Ancestors

Minnie Schaefer

Minnie Schaefer was born in March 1868 and married Louis Thiele at Fort Wayne, Indiana, on 11 October 1888. Her marriage record gives her as "Wilhemina" Minnie Schaefer; Minnie is the German pet form of Wilhelmina. The couple farmed in Washington township, Allen County. Their daughter Ellanora, called Norah, was born on 10 June 1890. Norah married Edward Linnemier in 1914 and died in 1936, at forty-five. Louis died on 23 October 1942. Minnie lived another twenty-four years and died in 1966, at ninety-seven or ninety-eight. She is buried at Bethlehem Lutheran, Fort Wayne, under a small granite stone that reads MINNIE THIELE 1868-1966.

Who her parents were is not settled. One reading makes her a daughter of Charles F. Schaefer, a Prussian born about 1831, and Sarah Ann Barker of Indiana. Their household held a Minnie born about 1868, in Cass County, Indiana, in 1870 and at South Haven, Michigan, in 1880. Nothing in that household ties its Minnie to Fort Wayne, 120 miles from Cass County.

The other reading makes her a daughter of the Fort Wayne pioneer Frederick William Schaefer (1814-1902) and his second wife, Christina (1827-1908). His obituary of December 1902 lists among nine surviving children "Mrs Minnie Thiele of Washington township". Christina's of October 1908 lists among six children "Mrs. Louise Thiele, of Washington township", and lists separately a stepdaughter, "Mrs. Henry Thiele, of Milan township". Neither names Minnie's husband in so many words. The 1902 list also has a "Mrs Louis Thiele, of Milan township", which looks like the stepdaughter under the wrong name. So the case rests on a married daughter named Thiele living in Washington township in both lists.

A second Thiele and Schaefer marriage points the same way. Louis Thiele's mother, Wilhelmina Coldewey Thiele, died in Washington township in 1910, and her obituary lists a daughter, "Mrs Christian Schaefer". A Christian Schaefer of Lake township was a son of Frederick William and Christina. If the Fort Wayne reading is right, a brother and sister of one family married a sister and brother of the other, in the same township in the same generation.

Her 1888 marriage return, her 1966 Indiana death certificate or her obituary would decide between the two families.

If Minnie Schaefer is in your family, start your own tree.

Cite: Heirology, "Minnie Schaefer (1868-1966)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/minnie-schaefer-1868-1966-f11b48.