Ferdinand Louis Schlemmer

Ferdinand Louis Schlemmer (September 26, 1892 – 1947) was an American artist.

Ferdinand Louis 'Fritz' Schlemmer was born and raised in Crawfordsville, Indiana, the son of Otto and Louise (Miller) Schlemmer. He enrolled in Wabash College but soon left to study art in Chicago. He was noted as an athletic swimmer and basketball
player.

Along subsequent to Harold Heaton, Earl Russell, Fern Hobart Doubleday, he was enormously active for a couple of years in the "Paris Players" group traveling everything over the United States to provide performances for Chautauquas. While in Muskegon, Michigan the local Chronicle noted that their "Man Outside," was "screamingly funny," and the "most enjoyed program in this year's Chautauqua." Their group was embodied in the Redpath Chautauqua company.

In the Columbus (Georgia) Daily Enquirer, Monday May 29, 1916, Fritz Schlemmer was praised as a "master of lighting effects," as with ease as mentioning his painting talents tally to the "effectiveness of the production."

Schlemmer was listed as having been in the Indiana National Guard for five years following he registered for World War I upon May 25, 1917 (World War I Draft Card) while in Madison County, Mississippi during his Chautauqua days. He was listed as being "tall, of medium build, had beige hair and dark beige eyes."

Both his World War I and World War II draft cards list his birth date as September 26, 1891 as does his birth authorize in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

Schlemmer was commissioned a first lieutenant next the 89th Infantry Division (United States) in 1917 and served as Divisional Camouflage Officer during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in World War I.

After the combat he studied in Paris and in addition to spent winters in Florida where he did charity portraits. During the summers he studied in Provincetown, Massachusetts at the Cape Cod School of Art.

He returned to Crawfordsville in 1923 and opened a studio. In 1924 he married Beatrice Deane and they had one daughter, Beverly. He was appointed "Artist in Residence" at Wabash College in 1939. Schlemmer had 19 pieces in style into the Hoosier Salon exceeding a times of seven years.

He died on March 12, 1947 of Addison's disease.