Schneider, Henry (1839-1934)

SCHNEIDER, KOTHS, KRAFT

Posted By: Linda Linn (email)
Date: 3/4/2011 at 18:33:00

LeMars Semi-Weekly Sentinel
1-23-1934

Henry Schneider
Pioneer Resident
Claimed By Death
One Of the First Band Of Settlers
Locating in Floyd River Valley
Served in Civil War
Death early Monday morning claimed Henry Schneider, aged 94, one of the first settlers in Plymouth county and a Civil war veteran, at his home near Melbourne. Death was due to complications caused by old age.

Mrs. Schneider came to this country when a lad of thirteen and with relatives settled in the Floyd valley in 1856, and lived there for nearly eighty years. He is survived by two sons and three daughters, J. C. Schneider, of Hinton; Daniel Schneider, of Tacoma, Wash.; Mrs. Rebecca Koths and Miss Dorothea Schneider of Hinton;, and Mrs. Elizabeth Kraft of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Henry Schneider was born at Giessen, in the Grand Duchy of Hessen, Germany, Dec. 1, 1839. His father died when Henry was three months old. His mother, with five young children, came to the Untied States in 1853 to join her eldest son, Philip Schneider, who had come over some time previously and settled in New Albany, N.Y. The family seeking better fortune came west and moved to Ogle county, Illinois, where they remained a year and then came to Iowa to take advantage of cheap land inviting settlement in this part of the country.

Indians and Buffalo

When the Schneiders settled in this county their nearest neighbors were five miles away and Indians were still numerous on the plains. A number of buffaloes ranged the prairies, elk and deer were numerous.

Henry Schneider helped his brothers and worked at jobs in Sioux City. He was employed in state service and was called out three times on account of Indian uprisings.

He entered the army during the Civil war in September 29, 1861 and was a member of Company C, Second Iowa Infantry, and was honorably discharged in June, 1865. He was one of the soldiers who took part in Sherman’s famous march to the sea.

He was the second to last surviving member of Mower Post in this city.

After the war he returned to the land he had homesteaded when becoming 21 years of age. He was united in marriage June 20, 1867 to Dorothea Schmidt. She died July 18, 1912. He farmed successfully for many years and at one time owned fifteen hundred acres and provided fine farms for his children.

Active Factor in Early Day

In early days of the settlement of Plymouth county, Mr. Schneider was an active factor in the creation of social and civic order and served in various public capacities in pioneer times.

In 1860 he was elected of the county and later was elected county recorder. He served for a number of years as a member of the school boards in Hungerford township.

He was a veritable mine of information on matters relating to the early history of this section of the state, particularly of Plymouth county and delighted to narrate incidents of pioneer days. He was widely known and honored as one of the generation which helped to establish what has become one of the garden spots of agricultural Iowa