a distance Mrs. Hullerman and son Ed from Perry Iowa, Mrs. John Schmidt and Mrs. John Capesius from Dell Rapids South Dakota, brothers of deceased Peter and Adam and Chris from Dubuque, Dr. F . J . Smith and Miss Carrie Bohuenkamp from Des Moines, Mrs. Nic Kilburg and son Mike from LeMars. Mrs. Andrew Fleischer from Chicago arrived barely in time for her father's funeral.

OBITUARY of Clara Hullerman Mrs. John D. Schmidt 1948-1928
Source: Alton Democrat (8-17-1928) Born: June 29, 1848 Died: August 9, 1928
Mrs. John D. Schmidt, one of Alton’s well loved pioneer mothers, passed away Thursday evening at her home here. She had been an invalid for nearly eight years, heart trouble having the immediate cause of her death.
Fredricka Clara Hullerman was born at Munich, Germany, June 29th, 1848. When a young girl she came to the United States with her brother, settling at Dubuque where she was married on June 14th, 1873 to John D. Schmidt. The couple lived on a farm near Springbrook, Iowa for 10 years and then moved to Alton, having been among the early settlers here. During those early days and ever since Mrs. Schmidt was noted for her hospitality and goodness, her home having been a haven for many a lonely young man or woman.
Her husband passed away in 1908 and twenty years later, at the age of 80 years, his wife joined him. She had lived in Alton for 46 years and reared a family of six children who survive her. They are E.E. Schmidt of Dell Rapids, South Dakota; A.M. Schmidt of Dubuque; Mrs. A.W. Fleischer of Rutherford, New Jersey; Mrs. M. W. Brennan of Granville; Bernard Schmidt and Miss Ida of Alton.
Always a self-sacrificing mother, she was rewarded by the devotion of her children in her last days, one of them, Mrs. Fleischer having come from New Jersey to help care for her mother this summer and thus fulfill her last earthly wish. Hers was a life of unselfishness, kindness and good deeds and memory will be cherished by numberless friends. An abundance of beautiful floral tributes bore tributes bore testimony to the regard and affection of the community for this noble pioneer mother.