Anna Martin

Other Events:

• Name: Anna Weber
• Eby ID Number: 00075-4352
• Grave Photograph - Find A Grave: Gravestone Image
• Residence: 1844, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Notes:

Anna Martin, "the eldest daughter, was born August 2nd, 1824. She was married to Rev. Samuel Weber who died October 13th, 1885. She is still living and has her home with her son on the old farm near Lexington."


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a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin: as also much other unpublished historical information chiefly of a local character.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.].

Anna married Rev. Samuel Weber 7 Mar 1844, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Samuel (son of Rev. Heinrich H. "Henry" Weber and Salome Bauman) was born 26 Nov 1821, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 13 Oct 1885, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Martin Meeting House Cemetery, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

1. Susannah Weber was born 8 Dec 1844, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 28 Jan 1901, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Elmira Mennonite Cemetery, Elmira, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
2. Moses M. Weber was born 27 Aug 1847, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 7 Nov 1937; was buried , Martin Meeting House Cemetery, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
3. Judith Weber was born 7 Jan 1849, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 2 Jul 1854; was buried , Martin Meeting House Cemetery, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
4. Daniel Weber was born 23 Oct 1851, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 20 Mar 1854.
5. Heinrich M. "Henry" Weber was born 9 Mar 1853, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 2 Feb 1915; was buried , Martin Meeting House Cemetery, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
6. Anna Weber was born 16 Aug 1855, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 26 Sep 1936, RR3 Waterloo, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried 29 Sep 1936, Martin Meeting House Cemetery, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
7. Veronica "Fanny" Weber was born 19 Feb 1857, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 20 May 1934; was buried , Martin Meeting House Cemetery, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
8. Samuel M. Weber was born 12 Jan 1859, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 10 Jan 1927; was buried , Elmira Mennonite Cemetery, Elmira, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
9. Leah Weber was born 19 Feb 1862, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died Yes, date unknown; was buried , North Woolwich Mennonite Meeting House Cemetery, Floradale, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
10. Levi M. B. Weber was born 17 Jun 1863, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 25 Jul 1938; was buried , Martin Meeting House Cemetery, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.
11. Lydia Weber was born 11 Dec 1866, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died Yes, date unknown.
12. Enoch M. Weber was born 13 Mar 1869, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died 29 Oct 1944, Elmira, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Elmira Mennonite Cemetery, Elmira, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada.

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: 00075-4351
• Grave Photograph - Find A Grave: Gravestone Image
• Occupation: 1851, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonist
• Residence: 1851, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonist
• Land: 1856, Woolwich Township German Company Tract 018, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Notes:

Daniel Martin, "the fourth son of Peter and Anna (Zimmerman) Martin, was born in Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, April 5th, 1800, and came to Canada in 1819. On April 8th, 1823, he was married to Veronica, daughter of Joseph and Barbara (Eby) Schneider. She was born July 25th, 1803. Soon after their marriage they moved on their farm now in possession of their son, Daniel, where they resided until their deaths. He died January 12th, 1856, and she died July 13th, 1872. They had a family of ten 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.].

_______________________

A-1-86 Probate of the Will of Daniel Martin, late of the Township of Woolwich, granted the Twenty sixth day of January, 1856, on the petition of Levi Martin and Joseph Martin, and Samuel Weber, the Executors named in said Will.

