Waterloo Region Generations
A record of the people of Waterloo Region, Ontario.
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Richard Roschman

Richard Roschman[1]

Male 1848 - 1930  (81 years)

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  • Name Richard Roschman 
    Born 26 Mar 1848  Ulm, Baden, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] 
    Gender Male 
    Immigration 1870  [2] 
    Immigration 1871  , Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [4] 
    Naturalization 1874  [2] 
    Occupation 1874  Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [1] 
    Machinist 
    Residence 1874  Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 7] 
    Business 1886  Roschman Button Factory - 25 Regina St. S., Waterloo, Ontario Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Roschman Button Factory 
    Interesting business, building, life story 
    Occupation 1891  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [5] 
    Button Manufacturer 
    Residence 1891  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [5] 
    Swedenborgian 
    Occupation 1901  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [2] 
    Button Manufacturer 
    Occupation 1911  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [4] 
    Manufacturer, Button Factory 
    Residence 825 King St. W., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Residence 1911  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [4] 
    New Swedenborgian 
    Eby ID Number Waterloo-39299 
    Died 17 Feb 1930  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I39299  Generations
    Last Modified 7 Nov 2024 

    Father Augustin Roschman,   b. 21 Jan 1810, Ulm, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 7 Jul 1892, Ulm, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 82 years) 
    Mother Juliana Uebele,   b. 8 May 1819, Ulm, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 25 Sep 1868, Ulm, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 49 years) 
    Married 30 Apr 1838  Ulm, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany Find all individuals with events at this location  [8] 
    Family ID F33409  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Father August Rorchmann,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Mother Julia,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Family ID F284754  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Nancy Ahrens,   b. 13 Feb 1853, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 23 Mar 1929, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 76 years) 
    Married 31 Dec 1874  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 3, 7] 
    Children 
     1. Samuel Hughes Roschman,   b. 16 Oct 1875, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1959  (Age 83 years)
     2. Edith Elizabeth Roschman,   b. 9 Dec 1877, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     3. Isabella Wells Roschman,   b. 29 Jan 1880, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     4. Venita Roschmann,   b. Oct 1880, , Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     5. Carl Richard "Charles" Roschman,   b. 24 Jan 1886, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     6. Venita Julia Roschman,   b. 21 Oct 1888, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     7. Angelina Nanneta Roschman,   b. 19 Mar 1891, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     8. Frieda Victoria Roschman,   b. 25 Mar 1894, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     9. Freda Victoria Roschmann,   b. 25 Mar 1894, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 10 Apr 1981, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 87 years)
    Last Modified 12 Nov 2024 
    Family ID F10273  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Photos
    Richard Roschman    		Richard Roschman
    Born in 1848 in Germany and immigrated to Canada in 1870. The Roschman and Brother Button Company started in 1878 as Roschman and Bowman, by Richard Roschman and Daniel Bowman. In 1884 Richard's brother Rudolph became part owner and company name changed to Roschman and Brother. The factory was built in 1886 at 25 Regina (previously Queen) Street south. Richard Roschman died in 1930. Changes in the button industry led to the closing of the factory in 1944.

  • Notes 
    • Richard Roschman stowed away on a ship near the end of the Franco-Prussian war to avoid joining the army. Fortunately when the 23-year-old German tool maker announced his presence to the ship's captain, he agreed to let Roschman work for his passage to Canada. When Roschman arrived in Québec on March 23, 1871, the captain told him to head to Berlin, Ontario where he would find many of his countrymen.

      Berlin supported a thriving button industry at the time with five local factories. Roschman began working at the Vogelsang and Shantz Button Factory, one of the first of its kind in Canada, shortly after settling in the area. After learning the trade, Roschman decided to open the first button business in Waterloo in 1878 with partner Daniel Bowman. When his brother Rudolph arrived, he began working there as well, and by 1884 the Roschman brothers were in business together. The Roschmans were just two of thirteen children born in Ulm, Germany, to a prominent soap manufacturing family.

