The Scheers & Fritz Families
When I first started doing research I knew very little about the German side of my family. I only knew that my father’s mother, Elisabeth, was German. Family tradition had it that one of her parents might have come from Switzerland but that’s all I knew. I also knew that she and her family had lived in Grassy Point at one time and that when her father had died the mother brought the family to Verplanck where Elisabeth met and married my grandfather. Her mother had then moved to Yonkers and had lived there until she died in 1922.
Starting there, I found some information about the family in Yonkers. I identified her other children, where she was buried and where her husband was buried but that was about it until 2001. I was searching on the internet when I finally found her mother’s (Rosa Fritz) birth record in Germany. She was born in a little town in the German state of Baden in 1847. The town was Bernau. I contacted the town and found a lot of information which I’ll describe in the Fritz chapter.
So that solved the story of my greatgrandmother’s origins but what about my greatgrandfather? I continued to search but it seemed hopeless until 2007 when again thru the internet I found a marriage record for John Scheer and Rosa Fritz in New York City on February 8th, 1870. It stated that he was born in the city of Lauterbach in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, Germany. I subsequently contacted the city of Lauterbach and received a ton of info about the family which I will detail in the Scheer chapter. I still have some research to do on members of his family who lived in Lauterbach but whose ancestors came from other towns in and about Hesse.
One family story is that John Scheer was a Lutheran and Rosa Fritz was Catholic. In doing the research in Germany via the internet it appears that that story is true because the person I contacted in Bernau checked the Catholic church records and found the Fritz family records going back to 1759 and the peson I contacted in Lauterbach checked the Lutherian church records and was able to find the Scheer family records going back to 1712. He told me that they had had records going back into the 1600’s but they had been distroyed by bombing raids during World War II. God bless thos record-keeping Germans.
The following is the data I found about those two families:
The Fritz Family
On January 12th 1759, in the little town of Bernau, in the state of Baden, Germany, Blasius Fritz was born. I know nothing of his parents or any other family members. In the year before that, on May 2nd 1758, also in Bernau, Katharina Oberle was born. I know nothing else of her family. I only know that when they grew up they got married and had at least one child, Jakob.
The village of Bernau, Waldshut in the state of Baden, Germany
Jakob Fritz was born in Bernau on April 30th 1790, grew up in that town and married Magdalena Rudinger who had also been born in Bernau, on December 3rd 1792. After their marriage they had at least one child, Andreas. Andreas Fritz was born in Bernau on March 18th 1819. On February 4th 1847, he married Euphemia Meier who had been born in Bernau on February 26th 1816. Andreas and Euphemia had at least four children. They were Rosa, born on December 24th 1847, Reinhard, born on May 2nd 1849, Johannes, born on May 3rd 1853 and Andreas, born on February 28, 1859. Andreas jr.only lived for a couple of months. He died on May 17th 1859. I know nothing of the other brothers. I do, however, know something about Rosa. Rosa Fritz came to America sometime around 1870. I don’t know if she came with her family or came alone. As I stated above I discovered that she married John Scheer on February 8th, 1870 in New York City. On the marriage certificate it says he was a hatter and lived at 161 2nd street in New York City. We know that eventually they come to live at Grassy Point, N.Y. and I believe that is where their children were born, though that has not been proven yet.
Bernau in the fall
The Scheer Family
As I stated above I finally found out the information about the Scheer family when I discovered John and Rosa’s marriage certificate. That certificate gave me a ton of information because it listed his birthday, place of bearth and his parents names, none of which I knew up to that point. It also solved the question of their real last name. Over the years they were called Scherer, Scheers, Scheir, Shears, etc. So now I know the name is Scheer. Subsequently, I contacted Lauterbach, they checked the Lutheran Church records and gave me quite a bit of information on the family. I will try to list that information here although it is very confusing because it goes back to the early 1700’s but I will also include a series of ancestor charts which should make it much easier to follow the data.
John Scheer(Johannes) was born in Lauterbach, Hesse, Germany onNov. 3rd, 1849. He had eight siblings: Christoph, born Sept. 4, 1840, Friedrich, born May 4, 1842, Wilhelm, born April 4, 1844 and died on April 5., Wilhelm, born July 11, 1847, Conrad, born Dec. 12, 1851, Karl, born Dec 20 1854 and died Jan 9, 1855, Rosina, born Aug. 31, 1856 and finally a baby who died at birth on Dec. 16 1858.
John’s father was Wilhelm, born Nov. 19, 1809 in Lauterbach. I have no death date. His mother was Susanna Elisabetha Krug, born Jan 7, 1818 in Lauterbach and died there on dec. 2, 1866.The church record says Wilhelm was a shoemaker(schuhmacher) as were his father, grandfather and great grandfather.