In the name of God, Amen. I, Daniel Martin, of the Township of Woolwich, Yeoman, being weak in body, but of sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding, do make publish and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all writings in the nature of Last Wills and Testaments by me heretofore made. My Will is first, that my funeral charges and just debts be paid by my Executors. The residue of my Property I give, devise and dispose of as follows, to Wit:- I will that my beloved wife Veronica shall have and keep the Homestead, being part of Lot number Eighteen of the German Company Tract of Woolwich, containing One Hundred and Sixty two acres, more or less, until my son Daniel becomes of the age of Twenty one years, when he, said son Daniel is to have said Homestead, together with Four acres of Cedar Swamp, being part of lot Fifty three of said German Company Tract, to have and to hold the same forever (Excepting the hereinafter mentioned reservations) by paying Two Thousand Dollars ; namely One Thousand Dollars without Interest, in Two equal annual payments, which are to date and commence from the time he, said Daniel becomes of age, or take possession of said homestead, and which payments are to be made to my Executors. And the remaining One Thousand Dollars, the Interest thereof, he, my said son Daniel is to pay annually, in each and every year to my said wife during her natural lifetime; and immediately after her death, the said principal of One Thousand Dollars to be paid to my Executors, in Trust - however, should my said wife die before the expiration of the two years granted to my said son Daniel for the payment of the first mentioned One Thousand Dollars, and he desires a longer time for the payment of the last mentioned One Thousand Dollars, then in such case, he, my said son Daniel to pay the other One thousand Dollars in ten equal annual installments in the manner of the first, and commencing from the time the said first mentioned Thousand Dollars are fully paid up. And when my said son Daniel becomes of Age, my Executors shall sell by Public Auction, all my personal effects (Excepting such as my said Wife wishes to retain for her own use; my Executors shall at the same time, or at the time my said son Daniel takes possession of the homestead, build or cause to be built a comfortable dwelling separate, or attached to the one now occupied by us, on any part of the said farm and of such dimensions, together with Garden, and out houses, as my said wife may desire. And my said son David is yearly to deliver to my said wife, during her lifetime, one half of all the fruit which said Farm produces, and should she die before my son Dilman has fruit of his own, then said Daniel is to give him one twelfth of the Fruit, yearly produced on said farm; but not longer than fifteen years after said son Dilman becomes of the age of Twenty one years. Further my said son Daniel is yearly and every year, from the time he takes possession of said homestead - during the lifetime of my said wife, to give or cause to be given to her fifteen bushels of wheat, three hundred pounds of port, and one hundred pounds of beef, and all the firewood ready cut and fit for the stove, delivered to her door; also to keep two cows in pasture during the summer and feed them in the winter with and like his own. Further I give and devise to my son Joseph, to his own use forever, the South part of Lot Number Sixty five, of the German Company Tract of Woolwich, containing One Hundred and eighty two acres and a half ; by him the said Joseph paying to my Executors the sum of Two Hundred and Twenty one Dollars without Interest, in manner following, namely, in two equal annual payments, the first of such payments to be made on the first day of January 1861 - Should my said son Joseph stand in need of or desire it, my Executors are to lend or loan him about Five Hundred Dollars of my Estate for say Five Years, without Interest. My Executors are also to procure for my said sons Daniel, Joseph and Dilman, horses, cattle, farming implements, and other necessary things to enable them to commence farming, and charge these severally at the same rate as their Brother Levi is charged in a Book kept for that purpose. Further I will and bequeath unto my son-in-law Benjamin L. Eby, his heirs or assigns the North part of Lot number Sixty Five of the German Company Tract of Woolwich, containing One Hundred and Sixty acres, and my said Executors are to loan or lend said Benjamin L. Eby Two Hundred Dollars for five years without Interest. Further I will and bequeath unto my son Dilman, part of Lot number Forty six of the German Company Tract of Woolwich, containing One Hundred and Forty seven acres, more or less, and Four and a half acres of Cedar Swamp, being part of Lot number ninety six, of the Germany Company Tract, by him paying unto my Executors the sum of One Thousand Dollars without interest in ten equal annual Installments, to date and commencing when he the said Dilman come of the age of Twnety-one years.l Further I will and devise unto my daughters, Veronica, Mary and Judith each Four Hundred Dollars, to be paid them severally when they get married. I do hereby nominate and appoint my sons Levi Martin and Joseph Martin, and my son-in-law Samuel Weber, all of Woolwich, Executors of this my Last Will and Testament…And I further will that my said Executors shall have One Dollars and Twenty five cents per day each, while or whenever employed in business connected with my Estate.

Witness by A. J. Peterson and Joseph Good
Will dated 1 January 1856
Proved 26 January 1856
Inventory £1709/15/-
Died 12 January 1856

Surrogate Court Records Copybook Register A 1853-1871 transcript to 1863. Frances Hoffman transcriber.

Daniel married Veronica Schneider 8 Apr 1823. Veronica (daughter of Joseph Schneider and Barbara Eby) was born 25 Jul 1803, , Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania; died 13 Jul 1872, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Martin Meeting House Cemetery, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Fanny Schneider
• Name: Fronica Schneider
• Name: Veronica Martin
• Residence: 466 Queen st., S., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Eby ID Number: 00106-6383
• Grave Photograph - Find A Grave: Gravestone Image
• Residence: 1851, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonist
• Occupation: 1861, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Laborer
• Residence: 1861, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite
• Residence: 1871, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Mennonite

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/38400277
• Interesting: story, pioneer, religion
• Eby ID Number: 00075-4295
• Residence: 1830, Waterloo Township - German Company Tract Lot 010, Waterloo County, Ontario

