Karl August Brumm and Wilhelmina Ida Fischer
This blog post celebrates the anniversary of the marriage of Bart’s 3rd great grandparents, Karl August BRUMM and Wilhelmina Ida FISCHER (who went by Mina, pronounced like Mena). They were married on this date (20 January) in 1861. I’ve written about this family here and here.
Before I get into their story I do want to say something about Wilhelmina’s last name. I have found a number of different last names for her. While I think FISCHER is her maiden name, I can’t be 100% sure. I have seen the following last names for her: BRUMM, FISCHER, HOFFMAN, WAGNER, WAHLER/WOLLER, and WISCHMAN. The BRUMM and WISCHMAN surnames are her first and second married names. I’m not sure where the HOFFMAN, WAGNER, and WAHLER/WOLLER names come in but I think FISCHER is her maiden name.
Karl was born on 17 February 1834 in Saxony, Germany. (I’ve offered links for you to learn more about Saxony in this blog post.) Mina was also born in Saxony on 20 September 1838. They married on 20 January 1861 in Netzschkau, Vogtlandkreis, Saxony, Germany. (I would love to provide you with their marriage license or some kind of record but I don’t have one and haven’t been able to locate one. The date I have is one that has been given to me by other researchers.) Here’s a map of the area:
(Microsoft Maps)
The map above shows the city of Zwickau which is the capital of the district of Zwickau (#1), the town of Mylau where Karl was born (#2), and the town of Netzschkau where Mina was born and where Karl and Mina were married (#3). Karl and Mina lived the first decade or so of their marriage in Germany. While in Germany, they had their children including Pauline, Theresa (Bart’s maternal 2nd great grandmother whom I wrote about here), Charles, Clemens, Emma, Anna, Ida Bertha, Oliver, Clara, Albert, and George. (Researchers and records differ on Albert and George. Some say the boys were born in Germany and some say they were born in Michigan.)
I’m not familiar enough with this family yet to say for sure, but it appears that both Karl and Mina made multiple trips between Germany and the United States. I think possibly I’ve found the 1892 naturalization record for Karl but again, I’m not familiar enough with the family to say for sure. In any case, I did find an interesting story on Ancestry.com. It was posted by Doris Shumaker in 2011. The story goes like this. Clara, the youngest daughter of Karl and Mina, arrived in the United States at age 2. The family settled in Forestville, Sanilac County, Michigan. Before the family arrived though, Karl came over first. He began a bakery and then brought the rest of the family over. That would explain why Karl was not with the family on this Immigrant Passenger List:
1874 Hamburg-to-New York passenger list found on Ancestry.com. The family resided in Crimmitschau, Zwickau, Saxony, Germany before coming to the United States.
There is one story that I learned about the family that I want to share before I end this blog post. About 6 years after their arrival in the U.S., their grandson was shot and killed. Their grandson was Fredrick A. BRUMM. Fred was the son of Karl and Mina’s son, Charles. Fred was a patrolman in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. He was on patrol when he surprised 3 people who were in the process of robbing a cigar store. Fred was shot in the abdomen and died a week later. He shot one of the robbers twice in the face during the encounter. The three men got away but I believe they were later caught (although I’m not sure since I could only access one of the articles). Here is a copy of the one article I could access on newspapers.com:
31 Mar 1928 The News-Palladium (Benton Harbor, MI)
I wanted to make sure that this police officer was remembered by all for his sacrifice.
I plan to write more of Karl and Mina’s stories throughout the year as I celebrate and honor their lives on their birth and death dates. I hope you’ll join me for those stories.
Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives