Was Emma Catholic or Lutheran?

L: St. Joseph's Catholic Church
R: St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica
Galveston, Texas
Pics taken Aug 2016; Collage: Feb 2017
© Copyright 2016-17 Caroline M. Pointer

Just like I knew her tombstone was there, I knew my Great Grandmother Emma had lived and died in Galveston, Texas, but other than who she married and the children she birthed, I didn't know much else about her.

But I so desperately wanted to know more.

So, I started digging.

(In records. I didn't dig-up her grave ... Do you think that might help? Just kidding. Sorta. Did I mention 'desperate'? ;) )

Born 14 Feb 1857, Emma's parents were Otto Schleicher and Bertha Schumann and she was baptized a little after her 14th birthday, 30 Mar 1871, at the First Lutheran Church in Galveston. [1]

Original Baptismal Font, St. Joseph's Catholic Church,
© Copyright 2016 Caroline M. Pointer

However, all of her children, including my grandfather Big Paw Paw (Joseph Marschall), were baptized at St. Joseph's Catholic Church. [2] When I toured St. Joseph's last summer, I learned that it served the German community, specifically the German farmers and others in the German working class in Galveston. All of the details on the ceiling in the church were painted to make it look like carved wood detail instead of it being actual carved wood detail.

And it turns out Emma and John were married in St. Mary's Cathedral (Catholic, now a Basilica) in Galveston after obtaining a dispensation from the bishop. [3, 4] Emma was not Catholic and in order to marry John Marschall, who was Catholic, they had to ask for special permission to marry. What's interesting to note here is that Emma did not decide to become Catholic in order to marry John, and that John didn't decide to become Lutheran to marry Emma. (Something to ponder in the wee hours of the night...)

Emma Marschall's tombstone,
Lakeview Cemetery, Galveston, Texas.

After Emma died 30 Jun 1928 in Galveston, she was buried in Lakeview Cemetery. [5, 6] Interestingly, her burial record appears in the First Lutheran Church's records.

I find that curious, especially since her parents — Bertha Schumann and Otto Schleicher (Listed as "Oston" on the marriage record.) — are married 28 Oct 1846 in Galveston by a Methodist Episcopal missionary, Henry P. Young [7] (a.k.a., Heinrich P. Jung, a missionary from the Methodist Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas).

And as mentioned, Bertha has Emma baptized at the First Lutheran Church in 1871. I've not found any other church records for Bertha. (Note: I said "church" records. I've found out quite a bit about her in other records. More to come later!)

However, both Bertha's and Emma's choices in churches seem to have one thing in common — they offered services in the German language. Kind of important considering Bertha immigrated to Texas from Köthen in the Duchy of Anhalt (Prussia) probably arriving 8 days before she married Otto, who emmigrated from Görzig, near Köthen, probably on the same ship. [8] Gee, did they know each other before getting on the ship? Or did they meet during that 3-month voyage? But I digress...

So, it seems Emma was, indeed, Lutheran, and not Catholic. But her mother and her husband John Marschall had been Prussian and, more importantly, they spoke German.

While I don't know if Emma spoke it fluently, it's not a stretch of the imagination to believe Emma probably spoke at least some German, especially since her husband spoke it as well. I wouldn't be surprised if she spoke both German and English fluently.

Not surprisingly, her family's language (and her friends) probably influenced her choices of where she worshiped, and her marriage to a Catholic certainly influenced her to have their children baptized, at least, in the Catholic Church.

Makes me wish I had taken German in high school instead of French. For my senior year of high school, I had registered for French 3, but they put me in German 1 because the pre-requisite of 10 students didn't register for French 3. (No idea why. *snort*) But even though the German teacher begged me to stay in German 1 (I'd made a 100 on our first quiz.), I chose to switch out of it into Sociology because after taking 9 years of Spanish and 2 years of French, I didn't want to start another language right before graduating. I regret that now.

However, I'm thinking of taking a German language class locally. Because why not? (I also love German food. It'd be great if I could find a German language/German cooking class, but I'll settle for a German language class, a German restaurant, a German cookbook, YouTube videos, and some spare time...*snort*)

And I also need to visit the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Galveston to take some pictures. You know, to complete my collection. ;)

Which brings me to an upcoming blog post teaser: Emma had a sister who lived to be an adult and at least two other siblings who didn't. More on them and their parents, my 2nd great grandparents, later. But her sister's place of worship changes too. And it's a different church than any listed above. Oh, these Schleicher women!