Notes:

Peter Martin, "was born in West Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, February 26th, 1769. He was married to Anna Zimmerman, December 25th, 1793. She was born February 18th, 1775. He followed farming in his native state, but owing to the poor harvests for several years in succession, together with low wages and many business failures, caused him to make arrangements with his numerous family to move to Canada. Two of his daughters, Barbara, married to David Martin and Maria, married to Christian Zimmerman, remained in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, while the parents with fourteen of their children, together with Daniel Weber and others, moved to Canada in 1819. They, at their arrival here, settled first on the farm now owned by Dilman Shantz and the heirs of the late Abraham Groff, but not finding this to their taste they finally located on the farm now possessed by Menno Gingerich. Here they resided until their deaths. He died March 2nd, 1831, and she died December 12th, 1836. They had a family of seventeen children, all of whom were married."

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.].

______________________________________

Martin Meeting House

According to Isaac Horst, "Martins meeting house was the first of the Old Order places of worship to be built. A meeting house is reported to have been built in 1830; burial was begun in the adjoining cemetery in 1831. Martins was aptly named. The first three bishops of the area were Martins, all descended from the pioneer, Peter Martin. The land on which the house stands was formerly owned by Martins (1979: 376)." Peter Martin, Jr. purchased 220 acres of land from his brother, Henry Martin, on May 8, 1824. Apparently he set aside four acres for a meeting house and burying ground at that time. The first burial is reported to have been that of Peter Martin, Sr., who died March 2, 1831. The meeting house was enlarged in 1900.

John Weber was the first minister, followed by Abraham W. Martin, Samuel Weber, Paul Martin, Tobias Martin and Urias Martin. At one time surrounded by countryside, the meeting house and cemetery are now completely encircled by the commercial development brought about by the rapid expansion northward of the city of Waterloo.

Waterloo County Churches A Research Guide To Churches Established Before 1900 By Rosemary Ambrose

________________________________

...Martin was 62 when died in 1831, just 12 years after coming to Canada, but his important role in local history was not forgotten. His home doubled as the Martin's Church before the Martin's Meeting House on King Street North was completed.

The meeting house still stands today, next to the Martin's cemetery that holds Peter Martin's remains. Across King Street was the Martin's School (SS21), in use until 1972. It's gone now.

Because of his large family, 17 children in all, Martin was once described as "probably the most vigorous progenitor in the history of the region." His story is told in a booklet Thou Art Peter, published in 1983 by the Mennonite historian Isaac Horst of Mount Forest.....

Flash from the Past: Peter Martin House once stood in Waterloo, Waterloo Region Record 4 May 2013 Jon Fear, Record Staff

Peter married Anna Zimmerman 25 Dec 1793. Anna was born 18 Feb 1775, Of, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania; died 9 Dec 1836, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Martin Meeting House Cemetery, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/38400457
• Name: Anna Martin
• Eby ID Number: 00075-4295.1

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27232276
• Historic Building: 466 Queen st., S., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Interesting: religion, pioneer, story
• Eby ID Number: 00106-6346
• Historic Building: 1807, 393 Queen Street South, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Site of first log cabin
• Historic Business: 1816, 113 David Street, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Sawmill
• Land: Bef 1831, Waterloo Township - German Company Tract Lot 017W, Waterloo County, Ontario
• Land: Bef 1831, Waterloo Township - German Company Tract Lot 023W, Waterloo County, Ontario
• Historical Event: 29 Aug 1839, Evangelical Association Church, Waterloo, Ontario; church founding

Notes:

Joseph Schneider, "was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, May 24th, 1772. On February 21st, 1798, he was married to Barbara, daughter of Christian and Catharine (Bricker) Eby. She was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, April 29th, 1774, and died in Berlin, Ontario, March 13th, 1843. On May 8th, 1807, Mr. Schneider with wife and family and a large company of others (See Vol. 1 pages 39, 40 and 41 for particulars) moved to Canada and settled where now is the town of Berlin, Ontario. Here he was engaged in farming. His first buildings were erected where now his grandson, Samuel B. Schneider, lives, a little west of the Walper Block, Berlin. Here he died October 27th, 1843, leaving a family of seven 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.].

