Today’s Tombstone Tuesday is Mary SCHUMANN GROSS, my great-great aunt. Marie Auguste Wilhelmine (Mary) was born on 21 May 1863 in Freienwalde, Kr. Saatzig, RB Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia. She was baptized in the same parish four days later.

Mary Schumann Gross

Mary Schumann Gross

I do know on 28 Feb 1893, when Mary was 29, she married Christian J. GROSS in St. Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota. They had two girls, Erna and Martha.

Mary died there on 30 May 1947. She was buried on 2 Jun 1947 in Calvary Cemetery, St. Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota. (And a shout-out to Linda in the cemetery office – very patient and helpful.)

Mary’s sister, Anna, is my great-grandmother. It’s still a mystery how Mary came to be in Minnesota, when she, her father, and brother emigrated to Chicago in the mid-1880s (see passenger list above).

All of this is just part of my due diligence as I work toward the German records that should shed more light on Mary and Anna’s parents, Friedrich and Auguste. But a bonus is that I’ve now found Mary’s brother, Fred, his wife, Ida, and his family.

Gravestones that are powerful enough to crumble brick walls are great!