Farmer Gary has exactly one story to tell about his maternal great-grandmother Catherina Schum.

She was born Catherina (also spelled Katharina) Jent here in northern Spencer County, Indiana, on February 15, 1856. Census forms tell us she could read and write – but only in German.

She married widower Henry Schum on February 13, 1877.

What a lovely couple!

We don’t know much about Katharina, except that she listed her occupation as Farmer on the 1910 and 1920 census forms. Most wives and widows tended to list themselves as housekeepers or left that part of the form blank. (Somehow I don’t think this information will work in my favor when I try to talk Gary into actually retiring!)

There is one story, though. Gary’s uncle Al Mehling told him this long ago:

It turns out Great-Grandma had a stroke while playing the switch game with her grandchildren; she passed away two days later. She was 65 years old.

I stared at this photo of her gravestone for a while, trying to figure out the year of her birth.

She and Henry married in 1877, after all. She was born in 1856, not 1865! After double-checking Catherine’s death certificate and various census forms, I’ve come to the conclusion someone got confused and those last two digits were … switched.

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