__________________________

Zion United Church

A Sunday School was established in Berlin in 1837, meeting in Jacob Hailer's carpenter shop which was located at the southeast corner of what is now King and Scott Streets. A mission was begun by Rev. Christian Holl shortly after his arrival in Berlin on May 9, 1839, and a class (or congregation) was organized several months later on August 29, 1839 by Bishop John Seybert of the Evangelical Association during a camp meeting held at David Erb's farm near Lexington. John Hoffman was the Berlin class leader; his brother, Jacob, was class leader for the Waterloo-Lexington congregation. The Berlin congregation met in the old Town Hall until their first church was built in 1841 on Queen Street South across from Church Street on land purchased as of August 24, 1841 from Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Schneider. The church was dedicated on September 25th of that year, with Rev. Christian Hummel of Buffalo, New York, officiating. Rev. Joseph Harlacher was pastor from 1840-1842. In 1842 the Waterloo Mission became a Circuit of the East Pennsylvania Conference. Two years later it was part of the New York Conference.

The second church building was built of brick on the same site in 1866, and dedicated in 1867; Rev. C.A. Spies was pastor at the time. The old frame church was sold and moved to Elgin Street where it was used as a dwelling. In the same year Berlin became a station.

The present church building was built in 1893 on Weber Street; dedication services were held on June 15, 16 and 17, 1894. This building was heavily damaged by fires in 1942 and 1965 but was renovated and restored each time.

The union of the Evangelical Church and the United Brethren in Christ Church on November 16, 1946 created the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The name of the church was to change again, to Zion United Church when the Evangelical United Brethren Church joined the United Church of Canada on January 1, 1968. Of interest: some maps of early Berlin show this church as a German Methodist church.


Waterloo County Churches A Research Guide To Churches Established Before 1900 By Rosemary Ambrose

___________________________

SCHNEIDER, JOSEPH, settler and sawmill owner; b. 24 May 1772 in Lancaster County, Pa, son of Jacob B. Schneider and Maria Herschi; m. 21 Feb. 1798 Barbara Eby, sister of Benjamin Eby*, and they had seven children; d. 27 Oct. 1843 in Berlin (Kitchener), Upper Canada.

Joseph Schneider's father immigrated with his parents to Pennsylvania from the Palatinate (Federal Republic of Germany) in 1736. In 1806, three years after Jacob's death, two of his sons, Christian and Jacob, settled in block 2 (Waterloo Township), in the vicinity of present-day Kitchener. Joseph and a group of other Mennonites followed them, making the month-long journey in horse-drawn wagons. Schneider purchased and settled on lot 17 of the German Company Tract of block 2. It was the attraction of inexpensive land, as well as the desire to remain under British rule in the years after the American revolution, that brought many Mennonites to the area, among them Benjamin Eby and Samuel D. Betzner*. Geographical isolation allowed them to practise their religion and language freely, although at first it forced them to travel to such centres as Dundas for supplies and services.

Schneider was an active figure among the Mennonite settlers and, with Eby, is often regarded as a founder of Kitchener. He helped open the first local road, which ran from his farmstead to the Dundas road and was known as Schneider's road until the 1870s. In 1808-9 he and four other heads of families hired a teacher to open the first school in the area. He was involved four years later in the building of the first Mennonite meeting-house, headed by Eby; in 1834 Schneider participated in the construction of a new church. Perhaps as early as 1816 he had built a sawmill on what is still known as Schneider's Creek, and in the 1820s a blacksmith shop and tavern were erected by Phineas Varnum on land leased from Schneider. Together these enterprises formed the commercial nucleus of the developing village, known variously as Sand Hills, Ebytown, and, later, Berlin. In 1835 Schneider strongly supported the establishment of its first newspaper, Heinrich Wilhelm Peterson*'s Canada Museum, und Allgemeine Zeitung, of which he was a stockholder.

Schneider died on 27 Oct. 1843. Among the possessions he left to his family were traditional objects valued by Pennsylvania Germans, including a tall case clock, the works for which he had brought with him in 1807. The clock still stands in the house he built about 1820, Kitchener's oldest structure and now a museum. In other local collections are two family bibles: one, in the Mennonite Archives of Ontario, a rare edition published in Zurich in 1560 by Christoph Froschauer and brought to Upper Canada by Schneider; the other, in the possession of a descendant, printed in Lancaster County in 1805 and containing striking examples of fraktur (ornamental writing), executed by teacher-artist Jacob Schumacher in 1821.