~Caroline

Notes:

1. "Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940," indexed database and digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 May 2016), Texas > Galveston > First, Baptisms, page 118 (image 712 of 1592), Emma Schleicher entry, 1871; citing original data in: Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. ELCA, Birth, Marriage, Deaths. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Chicago, Illinois.
2. Josephum Marschall baptism entry (1893); certified translation issued 2016 by Lisa May, Archivist, St. Joseph Catholic Church, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Archives, Houston, Texas, citing vol 1, p. 252. Privately held by Caroline M. Pointer, address for private use.
3. Marschall-Schleicher marriage entry, (1880); certified photocopy of entry issued 2016 by Lisa May Archivist, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Archives, Houston, Texas, citing St. Mary's Cathedral, volume 7, p. 10, second entry. Privately held by Caroline M. Pointer, address for private use. 
4. Johanneni Von Marschall-Emilium Schleicher, dispensation granted, 13 January 1880, unpaginated entry; "Marriage Dispensations, Galveston," Dispensation Files; Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Archives, Houston, Texas.
5. "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K37W-GNG : 5 December 2012), Emma Marschall, 30 Jun 1928; citing certificate number 25815, State Registrar Office, Austin; FHL microfilm 2,114,541.
6. "Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940," indexed database and digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 Apr 2016), Texas > Galveston > First, Burials, page 392 (image 1449 of 1592), line 135, Emma Marschel entry, 1928; citing original data in: Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. ELCA, Birth, Marriage, Deaths. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Chicago, Illinois.
7. Galveston County, Texas, Record of Marriages, vol. A (1838-1850): 79, 1846 entry for Oston Schleicher and Bertha Schumann; County Clerk's Office, Galveston. Texas State Library and Archives microfilm No. 1008865. 
8. Chester W. and Ethel H. Geue, A New Land Beckoned: German Immigration to Texas, 1844-1847 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1982), 141. The authors obtain their information from multiple sources including German Immigration Contracts, passengers lists in various archives, etc. Bertha's mother, brothers, and future husband are all listed in this book as coming to Texas in 1846 on the Margaretha ship. I haven't obtained the passenger lists to ascertain if Bertha or her sisters are listed specifically. 

Genealogy, Catholicism, & Managing Women...

Mary Alice (Truitt) Blacketer

Drumroll, please...here is my Gran. If you've been reading my past stories then you know who I'm talking about. [If not, after this post read: "My Gran's Southern Hash," if you like...] She was such a sweet little lady [unless you got on her bad side, which I didn't because I was her favorite :)]. I don't have a whole lot of photographs of her, but I managed to find some "Mom" pics with all her kids over the years. One of the pictures [a copy actually] I stumbled upon when I found her passport application [way cool]. In it she's holding her infant daughter my Aunt Happy [a name worthy of another story], and an unidentified other woman, who, if I had to guess, is probably my Gran's sister, my Aunt Anne, but I don't know for sure. My Gran and her mother, my Boo [yes, there's a story behind that name, too] raised Gran's eight children together during World War II. My Gran worked several jobs outside of the home, and my Boo took care of things on the homefront. Like so many other mom's, they worked hard to "make it happen."

From Ireland to a Deck in Texas

My Gran's Gran, Annie O'Brien, who came to America [thru New Orleans, LA] from Dublin, Ireland was Catholic. [Shocker, right?] I was baptized a Catholic and remained one for only the first 3 years of my life. My dad didn't really like the Catholic Church, and he'd been raised a Methodist. So my mom and dad compromised and we became Episcopalian [can't say we aren't problem-solvers]. "Why didn't my dad like the Catholic Church," you ask? Well, if you read my 6-part series [yes, I said 6] on "Secrets" of my grandfather's then that might shed some light on it...So, what does this have to do with my Gran? One of my most vivid memories of her [other than her Southern hash] was that she was a devout Catholic who prayed religiously [pardon the pun]. She had her Saint Prayer Cards and her Rosary always in her pocket and she'd go outside to be in nature and talk to God...everyday...several times a day...without fail [in the rain, she'd sit on that same deck that my dad built...the one mentioned in "Runaway Bunny"]. And I remember when I was little thinking at the time that she and God sure talked a lot...[She was probably praying for my dad's non-Catholic soul! lol]

