In 1839, three years after the arrival of the pioneer Schumacher family to the Bluffton Swiss Settlement, Peter, the youngest of the children, married Elizabeth, daughter of Bishop Christian and Magdalena Steiner Suter of the large Swiss Mennonite congregation.
This couple made their home on the original Schumacher homestead, on Bixel Road between Bluffton and Pandora, which is now the Schumacher homestead owned by the Swiss Community Historical Society.
READ ABOUT ELIZABETH'S FEATURE IN "RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT" AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS COLUMN
Peter Schumacher Born, March 16, 1819, St. Albanthal Canton Basel
Died: May 28, 1881, Blanchard Township, Putnam County, Ohio
Father: Christian Schumacher, Sr.
Born: Oct. 7, 1782
Died: Nov. 6, 1858
Mother: Barbara Elizabeth Luginbuhl
Born: March 11, 1781
Died: Oct. 19, 1855
Elizabeth Suter
Born: Dec. 6, 1821, Cme Le Puix Haut-Rhin Belfort, France
Died: Oct. 12, 1897, Allen County
Father:Christian Suter, Sr. Born: Oct. 11, 1792, Alsace Lorraine France Died: Dec. 7, 1874, Riley Township Buried: Old Mennonite Cemetery, Bluffton
Mother: Magdalena Steiner Born: Aug. 15, 1793, Alsace Lorraine, France Died: May 28, 1860, Riley Township Buried: Old Mennonite Cemetery
Peter and Elizabeth had 16 children
Spouse: Christian M. Amstutz
Spouse: David P. Basinger
Magdalene (1842-1925)
Spouse: Abraham Bixel
Verena (1843-1911)
Spouse: Peter T. Steiner
Maria (1845-1899)
Spouse: Christian C. Lugibihl
Elizabeth (1846-1910)
Spouse: Benjamin Hilty
Christian P. (1848-1929)
Spouse: Regina Steiner
John (1849-1907)
Spouse: Barbara Geiger
Katherine (1851-1892)
Spouse: Jacob Steiner
Peter P. (1852-1916)
Spouse: Elizabeth Moser
David P. (1855-1917)
Spouse: Mary Ann Geiger
Adam (1857-1931)
Spouse: Sarah Welty
Daniel (1858-1934)
Spouse: Sarah Gilliom
Benjamin (1860-1928)
Spouse: Sarah Miller
Susan (1861-1923)
Spouse: Ulrich S. Steiner
Sarah (1861-1936)
Spouse: Emanuel D. Kohli
Lydia (1864-1926) Spouse: Noah Moser
The information on Peter and Elizabeth is from a small pamphlet titled “The Schumachers: The descendants of Christian and Barbara Elizabeth Luginbuhl Schumacher.”
“Ripley's Believe it or Not,” published a piece about the family in which Elizabeth Schumacher appeared for having 163 grandchildren on Sept. 20, 1931. That cartoon is attached to this story.
Schumacher plate, reprinted from the Swiss Community Historical Society Newsletter.
Note: This is the 48th feature in this series of Bluffton-Pandora Swiss families. CLICK HERE FOR AN INDEX TO FAMILIES LISTED. We invite viewers who have family genealogies not part of this collection to contact us.Reach out to us at: fsteiner@roadrunner.com. We also recognized that errors slip into these columns. We'd appreciate hearing from viewers who have corrections to make on specific columns.