On this day in 1916, Louis Ferdinand Schott, my first cousin twice removed, married Melinda Rose Belangé. He was the son of Ferdinand A. “Fred” and Anna (Hoffmann) Schott and was born 28 July 1879 in Vitrey, France. His name appears variously in records as “Lewis Fred,” “Lewis Ferdinand,” and “Louis Ferdinand,” but his first appearance, in his French birth record, names him as “Louis-Ferdinand Schott.”
Louis appears in a ship’s passenger list on 13 April 1882, traveling on the St. Germain and arriving in New York City. Traveling with the two-year-old are his father, listed as a 33-year-old carpenter; twin siblings Emile and Angela, both listed as “1/2,” his mother, confusingly listed as “Mrs. Angela Hoffmann, 22,” and Anna’s sister, “Mrs. Catherine Hoffmann, 23.” This sister of Anna’s was my great-great-grandmother, Catherine Marie (Hoffmann) Swing.
By the time of the 1900 census, Louis and his family are in Pigeon Grove, Iroquois County, Illinois. Louis is listed as a dry goods salesman; his father is continuing to work as a carpenter. The following year Louis married for the first time, to Jennie Louise McFarland. They were married 19 June 1901 in Tippecanoe County, Indiana.
By 1910 Louis and Jennie were living in Wolcott with Charles, 5; and Mildred, 2. Louis’s occupation is listed as electrical engineer. Louis and Jennie’s marriage would not last, however, which was unusual for that time period. The Lafayette (Indiana) Daily Courier of 3 June 1916 reports the following: “Mrs. Jennie Schott was today granted a divorce from Lewis Schott. She is given the custody of her two children and the defendant ordered to pay $25 a month for their support.” The $25 monthly child support would be the equivalent of $719.15 today.
Six days later Louis married Melinda Rose Belangé. She had been born 15 May 1898 in Indiana; when they married, Melinda was 18 and Louis 36. In 1920 Louis and Malinda and their son Harry (2 4/12 years old) are living in Shelbyville, Indiana. Louis is working as the chief engineer at a light plant. It’s hard to know at this remove what the history of Louis’s marriage to Jennie was; but Jennie would also remarry. The 28 December 1926 Lafayette Journal and Courier announced that her marriage to Edwin Smith had taken place the previous Thursday evening.
In 1930 and 1940 according to the census the Shelbyville City Directory, Louis and Melinda are still living in Shelbyville, Indiana, at 146 E Broadway Street. Louis was a service worker at a radio store. The house at 146 E Broadway still stands and, interestingly, is the address for Schott & Associates Manufacturing Reps., a furniture wholesaler. Hello, cousins?
Lewis and Jennie’s son Charles married Laverne M. Smith on 9 February 1927 in Indiana. By 1940 Charles seems to have remarried to Hilda Lorene Kanouse, as she is listed as his wife on his draft record that year. Charles died in 1963 at about 58 years old and is buried in Saint Paul, Indiana.
Lewis and Jennie’s daughter Mildred had married Mearl R. Latta on 25 September 1923 in Fowler County, Indiana. Sadly, she died either of a heart attack or cerebral apoplexy in 1936 at age 34 and was survived by her husband and a son Robert.
Lewis and Melinda’s son Harry married Elizabeth Eileen Turner on 5 October 1939 in Indiana. In 1940 Harry and his wife Betty are living in Shelbyville along with Betty’s mother, Goldie Turner. Harry’s occupation is listed as Student Engineer, road grading machinery. Goldie is a seamstress in a private home. By 1950, still in Shelbyville, Harry, Elizabeth, and Goldie have been joined by John, 10; and Hetty, 5. Harry is now the proprietor of a cabinet making shop. Harry passed away on 9 July 1982 and is buried in Shelbyville.
Returning to Louis himself, he would pass away on 22 March 1960 of stomach cancer. He was 80 years old. His obituary in The Indianapolis News on 24 March 1960 notes that he was chief engineer for the Public Service Company until 1922, then the Shelbyville electrical inspector from 1933-1959. Melinda would survive Louis by nearly a quarter-century, surviving until 10 February 1984 before succumbing to pneumonia and arteriosclerotic heart disease.