Three Managing Women

So here's to [really] 3 mom's my Gran, my Boo, and the outlandish Annie O'Brien [yeah, there's some stories there, too] - 3 hardworking, managing, Catholic women who never stopped and asked, "Why," but just kept working together to keep their homes together and their children healthy and happy...Happy Mother's Day, Gran, Boo, and Annie!

Caroline

Secrets, Pt. 6: The Rest of the Story...

Joseph Marschall and Emma Rosin

Last, but not least is Joseph Marschall.  So, what happened to him?  Who was he?  I believe that Joseph Marschall married Emma Rosin in 1917 when they both were 24 years old.  He was a medic in the U.S. Army [1918-1919] during World War I and was awarded the Victory Medal.  In 1920, he was living with Emma in San Antonio and was a tree surgeon according to the 1920 Federal Population Census Schedule.  According to early land transactions that I found of my grandfather's, he and Emma [she was included in the transactions and was listed as his wife] bought, improved, and sold land - all in the same area of town that Otto and Jane Rosin [Joseph's sister] lived and also completed land transactions.  [Additionally, Joseph and Emma lived in the same part of town as Otto and Jane.]  However, the transactions ended abruptly with Emma, and I've not been able to trace her after that.

Did Joseph Have Another Wife?
After the transactions that included Emma, Joseph had many more by himself until 1927.  This is where I found a public affidavit that he had filed.  In it he claims that the land [that John and Josephine end up buying from him later] was his before his marriage to an Oveta Marshall, and that Oveta had abandoned him 6 months prior.  I verified when he first purchased this land, and he did purchase it after the land transactions that had included Emma, which indicates possibly that he had another wife.  Two scenarios exist.  Either Emma and Oveta are one in the same, or he married Emma and something happened to her [passed away or they divorced] and then he married an Oveta...I lean a little towards the possiblity that Emma and Oveta are not the same person.  First, the wording and the time line suggested in the public affidavit indicates that he had another wife [if he was telling the truth].  Plus, Emma stops appearing in the land transactions.  Interestingly, Oveta never appears in any transactions - possibly meaning that they weren't married for very long?  Basically, I don't know what happened exactly, but there is sufficient evidence to suggest that he was married twice before marrying my grandmother.  Unfortunately, both Emma and Oveta have proven to be elusive for me and I've not been able to find a marriage record for Joseph and Oveta..Do remember, though that John and Josephine of Galveston, Texas bought the land in dispute from Joseph and immediately mortgaged it plus 26 shares in some stock in order to pay Oveta Marshall $350 per a divorce decree, and they did it for a Joseph Marshall.  They then sell the same land in 1932 to Otto Rosin of San Antonio.  It's possible that Emma and Oveta are the same person, but the name Oveta is not listed as a possible nickname for Emma nor does the name Oveta have germanic origins.  However, anything's possible and without evidence I don't have enough proof at this point.  If they are the same person though, it might explain Joseph's separation from the family, and the land sale to Otto Rosin later, but that could be because Otto lived in San Antonio and John & Josephine didn't, and it would make sense to sell it to him.   After these transactions, my grandfather had many more land transactions - all in San Antonio - that he executed by himself until 1942 when my grandmother - "Paw-Paw" - appears in the land transactions until my grandfather's, "Big Paw-Paw's" death.  My father appears in several transactions as well.


So are Joseph Marshall and Joseph Marschall the Same Person?

I'm pretty convinced they are the same person.  What are the chances that a John and Josephine Marschall of Galveston, Tx. would complete transactions with a Joseph Marshall and Otto Rosin who were not the same ones that they were related to?  Considering that I checked for other Joseph Marshall's [either spelling] that fit the criteria in one way or another and was unable to find one other than this one, I don't think the chances are very high.  [Other Otto Rosin's were checked for as well.]  Also, all the land transactions led back to my grandfather.  The name spelling change from Marschall to Marshall may have been simply my grandfather "American-izing" his name [which was common], or it could represent the separation with the family.  As far as the landscaper angle, I don't know if it was him, but he was a tree surgeon at one time, and remember the landscaping ad was for the 1st high rise in San Antonio in the Laurel Heights area...a possible connection to real estate development [a small one, I know].  It's not any stranger than his brother's occupations [mentioned in my last post], and San Antonio was experiencing economic growth at the time.