Wilhelm’s parents were Johan Wilhelm Scheer and Anna Elisabetha Margaretha Beck. Both were born and died in Lauterbach. He on May 24, 1778 and July 31, 1851 and she on June 18, 1780 and April 13 1849
Anna’s mother was anna Margaretha Beck but there is no other information about her.
Johann Wilhelm’s parents were Georg Christoph Scheer and Anna Elisabetha Schwoning. Both were also born and died in Lauterbach. He died approx. 1823. We have no birthdate. She on Nov. 14, 1757 and Dec. 12, 1826. They were married on Sept. 9, 1777.
Georg Christoph’s parents were Johann Henrich Scheer and Catherina Lusia(no last name). He was born approx. dec. 15, 1712 and died Man 5, 1782. She was born approx. May 20, 1716 and died on May 20, 1747. All in Lauterbach.
Anna Elisabetha’s parents were Johan Hermann Schwoning and Elisabetha Rockel. They were married in 1744. There are no birth or death dates for him. She was born in Heblos, Hesse, Germany on approx. April 22, 1720 and died in Lauterbach on April 22, 1783. Johan was a flax weaver(leinweber). Elisabetha Rockel’s father was Johann Rockel and he died approx. 1763 in Heblos.
John Scheer’s mother Susanna’s parents were Johann Georg Krug and Rosina Friederike Hackebeil. He was a serving farmhand(dienstknecht) and was born and died in Wallenrod, Hesse on Dec, 12, 1790 and March, 23, 1861. Rosina has not birth or death date but it says she was born in Jena, Thuringia, Germany.
Johan Krug’s parents were Johannes Krug and Maria Elisabetha Eleonora Reuel. Johannes Krug was born in Storndorf, Hesse but there are no birth or death dates. Maria was born on June 1, 1755 and died approx. 1810 in Wallenrod, Hesse.
Maria’s parents were Johan Georg Reuel and Margaretha Sidonia Groh. He was born and died in Wallenrod, Hesse on Jan. 28 1718 and July 21, 1785. She was born in Engelrod, Hesse on approx. June 9, 1722 and died in Wallenrod on June 9, 1767. They were married in Wallenrod on May 10, 1740.
Rosina Hackebeil’s parents were Johann Friedrich Hackebeil and Anna Christina Ackermann. They both died in approx. 1816 in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. There are no other dates for them.
The Scheers/Fritz Family in America
I don’t know when Rosa and Johannes came to America but we do know that they were married in New York City in 1870. From the records in Lauterbach it appears that Johannes father and siblings may have come with him because there are no later records about the family there. Also, Wilhelm Scheer was a witness at the wedding. That could have been his father or his brother. Another thing is that in an 1880 census record John and Rose has a Conrad Shears living with them so it would seem that some of Johns family came with him but I don’t know about her family.
Between the 1870’s and the early 1890’s John and Rosa had eight children, Kathryn, Ellen, John, Fredrick, Elizabeth, Johanna, Rose and Conrad. A family story says that John was a Lutheran and Rosa was a Catholic. Rosa wanted to raise the children in the Catholic religion but John would not permit it. John worked as a laborer but unfortunately he died at the early age of 42 on February 3rd 1894. It is said that the first thing Rosa did after John’s death was to take all of the children to the church and have them baptized as Catholics. That story could be true now that we know their respective religions. After John’s death, Rosa moved to Verplanck. I don’t know what brought her there but with eight children in tow and at 47 years of age it must have been very hard to make ends meet. My mother said that she thought that they lived in a house on Fifth Street but I can’t prove that. Sometime after coming to Verplanck, Elizabeth met Patrick James Murray and they were married on January 16th 1898. Their marriage and her untimely and tragic death are detailed in the Murray section of this book. In the early 1900’s Rosa moved to Yonkers, New York. Most, if not all, of the children went with her to Yonkers. Somewhere along the way the Scheers family changed their name to Scherer. I don’t know why this was done but it may have had something to do with World War I when some Germans changed their names to sound more “American” so as not to be associated with the “enemy”. John used the name Scherer as do his descendants to this day.
