Gertrude & Martin Schneider
5. Martin3 Schneider (Anton2, Nickolaus1) was born in Kehrig, Prussia 9/24/1830. Martin died 1/27/1906 in Detroit, MI, at 75 years of age. The 1900 Federal census report for Detroit (lines 58, 59, and 60), shows three people living at 694 Junction Avenue, Martin, his wife, Gertrude, and their daughter Mary A. Martin died on 1/27/1906, and Gertrude died the following year on 11/24/1907. Their funerals were both from Holy Redeemer Church, and they are buried at Holy Cross Cemetery.
He married Gertrude Rieden {some places spelled Reiden - like on her death cert.) on August 8th, 1851 at St. Joseph Church in Gross Point, IL. After their marriage they moved to Springwells Township, MI. Gertrude was born in Dungenheim, Germany 9/14/1831 according to Martin's family church document seen here, right column, 4th line from the top. According to her Wayne County Michigan Death certificate her birth date is listed as 28 Apr 1832, the date of her death is 25 Nov 1907 and buried on 27 Nov 1907. She was the daughter of Peter Rieden and Anna Fuhrmann. Gertrude died 11/27/1907 in Detroit, MI, at 75 years 8 months and 24 days of age. Her body was interred 27 Nov 1907 in Detroit, MI, Holy Cross Cemetery. Gertrude immigrated from Dungenheim, Germany in 1848 with her parents, Peter & Anna (Fuhrmann) Rieden, and with them Peter Rieden brought his wife, Barbara Fuhrmann and their two children, Fred and Anna Marie, and Nicholas Rieden came with his wife, Gottlieber Roeser. They settled in what was then Springwells Township, Michigan. Today their land would be located within the southwestern city limits of Detroit. It ran south from the present Amtrak/Conrail tracks, across Dix Highway, and just west of Livernois Avenue. Rieden Street off Vernor Highway is located on the southern most portion of their original fifty acre farm.
NOTE: Springwells Township was established in 1818, and incorporated as a village in 1919. In 1923 it became the City of Springwells. Two years later its name was changed to Fordson in honor of Henry, and his son Edsel Ford. In 1929, the City of Fordson merged with the City of Dearborn, creating Dearborn's present day boundaries. Martin and Gertrude were married on August 8th, 1851, at St. Joseph Church in Grosse Point, IL. After their marriage they moved to Springwells Township, Michigan. An 1876 map of the township shows nine plots, varying from eight to forty-five acres, under the "M. Schneider" name. They were all located south of Michigan Avenue, between Lonyo and Schaefer Roads. This would split them between present day Dearborn and Detroit.
Here are US Census records of Martin Schneider from 1860 (2 pages), 1870, and 1880. Notes regarding these census documents. The census taker obviously did not ask how to spell Martin's surname name as is written as Snyder on all three documnets. The 1870 census shows that Martin had two sets of twins, Anna and Joseph, and Mary and Catherine, who becaome Sister Gertrude, an IHM Nun. The 1880 census shows the families of Martin and his son Nicholas living next to each other with their respective families, as well as residing near their relatives, Reiden's and Roulo's (though spelled "Rulo"); Martin's son Joseph married Susan Anna Roulo.
Their first child, Anna Maria, was born on June 29th, 1852. Her birth date, as well as four out of their next five children, were established through baptismal records from Old St. Mary's Church located in Detroit. No further records have been found concerning her, and it is suspected she did not live through childhood since 2 years after her birth another daugter was born (19 Mar 1854) and was named Anna.
Martin and Gertrude had a total of twelve children, including two sets of twins. As their family grew, they were associated with two other churches. St. Alphonsus in Dearborn has the baptismal records on their five oldest children, and Holy Redeemer in Detroit has their subsequent marriage records. Pictures of their family burial plot in Holy Cross Cemetery can be seen here.
Martin Schneider and Gertrude Rieden had the following children:
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Anna Maria4 Schneider was born in Detroit, MI 6/29/1852. Probably did not live through childhood since 4 years after her birth another daugter was born (26 May 1856) who was named Anna.
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Nicholas Schneider was born 3/9/1854. He died 2/25/1913.
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Anna Schneider was born 5/26/1856. Anna died 3/18/1942 at 85 years of age. She married Albert Luyckx. Albert died 6/2/1925. She was a professor of speech at the University of Detroit. She was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery.
Albert and Anna had a daughter Elizabeth Ann who married Joseph Bennett Hourigan. Joseph and Elizabeth had a daughter Mary Margaret who married Francis Xavier Beedenbender. Francis and Mary had three children. This information provided by David Coradazzi who married the eldest daughter, Anne, per an email dated July 28, 2009.
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Joseph Nicholas Schneider was born 11/23/1858. Joseph N. died 6/2/1925 and is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery. Joseph's Baptismal record:
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Joannes Schneider was born 4/13/1861. Joannes died 9/23/1883 in Detroit, MI, at 22 years of age. Twin to Catherina.
