Schneidenbach - Hess

The Schneidenbach Branch
Conventions used:
Numbers preceding names refer to generations, beginning with my maternal grandmother.
b. = born
d. = died
m. = married

1. Marie E. Schneidenbach
b. March 3, 1903, Newark, New Jersey
d. April 21, 1999, Buckingham, Pennsylvania
Notes: She was a homemaker and garden club member. She had an art studio area in the basement of their rural Doylestown, PA home and practiced the arts of tinsel and tole painting (see footnotes below), as well as stenciling on antique chairs her husband Fred refinished, having received art lessons in her younger days. She kept a tasteful, aesthetic, and spotless home and beautiful flower gardens, and was an excellent cook. Fascinating items on her table included colorful Fiesta ware and cream cheese as a bread spread (never experienced at home). Although our family never had a cat till I was nine, I recall being a cat person in the sense of just really loving them, already previously to that, possibly influenced by seeing Grandma and Grandpa's cat named Tabby when we visited (incidentally, my two present cats are tabbies). It was from Grandma's branch that our traits of laughing/giggling and making the most of celebrating occasions came down to us. The "laugh" harmonic becomes stronger the more persons carrying this gene are present simultaneously. She never learned to drive, or even to switch channels on the TV, and depended on her husband for many things. However, in her prime, she was interested in learning and improving; for example, during the WWII food rationing era, she took a class to learn to cook nutritious meals with the food items available within the ration. She died of a combination of mini-strokes that robbed her memory for years plus congestive heart failure. She was buried in Forest Grove, Pennsylvania with her husband.
View image Marie as toddler with brother and father (scanned from Tintype)
View image Marie as a girl
View image Young Marie at confirmation
View image Marie in guessing the 1950s
m. June 7, 1929 (I am in possession of her wedding ring)
View image Fred and Marie, Christmas 1974
View image Photo taken for their 50th wedding anniversary
Fred Wirth
b. July 8, 1902, Schenectady, New York
d. January 16, 1980, Doylestown, Pennsylvania

2a. Paul Schneidenbach
b. ?, Prenzlau, Germany, province of Brandenburg, 120 km northeast of Berlin
d. circa 1929
Notes: In Germany he may have attended the University of Hamburg and was a chief buyer at a business in Lübeck; immigrated to the U.S. in 1893 at age 27; owned and ran a restaurant in Newark, New Jersey -- he was the "brains" of the business while his wife did the hard labor; sometimes pulled my grandmother Marie out of school to wait tables; kept a portrait of Kaiser Wilhelm in the restaurant, even during World War I; had fine taste in dress and jewelry; played the violin and chess; died of face cancer.
View image Paul Jr.; Paul Sr.; Marie Schneidenbach
m.
2b. Katharina Gottlieben Hess
b. March 3, 1877, Altenriet, Germany, province of Baden-Württemburg
d. 195?
View image Katharina as a young woman
View image Katharina/Katherine/Gottlieb Hess in later life
View image House in Altenriet where Katharina was born; it belonged to her mother's side of the family, the Müllers (my parents in front)
Notes: The oldest of 9 children, she immigrated to the U.S. June 25, 1894 for economic reasons; together with her husband she operated a restaurant and boarding house. (My mother reestablished contact in recent years with the daughter of Katharina's sister, Pauline, who lives in Linsenhofen, near Stuttgart -- this family received care packages from Katharina during World War II. My parents have visited these relatives in Germany and they in turn visited the U.S.)
View image Pauline Hess
Her brother, Frederick "Friedl" Hess, a baker, born August 15, 1887, also came to the U.S. According to family lore, he was a Schlabberjannes (see glossary at bottom of page). He lived in the New Brunswick, New Jersey area but mysteriously stopped attending family gatherings and was never heard from again. According to the Social Security death index (found via ancestry.com), he died May 1967, and his last residence was 8840 Metuchen, Middlesex, New Jersey.

3a. Paul Nickolas Schneidenbach
b. ?, Prenzlau, Germany
d. ?
Notes: 1 son and 2 daughters; a Roman Catholic family of "some means" -- there exists a photo of a large, many-windowed 2-story house surrounded by rose gardens (in a write-up by my aunt, from which I learned these details); disowned his son, Paul, when he left to seek his fortune in America. It is thought all members of the family who remained in Prenzlau died in a cholera epidemic, but it is difficult to learn more, as the city was heavily bombed during World War II and many records were destroyed.
m.
3b. ?

3c. Johannes Hess
b. August 2, 1856, Altenriet, Germany
d. July 18, 1915
Notes: for many years he was in charge of the train station and waiting room in Bempflingen; he died of an accidental fall while attempting to remove a bee hive.
m. March 30, 1880 Altenriet
View image Johannes and Anna Hess
Note: Marriage slightly delayed, resulting in being disowned and having to change spelling of last name.
3d. Anna Margarete Müller
b. May 15, 1856, Altenriet, Germany
d. February 3, 1918

4a. Johannes Höss
b. June 15, 1819, Neckartenzlingen, Germany
d. January 23, 1901
View image Johannes Höss
m. May 31, 1849
4b. Anna Dorothea Armbruster
b. October 2, 1830, Altenriet, Germany
d. September 3, 1896 Altenriet, Germany
Notes: They lived in the center of town. It was a common practice to live in town and  work the ground surrounding the town. Dorothea was quite small in stature, yet strong and energetic. She managed the farming, supported by her quiet and shy husband. [What I wouldn't give for a photo to compare to my mother Dorothea, quite small in stature, yet strong and energetic.]

4c. ? Müller
m.
View image
4d. ??

5a. Johannes  Höss
b. January 1, 1781, Neckartenzlingen, Germany
d. October 4, 1836
Notes: farmer
m.
5b. Christina Barbara Spielmann
b. October 9, 1787, Neckartenzlingen, Germany
d. March 18, 1885

6a. Jakob  Höss
b. February 2, 1752, Neckartenzlingen, Germany
d. April 12, 1819
m. February 3, 1778
Notes: farmer
6b. Elisabeth Magdalena Kurztin
b. May 3, 1752, Neckartenzlingen, Germany
d. March 23, 1818

Information on the Swabian (Suevi/Suebi) tribe from way back:
http://www.germantribes.org/tribes/othertribes/suevi.htm

Schwabisch/High German terms handed down in the Hess family lexicon:
Ach, du lieber Schreck!: int. Oh, my goodness!/Dear me! (Schreck = shriek), said when something is bad or frightening. The closest English equivalent I can think of is, Oh, for the love of Pete!
Bauchweh: n. digestive issues
Dicksack: n. a thick slab of lard, used pejoratively toward a person
Nichtsnutz: n. good-for-nothing/ne'er-do-well (in a lovable way)
Schnipples: n.pl. small bits and pieces of food left over; example: "Why don't you eat up these few Schnipples so I don't have to put them away."
Schlabberjannes: n. a messy eater who lets food and drink run down his front
Schnickelfritz: n. a child with a gleam in her eye and something silly up her sleeve (that's right, I was once a Schnickelfritz)

Culinary traditions handed down:
Sauerbraten and Kartoffelklösse
Spätzle
Springerle
Stollen

Why do most of my examples start with "s"?

Tinsel painting: an early American technique most popular in the 1850s, and taught, along with needlework, to young ladies. In Victorian tinsel painting, ink and paint are applied to the reverse side of glass, making some areas opaque and others transparent. Aluminum foil is then placed behind the glass to mimic the sparkle of gold leaf where the paint is transparent.

Tole painting: the term that has been used historically for decorative painting on tin surfaces, especially in New England and by the Pennsylvania Germans.