The Louisville Schembs

The Louisville Schembs - part 1

The Story of the Louisville, Kentucky Schembs

For more than 10 years, all we had known of Christina Schembs was that she had emigrated in 1873, apparently alone, at the age of 18. There were no other Schembs family members listed in the passenger list of the Holsatia, the ship upon which she came to Amerika. Her trail ended in New York City. No trace was found to follow her in her new country.

Finally in 2005 information about Christina came to our attention. From Edith Julius, a grand-niece of Christina who lives in Herrnsheim, we learned that Christina had settled in Louisville, Kentucky. There she had married a Josef Laas. This enabled us to locate Census records of the family, and ultimately descendants, after years of wondering. The story of Christina has been written with the substantial assistance of John Zaepfel, her great-grandson.

Research has further found that Christina was neither the first, nor the only, Schömbs family member to settle in Louisville. In fact there have been several. The first "Schembs" appears now to have been Philipp Schembs (*1839). But there were "Schoembs" who preceeded Phillip. For information about Georg Schoembs Click Here.

Click for the Story of Christina Schembs.

The Story of Philipp Schembs (*1839 Herrnsheim)

CLICK to trace the ancestors of Philipp Schembs

Recently information on the marriage of the daughter of Philipp Schembs (*06.12.1839 Herrnsheim, +05.09.1887 Louisville) has shed new light on the entire family. Also information comes from the records of the St. Louis Cemetery in Louisville as well as Census data from 1900 through 1920.

Philipp married Gertrude Katharina Sollinger (*16.12.1843 Germany, +18.12.1923 Louisville), the daughter of John and Katherine Sollinger. The marriage took place in Germany, where they also had their first child. We are aware of only one child.

There is, however, conflicting data. The 1920 Kentucky Census gives an 1860 immigration date for Gertrude, Philipp's widow. Yet the 1910 Census gives an 1866 date for the immigration of their daughter Catherine, which would fit with her birth the prior year in Germany. It is most likely that the family did emigrate in about 1866 after the Civil War.

The are interesting entries in the Louisville 1890 City Directories. A search on the surname Schembs brought up the following four entries:

Name	Business Name	Occupation	Address 1	Address 2
Mrs. Conrad Abel	Philip Schembs	baker
John Kempf	Mrs. Philip Schembs	baker
Edward Schembs	T.B. Graham	baker		835 E. Chestnut
Mrs. Philip Schembs		baker	122 W. Jefferson

From this it defintely appears that Philipp Schembs was a baker and that Gertrude carried on the business after his death in 1887. Mrs. Abel and John Kempf were employees. But who is Edward Schembs? He too was a baker, apparently working for a different employer. But, at this time, we know of no Edward Schembs in Louisville. Perhaps he was a son of Philipp and Gertrude, but we have no evidence of this. Perhaps he was another emigrant from Herrnsheim. Hopefully further research will turn up more information on Edward Schembs.

In various Caron's Directories around the time of the 1880s, Philipp is listed as being a partner of Philip Kaltenthaler. In Herrnsheim there is also a Kaltenthaler family, which married into the Schembs. It is likely that Philip Kaltenthaler was from Herrnsheim as well. In the 1910 Census Philip Kaltenthaler (*1857) was 53 years old, a widower, and living with his son Adam, also single, aged 27 and also a baker. Another son Charles was a baker as well. IN 2017 the circumstances of Philipp's death came to light with the discovery of an article in the Saginaw (Michigan) News. Philipp apparently committed suicide. After the death of Philipp, Gertrude remarried. Her second husband was Philipp Hubbuch (*1849, +1911).

Descendants of Philipp Schembs

Children: (1)

1.1.....Catherine Schembs (*16.12.1865 Mainz, +05.06.1934 Los Angeles CA)

Kate Schembs (*1865)

Catherine married Herman Gerwein (*1843, +20.06.1909). They were married in 1895 when "Kate" was 30 years old and Herman 52 years old. More surprising was they were married in Benson, Arizona. Benson was (and still is) a small town in the desert a long way from anywhere. They continued to live in Benson according to the 1900 and 1910 Census information, although Herman had died by 1910. Sometime after 1910 the family moved back to Louisville, for in the 1920 Census they are living with Catherine's mother Gertrude (*1843). Both Catherine and Gertrude were widows at the time.

Kate died in Los Angeles at the age of 69 years, most likely after she had moved to California to live with one of her daughters.

Children: (2)

2.1.....Gertrude Gerwein (*10.02.1900 Benson AZ, +19.08.1988 Orange CA)


Gertrude Gerwein (*1900)	Robert Fulton Canine (*1878)

Gertrude married Robert Fulton Canine (*1878 Bartholomew County, IN) in Louisville in 1925. Robert was 21 years older than Gertrude. By 1930 they had two children. In 1930 they owned their home at 2139 Woodford Place. The value of the home was put at $40,000, a very nice home at the time! Robert was a dentist. In the 1934 obituary for her mother Catherine, the Canines are listed as living at 432 S. Fifth Avenue, Louisville. In the California Death Index for Gertrude, her maiden name is spelled Gerwin.


Virginia (1927) and Bob (1926) Canine	Virginia Canine Dozier

Children: (2)

2.1.....Robert Fulton Canine (*1926 Louisville KY)

Robert Canine married Ellen Bennett (* ). They live in North Carolina.

Children: (1)

1.1.....Holly Gail Canine (* )

2.2.....Virginia Canine (*1927 Louisville KY)

Virginia and Joseph Dozier (*1925) were married in Louisville on 20 Aug 1949.

Children: (3)

3.1.....Alan Kent Dozier (*1955 Louisville KY)

Alan married Stephanie Cornett (*1965 KY) in 1997. They later divorced.

3.2.....Audrey Wynne Dozier (*1958 Louisville KY)

Audrey and Patrick Schmidt (*1957) were married in Louisville in 1993.

3.3.....Barry Fulton Dozier (*1960 Louisville KY)

Barry Dozier married Pamela Needy.

2.2.....Alma Gerwein (*19.11.1901 Benson AZ, +19.02.1986 Hemet CA)

Alma Gerwein married Albert Swall. In about 1936 Alma moved to California. She was active in social work, the Beverly Hills Women's Club and community theater. In 1956 she remarried and her second husband was Frank Lineberg ( , +18.05.1994 St. Petersburg FL).

Alma and Frank were ballroom dancers. In 1967 she was crowned the Queen of the National Smooth Dancers, Los Angeles Chapter. In about 1966 Frank and Alma moved to Hemet, near Riverside, California. There she again joined the Women's Club and was Corresponding Secretary for two years, Club Hostess for four years and Fashion Show Coordinator one year during her twenty year membership. She was also an active Women's Shriner.

Alma had no children. They are buried at the San Jacinto Valley Cemetery in Hemet, CA.


	National Smooth Dancers' 1967 Championship

Alma Gerwein Lineberg (*1900)	Frank Lineberg