SCHMIDT BIOGRAPHIES, Henry County, Missouri
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SCHMIDT, Fred - b: 1843 Baden, Germany
source: 1919 History of Henry Co MO, Uel W. Lamkin, Historical Publishing Co - 
page: 486
residence: Clinton Twp

Fred Schmidt. For over forty years Fred Schmidt has lived on the farm in the 
southeastern part of Clinton township which he cleared from the timber along 
the stream which flows through his land on the boundary line. He first cut the 
trees and cleared a place for his home and then gradually cut more trees and 
placed the ground in cultivation, until he had cleared 160 acres of splendid farm 
land. He purchased his first seventy-four acres of timbered land for $250 - an 
amount which was a fortune in the old days and which he obtained by the hardest 
kind of labor in the coal mines of Henry County. He next bought eighty acres at a 
cost of $32 an acre. The hardest kind of work during his long lifetime has placed 
Mr. Schmidt in comfortable circumstances, and now, in the eventide of his long 
and useful life, he can sit in peace and comfort and reap the reward of his years 
of unremitting labor. Fred Schmidt was born in Baden, Germany, September 26, 
1843, the son of Frederick and Rosa Schmidt, who lived and died in Germany. 
When a boy Fred Schmidt herded sheep for a livelihood and dreamed of the land 
across the seas where people were free and happy, and where it was possible to 
attain a home and even riches if one were honest and willing to work. His dreams 
were eventually realized, and in 1866 he crossed the Atlantic, arrived at New 
York, made his way to Cincinnati, and came to Henry County in 1873, after 
spending six years at labor in Cincinnati. Upon his arrival in this county he 
obtained employment in the coal mines, where he worked until he purchased his 
land and began making a home for himself and his loved ones. Mr. Schmidt has 
been twice married. His first marriage took place in 1868 with Elizabeth Leffler, 
of Wittenburg, Germany, born in 1836 and died in 1913, leaving four children: 
Amiel W., a farmer living two miles west of his father's place; Charles, a farmer 
of Clinton township; Mrs. Anna Standke, Clinton township; Frank, a farmer living 
two miles west of his father's place. His second marriage occurred in November, 
1916, with Miss Margaret Schmidt, who was born in July, 1849, a daughter of 
Matthias and Sarah Schmidt, natives of Wittenburg, Germany, who immigrated to 
America in 1868 and settled in Henry County. Miss Schmidt was first married to 
Charles Gebhart, a stone mason, who died in 1903. Nothing can portray the 
remarkable changes that have taken place since Fred Schmidt first came to Henry 
County more than the great increase in land values. Just a few weeks ago in April 
of 1918, Mr. Schmidt was offered about $50 an acre for his farm, a sum which 
would keep him in comfort in the city during his declining years. It is needless to 
state that he refused the offer and intends to spend his life on the spot he loves 
so well. Mr. Schmidt is a Republican and is an adherent of the Lutheran faith.

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SCHMIDT, Herman
source: 1919 History of Henry Co MO, Uel W. Lamkin, Historical Publishing Co - 
page: 640
residence: Clinton Twp

Herman Schmidt - The Schmidt farm in Clinton township, bordering on the Grand 
River, is one of the most fertile and the best improved tracts in western 
Missouri and embraces 450 acres. For the first five years Herman Schmidt, the 
proprietor, rented the land and in 1895 bought a tract of thirty acres as a modest 
beginning. To this was added eighty acres, then forty acres and a little later he 
bought another eighty acres. Still he prospered and added another 160 acres. The 
last two additions to the estate were forty acres and twenty acres, respectively. 
In 1908 the Schmidts erected a beautiful residence of seven rooms, the grounds 
surrounding which are very attractive and dotted with evergreens and locusts. 
The home sets well back from the highway. Upon the Schmidt land are three sets 
of improvements. The crops for the year of 1918 are as follow: twenty-nine 
acres of wheat which yielded 320 bushels; ninety acres of corn; forty-five acres 
of oats, which averaged twenty-five bushels to the acre; seventy-five acres of 
grasses and forage crops. The balance of the large farm is in pasture and timber 
land. Herman Schmidt was born in Baden, Germany, December 4, 1864, the son of 
Herman and Minnie Schmidt, the former of whom died in 1865. His widow then 
married Rudolph Bratzler and the family emigrated to America in 1884 and made 
a settlement south of Clinton in Henry County, Missouri. The mother of the 
subject of this sketch died in Clinton March 23, 1918, at the age of seventy-
seven years. Mr. Schmidt has two half brothers: Alex and Rudolph Bratzler, living 
in Clinton. Herman Schmidt immigrated to America in 1882 and located in Henry 
County, where he worked at farm labor for the first three years. For the next two 
years he devoted his services to his parents. He then married and began his own 
successful career, which has resulted in placing him in a state of comparative 
wealth in the short period of twenty-eight years. Few men can accomplish more 
than Herman Schmidt, coming as he did to this country without a dollar which he 
could call his own, and rapidly rising to the front rank of successful 
agriculturists in Henry County. No country on earth offers such opportunities as 
America, and western Missouri seems to be the land of opportunity for the sturdy 
Americans of foreign birth who have settled in Henry County. January 31, 1887, 
Herman Schmidt and Miss Emma Gaupp were united in marriage. To this marriage 
have been born children as follows: Otto, born November 17, 1887, married 
Lizzie, daughter of August Hoppe, and has two children, Ruth, aged six, and Clyde, 
aged two years; Roy, born August 3, 1895, married Cecil, daughter of Al Rhoads. 
Mrs. Emma (Gaupp) Schmidt was born January 31, 1866, in Henry County, the 
daughter of Jacob and Caroline (Cruse) Gaupp, natives of Pennsylvania and 
Germany, respectively. The Gaupps came to Henry County in 1866. Jacob Gaupp 
first came to Missouri with his parents in the early fifties and they made a 
settlement in Gasconade County. When the Civil War broke out he offered his 
service to the Union and enlisted in a Missouri regiment, serving until the close 
of the war. After his marriage at Sedalia, Missouri, Mr. Gaupp came to Clinton 
township, Henry County, and purchased a farm which served as his home until his 
death, March 19, 1917, at the age of eighty-four years and five months. Mrs. 
Caroline Gaupp was born in 1841 and resides in Clinton. There were eight 
children in the Gaupp family: Mrs. Herman Schmidt; Mrs. Tumecie Bratzler, 
Clinton; Mrs. Nola Cale, Clinton; Mrs. Cora Minert, Oklahoma; Mrs. Lena Mullins, 
Kansas City; Jacob and Otto, living in Colorado; Oscar, resides in Clinton. Mr. 
Schmidt is a Democrat but has never taken an active part in political matters. He 
and Mrs. Schmidt and the children are members of the Lutheran Church. When Mr. 
and Mrs. Schmidt began their married life all the property they had in the world 
was two mules, one colt, one sow and seven pigs and one cow with calf. During 
their first year they endeavored to pay cash rent for the farm but run $100 in 
debt, through crop failures. They were forced to borrow money and were 
compelled to pay fifteen per cent. interest on the loans. It required several years 
of hard work, pinching economy and good financial management to start them on 
the road to their present prosperous situation. They are an intelligent, refined 
and agreeable couple who are proud of their family and love their home, which 
they have actually created from the very beginning. 

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