Marie C. Petersen and George H. Schmidt marry on Sept. 18, 1917 in Chicago.
Marie and her daughter Louise, about 1925 in Chicago.
Maria Catherina Petersen (pictured at
left, about 1901) was Hans and Catherina's last daughter and
next-to-last child. She shares her name with her mother, though in inverted order.
Marie was born on October 31, 1899 in Chicago and and grew up among her older siblings Peter, Maggie, Alfred and George; older brother Louis already had a family of his own. And in 1904 Marie had a new baby brother, Clarence.
When Marie was about one her family relocated to south Milwaukee to be in closer proximity to her uncle Andrew Petersen and his family. They remained there until returning to Chicago in 1906 after the traumatic deaths of Marie's older sister Maggie (in 1903) and her father Hans (in 1905).
Back in Chicago Marie enjoyed the friendship of numerous nieces and nephews at her brother Louis' home, most of whom were within a few years of her own age (click this link to see Marie in her later years with Louis' grown children).
In September 1917 Marie married George H. Schmidt, a stationary engineer from Chicago, and they had one daughter, Louise, pictured at left during the 1930s. The marriage didn't last and, according to family, after a divorce Marie married once more, but that union failed as well.
After the second divorce Marie resumed using her maiden name and lived with Louise in Chicago. She was independent-minded, determined to support herself and her daughter, and has been described by her granddaughter as "the original women's libber". She even participated in car races, shown above in the family racer.
Marie worked for a number of years at the local forest preserve, Dan Ryan Woods, running a concession stand at 87th and Western in Blue Island, not far from the home of her mother, Catherine Petersen Mikkelsen. By all accounts she was a loving aunt to her many nieces and nephews and is remembered with great affection by her half-niece Cathie Meyer.
Marie died in 1976 at the age of 77, leaving her daughter Louise and three granddaughters.