A winter scene in the Village of Bernau
Rosa died in Yonkers on April 17th 1922. She was living at the time of her death at 200 Elm Street with her daughter Ellen. The following is Rosa’s obituary as it appeared in a Yonkers paper at the time:“The funeral of the late Mrs. Rose Scheers took place this morning from her late residence, 200 Elm St. The Rev. Thomas Halpin, pastor of the Church of the Holy Eucharist, Nepperham Ave. and Waverly St. officiated at the high requiem Mass in that church and gave the final absolution. Many friends of the deceased and of her three sons and four daughters and 18 grandchildren attended the service. The pallbearers were James Gray, James Murray, Edward Flynn, Francis Flynn, Bruce Call and Richard Metz, all young relatives of the deceased. Interment took place in St. Joseph’s Cemetery. Mrs. Scheers , widow of the late John Scheers, was born in Germany 74 years ago and had made her home in this country for 45 years. Previous to the time when the family came to Yonkers to live they had resided in Verplank’s Point and Haverstraw. Mr. Scheers died some years ago in Haverstraw. Her surviving sons are: Conrad, Frederick and John Scheers and her surviving daughters are Miss Johanna Scheers, Mrs. James Gray, Mrs. Rose Flynn and Mrs. Albert Call. Besides 18 grand-children, she leaves two great grandchildren.” I don’t know much about the lives of Rosa’s children. The family didn’t stay too close to the Murrays after her death. I don’t mean to say that they lost contact entirely. Ellen and Johanna kept in touch. What I do know of Rosa’s and John’s children are: Johanna – born on May 28th 1883. Johanna was one of those children who stayed at home to take care of her mother. When her mother died she married a man named
James and Johanna (Aunt Joe) Rockett – 1936 Aunt Joe – 1955
On the back of the first picture it says “Hello – Merry Xmas – I had this taken on Oct 16th. Was 10 years married. How do I look. Love Aunt Joe” On the back of the second picture it says: “I am 70 years old and I don’t work any more. Aunt Joe”
James Rockett in 1926. They had one child who died very soon after birth and they had no other children after that. She was known as “Aunt Joe” and along with her sister Ellen (“Aunt Ellie”), kept in touch with the Murray family, especially James. In 1974 I found out that Aunt Joe was still alive and living in a nursing home in Riverdale in the Bronx. I went down to see her thinking that I would get all of the information about the Scheers/Fritz family. However, when I got there I discovered that she couldn’t understand much of what I was saying. She probably had Alzheimer’s disease but they didn’t call it that at that time. She could converse a little and told me a few stories but nothing concrete about the family. She said that she thought her mother’s family in Germany had had some money and that her mother always said not to marry a man with no money. She was the one who said she thought her father came from Alsase. She also said that as a young girl in Verplanck she had a crush on my great uncle John Kelly Jr. Other than those few stories she couldn’t tell me much. Johanna died at that nursing home in January 1976 John – Married and had at least one son. The son’s name was John. I believe he was born on Nov 1st 1903 and died in Aug, 1972. After his marriage he lived on Sunset Road in Montrose. He had at least three sons including a set of twins. One son was named Patrick and one of the twins was name Bert. They went by the name of Scherer.
John Scherer (1905 – 1972)
Ellen (Aunt Ellie) – Went with her mother to Yonkers and lived there for the rest of her life. She married a man named James Grey and had at least two children, James and Edward. Edward was born on Sept 29th 1923 in Yonkers. He married Mary Majdanski in St Casimirs Church in Yonkers on August 28th 1954 and had three children, Philip, Eileen Dietz and Janet Phillips. He worked for Phillip Morris Co. and lived in Yorktown Heights, N.Y. for many years. After moving to Fishkill, N.Y., he died there on August 19th, 1999.
Kathryn – Married a man named Albert Call and had at least one child, Bruce. She died on March 13th 1969.
Rose – Married a man named Flynn and had two children, Edward and Francis.
I know nothing of Fredrick or Conrad.
Elizabeth – born on July 25th 1875, married Patrick James Murray on January 16th 1898 and died on April 19th 1912. Her children are profiled in the Murray chapter of this book. The following picture is the only known picture of Elizabeth. It was given to me by my aunt Ella Murray, the wife of James Murray. James had been very close to his mother. He was the oldest child of Elizabeth and Patrick James Murray and was twelve years old at the time of her death. My mother remembered seeing James sitting outside of the Murray house on Westchester Ave. the day that Elizabeth died. He was crying. He was probably given this picture by her family. He used to visit his grandmother Rosa whenever he could and I know he lived in Yonkers with his aunt Ellie for a short time when he worked there in the 1920’s. I have letters he wrote to his future wife Ella Dahlke from Yonkers. The only time I saw any of Elizabeth’s family was when Aunts Ellie and Joe came to Sophia Murray’s wake in 1958.
.Elizabeth (Scheers) Murray – Beloved wife of Patrick James Murray, mother of James, Lillian, Joseph, Catherine, Elizabeth, William, John and ‘baby’ Murray. Born July 25th 1875 – Died April 19th 1912 – too young!!!