      "(Richard Roschman) came to the New World with little capital, but with strong determination and by unfaltering energy and perseverance he has worked his way upward in the business world from a humble financial position to one of affluence." As the business grew, the Roschmans built a new factory in the late 1880s on what is now Regina Street in Uptown Waterloo. The historic factory has been designated a heritage landmark and is being used by the Waterloo Community Arts Centre. It is generally described as "Mennonite Georgian" and is considered to be an excellent example of a late nineteenth-century industrial building.

      https://www.buttonfactoryarts.ca 2010

      ___________________________

      RICHARD ROSCHMAN.

      A fact of which due recognition is not usually accorded in connection with the commercial history of Waterloo and this section of the province is that to no foreign element is its presence due in so large a measure as to those who have had their nativity in or trace their lineage to the great Empire of Germany. Among those who have left the fatherland to identify themselves with Canadian life and institutions, who have pushed their way to the front and who are a credit alike to the land of their birth and that of their adoption is Richard Roschman, now president of the company operating under the name of Richard Roschman & Brothers, button manufacturers at Waterloo. He was born on the 26th of March, 1848, in Ulm, Germany, his parents being August and Julia (Uebele) Roschman, both natives of Germany, where the father engaged in business as a soap manufacturer in the City of Ulm. The son was educated in the public schools of his native town and afterward served an apprenticeship to the tool maker's trade. Subsequently he traveled for a number of years through Europe and gained not only a good living at his trade, but also acquainted himself to a large degree with the old country, the manners, customs and habits of the people. He came to Ontario in September, 1871, when a young man of twenty-four years, settling in Berlin, where he engaged in the manufacture of tools used in the button industry, and in this he has continued to the present time. He has, however, extended the field of his labors and his business interests have grown in volume and importance. In 1878 he began the manufacture of buttons, establishing his plant at Waterloo, where he has since operated with good success.

      In 1874 Mr. Roschman was married to Miss Nancy Ahrens, a daughter of Charles Ahrens of Berlin, who was the first county treasurer of Waterloo and in business life was a builder and contractor. Mr. and Mrs. Roschman have become the parents of six children: Freda, Evangeline, Venita, Carl, Edith and Samuel.

      Mr. Roschman belongs to the Church of the New Jerusalem. In politics he is a Conservative and while not a politician in the sense of office seeking he is interested in community affairs to the extent of giving hearty co-operation to many movements for the public good. He is a member of the Board of Trade and served for one year as its president. He was also a member of the Waterloo [should be Berlin-Waterloo] General Hospital board and is interested in those movements and measures that promote humanitarianism. He came to the new world with little capital, but with strong determination and by unfaltering energy and perseverance he has worked his way upward in the business world from a humble financial position to one of affluence.

      A History of Ontario: its resources and development

      ____________________

      Richard Roschman      , Button Works, Queen Street, Waterloo - The manufacture of vegetable buttons is one that employs a large amount of capital, and gives employment to many hands. The nut from which the buttons are made is grown in South America in swampy ground. The plant creeps along the ground for about 20 feet, and then rises perpendicularly to a height of from 12 to 18 feet, with large leaves, and flowers containing a cluster of the nuts. Weighing on an average about 3 lbs to the cluster. The outer shell cracks open and allows the nuts to fall to the ground, when they are gathered by the natives and transported to the ports of shipment. Among those prominently engaged in the manufacture of vegetable buttons is Mr. Richard Roschman, whose works are located on Queen Street, Waterloo, where his premises consist of a handsome brick structure, 3 ½ stories in height and 40x110 feet in dimensions; the engine and boiler house being 26x26 feet in dimensions and two stories in height, the engine being 35-horse power. The manufactory contains all the most improved machinery used in this line of manufacture, consisting of saws, borers, turning lathes, etc. Besides the plain buttons the house also manufactures covered ones. The trade, which is extensive, and which has grown up gradually and steadily, extends throughout the Provinces of Ontario, Quebec and the Lower Provinces. Mr. Roschman has been established in business since 1878, and in September last removed into his present new building, which he erected specially for the business. He gives employment to 75 skilled hands on an average throughout the year. He is a native of Germany, and by patient industry, coupled with enterprise and ability, has built up an excellent trade.

