Polly Schneider

Other Events:

• Name: Polly Risser
• Eby ID Number: 00106-6343.5

Notes:

Polly Schneider, "was married to Mr. Risser and lived near Lititz, Pennsylvania"


Eby, Ezra E. (1895). A biographical history of Waterloo township and other townships of the county: being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin: as also much other unpublished historical information chiefly of a local character. Berlin [Kitchener, Ont.]: [s.n.].

Polly — Risser. was born Abt 1795, Of, Lititz, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: 00106-6343

Notes:

Peter Schneider, "was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, December 28th, 1765. He was married to Mary Langenecker who was born October 16th, 1778, and died November 13th 1824. They resided in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, near Mount Joy, where he was engaged in farming and milling. He died September 1st, 1823."


Eby, Ezra E. (1895). A biographical history of Waterloo township and other townships of the county: being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin: as also much other unpublished historical information chiefly of a local character. Berlin [Kitchener, Ont.]: [s.n.].

Peter — Mary Langenecker. Mary was born 16 Oct 1778, Of, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Mary Schneider
• Eby ID Number: 00106-6343.1

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: 00106-5813

Notes:

Jacob Schneider "was born in the Palatinate, in 1727 or 1730, came to this (USA) country when a mere lad and was raised in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. When some twenty years of age he was married to a Maria Herschi (now Hershey), a descendent of Andrew Hershey who settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1719. This marriage took place on April 1st, 1755. They had a family of fifteen children,"


Eby, Ezra E. (1895). A biographical history of Waterloo township and other townships of the county: being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin: as also much other unpublished historical information chiefly of a local character. Berlin [Kitchener, Ont.]: [s.n.].

_________________________________


AFTER 200 YEARS, FAMILY LEGACY IS STILL GROWING

Schneiders celebrate bicentennial by Valerie Hill

WATERLOO REGION (Jun 25, 2007)Two hundred years ago this month, Joseph Schneider and his brothers Jacob and Christian arrived at a wild tract in Upper Canada where they faced dense, old growth forests, swamps, ever-flooding creeks and the wildly beautiful Grand River.Could Joseph Schneider have imagined that through his influence and hard work, these traditional hunting grounds of the Huron Indians would eventually become Kitchener, a hub of industry and industrious people? This place became Schneider's legacy and there are still remnants of his influence, including a few thousand Schneiders, Sniders and Snyders, all variations of the same name.On Saturday, June 30, the clan will celebrate its illustrious ancestor with a reunion. The last gathering was in 1909, when news reports of the day claimed a couple of thousand people showed up, many from hundreds of kilometres away. That reunion was for the kin of all three brothers.This weekend's event will be just the family of Joseph Schneider.Vern Sherk is a seventh generation Schneider who was aware of his family history as a youngster, but a couple of decades ago his interest really piqued."There was more information available," he explained, citing documents and books by local historians.Suddenly, having all this accessible information gave Sherk a new appreciation for his family, for Joseph Schneider.He learned that his ancestor arrived in Waterloo County with his brothers, his wife Barbara and four of what would grow to be a family of seven children.They travelled with several other Mennonite families -- Erbs, Ebys and Webers, among others, whose ancestors had come to the U.S. decades earlier to escape religious persecution. This particular group came from Lancaster County, Penn., with four heavily laden wagons and a dream of finding inexpensive, fertile land.Waterloo County was divided into parcels of 448 acres for the settlers, but first they had to cut the trees, pull the stumps, plow the land and build homes and barns. Early settlers faced endless days of intense labour yet viewed it as an opportunity, not a hardship.The results of that labour are to be seen across the city today: the 1820 Joseph Schneider Haus Museum on Queen Street was the family homestead and Victoria Park was part of the farm that Schneider refused to sell, even as industry sprang up on adjacent properties.
One of the symbols of his family's success was a clock.Susan Burke, curator at Joseph Schneider Haus, explained that with their Swiss and German background, time keeping was important to the settlers. The Schneider family clock was carefully transported from Lancaster to their new home. Over the generations, the clock eventually was lost to the family until a Schneider descendant spotted it while visiting a Kitchener home. The owner sold the clock back to the Schneider family and it's now on loan to Schneider Haus. This clock is on the family reunion's logo and used in its catchphrase "Time To Come Home."Miriam Sokvitne, now in her 90s, is the family matriarch, a woman of considerable presence. The Schneider heritage is precious to the retired nurse who is also keeper of family heirlooms and history.Her father, Joseph Meyer Snyder, returned the clock to the family, wrote a book about their history and bought the homestead after it had been used as rental housing for several years. Sokvitne begged then-premier John Robarts to have the site declared a heritage site. "I not only cried, I bawled," she said, remembering her passionate outpouring.Once the homestead was back in the family, Sokvitne and her husband travelled the countryside searching for heirlooms. From spinning wheels to toys, these artifacts will be on display at the reunion with, of course, the clock as centrepiece, a symbol of the man known as Kitchener's founding father, Joseph Schneider.


Monday, June 25, 2007 ,The Record Newspaper , Kitchener, Ontario

Jacob married Maria Herschi 1 Apr 1755, , Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania. Maria was born Abt 1732, Of, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Maria Schneider
• Eby ID Number: 00106-5813.2

Other Events:

• Name: Johannes Jacob Schneider
• Eby ID Number: 00106-5813.1

Notes:

"In examining the "Colonial Records" of Philadelphia we find that quite a number of Schneiders came from various parts of central Europe and settled in Pennsylvania. In volume NO. 4, page 59, we find that one hundred and fifty emigrants from the Palatinate (Pfaltz) and other places of Europe came in the vessel "Harle" of London. Among this number we find the progenitor, Johannes Schneider. These together with old "Hannes" (Johannes) were qualified, i.e. because citizens of Pennsylvania and subject to the Crown, His Majesty King George II, in September, 1736. Johannes Schneider or, as tradition has it, Johannes Jacob Schneider, to distinguish him from his relative who happened to have the same name, Jacob being added to know that he was Jacob's (his father's name) "Hans" and not Michael's (his uncle's) "Hans," was born about the year 1697. To whom he was married cannot be ascertained at so late a date. Owing to his strict adherence to the Protestant faith he was subjected to the same tests and fiery persecutions as what his co-religionists were. Early in the year 1736 he left his native home and set sail, with others, for London, England, thence to America where they landed in August of the same year and were naturalized a few days later. In September he with his wife and family moved to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where they settled on a large tract of land. When old Johannes Schneider died is not known, neither what number of children he had. We know of two sons, Jacob and Christian. There may have been others but the descendants of Jacob never knew of more than Christian."


Eby, Ezra E. (1895). A biographical history of Waterloo township and other townships of the county: being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin: as also much other unpublished historical information chiefly of a local character. Berlin [Kitchener, Ont.]: [s.n.].