Rev. Dr. George R. Schmitt^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]}

1809 - 1882  (72 years)

• Name	George R. Schmitt
  Prefix	Rev. Dr.
  Born	23 Nov 1809	Muhlhausen, , Alsace, France   [6, 7, 8]
  Gender	Male
  FindAGrave	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41212942
  Ordained	12 Apr 1840
  Occupation	1861	Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [8]
  	Farmer
  Residence	1861	Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [8]
  	Mennonite
  Occupation	1871	Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [7]
  	Minister
  Residence	1871	Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [7]
  	Mennonite
  Eby ID Number	00104-5799
  Died	12 Sep 1882	Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [5, 6, 9]
  	Cause: buggy accident
  Buried	Shantz Mennonite Cemetery, Wilmot Township, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Person ID	I5214	Generations
  Last Modified	6 Apr 2024

  
  

  Father	John Schmidt,   b. Abt 1795, Of, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. Aug 1817  (Age ~ 22 years)
  Mother	Catharine Riehl,   b. 1 Jul 1783, Of, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 1 Jul 1851, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 68 years)
  Family ID	F1638	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Salome "Sally" Becker,   b. 28 Feb 1811, , Alsace Lorraine, France ,   d. 21 Nov 1887, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 76 years)
  Married	14 Aug 1831	Welland Co., Ontario   [10]
  Children	1. Katherine Schmitt,   b. 8 Nov 1832, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 1898  (Age 65 years)   2. Elias Schmitt,   b. 3 Mar 1834, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 15 Aug 1834, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 0 years)   3. John Becker Schmitt,   b. 30 Jun 1835, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 17 Mar 1911, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 75 years)   4. Maria "Mary" Schmidt,   b. 6 Feb 1837, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 28 Oct 1905, Blenheim Twp., Oxford Co., Ontario, Canada  (Age 68 years)   5. Salome Schmitt,   b. 27 Apr 1838, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 31 Jul 1917, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 79 years)   6. George B. Schmitt,   b. 30 Jan 1840, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 10 Nov 1904, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 64 years)   7. Leah Schmitt,   b. 24 Oct 1841, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 19 Oct 1914  (Age 72 years)   8. Benjamin Schmitt,   b. 3 Dec 1843,   d. 7 Mar 1854  (Age 10 years)   9. Jacob B. Schmitt,   b. 28 Nov 1845, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 20 Dec 1925  (Age 80 years)   10. David B. Schmitt,   b. 13 Oct 1847, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 14 Dec 1895, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 48 years)   11. Samuel Schmidt,   b. 13 Feb 1850, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 3 Apr 1854, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 4 years)   12. Lydia Schmitt,   b. 19 Feb 1853, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 7 Mar 1854  (Age 1 years)   13. Joseph Schmitt,   b. 1855, , Ontario, Canada ,   d. Yes, date unknown   14. Magdalena Schmitt,   b. 10 Sep 1855, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 10 Jan 1933  (Age 77 years)   15. Esther Schmidt,   b. Jun 1860, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2024
  Family ID	F1637	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Rev. George R. Schmidt "son of John and Catharine (Riehl) Schmidt, was born in Muhlhausen, Alsace, November 23rd, 1809, and died September 12th, 1882. His death was caused by the upsetting of his buggy, at the railway crossing a little east of Baden, from which he received injuries proving fatal a few hours after its happening. He had an older brother named John and a sister named Catharine. His parents suffered greatly during the wars of Napoleon I and again during the year 1817 when there was almost a total failure of crops in Europe and America, thus causing great scarcity of food for both man and beast. During these trials the father died. His death took place August, 1817. In 1819 the mother was married again to Jacob Linhart. After the old homestead which the father had erected was sold, the parents moved to a place called Bischols, some miles distant from their former home. The second union was blessed with four children, named Jacob, Margaret, Christian and Maria. On March 6th, 1828, they left the old country and emigrated to America and arrived at Buffalo, New York on May 6th of the same year. From Buffalo they came to Canada where the father rented a farm. The two sons, John and George, worked among the neighbors to earn money to assist their step-father. In January, 1829, these two sons with but 50 cents in their pockets, made a journey on foot over 100 miles. They came to Waterloo (their parents resided in Welland County, not very far from Buffalo) where John engaged himself to Jacob Schneider (farmer and miller at Waterloo) for one year and George engaged himself to Joseph Goldschmitt of Baden for 3 months at the rate of $8.00 per month. He worked on the saw mills situated where now the Baden woollen mills are. After being in the county for several months he returned home with his and his brother John's wages. This money was given to their parents. In October, 1829, he returned to Waterloo and engaged himself to Rev. Benjamin Eby for one year at the rate of $10.00 per month. Later on he and his brother John purchased lots Nos. 12 and 13, in the township of Wilmot, consisting of four hundred acres, of which they gave one hundred acres to their father. George was engaged in clearing land for various parties at the rate of $10.00 per acre. In August, 1831, he returned home where he was married on the 14th day of the same month to Salome Becker. After his marriage he again came to Waterloo and finished the "chops" he had commenced the previous spring. In October he and his brother John who had been in the services of Jacob Schneider for several years, returned home, George to fetch his wife and John to get married to the woman of his choice, namely, Margaret Roth who resided in Buffalo. This marriage took place November, 1831. In 1832 they all returned to their farms in Wilmot Township where the mother died in July, 1851, aged 68 years. Catharine, the only sister of George and John Schmidt, was born March 25th, 1814, and was married December 25th, 1835, to Martin Anthes. She has a family of five children, of whom three are still living. John was born November 1st, 1806, and died March 12th, 1882. He had a family of twelve children, of whom seven are still living. George was ordained minister of the church of his choice, the Mennonite, April 12th, 1840. He was a true and faithful worker for His Master. Many an eloquent sermon did he preach and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. It proved a great loss to the church to lose such an active and able worker as he was, but let us hope that our earthly loss may prove to be his eternal gain. He was married to Salome Becker who was born February 28th, 1811, and died November 21st, 1887. They had a family of thirteen 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.]. _______________________ Died, on the 14th of September, near Baden, Waterloo Co., Ont., Pre. George R. Schmit, in the 73rd year of his age. He had been to the Post office to get his paper, and as he was ready to return, his horse became frightened by a passing train of cars, threw him out of the buggy against a fence, with such force that three of his ribs were broken, from the effect of which he died in about three hours. He was buried on the 17th, followed to his last resting place by a large concourse of friends and relatives. Services were held by M. Bowman at the house, and by J. Woolner, and Jacob Mensch (The latter from Montgomery Co., Pa.,) at the meeting house, from the text Heb. 13: 17. He leaves a sorrowing widow, four sons and five daughters to mourn his sudden departure.Bro. Smith was a zealous Christian, and an active laborer in the vineyard of the Lord. He was a man of forethought and decision of mind. When he preached, the gospel gave no uncertain sound. He was a bold, fearless speaker and one who carried his audience with him while at the same time his heart was filled with love toward all. He was one of these men who could not be driven about by every wind of doctrine, but amid all the overturnings and religious convulsions which characterized his day. Bro. Smith remained steadfast and faithful in his calling, and immoveable in his faith. In the death of Bro. Smith and Bro. Sherk, the church in Canada has lost two veterans in the cause of Christ, two pillars in the church, whose active and devoted labors will be long remembered. May their successors in their respective places, labor for the cause with the same devotion, the same zeal, and the church continue to prosper and be blessed. Herald of Truth - Volume XIX, Number 21 - Nov 1, 1882 - p 333, 334 __________________________ Schmitt, George R. (1809-1882) George R. Schmitt: minister and farmer; born in 1809 in Mulhausen, Alsace to Lutheran parents. In 1828 he came with his parents and at least one sibling to North America, first living in Welland County, Ontario. In August 1831 he married Salome Becker and they settled on a farm near what became Baden, Ontario. One of his grandchildren was Jacob B. "J.B." Smith , Bible scholar and first president of Eastern Mennonite School in Harrisonburg, VA. George R. Schmitt died in an accident on 14 September 1882. Although of Lutheran heritage, it is said that George Schmitt worked for a time as a farm laborer for Bishop Benjamin Eby, and then embraced the Mennonite faith. For some years he was a farmer and schoolteacher. He was ordained as the first minister for the Shantz Mennonite Church congregation near Baden on 12 April 1840 or in February 1847; the date is uncertain because of conflicting evidence. George Schmitt was apparently a remarkable orator; one biographical sketch said "his clear ringing tones, with 'silver-tongue' effect could readily be heard by overflow audiences which frequently greeted his public ministry." Others also referred to him as a "forceful" preacher. Because of his oratorical gifts he often spoke in Amish and Lutheran congregations in the area. During the U.S. Civil War, George Schmitt, together with David Sherk, made preaching visits through Pennsylvania and Virginia; and later he made a similar tour through the Central States. Schmitt died as the result of an accident when in town to fetch a newspaper at the Baden post office. His horses became frightened by a passing train, and threw him from his buggy against a fence. He died of his injuries within three hours. George R. Schmitt's major service occurred at a time when pastoral activity was not well documented. Nonetheless he had a ministry that extended far beyond his local community. Several times he participated in ministerial delegations from Ontario that sought to bring peace to other parts of the Mennonite Church that were in conflict. This role indicates his ability, and the stature he had within the church's leadership. Steiner, Sam. "Schmitt, George R. (1809-1882)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. January 2002. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 14 Nov 2005 <https://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/S3553.html>

