Search for Ludwig Schmidt

I need some help in finding what happened to my Great Great Grandfather Ludwig Schmidt born February 28, 1862 in Nataliendorf, Zhytomir, Ukraine.

Ludwig married Helene Mueller on January 10, 1882 in Heimtal Parish, Zhytomir  Volhynia, Ukraine. She was born in 1859 and died very young in 1892.  Her death left Ludwig with three young boys to raise.  Herman (7 years old), Wilhelm (4 years old) and August (3 years old). According to Wilhelm (Bill Smith) as reported by his daughter, Ludwig remarried, probably in part to have a new mother for the three boys.  I suspect that the new wife provided Ludwig with at least another son and a daughter.  I have a picture that I believe shows the three sons from Helene, plus a daughter and a son.  Unfortunately, the picture is not labelled to identify the new wife or the two children.

Wilhelm (Bill Smith) apparently did not emigrate to Canada with Herman and August, but he did leave later and went to Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, Canada.  He married Mary Mueller on February 28, 1910 in Spokane, Washington.  While in the Winnipeg area, he worked for Mary's father in a wood lot, where Mary was tasked with raising her young brothers and sisters.  Bill and Mary eloped and went by train to Spokane, Washington where they were married.  They later moved back to Canada and settled in Bigger, Saskatchewan.

Bill's daughter told me that he had left because he could not get along with Ludwig's new wife.  This is the only confirmation I have that Ludwig remarried, but I seriously need to find out who the new wife was.  That would help me find out if Ludwig also emigrated, or if he stayed behind in the Ukraine.  I hope that he did emigrate, because conditions got really bad in the years before WWI, and even worse after WWI was over.

I have found two Ludwig Schmidt's that have birthdates close to February 28, 1862, but do not match exactly.  One was in Alberta, Canada, and another in North Dakota, USA. If I can get some corroborating data, that may help me determine if Ludwig emigrated to either Canada or the United States, and perhaps locate the other family lines of the half-brother and half-sister, and perhaps more of Ludwig's children.

I have no remembrance of Herman mentioning any contact with Ludwig after he and his brother's left the Ukraine for Canada.  However, those were different times and communications were at best difficult.  I do remember that after WWII, Herman and Mary sent care packages to people in Europe.  This continued for some time until the requests for help included items like nylons and luxuries that made it appear that their basic needs were being provided.  Herman was not wealthy, being a crop farmer, growing vegetables and other crops which he took to the farmer's markets in Spokane, Washington as his sole source of income.  Since the requests included nylons, could the person receiving the help have been his young sister? or the second wife?  I have a vague memory of hearing that there was a sister that was married in the Ukraine and did not emigrate.

Ludwig was the son of Georg Schmidt and Eleanor Kols.  Georg was born on February 7. 1842 in Guldendorf, Odessa, Russia.  I believe, but cannot confirm that Georg was the son of Georg Schmidt, born about 1820.  (Approximate-No Data).  There was a Georg Schmidt that went to Volhynia from Plock/Dutchty of Warsaw, Poland in 1813.  He is included in a list of Emigrants from Poland, Duchy of Warsaw between 1813 and 1866. He travelled with Andreas, Christian, Gottlieb, Johann and Michael Schmidt.

A Georg Schmidt is also included in "Emigrants List of the Volga Germans" Mostly from Hesse and the area of the Upper Rhine, in the period 1763-1769, and from West Prussia to the area of Samara in the time period 1859-1865. This list is published by Karl Stumpp, a well known researcher and writer about the German Emigration to Bessarabia.