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Johannes "John" Kieler (1800-1882)
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| John "Jack" G. Schumacher (1888-1942) was a brother of my grandmother Anna (Schumacher) Gerken. John Schumacher married Mayme M. Wilhelm (1904-1998). They lived at Dubuque, Iowa, where Jack worked at Morrison Brothers. From 1910 to 1926, Jack had served in the U.S. Navy, on the U.S.S. Utah. T.L. | ||
John "Jack" and Mayme (Wilhelm) Schumacher
Jack enlisted in the United States Navy in September 1910 and served continuously until 1926. He served on the U.S.S. Utah. He wrote a letter to his father George on April 26, 1914, from Vera Cruz, Mexico, five days after marines and sailors from U.S. naval vessels took the city.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION REGARDING THE U.S.S. UTAH In 1914 the Utah played an important role in the American landings at Veracruz, Mexico. Mexico, torn by civil war and revolution, was the scene of considerable American intervention, much of it centered at Veracruz and Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing's forays into northern Mexico.
The Utah was deployed twice at Veracruz, first from February to April 1914, when it anchored off Veracruz and transferred refugees to nearby Tampico, and again in late April to June 1914 when it joined other American ships in an attempt to contravene the landing of arms shipped from Germany to Mexican president Victoriano Huerta, who had succeeded the assassinated legal president, Francisco I. Madero.
President Woodrow Wilson, eager to support Madero backers and anti-Huerta revolutionaries as part of his international campaign for human rights, and seeking the means to stabilize war-torn neighboring Mexico, sent in troops. Marines and sailors landed from the U.S. Naval vessels, including Utah, took Veracruz on April 21, 1914, seized the customhouse and prevented the landing of the arms.
In the action, seven members of the Utah's crew distinguished themselves and received Medals of Honor. Considerable Mexican casualties embarrassed the United States and led to an American withdrawal, but the action was one of a series of maneuvers that led to Huerta's downfall and the installation of a new government.
edited, from "History of the USS Utah"
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/3136/history.htmlView historical photographs of the U.S.S. Utah: USS Utah Actions & Activities, 1911-1944.
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| John "Jack" G. Schumacher |
Vera Cruz Mex.
April 26th 1914Dear Father,
Just a few lines to let you know that I am well yet and hope the same of you and the rest of the folks.
Well, Dad, I have been to war and had quite a time of it. The scrap was a hot one from 1 o'clock in the afternoon until 8:40 the next morning and it was a continual fire for about 22 hours and I did not get a scratch but I know I got two of the [Mexicans] to my credit.
We captured the custom house, post office, hotel, terminal, cathedral, police station, military prison, and the naval academy. The academy was a total wreck, and we found 26 dead federals in one room, and it cost us 2 men to capture the police station. That was all the men that we lost from our ship and about a dozen wounded. The Florida lost the most men and altogether in the fleet there was about 20 killed and about 50 wounded seriously. We shot 16 prisoners of war and we got about 160 more. I don't know what they are going to do with them.
They had a funeral here and there was about a dozen dirty looking Mexicans walking along behind the hearse and it looked phony to us so we stopped the hearse and opened the coffin and all we could find in it was ammunition, so we took the whole funeral down to the station and locked them up.
I certainly had lots of fun down here while the fight lasted but I don't think I care for any more of that kind of fun as the next time I might get picked off with a chunk of lead.
Well, the troops are due in today, and I think we will get back to the ship as there are only about 100 men aboard now and I think it keeps them pretty busy.
Well, I must close for this time; hoping to hear from you soon. I am as ever your Loving Son Jack. U.S.S. Utah, c/o Post Master, New York, N.Y.
Excuse pencil and paper as I forgot to bring pen and ink.
P.S. Can you inform me what Uncle Sam is doing here? We capture the town and are fighting like hell and I don't know why. I can't get any information whatever as to the state of affairs in the States.
Will try and bring home a young Mexican arsenal with me next fall. I got a couple of ferocious looking pieces of hardware that I picked up after the fight.
Jack Schumacher marries Mayme Wilhelm.