  
  

• Sources

  [S10] Book - Vol II 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..., 606. [S3] Book - Vol I 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..., 758. [S3] Book - Vol I 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..., 654. [S4] Vit - ON - Marriage Registration, #014766-1898 (Waterloo Co):. John B. SCHMITT, 62, widower, farmer, Wilmot Tp, Waterloo Tp, s/o George R. & Saloma, married Catherine WEBER, 53, widow, waterloo Tp, same, d/o Noah C. & Hannah.witn: M. B. SNYDER, Waterloo Tp, Jacob B SHRUB, Wilmot Tp. 9 Oct 1898 at Waterloo Tp. [S7] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Berliner Journal (1859-1917), 1 Dec 1887. 21 Nov 1887 Salome Schmitt, nee Becker, widow of Preacher Georg Schmitt, died in Wilmot at age of 76 years, 8 months and 21 days. [S10] Book - Vol II 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..., 262. [S190] Census - ON, Waterloo, Wilmot - 1871, Div. 4 Page 14. [S844] Census - ON, Waterloo, Wilmot - 1861, Sect. 15 Page 96. [S32] News - Herald of Truth, Obituary of George R. Schmidt - Nov 1, 1882 - p 333, 334. [S10] Book - Vol II 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..., 263.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 23 Nov 1809 - Muhlhausen, , Alsace, France Married - 14 Aug 1831 - Welland Co., Ontario Occupation - Farmer - 1861 - Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Mennonite - 1861 - Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Occupation - Minister - 1871 - Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Mennonite - 1871 - Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - Cause: buggy accident - 12 Sep 1882 - Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Shantz Mennonite Cemetery, Wilmot Township, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth