San
Joaquin County
Biographies
MARTIN SCHNEIDER
A successful business career is that
of Martin Schneider, an early settler of Stockton and the founder of the firm
of M. Schneider and Sons, furniture and show case manufacturers, located at 248
North Aurora Street. He was born in t he
town of Leidringen, Württemberg, Germany, on December
25, 1856, was educated in schools of his native town and learned the trade of
cabinetmaker and woodcarver with his father, John Schneider; later he went to
Switzerland as a journeyman worker and remained there for three years, mostly
in Zurich. He returned to his home to
conscribe to the military service in the German army, but was rejected on
account of physical disability, which left him free to go where he liked. In May, 1878, he left Germany for America; on
arriving in New York City he spent three days there and five days in
Philadelphia and crossed the plains by emigrant train and landed in Stockton
during the same year. During the summer
months he worked as a carpenter building ranch houses and buildings and in the
winter time returned to Stockton and secured employment with the furniture
factory of Fickett & Robbins; in 1880 he started
to work for himself manufacturing furniture, show cases, and office fixtures to
order. His present factory at the corner
of Miner and Aurora streets was erected thirty-five years ago and was then
considered away out in the country, and was the first building in that
section. In the early days he did
interior house finishing and many of the find old residences in Stockton are
still standing were done by him. He has installed store fixtures in the Wagner
meat market; the Ruhl-Goodell hardware store, the Tully & Kramm clothing store and the Samuel Aaron clothing company;
he designed and installed the woodwork design in the lobby of Hotel Stockton;
he also designed and built the furniture for some of the millionaires’ homes in
San Francisco.
The marriage of Mr. Schneider
occurred in Stockton, June 8, 1879, and united him with Miss Anna Wille, also a native of Württemberg, Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Schneider are the parents of ten
children, of whom eight are now living: one child died in infancy and Emma G., the
wife of Sherwood Norton, also passed away.
The living children are as follows:
John F., Louis C., Martin Otto, Hilda M., Anna
K., who is now Mrs. Eugene Goodrum, Elsie, the wife
of Myron Page, Mrs. Marie Paxton, and George J. who served in the World War in
an infantry regiment and was stationed at Camp Kearney. For seven terms Mr. Schneider was president
of the old Turnverein and also served as trustee of the same organization; he
is a member of the Knights of Pythias; at present he is the district deputy of
the Sons of Herman. He takes great
pleasure in the reading and study of the Bible and it is indeed interesting to
converse with him on Biblical subjects.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1259-1260. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
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