History of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, 1887



Schneider Family - THE SCHNEIDER FAMILY Biography

The branch of the Schneider family that reside in Williamsport, Lycoming county. Pennsylvania, trace their ancestry to George and Christina (Neingesser) Schneider, natives of Paungstadt, Grand Duchy of Hessen, Darmstadt, who after their marriage moved to Neuhausen, near Worms on the Rhine, and purchased the Kaiser mill, one of the largest and finest mills in the Valley of the Rhine, in the year 1787. During the latter portion of the Thirty Years' war, Napoleon became the owner of the left bank of the Rhine, and compelled the citizens to contribute to the support of his army. On the refusal of Mr. Schneider to furnish flour and feed continually to the commissaries of Napoleon he was incarcerated in the prison in the city of Worms, which was in a deplorably filthy condition, and was released therefrom upon his promise to again furnish food. Owing to the trouble in the currency, which consisted of paper scraps which no one would take for debt, Mr. Schneider was compelled to sell his mill in order to meet his liabilities. He then purchased a mill at Fell, near Bernshein, which he conducted up to the time of his death in 1832. The children of George and Christina (Neingesser) Schneider were as follows

1. Frederick, who in 1809 was drafted into the French army, and was in active service until 1814, a period of five years. He was made prisoner by the Prussians at the battle of Cats Back, there -being only eighty soldiers left out of the entire regiment, and he was taken to Breslau in Schlesey. In 1815, after nine months' imprisonment, he was exchanged and then went home to Neuhausen. He rented a mill at Bernshein, but after remaining there a short time moved to Lutzenbach, then to Aflterbach in Odenwald. He married Cathrina Loesch, who bore him the following named children: Karl, who died in Germany in 1835 George Ludwig, always known in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, as " Louis "; Fritz, Jacob, Christopher, and Elizabeth. The mother of these children died in Lutzenbach in 1827. Mr. Schneider then broke up housekeeping and his children were taken care of by his relatives. In the same year he assumed the management of his cousin's mill at Eberstadt, and in 1834, the year of his marriage to Elizabeth Messerschmit, he commenced business for himself at Bernshein. In 1838 he sold his property and came to America with his family, landing in New York, July 16, 1838. He located in York, Pennsylvania, then went to Huntingdon, same state, where he and his sons obtained employment in constructing the dam above Huntingdon. They continued to work at that occupation until Christmas week, when they were obliged to leave on account of the deep snow. Mr. Schneider then turned his attention to farming, at which he was fairly successful. He died in 1863, aged seventy-three years, leaving the children of his second wife-Philip, John, George, Ernestina, Margaret and Bridget-two farms one and a half miles below Huntingdon.

2. Karl, who, upon the death of his father, became the owner of the property, which he sold in 1840 and he came to America with his family and mother, leaving the latter with her daughter, Mrs. Sterline, at York, Pennsylvania, where she died. In 184.2 Mr. Schneider settled at Huntingdon and commenced farming, which occupation he continued there throughout the active years of his career.

3. Magdalena, who became the wife of a Mr. Loesch and mother of five children : Henry, Magdalena, Philopena, Dorothy, and William. After the death of Mr. Loesch his widow and children moved to Huntingdon, where they resided for more than a year, and then changed their place of residence to York, Pennsylvania.

4. Dorothy, who became the wife of John Sterline, and shortly after their marriage they came to America, landing at Baltimore, Maryland, after a voyage of ninety days. From there they moved to York, Pennsylvania, and later to Lancaster county, near Columbia, where they lived and died.

5. Philopena, who became the wife of a Mr. Fieal, and upon their arrival in America settled in New York City.

6. Elizabeth, who became the wife of a Mr. Knecht, and after their arrival in this country they located in the state of Indiana.

George Ludwig Schneider, commonly known as " Louis," son of Frederick and Cathrina (Loesch) Schneider, accompanied his father to America in 1838, and in the spring of the following year was sent by his father to the West in order to look around, stopping at Louisville, Kentucky, where he took up the trade of cabinet-maker. On May 12, 1840, he returned to Huntingdon, and in the spring of 1843 established a boatman's store below Huntingdon, but relinquished it the following spring and then opened a cabinet-maker's shop in Huntingdon, which he continued to conduct until the spring of 1847. In that year James Gaston, a dear personal friend, established him in a confectionery and bakery business, which proved a most profitable investment. In the spring of 1851 Mr. Schneider purchased from Thomas Fisher the property between the canal and the Pennsylvania Railroad, improved it to the amount of six thousand dollars, and thereafter located his plant upon it. In 1852 he was forced to sell his property at a loss, receiving therefor only twenty-eight hundred dollars, owing to the depression in business which was occasioned by the filling of the streets with the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the blocking of the street with cars. He then located in Marshalburg and purchased a country store from Frank Neff, which he sold the following year to John Garner. In the spring of 1854 he moved to Williamsport and established a jewelry and music store, which he sold three years later to J. W. Mussina.

