Reinold Schell- Photographer Extraordinaire

Reinold Schell

Reinold Schell was my paternal great grandfather and was Carl Schell’s father. Reinold was born on January 13, 1856 in Quincy, Illinois. His parents were Peter Schell and Sophia Sanders (Zanders). Reinold died in Quincy on February 18, 1914 at the age of 58. He married Sophie Helen Kolker on November 10, 1881 in Quincy. They were the parents of Pauline, Helen, Coletta, Paul, Frederick, Carl, Rose, and Eugene. Frederick apparently died quite young, but I have found no confirmation of that as of yet. I am basing that only on the fact that he is not in any of the pictures of the family. In records given me by Marjorie Martin Jones, Frederick is listed in a baptismal record on October 27, 1891. At this point, I do not have the actual record, so I have to consider it unproven; but this leads me to think he may have been a twin of Carl who was born on October 21, 1891.

Family home at 337 S 4th  in Quincy

Reinold is listed on the 1910 US Census as a city grocery salesman. I found an article in the Quincy Daily Herald from 1890 that listed an R. Schell as a salesman for Austin & Kohl, a grocery company in Quincy. This is the same company that would later employ his son, Carl, and daughter, Coletta. I believe that this R. Schell mentioned in the newspaper article is our Reinold because it also says he had worked for a long time with Adam Kolker who was his father-in-law.

Reinold was also quite an amateur photographer. My uncle, Charles Schell,  confirmed this as he remembered seeing a lot of photography equipment up in their attic. My cousin, Jeff Schell (Mark Schell’s son) remastered many of Reinold’s pictures. These pictures are available in book form from Jeff and he did quite an excellent job at putting this 89-page book together. Reinold apparently liked to experiment with photography. One of his pictures shows Reinold sitting at a table with a drink....across from him is another Reinold with a drink! These pictures show both family and scenes from around Quincy. They are a virtual treasure trove of pictures from the late 1890s and early 1900s. 

In the photo Carl Schell is the boy on the left laying on the ground. Also in the front row are Rose and Paul. in the second row are Helen, Coletta, Eugene, and Reinold. In the back row are Pauline and Sophia