Schneider's farming and milling operations were continued by his youngest son, Joseph E., who in 1849 had the family's history printed in Berlin in a small booklet, possibly the earliest published genealogy in Canada. In 1874 he was a charter member of the Reforming/Reformed Mennonites (later the Missionary Church) .
E. Reginald Good and Paul Tiessen

Toronto and York Land Registry Office (Toronto), "Old York County," deeds, 5, no.1839 (mfm. at AO). Waterloo South Land Registry Office (Kitchener, Ont.), Waterloo Township, abstract index to deeds, German Company Tract, lot 17 (mfm. at AO). E. E. Eby and J. B. Snyder, A biographical history of early settlers and their descendants in Waterloo Township, with Supplement, ed. E. D. Weber (Kitchener, 1971), 136. John English and Kenneth McLaughlin, Kitchener: an illustrated history (Waterloo, Ont., 1983). Hannes Schneider and his wife Catharine Haus Schneider, their descendants and times, 1534-1939, ed. J. M. Snyder (Kitchener, [1940]). Herkommen und Geschlechts Register der Schneider Familie (Berlin [Kitchener], 1849). P. G. Klassen, "A history of Mennonite education in Canada, 1786-1960" (d.ed. thesis, Univ. of Toronto, 1970), 73-74. W. V. Uttley, A history of Kitchener, Ontario (Kitchener, 1937; repr. [Waterloo, 1975]), 17. M. [H.] Snyder Sokvitne, "The Joseph Schneider house, 1820," Waterloo Hist. Soc., [Annual report] (Kitchener), 1966: 20-27. W. V. Uttley, "Joseph Schneider: founder of the city," Waterloo Hist. Soc., Annual report (Waterloo), 1929: 111-19. G. K. Waite, "Joseph Schneider sawmill operations, 1848-1859," Waterloo Hist. Soc., [Annual report], 1985: 57-65.

Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online 2000 University of Toronto/Université Laval

____________________

JOSEPH SCHNEIDER
Founder of the City

The first stones in the city's foundation were laid in South Queen Street, in 1807, by Joseph Schneider. He was born in Lancaster County, Pa, in 1798, and married Barbara, sister of the Rev. Benjamin Eby.

On Lot No. 17, Pioneer Schneider built a log cabin. It stood on the east side of Queen Street, where John McKay's former home rests. Next he cut a roadway from the house to the Walper House corner and easterly to No. 57 East King Street, where he built a barn. South Queen Street was the first thoroughfare in the city and until the eighteen-eighties was called Schneider's Road.


A History of Kitchener, W. V. (Ben) Uttley, Kitchener, Ontario 1937 pg 16

Historic Building:
Joseph Schneider's house is the oldest surviving in Kitchener dating from 1820 and has been made into the Joseph Schneider Haus Muesum.

Historic Building:
Now on this site is Barra Castle a 15 unit apartment building, due to be renovated for other purposes (2009).

Historic Business:
Joseph Schneider's Saw-Mill

The pioneers had then begun to replace their log-houses with frame homes. To meet a demand for lumber Joseph Schneider built a saw-mill in 1816 on Schneider's Creek. It rested on the easterly side of David Street, opposite Victoria Park. The mill dam was above the railway, and the mill-race crossed David Street between Schneider Avenue and Roland Street. The up-and-down or "muley" saw was run by an overshot waterwheel.1a

1aA History of Kitchener, W. V. (Ben) Uttley, Kitchener, Ontario 1937 pg 17

Historical Event:
A Sunday School was established in Berlin in 1837, meeting in Jacob Hailer's carpenter shop which was located at the southeast corner of what is now King and Scott Streets. A mission was begun by Rev. Christian Holl shortly after his arrival in Berlin on May 9, 1839, and a class (or congregation) was organized several months later on August 29, 1839 by Bishop John Seybert of the Evangelical Association during a camp meeting held at David Erb's farm near Lexington. John Hoffman was the Berlin class leader; his brother, Jacob , was class leader for the Waterloo-Lexington congregation. The Berlin congregation met in the old Town Hall until their first church was built in 1841 on Queen Street South across from Church Street on land purchased as of August 24, 1841 from Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Schneider.<sup>1a

1a</sup>Ambrose, Rosemary. Waterloo County Churches A Research Guide to Churches Established Before 1900. Kitchener, Ontario, Canada: Waterloo-Wellington Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, 1993. [used the kind permission of Rosemary Ambrose 2011]

