Schroeder Family History & Genealogy

The Schroeder family history is as follows.

Karl Schroeder, born in Germany (unkown location and date), married a lady (Frau Karl Schroeder) who was born October 28, 1838. She was from the Mecklenburg Region in Germany (formerly East Germany and about 180 miles northeast of Gottingen, East of Hamburg and the Elbe River, on the Baltic Sea to the north, north of Berlin, and to the west of the Oder River). They came to the U.S.A. in 1867 and lived in Odell (in Livingston County near Pontiac), Illinois, then in Chicago, and then in Indiana near Ft. Wayne (dates unkown). In later years, Frau Schroeder boarded students that attended the Lutheran Seminary in Springfield, Illinois before the Seminary was moved to Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Karl and Frau Schroeder had two children, George, who never married, and John F. Schroeder who married Emma (Karneboge) in Chicago.

John F. Schroeder (don't know what F stands for, possibly Freiderich) was born August 7, 1868 in Illinois and died September 1936 in Santa Cruz where he was living with his son and family. His wife, Emma Karneboge, born December 23, 1875 in Chicago, died September 19, 1964 in San Jose where she was living with Ruth Marie Schroeder Pohlman. When John was only 12 years old, he was listed in the 1880 Chicago City Directory as a clerk working at 113 Wabash Avenue and living at 180 Claybourn Avenue. The 1890 City Directory indicates that when he was 22, he was a salesman at 145 Wabash Avenue and lived at 263 Illinois. The 1900 City Directory indicates that when he was 32 years old, his occupation was car repair, and he lived at 4499 and 4501 S. Humboldt Street. Lorna has a photo that probably pictures him as a young man repairing a tire in a garage. They probably belonged to First Bethlehem Lutheran Church (Pastor Edwin Reinke) at 1645 W. LeMoyne in Chicago (where at least one of their three children was baptized).

They had two children, George C. and Ruth Marie, born in Chicago (the third was born in Ft. Wayne). George was born July 13, 1898 and baptized at First Bethlehem Lutheran Church at 1645 W. LeMoyne in Chicago and confirmed at Immanuel Lutheran Church, New Haven, Indiana. He graduated from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis in 1921 and became a Lutheran (Missouri Synod) missionary serving in southern India most of his professional life. He married Erna Baske (related to Ed Baske) on August 27, 1921. Erna was born in 1898 and died in 1989. They had five children, Walter, Winifred, George, Norman, and Rosalie. Winifred married Ed Krafft living in Colorado, and they have a large family in Greeley Colorado. Norman died in his teens in Reno Nevada where George and Erna were living after returning from India. Norman drowned in the Truckee River in Reno under strange circumstances. Rosalie died in her early 30s. Walter died around 2000 of cancer. George lives in the Los Angeles area and is a retired Lutheran school teacher. As of 2006 Winifred and George are the only two surviving children.

The second child of John F. and Emma was Ruth Marie Schroeder, born January 26, 1903 in Illinois and died July 11, 1987 in San Jose. She was a registered nurse for many years in California and married Clarence Pohlman late in life when they were members of Trinity Church in San Jose.

John F. and Emma Schroeder moved to Zanesville, Indiana where their third and youngest child , William Henry was born on October 6, 1906. They also lived in New Haven, Indiana and belonged to Immanuel Lutheran Church. Zanesville and New Haven are suburbs of Ft. Wayne. They moved to California from Indiana, and John ran a grocery store in Santa Cruz.

The youngest of John's and Emma's three children was Lorna's father, William Henry (Bill) Schroeder. He married Dorothy Woods (born June 22, 1908 in St. Louis) on May 30, 1930 in St. Louis, Missouri. William was living with his family in California and went to California Concordia College in Oakland before going to The Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis to obtain his degree. After William graduated from the St. Louis Lutheran Seminary, he was ordained at St. Peters Lutheran Church in Lodi, August 18, 1929. His parents may have been living in that San Juaquin Valley area. He and Dorothy moved to Santa Cruz, California where he was pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church at Mission and Locust Streets.

Bill's and Dorothy's first daughter, Lorna was born in Santa Cruz on August 16, 1931. Their second child, William was born there also before the family moved to East San Jose where Bill served as pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in a rented storefront on East Santa Clara Street near the large Polish Catholic Church. The congregation moved to Willow Glen in San Jose where the family lived in the parsonage, a few doors down from the Church on Minnesota and then moved next to the Church at 937 Minnesota Avenue (the congregation subsequently moved to a new church on Leigh Avenue). Bill and Dorothy had six children all, except Lorna and William, born in San Jose: Lorna Ruth, William, Donald, Alan, John, and Cheryl. Dorothy died June 24, 1980 in San Jose of an unexpected heart attack in her home. William Henry Schroeder died of pulmonary and heart failure in a hospital November 27, 1983 in San Jose.