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Catherina Schneider was born 4/13/1861. Catherina died 12/28/1946 in Detroit, MI, at 85 years of age. She married John Hackett. The Hacketts operated a mortuary across from Holy Redeemer Church. Twin to Johannes.
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Peter Schneider was born 6/12/1863.
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Theodore Schneider was born in Detroit, MI 3/12/1865. Theodore died 3/24/1865 in Detroit, MI, and lived twelve days. St. Alphonsus records his burial on 3/24/1865.
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Mary A. Schneider was born 5/23/1866. She was baptized as Anna Maria. She is twin to Gertrude. Mary died 11/26/1938 at 72 years of age. (Thanks to Karen Kenny Dei for the photo at right.)
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Gertrude Schneider was born 5/23/1866. She died 10/22/1947 in Detroit, MI, at 81 years of age. Her body was interred in Detroit, MI, Holy Cross Cemetery. The following information was provided through the archives of the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Congregation located in Monroe, Michigan.
Gertrude Schneider entered the Immaculate Heart of Mary Congregation on 10/1/1886 from Holy Redeemer parish in Detroit. She was received as a novice on 3/17/1887, and took her final vows into the congregation on 3/28/1889.
What follows are notes handwritten on the back of some primary seatwork sheets in her file folder:
"In Sister Winifred's childhood days, her home--the beautiful Schneider farm just outside Detroit's western limits--was far away from a Catholic church or school. And being one of the older members of the family she had no contact with religious teachers as did the younger members of the family.
"Sister Winifred's cousins who lived in Saint Boniface parish, Detroit, often invited her to come to her church for Mass and Holy Communion, and to their home for breakfast. Gladly did she accept their kind invitation, and at once she became interested in the IHM Sisters who taught Saint Boniface School. So much so, that she explained to her Redemptorist confessor (Father Egidus Smulders) her desire to be a Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He approved of her decision, and soon she was ready to enter as the first postulate from the new Redemptorist parish of Holy Redeemer.
"As a religious at the Motherhouse or any of her missions, she was ever ready to give a helping hand to the needy. And in every duty assigned to her, she proved how reliable she was, and of deep interest in her work for the love of God and salvation of souls.
"As a teacher she gave her pupils a solid foundation upon which, day-by-day, they were to build upon the plan she proposed to them. That required careful thought of what they were doing. Guess work would mean failure because of their lack of effort. No wonder, at the end of the school year the pupils were thoroughly prepared for admission to a higher grade."
Gertrude and her twin sister, Mary, both entered the IHM Congregation in Monroe on 10/1/1886. Mary eventually returned home but remained very close to her sister and a very good friend and benefactor of the community.
The marble alters found in the present Motherhouse chapel were formerly in the old chapel built back in 1879. They were donated by the Schneider family, largely at Mary's urging. Mary herself donated the altar for the Sacred Heart Chapel in Saint Mary Academy, Monroe (circa 1932). Note: Saint Mary Academy today is known as Saint Mary Center. It houses about 30 educational and human service groups which serve the Monroe community.
The IHM Archives has a spinning wheel used by Sister Winifred's mother, Gertrude Rieden Schneider. It was used and treasured by the family for over a 100 years. The spinning wheel was donated to the congregation by Mrs. Schneider's granddaughter, Delores Hackett Schneider, in 1965, on the 50th anniversary of her 1915 graduation from Saint Mary Academy.
In 1916, Sister Winifred was injured when she struck her arm against a swinging door. An X-ray showed that the bone was infected with tuberculosis. Faced with amputation (and in those days, immediate removal from classroom teaching) or a few years more of teaching with great pain, she chose the latter. She served for many years, keeping her pain to herself, often keeping her arm fastened to her belt with a piece of blue habit material so that others would not notice.
When she retired (1934-1947) she took charge of the clothesroom at the motherhouse in Monroe, making certain that the laundry was correctly distributed, labeled and mended. She was extremely kind and helpful to others, and had the gift of understanding young people and being able to motivate them to their best efforts.
Her funeral mass was celebrated on 10/25/1947 by the Rev. Clement J. Esper. He was stationed at Our Lady of Lourdes in River Rouge, and is noted as a cousin. The death notice indicates her burial was at an "old family site in Holy Cross Cemetery" in Detroit.
Also an Immaculate Heart of Mary nun (entered in 1944 with the name Sister Ann Louis), Sister Marilyn Schneider was a relative of Sister Winifred. She retired and lived at St. Mary's Academy, Monroe, Michigan, until her death March 9, 2007, and is buried in Monroe in the IHM cemetery.
The above account is taken verbatim from a paper furnished by Richard L. Schneider, Buffalo Grove, Illinois, who provided most of the genealogical information in this project. There is a handwritten note indicating that Sister Winifred is actually buried in Monroe in the IHM cemetery.
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Frederick A. Schneider was born 10/28/1868.
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Elizabeth Schneider was born in Detroit, MI 10/1/1870. Elizabeth died 8/3/1871 in Detroit, MI, at less than one year of age. NOTE: the census records spell the family name Schneider as Snyder. A common mistake.
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