      Industries of Canada Historical and Commercial Sketches Hamilton and Environs 1886

  • Sources 
    1. [S3002] Vit - ON - Marriage Registration, 009782-74.
      Richard Rorchmann, 26, occ. Machinist, b. Germany, res. Detroit USA, son of August and Julia, Married Nancy Ahrens, 21, b. Canada, res. Berlin, daughter of Carl H. and Elizabeth, Witn: Alfred Ahrens and Clara Wells, both of Berlin, 31 Dec 1874 at Berlin

    2. [S137] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1901, Berlin (Town/Ville) A-12 Page 2.

    3. [S2] Church Records - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Church of the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian).
      Name: Richard Roschman Age: 26 res: Detroit, Mich. Place of Birth: Ulm Wurtenburg Names of Parents: Aug. Roshman & Julia Uebele Bride: Name: Nancy Ahrens Age: 21 res: Berlin, Ont. Place of Birth: Berlin, Ont. Names of Parents: Carl H. Ahrens & Elisab. Gaukel Witness(S): Name: Clara Wills res: Berlin Name: Alfred Ahrens res: Berlin Date of Marriage: Dec. 31, 1874

    4. [S340] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1911, Div. 37 Page 7.

    5. [S1592] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1891, Section 1 Page 35.

    6. [S2983] Württemberg, Germany, Family Tables, 1550-1985.
      Name:Richard Roschmann
      Gender:männlich (Male)
      Birth Date:26 Mrz 1848 (26 Mar 1848)
      Residence Place:Ulm, Deutschland (Germany)
      Father:Augustin Roschmann
      Mother:Fuliana Roschmann
      Relationship:Child
      City or District:Ulm
      FHL Film Number:1184853

    7. [S7] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Berliner Journal (1859-1917), 07 Jan 1875.
      31 Dec 1874 By Pastor Tuerk in Berlin, Richard Roschmann of Detroit, Michigan was married to Nancy Ahrens of Berlin.

    8. [S2811] Württemberg, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1985.
      Name:Augustin Roschmann
      Gender:männlich (Male)
      Marriage Age:28
      Event Type:Heirat (Marriage)
      Birth Date:21. Jan 1810 (21 Jan 1810)
      Marriage Date:30. Apr 1838 (30 Apr 1838)
      Marriage Place:Ulm, Württemberg (Baden-Württemberg), Deutschland (Germany)
      Page number:315;316
      Father:Augustin Roschmann
      Mother:Ursula Roschmann
      Spouse:Juliana Uebele
      Gender:weiblich (Female)
      Marriage Age:18
      Event Type:Heirat (Marriage)
      Birth Date:8. Mai 1819 (8 May 1819)
      Father:Johannes Uebele
      Mother:Anna Catharine Uebele
      Author:Evangelische Kirche. Münstergemeinde Ulm (Donau)

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 26 Mar 1848 - Ulm, Baden, , Baden-Württemberg, Germany Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsImmigration - 1871 - , Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - Machinist - 1874 - Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 1874 - Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarried - 31 Dec 1874 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBusiness - Roschman Button Factory - 1886 - Roschman Button Factory - 25 Regina St. S., Waterloo, Ontario Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - Button Manufacturer - 1891 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - Swedenborgian - 1891 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - Button Manufacturer - 1901 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - Manufacturer, Button Factory - 1911 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - New Swedenborgian - 1911 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - 17 Feb 1930 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBuried - - Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 


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