Mr. Schneider then went west, intending if he found a favorable location to settle there, but not seeing the opportunity he sought for returned to Williamsport, and in 1854 purchased the property on Third street from Ralph Elliot, where he established a confectionery store, of which he later disposed. In 1859 he opened a flour and feed store. which he sold three years later to David and Aaron Keifer, and then in partnership with James Goodlander, purchased the planing mill from A. Updegraff on East Third street. In 1864 Mr. C. Davis was admitted into partnership, and in June, 1865, Mr. Schneider disposed of his interest to his partners, and he then superintended the Collier Oil Well in Perry county until August, 1866, during which time he lost his capital in oil stocks. On September 1, 1866, he entered into partnership with Ades McVeigh in the real estate and fire insurance business, continuing the same until 1885, and from that year led a retired life until his death, which occurred February 23, 1905.

On May 12, 1840, at York, Pennsylvania, Mr. Schneider was married to his cousin, Magdalena Loesch, who died February 28, 1885, after forty-five years of happy married life. Their children were : Adolph, born June 10, 1843, died August 12, 1843. Louis, born June 22, 1844, mentioned hereinafter. Mary K., born January 11, 1846, became the wife of Amos Wagner, and their children are: Mamie, deceased; Vanetta, wife of Richard L. Scott, and mother of two children-Mary and Lucy Scott; John L., Laura, and Helen Wagner. William Frederic, born February 3, 1848, died February 28, 1848. George, born November 1, 1849, died April 9, 1872. Elizabeth, born April 15, 1853, died April 27, 1853. Henry, born February 1, 1855, died May 5, 1855. Joseph Luther, born August 8, 1859, married and had children: Helen and Louis Schneider.

Louis Schneider, second son of George Ludwig and Magdalena (Loesch) Schneider, was born June 22, 1844. He was educated in the public schools and Dickinson Seminary, after which he took up the study of medicine, later matriculating at the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he was graduated as a medical cadet. He joined the United States army, served in the hospital at Camp Curtin, then at West Philadelphia, and then at Louisville, Kentucky, in the Brown Hospital, and in 1865 he graduated from the Kentucky School of Medicine. He then came east to Chatham Run, located and established a private practice there, remaining until 1884, when he removed with his family to Williamsport, where he engaged in the active practice of his profession, continuing in professional work until the date of his death, December 29, 1900.

Dr. Schneider was united in marriage to Jennie Chatham, a daughter of John Hall Chatham, and one son was the issue of this union, George Chatham Schneider, born at McElhattan, Clinton county, Pennsylvania, May 10, 1876. Dr. Schneider is survived by his widow and son.

John Hall Chatham, father of Mrs. Dr. Schneider, was a first lieutenant in the war of 1861, for eight years was treasurer of Clinton county, Pennsylvania, and during the year 1858 and subsequent years was a resident of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. His parents were Walter S. and Elleanor (Hall) Chatham. His wife was Hannah de Haas, a daughter of John Philip de Haas, the third, who was born and educated at Philadelphia College, a son of Lieutenant John Philip de Haas, of the war of the revolution, and his wife, Anna (Shippen) de Haas, cousin of Peggy Shippen and daughter of Captain William Shippen, who was killed at the battle of Princeton in 1777, having been a member of General Washington's army. Lieutenant de Haas was a son of Brigadier General John Philip de Haas, who was a captain in the colonial wars with George Washington, was a personal friend of that great general, and was a member of his staff in the war of the revolution. He was a gentleman to the manner born, son of Nicholas de Haas, who came to these shores in 1732, and who was a direct descendant of the noble family Von-Haas. The founder, Charles, acquired large possessions near the city of Strasburg, France, in 1549. He was a. baron and general under Rudolph the Emperor. He took the city of Florence, Italy, and was made governor of Central Italy. He was authorized to appropriate the city of Florence for his " coat of arms," and when the province was annexed to France the name was changed to " de," the French, instead of " Von," the Dutch. General de Haas was a squire in Philadelphia under King George. He was a man of much wealth at the time of his death, being the owner of hundreds of acres in the Bald Eagle Valley, where his son, Lieutenant de Haas, died in 1828, and is buried there. General de Haas is buried in Philadelphia, where he lived in splendor. The " coat of arms " was used in the de Haas family until 1828, not being adopted after the death of Lieutenant de Haas.


Source: Genealogical and Personal History of Lycoming County, John W. Jordan, Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1906.










Schneider Genealogy Resources



Schneider Ancestry Resources