On April 13, 1926, John G. Schumacher married Miss Mayme M. Wilhelm in San Diego, California. She was born on May 21, 1904, in Kieler, Wisconsin, daughter of August and Mary (Jenneman) Wilhelm. Jack was employed as an electrician welder at Morrison Brothers plant in Dubuque, Iowa, until his retirement in 1939 due to ill health. Jack and Mayme Schumacher had five children, Anna Mae Schumacher, Rose Marie Schumacher, June Laurine Schumacher, and two sons.
John "Jack" Schumacher dies.
John G. Schumacher, 53, died at his residence at Sandy Hook at 10 o'clock Thursday night, January 1, 1942, following an illness extending over a period of three years. The body was viewed at the Strueber Funeral Home after 10 o'clock, Saturday morning, January 3. The funeral of John G. Schumacher, Route No. 3, Dubuque, who died at his home near Kieler, Wis., Thursday, was held Monday, January 5, from the Strueber Funeral Home to the Sacred Heart Church in Dubuque, Ia., at 9 o'clock, with the pastor, the Right Rev. Monsignor Arnold Boeding, officiating. The Rev. Robert Palen, assistant pastor, officiated at graveside rites in Mount Calvary Cemetery, Dubuque, where burial was made. Pallbearers were Walter Schumacher, Warren Binhoff, Norman Binhoff, Wilbur Uthe, Karl Woelk [?], and Joe Lange. Military services were in charge of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Mr. Schumacher was survived by his spouse, Mayme Schumacher; his daughters Anna Mae, Rose, and June; five brothers, Frank, Joseph, George, Louis, and Albert Schumacher, all of Dubuque; and five sisters, Mrs. Louise Brazee, of Los Angeles, California; Mrs. Ewald (Anna) Gerken, of Dubuque; Mrs. Frank (Josephine) Sullivan of Chicago, Illinois; Mrs. Harold (Margaret) Casey, of Dubuque; and Mrs. Howard (Henrietta) Baumgartner, of Los Angeles, Calif. He was preceded in death by his parents and two sons.
John Schumacher's uncle, Martin Hauser, died the same day as John did, on January 1, 1942. Martin was married to the former Katherine "Kate" Uthe, a sister of John's mother, Mathilda (Uthe) Schumacher.
Mayme (Wilhelm) Schumacher dies.
Mrs. Mayme M. Schumacher, 93, who resided with her daughter, Rose M. Pixler, in Dubuque, Iowa, died at noon Wednesday, February 18, 1998, at home. Family and friends called from 4 to 7 p.m., Friday, February 20, at Dennis Kitchen Funeral Home in Dubuque, where a St. Mary's Catholic Church Christian wake service was said at 4:15 p.m. Funeral services were held at 12:30 p.m., Saturday, February 21, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Dubuque, where she was a member, with burial in Mount Calvary Cemetery at Dubuque.
Mrs. Schumacher was survived by three daughters, Anna Mae (James) Lewis, Rose M. Pixler, and June L. Herzberg, all of Dubuque; six grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and 10 great-great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, two sons, five brothers and five sisters.
- June L. Schumacher was born on June 15, 1930, in Dubuque, Iowa, daughter of John and Mayme (Wilhelm) Schumacher.
June L. Herzberg, 80, of Sunnycrest Manor, Dubuque, Iowa, died Sunday, January 23, 2011, at Sunnycrest. Services were held at 7 p.m., Wednesday, January 26, at Hoffmann Schneider & Kitchen Funeral Home in Dubuque, where family and friends called after 4 p.m. Burial was in Mount Calvary Cemetery.
She was survived by two children, John Herzberg, of California, and Sheryl Johnson, of Florida; several grandchildren; two sisters, Anna Mae (James) Lewis and Rose Pixler, both of Dubuque, Iowa; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and two brothers
Sources include obituaries from the Dubuque Telegraph Herald. The letter from Jack Schumacher to his father George about the battle at Veracruz in Mexico was for many years in the possession of Teresa (Gerken) McCoy, whose mother Anna was Jack's sister. It was given to me by the McCoys following Teresa's death in 1993. The picture of Jack was one that belonged to Jack's sister Anna. T.L.
The Kieler · Uthe · Schumacher Heritage - contents page
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