William Schneider Biography


	This biography appears on pages 289-290 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				WILLIAM SCHNEIDER. 

	William Schneider, of Cleveland township, Bon Homme county, is 
one of the most progressive farmers of the state and is deservedly 
successful in his agricultural operations. Mr. Schneider's ancestry is 
mainly French, although there is a German strain in his lineage, as is 
indicated by his surname. His father, Eugene Schneider, was an Alsatian 
by birth and was thoroughly French in his sympathies and tastes. His 
wife, who bore the name of Margaret Curie, was a native of France and 
may have belonged to the same family that produced the famous French 
scientist of that name. Mr. and Mrs. Schneider were the parents of 
seven sons and one daughter, all of whom still survive but one son. 
Only two, however, reside in Bon Homme county-William, and a sister, 
Emily, who is now the wife of Hugh G. Gunn, formerly county 
commissioner from Scotland. 

	William Schneider was born in Washington county, Iowa, where his 
parents had settled in the '50s, his natal day being December 2, 1863. 
He resided on the home farm until the spring of 1881, becoming familiar 
in the meantime with all branches of agricultural work. His father had 
foreseen the value of South Dakota land and had purchased a farm in 
this state, near which an older brother of our subject had homesteaded 
two years earlier and was then living. In 1881 he assumed the 
management of the home farm and thus relieved William. who had been 
operating it for some time. The latter then came to South Dakota, are 
riving here early in March, 1882. He went as far as Mitchell by train 
and from that point, in company with a neighbor, started overland for 
Scotland, near which town George Schneider and a sister were living. 
Towards evening he and his companion began to inquire at the houses 
along the way if they could obtain a night's lodging, but to their 
surprise were refused. The settlers were members of a German colony 
from Russia who had not yet acquired the western spirit of hospitality. 
The travelers eventually found an empty shed and spent the night there. 
Mr. Schneider worked for two years in the employ of his brother, but as 
the crops failed both years received practically nothing for his labor. 
The second winter his brother and sister went home, intending to be 
gone but two weeks, but it was three months before they returned. 
During that time he had the entire responsibility of the farm and also 
had to do all of the necessary house work. In the spring of 1885 he 
left his brother George and joined his brother Louis, who was living 
near the village of Bon Homme. After remaining in his service for two 
years William Schneider married and the following spring removed to a 
farm of his own. After eight years he rented his farm here and removed 
to Iowa where he lived six years. He then returned to his farm in South 
Dakota where he has since resided. He purchased the land from his 
father for sixteen hundred dollars, which was quite an advance over the 
price paid by his father, which was but three hundred and fifty 
dollars. At the present time, however, it could not be bought for ten 
times the amount paid by our subject, such has been the rapid 
development of the state and the consequent increase in hand values. 
Mr. Schneider of this review at length purchased a second quarter 
section, paying therefore fifty dollars per acre and that land would 
now bring more than double the purchase price. His three hundred and 
twenty acre tract is fertile and produces excellent crops annually. Mr. 
Schneider possesses the thrift characteristic of the French nation and 
this trait, in connection with his energy and initiative, has won him 
gratifying success. 

	Mr. Schneider was married in Springfield, this state, July 4, 
1885, to Miss Maggie Egan, a native of Virginia who came to Dakota at 
an early date with her mother Mrs. Patrick McDonald. Mr. and Mrs. 
Schneider have become the parents of nine children. Frank, their 
firstborn, died at the age of eight years while attending business 
college at Grand Island, Nebraska. Mary E. B. at home is an artist in 
needlework, doing fine embroidery and drawn work. William L. is working 
in Tyndall. Joseph, Paul, Violet, Edna, Grace and Leo are all at home. 
Mary, William, Joseph and Violet have attended the Springfield Normal 
School. Mr. Schneider was reared in the Catholic church and his family 
are devout communicants thereof. 

	Mr. Schneider came to this state when there were still many 
evidences of pioneer life and although buffalo, deer and antelope had 
disappeared, wolves were still seen occasionally. Twisted hay was the 
common fuel for the first year or two and one winter he and his brother 
mowed the long slough grass above the ice of a frozen marsh. Prairie 
fires were not at all uncommon and while living with his brother in 
Scotland he had to tight fire for nearly three weeks. On the 12th of 
January, 1888, he and Albert Eymer went to Bon Homme Island for wood 
and when the cloud of ice dust enveloped them and the temperature 
descended a degree a minute, they started home in haste with their 
sleighloads of wood. As the storm grew worse rapidly they left their 
wood and made their way as quickly as possible homeward. For a time 
they found shelter in an old log house, but later in the afternoon 
seeing no sign of abatement in the storm, they trudged through the 
blinding ice dust to the old Bon Homme store, where they spent the 
night. There were twelve or fifteen others who had taken refuge there 
and about midnight the company made an oyster stew from canned oysters 
found in the store. The group was in high spirits and the feast was one 
never to be forgotten. The energy and willingness to take advanced 
steps that characterized Mr. Schneider in the early days of the state 
are still salient traits of his character and are manifested in his 
progressive methods of farming. In the summer of 1914 he added to his 
equipment a large traction engine and a gang plow and before August was 
two-thirds gone he had plowed one hundred and forty acres of land and 
sowed to wheat all the land he desired to seed that year, although most 
of his neighbors had plowed but a few rods of land by that time. He is 
always among the first to adopt any improved machinery and he is always 
willing to utilize a new method that promises to make farming more 
efficient. He has contributed much to the development of the 
agricultural interests of his county and is one of the leaders in the 
effort to place farming upon a more scientific basis. He is not only 
up-to-date and successful as an agriculturist, but as a man he commands 
the respect of all who know him, his life being upright and honorable.