Joseph married Barbara Eby 21 Feb 1798, , Pennsylvania, USA. Barbara (daughter of Christian Eby and Catharine Bricker) was born 29 Apr 1774, , Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania; died 13 Mar 1843, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , First Mennonite Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27232187
• Name: Barbara Schneider
• Residence: 466 Queen st., S., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Eby ID Number: 00031-2422

Notes:

Barbara Eby, "the third daughter of Christian Eby and his wife, Catharine Bricker, was born April 29th, 1774. On February 21st, 1798, she was married to Joseph Schneider who was born May 24th, 1772, and died October 27th, 1843. She died March 13th, 1843. In 1807 they, in company with some of the Ebys and Erbs, moved to what is now Berlin, Waterloo County, Ontario. They settled on lot No. 17, U. B., of the Township of Waterloo, now forming part of the town of Berlin. The old homestead is now owned by a grandson, Samuel B. Schneider. Here they raised a family of seven 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.].

Other Events:

• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/78734184
• Name: Henry Martin
• Eby ID Number: 00075-4293

Notes:

Henry Martin, "who was a minister and bishop of the Mennonite denomination, was married to Anna Burkhard and resided at Blue Ball, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They had a family of five children, namely:...Peter with his family moved to Canada in 1819. Of the others and their descendants no information had been received."


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.].

Henrich — Mary Burkhart. Mary was born 27 Jan 1745, Of, Blue Ball, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA; died 16 Jan 1813, , Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania; was buried , Weaverland Mennonite Cemetery, East Earl, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Mary Martin
• Eby ID Number: 00075-4293.1

Notes:

Wife of Preacher Henry Martin. Birth date is Old Style.

"In the Weaverland cemetery record, George Sauder was mistaken when he said Henry's wife was Mary Frankfort. He had the right dates (1745-1813) but the wrong surname. That error is repeated in secondary sources and expanded to give her a fictitious name (Anna Mary) and dates. It should be disregarded." -----from Romaine Stauffer

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/61465266/mary-martin

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]

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

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• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/60179011
• Eby ID Number: 00031-2421
• Website: 2009

Notes:

Christian Eby, "the eldest of the above family, was born near Lititz, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, February 22nd, 1734. He was married to Catharine Bricker. They retained the old "Eby Homestead" situated on Hammer Creek. He greatly improved the dwelling house erected by his father in 1754. The dressed sandstone in front wall bears date 1754 and names of Christian Eby and his wife Elizabeth. (From Simon P. Eby's notes) The house and barn on the old homestead were in their time considered stately buildings. The house had originally a large chimney in the centre with fire place in nearly every room on first and second story; it had an arched cellar underneath, walnut and oaken panneled partitions, with some of the window sashes hung on cords with lead weights. The barn was built 99 feet long (only that long so as not to offend a neighbor who shortly before had built a barn of the boasted length of 100 feet). The walls of both, particularly so of the house, are good and solid to this day. Christian was a large, well proportioned and athletic man, retaining unusual health and vigor of both body and mind up to the time of his death. He was an elder in the Mennonite Church and wore a long beard, which in his later years had turned white. Regular stated Mennonite meetings were held at his house, until a building for that purpose was erected in his neighborhood. He lived during the Revolutionary War and foraging parties took off some of his horses and cattle, carrying with them large quantities of flour and grain from his mill. On one occasion his wife's pewter dishes and spoons and an oven full of newly baked bread and pies shared the same fate. During the winter in which the American Army was encamped at Valley Forge a number of disabled soldiers were quartered in the old Lutheran Church near Brickerville, and were supplied weekly with milk and other necessaries of life from his and neighboring farms. As already stated, he died September 14th, 1807, and lies buried in the family graveyard on top of the hill opposite the buildings of the said place. His wife Catharine, who is said to have been an amiable and greatly esteemed person, survived him several years. They had a family of twelve children, as follows: Elizabeth, Christian, Peter, John, Andrew, Catharine, Barbara, Anna, George, Maria, Benjamin, Maria. Barbara and Benjamin were the only two of the family that settled in Canada. The descendants of the others are all to be found in Pennsylvania and the Western and Pacific States with the exception of Sem Wissler,(See family of Sem Wissler), one of the sons of Anna who was married to Jacob Wissler."


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.].

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Christian — Catharine Bricker. Catharine (daughter of Peter Bricker) was born 1743, Near Lititz, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania; died 16 Mar 1910, , Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania; was buried , Eby Cemetery, Lexington, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States. [Group Sheet]

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• FindAGrave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/60179106
• Name: Catharine Eby
• Eby ID Number: 00031-2421.1