Elizabeth Eichof Schemine
Elizabeth Eichof Schemine was the youngest of the three Eichof sisters who immigrated to Mansfield. Catherine and Theresia came to this country together in December 1907. They brought their children to meet their husbands who arrived in July that year. Catherine Eichof Gilde is my great grandmother.
Elizabeth Eichof was 28 and single in 1921 when she arrived in Mansfield on a ticket paid for by her brother Nick Eichof. In that generation it was unusual for a woman of that age to be single. I have not yet discovered if she had ever been married before immigrating to Mansfield. The fact that she used her maiden name and had no children when she immigrated indicates to me that she had not.
Elizabeth’s future husband, Nick Schemine, was from Setschan, the same village in Hungary where the Eichof’s lived. He arrived in Mansfield in April 1907 at the age of 26. According to the passenger manifest he was joining a brother-in-law, Johann Schmidt. Three months later his wife Anna Fredrich Schemine, 24, joined him. She brought their one-year-old son Stefan. The manifest noted that Anna’s father, Johan Fredrich, lived at 6 Setschan.
I found the Schemine family in the 1920 Census living at 332 Harker St. Nick was 39 and Anna Fredrich Schemine was 36. In 1920 they had the following children in the home: Stephen, 13; Peter, 12; and Elizabeth, 10. A 23-year-old single man from Setschan by the name of Joe Berges (sic) was listed as a boarder in the household. In 1920 Nick was working as a laborer in a cigar factory. The Harker Street house remained as the Schemine home for many years to follow. My dad says that Pete Schemine was a friend of my grandparents, Michael and Catherine Vogel.
In October 1922 Anna Schemine died at the age of 39. I found a notation in the Cemetery Index at the Mansfield Richland Public Library that said she died of a skull fracture. Her death was a mystery to me until the luncheon I attended last month at the Hallabrin house with my parents and Gilde family members including my 90-year-old Grand Aunt Elizabeth Gilde Hoff. Aunt Liz said that Anna died when she fell off the back porch.
The next reference to the Schemine’s I located was the 1930 Census. By then Nick had married Elizabeth Eichof , who was 36 in 1930 – 13 years younger than her husband. They had a six-year-old son, Nick. Also living in this extended household was Stephen, 24; daughter Elizabeth with her husband, Carl Roth; and first wife Anna’s parents: John Frederich, 86, and Anna Frederich, 79. The November, 1932 obituary for Anna Frederich said she came to this country in 1921. Her husband, John, died two years before her.
The 332 Harker St home of the Schemine’s next became Theresia Eichof’s home. As I have noted elsewhere, the Frederich’s were not the only elderly parents who left the Banat to join their children in Mansfield. Anton and Theresia Eichof immigrated in 1927. Sometime after Anton died in 1931, Theresia moved in with the Schemine’s and lived on Harker St until her death in 1952 at the age of 94.
Elizabeth cared for the elderly parents of her husband’s first wife. Then she made a home for her mother until the end of her life. Elizabeth died in 1987 at the age of 93. Her obituary said that she made her home with her son Nick up until 1984.
I never really sought out information about my great aunt, but my research kept uncovering facts about her life. I think that it is an admirable one, and tells of the kind of family devotion that characterizes the Danube Swabian Germans.
Elizabeth Eichof was 28 and single in 1921 when she arrived in Mansfield on a ticket paid for by her brother Nick Eichof. In that generation it was unusual for a woman of that age to be single. I have not yet discovered if she had ever been married before immigrating to Mansfield. The fact that she used her maiden name and had no children when she immigrated indicates to me that she had not.
Elizabeth’s future husband, Nick Schemine, was from Setschan, the same village in Hungary where the Eichof’s lived. He arrived in Mansfield in April 1907 at the age of 26. According to the passenger manifest he was joining a brother-in-law, Johann Schmidt. Three months later his wife Anna Fredrich Schemine, 24, joined him. She brought their one-year-old son Stefan. The manifest noted that Anna’s father, Johan Fredrich, lived at 6 Setschan.
I found the Schemine family in the 1920 Census living at 332 Harker St. Nick was 39 and Anna Fredrich Schemine was 36. In 1920 they had the following children in the home: Stephen, 13; Peter, 12; and Elizabeth, 10. A 23-year-old single man from Setschan by the name of Joe Berges (sic) was listed as a boarder in the household. In 1920 Nick was working as a laborer in a cigar factory. The Harker Street house remained as the Schemine home for many years to follow. My dad says that Pete Schemine was a friend of my grandparents, Michael and Catherine Vogel.
In October 1922 Anna Schemine died at the age of 39. I found a notation in the Cemetery Index at the Mansfield Richland Public Library that said she died of a skull fracture. Her death was a mystery to me until the luncheon I attended last month at the Hallabrin house with my parents and Gilde family members including my 90-year-old Grand Aunt Elizabeth Gilde Hoff. Aunt Liz said that Anna died when she fell off the back porch.
The next reference to the Schemine’s I located was the 1930 Census. By then Nick had married Elizabeth Eichof , who was 36 in 1930 – 13 years younger than her husband. They had a six-year-old son, Nick. Also living in this extended household was Stephen, 24; daughter Elizabeth with her husband, Carl Roth; and first wife Anna’s parents: John Frederich, 86, and Anna Frederich, 79. The November, 1932 obituary for Anna Frederich said she came to this country in 1921. Her husband, John, died two years before her.
The 332 Harker St home of the Schemine’s next became Theresia Eichof’s home. As I have noted elsewhere, the Frederich’s were not the only elderly parents who left the Banat to join their children in Mansfield. Anton and Theresia Eichof immigrated in 1927. Sometime after Anton died in 1931, Theresia moved in with the Schemine’s and lived on Harker St until her death in 1952 at the age of 94.
Elizabeth cared for the elderly parents of her husband’s first wife. Then she made a home for her mother until the end of her life. Elizabeth died in 1987 at the age of 93. Her obituary said that she made her home with her son Nick up until 1984.
I never really sought out information about my great aunt, but my research kept uncovering facts about her life. I think that it is an admirable one, and tells of the kind of family devotion that characterizes the Danube Swabian Germans.
posted by Cliff Vogel | 5:16 PM
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