Sunday, February 9, 2014

Peter Schell

Sadly, we are getting to the part of my family history where there are no pictures. I will make an attempt to include a map, chart, or something of interest to add to the story where possible. 


 My last post on the paternal side was about Peter Florian Schell. This post is about his father Peter. He was born in LeHavre, France on December 13, 1828. The family was awaiting their departure for America. The family arrived in New York City on March 15, 1832 aboard the ship Edward Quesnal. While in New York, the family had a daughter, Phillippine, born on November 25, 1833. A biography in an Adams County history book claims they left for Quincy, Adams County, Illinois in 1835. I have a book about St. Boniface Catholic Church in Quincy which has a list of the original members and it says the family arrived in Quincy in 1836. I will have more to say in a later post about Peter’s father, John, that will have more details about  the family coming to America.

Peter married Sofia Sanders (Zanders) in Quincy on July 5, 1853. They had three sons: Reinold (my great grandfather) who was born in 1856, Peter Florian (from the last post) born in 1857, and George who appears to be a twin of Peter Florian but dies before attaining his first birthday.

The real tragedy of this family happens on March 13, 1858 in Quincy when Peter dies at the age of 29 of small pox. The Quincy Daily Herald had the following obituary on March 16, 1858. They had quite a flowery way of putting things back then:

“Death of Peter Schell- We regret to be compelled to perform the melancholy duty of chronicling the death of this worthy man. He died at the residence of his father, in this city, on Saturday last, of small pox. He was a young man of sterling worth, and was universally esteemed. His funeral took place on Sunday, and his mortal remains were followed to the tomb by a large concourse of citizens who had known and appreciated his many virtues”

He died very young, but thank goodness, he had a few children before his passing. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be making this report! It always amazes me how fate plays such an interesting role in family histories. 

The chart below shows the Schell line from my father, William, to Peter