Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Schwindaman, William 1853 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com May 3, 2007, 1:39 am Author: Emma E. Forter WILLIAM SCHWINDAMAN. William Schwindaman, a native of Peoria, Illinois, where he was born on April 6, 1853, the son of Laurence and Katie (Kern) Schwindaman, is now one of the substantial farmers of Marshall county. Laurence and Katie (Kern) Schwindaman were born in Strasburg, Germany, he in 1808 and she in 1823. They received their education in good schools and were reared amid the scenes of village life. As a lad Mr. Schwindaman learned the basket-maker's trade, at which he worked during the years of his active life. Thirty-two years of his life were spent in his native land, when, in 1840, he decided to come to America. On his arrival in this country he at once proceeded to Louisville, Kentucky, where he lived for a time, after which he spent some time in St. Louis and Chicago and then located Peoria, Illinois, where he followed his trade for over thirty years. His health failing him, he came to Kansas, where he purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land in Washington county, where he died a few months later. The widow died some years later at the home of her son, William, in Marysville township, Marshall county. Politically, Laurence Schwindaman was identified with the Republican party; though he did not aspire to office, he took much interest in local affairs. He and his wife were devout members of the Catholic church and Mrs. Schwindaman was prominent in the work of the altar society of that church. They were the parents of ten children, four of whom are now living as follow: Kasper, William, George and Lizzie. Kasper resides at Keokuk, Iowa, where he is a farmer; George is a farmer at Meridian, Iowa, and Lizzie Smith lives at Bellingham, Washington, where her husband is a foreman in a cement mill. William Schwindaman received his education in the common and high school at Peoria, Illinois, and there grew to manhood. At the age of twenty-three years he entered eighty acres of land in his native state, where he engaged in general farming for one year, when he came to Marshall county, where he worked as a farm hand for a year and a half and then rented his father's farm in Washington county. After two years of active farm life he engaged as a clerk in a store at Palmer, Kansas, and was thus engaged for two years. He then purchased a furniture and undertaking establishment, and after two years he sold the business and moved to Reimsville, Kansas, where he conducted a general store for two years when he sold this business and moved to Colorado, where he took a homestead and also clerked in a store for about two years. He next located at Boise City, Idaho, where he clerked for a year and a half, at which time he returned to Palmer and rented the home farm, which he purchased a few months later. Here he engaged in general farming and stock raising for four years, when he sold the farm and purchased the elevator at Palmer. Here he engaged in the buying and selling of grain for two years when he sold the business at Palmer and purchased the elevator at Marysville, and there continued in the grain business for two years, when he sold and purchased a harness business. This work he managed in connection with his position as mail carrier for about a year, after which he moved to the farm he had purchased, two and one-half miles from Marysville. Here he has a splendid farm of one hundred and sixty acres, in addition to a quarter section that he owns in Colorado. He is successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising and is recognized as one of the progressive men of the township. During his residence in Palmer he served as a justice of the peace, and has served a term of four years as trustee of Marysville township, as well as being for many years as a member of the school board. In 1879 William Schwindaman was united in marriage to Anna Schimmels, the daughter of Henry and Catherine (Schlax) Schimmels. Mr. and Mrs. Schimmels were born on a farm in Germany and there received their education and grew to maturity. Mr. Schimmels was born in 1814 and continued to live in his native land until 1851, when he decided to locate in America. On his arrival in the United States he proceeded at once to Wisconsin, where he purchased eighty acres of land, which he developed and improved and there he engaged in farming and stockraising for twenty years, when he came to Kansas and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Marshall county, where he made his home until the time of his death on July 17, 1887. Catherine (Schlax) Schimmels was born in 1828 and continued to reside in Germany until 1855, when she came with her brother to the United States and located in Wisconsin, where she worked out before her marriage. She and Mr. Schimmels were devout members of the Catholic church and she was an active member of the altar society, until her death in 1901. Mr. and Mrs. Schimmels were the parents of nine children as follows: Marguretta, John, Antone, William, Catherine, Anna, Peter, Elizabeth and Mary. Marguretta Smith is now deceased; John and Antone are farmers in Nebraska; William is a well-known farmer in Oklahoma; Catherine Lippett lives at Beloit, Wisconsin, where her husband is operating a hotel; Peter is a merchant in Oklahoma; Elizabeth Kersting resides in Nebraska, where her husband is a farmer and stockman, and Mary Kersting resides in Mundon, where Mr. Kersting is conducting a restaurant. Anna (Schimmels) Schwindaman was born on the home farm in Wisconsin on April 18, 1862, and received her education in the public schools, remaining at home until her marriage at the age of seventeen years. She and Mr. Schwindaman are the parents af eight children as follow: Catherine, Lillian, Mary, Laura, Golden, Florence, William and Leo. Catherine Potter is now a resident of Clinton, Missouri, her husband being a traveling man; Lillian Ring, Mary Ring, Laura Schmitz and Golden Wassenburg are all residents of Marshall county, where their husbands are farmers and stockmen; Florence, after completing her education in the Marysville high school, having graduated in the class of 1911, engaged in teaching, and is now one of the teachers of Marshall county, and is living at home; William is the station agent at Hull, Kansas, and Leo is at home with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Schwindaman are members of the Catholic church and have reared their children in that faith. They have long been prominent in the religious activities of the church and of the social life of the communities in which they have lived. They have taken much interest in the educational and moral development of the township as well as the county. Additional Comments: Extracted from: History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions by Emma E. Forter Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. (1917) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/marshall/bios/schwinda386gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ksfiles/ File size: 7.4 Kb