The Ship That Almost Snuffed Out the West Bend Schmidts

This is an essay written in 1927 by John Klein, a Humboldt, Iowa high school student. His freshman English class was to interview and write about an older person in the community. The essays are collected at the Humboldt public library. Michael Lindemann is the subject of this essay and it includes an account of […]

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 […]

The Real Reason the Schmidts Went to West Bend, Iowa

The Schmidts of West Bend, Iowa will dominate the record-breaking 2016 Schmidt Reunion in Spencer, Iowa. Yet, of all the places that the Schmidt immigrants from Machtlos, Germany could have settled in, why did they choose West Bend, Iowa? Hessian Troops in British Pay in the US War of Independence, by C. Ziegler, 1799 (Wikimedia commons) The […]

Cousin Millard Skydives at Age 80

Our cousin, Millard Smock, from the Raub branch of the family, proves that 80 is the new 20. Watch cousin Millard skydive above Vinton, Iowa for his 80th birthday! Millard is the husband of our cousin Irlowain Smock, the son-in-law of Kermit Hoard, the grandson-in-law of Martha Hoard, the great-grandson-in-law of Frank Raub, the great-great-grandson-in-law […]

Raubs of Dysart, Iowa are Part Schmidt

Franz “Frank” Raub (1849-1920) of Dysart, Iowa Do you trace your ancestry back to Franz “Frank” Raub (1849-1920) and his wife Louisa (Kersten) Raub (1852-1932), who immigrated from Machtlos, Germany to Dysart, Iowa in 1880? If so, you are invited and especially encouraged to attend the Guinness World Record-breaking Schmidt Family Reunion on July 30-31, […]