A Fatal Accident

The story in the family goes that my gg-grandfather accidentally shot his cousin in a hunting accident in Germany. According to family lore, he never got over the horror of killing his cousin and this is one reason why he came to the US. I never really gave it too much thought because I figured I would never be able to verify any of it. Then, recently I began to research the family of Charles Schmidt living across the road from my gg-grandfather, August Hartman, and his family in Oshtemo. It just so happened that August married Sophia Schmidt so I thought it was possible Sophia was somehow related to Charles. I also knew that August's daughter-in-law wrote a poem upon the death of Charles' daughter.

To try to determine if there was a blood relationship between Charles Schmidt and Sophia (Schmidt) Hartman I started by looking for information about Charles and his family. Charles had a son, also named Charles/Carl who died in 1892. When I found his death record the red flags started waving in my head. Young Carl had died of an accidental shooting. Immediately, I remembered the family story and obtained a copy of the Kalamazoo Gazette article that mentioned his death. It detailed how Carl and his cousin, a man by the name of Hartman, had gone out quail hunting. Reportedly, they had flushed the birds and were walking along in single file with guns cocked, ready to shoot the instant the birds became visible. Hartman allegedly stumbled and his gun discharged, hitting Carl and creating a “terrible wound.” Though Carl was rushed to a nearby house and the doctor immediately summoned, the wound was fatal and poor Carl died later that night.

The newspaper article does not indicate the given name of the shooter so I can't prove that it was one of my Hartmans, but I believe that this incident is the basis of the family story. There are notable differences, however. First, my gg-grandfather was not Carl's cousin, but possibly a married relation. Second, the shooting occurred in the US, not in Germany. I don't find these discrepancies troubling because we all know how stories can change over time and depending on the narrator, with each telling. So, if my gg-grandfather wasn't the shooter, who was? I suspect that it was one of August's three sons. It would appear that they did engage in hunting, based on the above family photo which shows my great-grandfather and (based on the resemblance) one of his brothers. At the time of the shooting in 1892, Carl was about 30 years old, my great-grandfather was 9 and his two brothers were 13.5 and 12 years old. If it was one of these children, that could explain why the given name was not printed, though certainly everyone in Oshtemo would have known the identity of the shooter.

I believe that I have found the inspiration for my family story. Though the place and the person involved disagree with the newspaper account, the grain of truth, an accidental shooting while hunting, appears to be true. Though the event was tragic, it would seem to demonstrate that there is a family connection between the Hartmans and their neighbors the Schmidts. I need to keep working on that problem, but in the meantime, I think I have discovered that there is some truth in the old family story.

“A Fatal Accident: Carl Smidt Killed By Fellow Hunter,” Kalamazoo [Kalamazoo, Michigan] Gazette, 22 November 1892, page 1, column 2, microfilm image, Western Michigan University Archives and Regional Collections, Kalamazoo Gazette Collection.