Herman Henry Schmidt

Herman was sent to Winchester, IL in 1889 and lived with the J H Taylor family. Herman married in 1907 to Mary Elizabeth Little. In his marriage license he named his parents: Herman Schmidt and Metta Meyerdierk. In the census he reported his parents were German immigrants. He registered for the draft in 1918 and noted that he was clerking for a Mr. William Southwell in Winchester.

In 1910 Martha Taylor (age 65) was a boarder in his house. Possibly this was his foster mother. He had a daughter at this time, Helen Louise. In 1920, Herman was clerking in a grocery store and Mrs. Taylor continued to live with Herman, Mary and Helen. Herman had also begun styling himself as "Smith" rather than "Schmidt." Possibly he felt hostility due to the anti German sentiment during WWI.

Herman Smith was killed in an automobile accident July 3, 1934. At that time he was working as caretaker of the local school. He was survived by his wife and daughter.