Schellschmidt Family

Patriarch Adolf Schellschmidt. Photo courtesy of Newspapers.com.

Adolf H. Schellschmidt Sr. (1829 – 1915)

Born in Germany near the Belgium border, Schellschmidt first came to Indianapolis in 1854. He was impressed with the town, writing to his mother that it was “a very pretty little town, very flat. There are at present twenty churches. I find the American cooking very good; they eat a lot of corn here. There is a fine opening for musicians.”

That last point was very important as he was a musician who hoped to make a musical living. He primarily played the violin but could play other instruments as well, noting that there were few teachers or opportunities for students interested in anything but the piano.

He and his wife Emma Miessent, also from Germany, bought a lot from the McQuats on the east side of downtown Indianapolis and began their family: Alfred, Emelie, Adolph Jr., Emma, Pauline, Bertha, and Louise. All inherited his love of music, and their talent was further refined in various conservatories in Europe.

Schellschmidt taught music for decades, played in several local orchestras, helped establish the Philharmonic Society and the Indianapolis Maennerchor. A composer as well, some of his handwritten manuscripts are now in the collection of the Indiana State Library and the Special Collections of the Indianapolis-Marion County Library.

Alfred Herbert Schellschmidt (1863-1883)

The first born of Adolph and Emma, Alfred graduated with the highest honors from the Leipzig Conservatory of music. Upon his return to the United States, he took a position as concert master with the Strachkosch Italian Opera Company and played with some of the best orchestras in New York.

*Adolf, Sr., Emma, Alfred, Emile and her husband Justus Nieding, Adolph, Jr., Pauline, Bertha Schellschmidt, Louise S. and her husband William Koehne are all buried in Section 44, Lot 347.*

Adolph H. Schellschmidt, Jr. was a well-known cellist and music teacher in Indianapolis. Photo courtesy of Newspapers.com.

Adolph H. Schellschmidt Jr. (1867-1946)

In the April 24, 1936, edition of the Indianapolis Times, columnist Anton Scherrer wrote: “Forty years ago Adolph Schellschmidt was the only cellist in Indiana. Today he is one of a million and the only reason he hasn’t taught everybody to play is because he didn’t start early enough. He wasted the first nine years of his life learning to read and write.” Scherrer goes on to say that Adolph had originally played clarinet. Bands playing in funeral processions were a big thing, he says, in the 1880s, and Adolph was known for playing his clarinet in processions that went all the way from Garfield Park to Crown Hill. But he did concentrate on the cello when he went abroad to the Cologne Conservatory of Music. Upon his return, he played in many musical ensembles and orchestras. He was on the faculty of the first Indianapolis Conservatory and the Metropolitan School of music, later known as the Arthur Jordan Conservatory, which became part of Butler. His sense of humor there made him popular among the students. He taught at Indiana University from 1919-1921 and at DePauw University for 17 years. He also composed music.

*Pauline Schellschmidt. Photo courtesy of the Indiana State Library.*

Emma Schellschmidt Rous (1869-1954)

Emma played the harp and taught it as well at the Vegara-Schellschmidt Conservatory of Music and Opera located downtown. She married Frederick Wasson Rous, a pianist who was the librarian at the DePauw School of Music as of 1891.

Pauline Schellschnmidt (1875-1962)

Like her brother Alfred, Pauline studied in Leipzig. After completing her studies, she taught violin, French, and German in her home and briefly at an Indiana University extension. She served as the music critic for the Indianapolis Star from 1911 to 1914 before working as a critic for the national magazine Musical America for 30 years. She belonged to various local musical organizations and as a member of All Souls Unitarian Church, she presented many concerts at the church and at the Propylaeum Club. It was Pauline who donated her father’s and her brother Adolph Jr.’s compositions to the Indiana State Library and Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library.

*Bertha Schellschmidt. Photo courtesy of the Indiana State Library.*

Bertha Marie Schellschmidt (1877-1922)

Bertha received advanced violin training in Brussels, Belgium. Once back home, she was concertmaster for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and second violin in the Philharmonic String Quartet, frequently playing at the Propylaeum. She also taught at Western College in Oxford, Ohio and Elmhurst College in Connersville, Indiana, and at the Indianapolis Home for the Blind.

Louise Schellschmidt Koehne (1879-1942)

Louise also studied at the Conservatory at Brussels, perfecting her skills on the harp. She had many harp students back in Indianapolis, and her large classes often performed at the Athenaeum. She also was the official harpist for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra from 1906-1911.