Dorothy’s Family

We know little of Dorothy's Woods family in St. Louis. Dorothy’s Mother and Father, Pauline (Mozur) and George Richard Woods (b.1888) divorced because George met another woman, Gertrude and then married her. Dorothy, her mother, Pauline, and her brother, George Beauregard Woods (the 2nd) lived in a flat in the home of Pauline’s sister (Dorothy’s aunt called “Tant”) and her husband, Dr. H. W. Oldeg, an osteopath at 4262 Louisiana Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri. Dorothy had to quit high school without graduating and went to work for the Telephone Company in St. Louis to help support the family.

In later life Dorothy’s father’s second wife died, and George who lived at 3440 Keakuk in St. Louis occasionally came to visit the Schroeders in San Jose along with his life-long friend, Adele Wall. George was a heavy drinker and always had a very red complexion. George Beauregard Woods (called “Bud”), Dorothy’s brother, stayed in St. Louis, married Lucille Geers and lived at 3922 Dunnica Street. They had two sons, Gary and Lee. Bud and Lucille visited the Schroeders in San Jose once before they had children. Bud died of a heart attack when in his 50s. Lorna has never met and knows nothing about her two cousins, Gary and Lee.

Dorothy’s father, George Richard Woods was the son of George Beauregard Woods (the 1st, , b. 1863, d. 1927) and Katherina Sophia (Doerr) (b.1868, d. 1949), Dorothy’s grandparents. They had another son, Albert James Woods born in 1890, who lived at 221 East Ninth Street in Tulsa Oklahoma.

See the Family Tree for the more recent records of all descendents including the Kraffts.

Research on the Karneboge and Schroeder Families

Lorna and I engaged in family research in Chicago on November 3, 1998 by visiting the Newberry Library Local and Family History Department, 60 West Walton Street (corner of North Clark Street), Chicago, IL 60610, 312-255-3512. It is a few blocks north of the Chicago River and from the Magnificent Mile of North Michigan Avenue and the Water Tower. We looked specifically at the Illinois 1900 Census (on microfilm) and the Chicago City Directories for 1880, 1890, and 1900 (these took the place of telephone directories that we have today, and the Library has them on microfilm for every year from 1871 through 1917). We also checked the birth records but had no time to check the church records (there are records for about ten Lutheran churches).

Chicago historical records are limited before 1871 because the great fire destroyed many of them. Another source is the Cook County Clerk, Vital Records Department, but they supply information only by mail at PO Box 642570, Chicago, IL 60664-2570. A birth record (after 1871) costs $7 plus $1 for each year that must be searched if full information is not known. Another possible source is the Chicago Historical Society at Clark Street and North Avenue. They have mostly newspaper records and referred us to the Newberry Library. An appointment is needed (10 am-4:30 pm Tuesday through Saturday).

The information we found is as follows.

1880 City Directory (#88, reel 16)
John Schroeder, clerk 113 Wabash Av h 180 Claybourn av (John would have been only 12 in 1880)
Christian Karneboge tailor 30 Keenon
Christian Karneborze tailor 30 Keenon

1890 City Directory (#88, reel 27)
John F Schroeder salesman 145 Wabash av h 263 Illinois (John would have been 22 in 1890)
John Schroeder salesman 29 Wabash av
Christian Karneboge tailor h 46 Keenon
Heinrich Karneboge clerk 959 Milwaukee av bds 46 Keenon

1900 City Directory (#88, reel 41)
John F Schroeder car repair h 4499 S Humboldt (John would have been 32 in 1900)
John Schroeder car repair h 4501 S. Humboldt
(no Karneboge)

1900 Illinois Census (Sendex Code K651, reel 248)
Christian Karneboge b November 1834 age 65 Born in Germany
Wife Rosa b July 1835 age 64 Born in Germany
(no Schroeder could be found in Sendex Code S263, reel 386)

No birth records could be found for George or Ruth, but the research assistant said few births were recorded at that time.

Note the similar addresses on Keenon, Wabash, and Humboldt. Car repair would fit with the photo that Lorna has.

Additional Information from the George C. Schroeder Funeral Program, 11-11-98 is as follows:

George C. Schroeder (son of John F. Schroeder) was born in Chicago July 13, 1898 and baptized at First Bethlehem Lutheran Church at 1645 W. LeMoyne in Chicago and confirmed at Immanuel Lutheran Church, New Haven, Indiana. He graduated from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis in 1921.

We subsequently talked to Winnie Schroeder Krafft (Mrs. Ed Krafft, 50 Cherry Ave., Eaton, CO 80615-3681, Tel. 970-454-1494, [contact link]) who is the daughter of George C. Schroeder (William's Brother and granddaughter of John F. Schroeder). She has the Karneboge family Bible and quoted information from it to us. She and Ed have a large family with several grandchildren and great grandchildren.