Other Avenues to Search
There are many things that I need to find.  To name a few:

• A marriage record between Joseph and Oveta;
• Joseph's and Oveta's divorce records;
• My grandfather's will;
• His appearance in the 1930 Census; and
• Emma...

So, What Gets a Catholic Excommunicated?
Well, the Canon Law of 1917 is written in Latin and is here.  However, I don't know Latin, so I surfed around on forums and websites looking for a simple answer.  [Can you hear me laughing?  Apparently, there are no simple answers when talking about Canon Law in the Catholic Church.]  However, from what I could tell - basically - a marriage after a divorce would get a Catholic excommunicated from the Church because the Church doesn't recognize the divorce...I'm pretty sure my grandfather had been divorced at least once before marrying my grandmother.  Now whether or not he was actually excommunicated and to what level [yes, there are levels or degrees] I don't know.  This is another follow-up that I need to do, but this could also explain a separation between my grandfather and his family...

Joseph Was a Carpenter...
Growing up my dad [Joseph, Jr.] was able to build anything without drawing it up first.  It simply [for him] went from his imagination to creation...[Remember the deck I mentioned in Runaway Bunny?  He built that.]  I once asked him where he had learned to build, and he said that his father [Joseph, Sr.] had taught him.  You see, he'd helped his dad tear-down and build houses in San Antonio...







Where's My Sign?

I still felt that I needed to do something other than what I had already done or listed.  I could have used a sign that had a picture of everyone on it and that read "Hey, Caroline!  Look no further, we're your family".  Too much to ask for?  Probably, but there was something I hadn't done yet that I needed to do...

My Dad's Sister...My Aunt

My dad had a sister, and I hadn't called her yet  for a number of reasons.  First, growing up I wasn't really close to her.  Plus, I thought my mom knew everything that my dad had known, and I'd already exchanged info with her.  I also didn't know how sensitive an issue it would be for her to learn that her father had had another marriage [& possibly 2].  It was time though for the call that should have come first in my quest for answers.  I ended up having a good conversation with her for about an hour & half.  She took everything in stride, and it turned out she knew something more.  While I was listing my grandfather's probable siblings...she stopped me and said, "Wait.  I remember when I was young your dad and I travelling to Galveston to visit our Aunt Ella...her first name was Laura.  I think I remember that her first husband's last name was "Breen" and that he died when their children were young and she remarried.  Also I remember that Roman had died while he was young."  She went on to say that she hadn't thought about that "in years" and probably wouldn't have remembered it if I hadn't mentioned their names...[Oh yeah...]


One Final Twist to the Rest of the Story...
In looking at Rootsweb/Ancestry.com Surname Message Boards and Genforum's Surname Boards under the names "Marshall" and "Marschall", I found a woman looking for a Joseph Marschall...a Joseph Marschall whose parents were John and Emma Marschall of Galveston, Texas.  She provided enough information that I was able to determine that this was the same family.  I posted a response, but didn't get a return response.  In looking at her various posts/requests however, I noticed 2 things: that over time her posts became increasingly urgent, and then one day, they stopped abruptly.  So, on a hunch I decided to "Google" her name which she had provided in her posts, and I found her obituary.  Ironically, she had died the same year as my dad.  According to her posts, she was a descendant of my grandfather's brother, John Marschall, Jr.  She'd indicated that there were no more male Marschall's to carry on the name, but that she'd remembered her father telling her about John's younger brother - Joseph Marschall - who'd been "separated" from the family and had lived in San Antonio, and she was wondering if he'd had a family...Well, he did.  He had a daughter and son...a son who had another son, who had 3 more sons...While the spelling of the name is a little different, it still carries on.  All of them...all of us...descendants of John Marschall from Posen, Prussia who had been..."just a farmer".

So, for your family's sake, go find your farmers!

Caroline