Martha (Lindemann) Schmidt and her Grandchildren (1913)

(Click the image to enlarge) Thank you to our cousin Sandra (Schmidt) Banwart of Algona, Iowa for this terrific photograph of Martha Elisabeth (Lindemann) Schmidt (1837-1923) (the wife of Conrad Jacob Schmidt, one of the original Schmidt immigrants to the West Bend, Iowa area) and twenty nine of her grandchildren! This picture was taken in […]

Louis Schmidt Card & Comic

Our professional historian cousin, Sandra Schmidt of Washington DC, found these memorabilia of one of our Schmidt cousins during her research. This is a business card for the restaurant/tavern owned by Balthasar Ludwig “Louis” Schmidt (1835-1908) at 702 Seventh St. NW in DC: Balthasar Ludwig “Louis” Schmidt was the son of Dietrich Schmidt Sr., grandson […]

The Yo-Yo Immigrant Who Helped the Schmidts Get to America

The vast majority of we Americans who trace our ancestry back to the Schmidt family of Machtlos, Germany have an unlikely character to thank for us being where we are today. Her name was Anna Martha (Schmidt) Rimbach. She was born in Germany and she died in Germany, yet without her we would not be Americans today. […]

A Closer Look at Washington DC’s Seventh Street NW in the 1870s

Balthasar Ludwig “Louis” Schmidt (1835-1908) was one of the original Schmidt immigrants to come from Machtlos, Germany and settle in America. Louis ended up in Washington, DC, where he operated a popular restaurant/tavern on Seventh Street NW from 1875 until his death (after which the business was carried on by his son Milton until Prohibition […]

10 Schmidts Who Left Everything Behind

Many Schmidts from Machtlos, Germany left behind family, friends, jobs, and everything they knew when they ventured to a foreign land with a different culture and a different language. Driven by a belief in the American Dream, these Schmidts sought and achieved opportunity, freedom, and prosperity. No doubt they would have celebrated the Fourth of […]