Tombstones of Three Young Children of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Schwehr

In Block 44 of Oakland Cemetery are three graves of young children, all adorned with a lamb. The website Colorado-Cemeteries.Com states that the lamb is the most common Victorian marker for a child's tombstone, representing Christ or innocence. Albert and Mary Schwehr appear in the 1880 U.S. Census for Erie County. Albert was born in Baden in 1847. Mary Schwehr was born in Bavaria in 1849. By 1880, they had three children: George A. Schwehr was 6, Edwin J. Schwehr was age 3, and Ella D. Schwehr was age 1. Albert Schwehr, the father, was first associated with the Sandusky Tool Company, and later was with the Ohio Motor Company, according to his obituary found in the 1936 OBITUARY NOTEBOOK at the Sandusky Library. Several patents were issued to Albert Schwehr between 1877 and 1907.

The children who died young were:

Albert J. Schwehr, who was buried on July 26, 1873, at age 1 year, 2 months, and 25 days

Ella D. Schwehr, who was buried on July 18, 1880, at age 1 year, 8 months, and 1 day

and

Edwin J. Schwehr, who was buried on July 18, 1880, at age 3 years, 8 months, and 10 days


Edwin and Ella Schwehr both died of scarlet fever on the same day, according the Oakland Cemetery interment records. The grief that Mr. and Mrs. Schwehr must have been unimaginable.

A sibling of Albert, Ella, and Edwin Schwehr, George A. Schwehr (sometimes spelled Schwer, became a successful businessman in Sandusky. He was considered a pioneer in the manufacturing of engines, having worked with the Ohio Motor Company, the Dauch Tractor Company, and the Sanitary Bottle Paper Company. Mr. and Mrs. Albert Schwer also had another daughter named Ella, born in 1882.