Name: Frantz Peter “Francis” MEY Birth: 18 May 1724; Niederhausen, Altenkirchen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany Parents:Johann Nickel MEY and Maria Catharina GRAEFF Spouse: Anna Maria (Maiden Name Unknown) Death: Abt. 1784; probably Virginia Relationship to Hollie: paternal 7th great uncle
My 6th great-grandfather, Johann Leonhardt May was born 17 January 1719 in Niederhausen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany to Johann Nickel Mey and Maria Catharina Graeff. Before arriving at Philadelphia in September of 1748 on the ship Edinburgh, Johann Leonhardt May had lost to death his father, his wife, and two children. Leonard’s father, Johan Nickel Mey, had died in Niederhausen on 21 February 1743. Leonard’s first-born son, Johann Conradt, died in 1747, followed by the deaths of his wife, Maria Barbara Lorentz, and his recently born daughter, Anna Otilia.
Soon after they had arrived in Philadelphia, the extended May family made their way to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. There is little doubt that they traveled by way of the King’s Road, better known as the King’s Highway; otherwise known as the Old Philadelphia Pike, and now, known as State Route 340. The King’s Highway began approximately in 1733 as part of an old Allegheny Indian path and was more like a dirt wagon trail than anything else, but by 1748 when the May family arrived, this was very rapidly becoming the most widely traveled wagon road in the colonies. I happen to be a firm believer that simply by being in the right place, at the right time, can make all of the difference…timing is everything.
This was about 60 miles of road that took travelers from Philadelphia to Lancaster County, ending at Wright’s Ferry on the Susquehanna River, which was, at that time, the westernmost edge of the frontier and required a couple of days (at best) of travel. Whether Leonard and his brother, Daniel, had a plan before they arrived in Pennsylvania, or if it was just a matter of sizing up the opportunities available to them, they quickly set about buying land and establishing businesses. What did the growing population of Pennsylvania need? Ways to get places and to transport goods. What else did they need? Places to stay and to eat while travelling. It is little wonder then that Leonard became a waggoner and that both he and Daniel invested in real estate and the buying and selling of land. Youngest brother, Francis, was also a landowner and had apparently continued on in the occupation of his father as a shoemaker. Tax records show that Daniel was a tavern keeper and an innkeeper and that Leonard was also a tavern keeper at some point.
Although I have not yet found the marriage record of Leonard May and Anna Christina Schuch, it would appear that they were married sometime in 1749 and probably in Lancaster County, although perhaps in Philadelphia. I have been searching in both places. Their first child, Anna Maria, was born 21 January 1750 in Donegal Township, Lancaster County. Followed by Margaretta, Frantz Peter, Johannes, Johann Daniel (my line, born 27 September 1756), Elizabeth, Johann George, and Michael, born about 1766.
While living in Lancaster County, Leonard moved about a bit living first in Donegal Township, and also in Conestoga Township, and in the Borough of Lancaster. During the French and Indian War, which started in 1754 (and lasted until 1763), Lancaster served as a distribution center and as a storage depot for war materials. In Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography he notes that he was surprised that the British were having trouble moving their supplies and suggested to Braddock that they use Conestoga wagons from Lancaster. Following is an advertisement that Franklin published:
ADVERTISEMENT
LANCASTER, April 26, 1755
“Whereas, one hundred and fifty waggons, with four horses to each waggon, and fifteen hundred saddle or pack horses, are wanted for the service of his majesty’s forces now about to rendezvous at Will’s Creek, and his excellency General Braddock having been pleased to empower me to contract for the hire of the same, I hereby give notice that I shall attend for that purpose at Lancaster from this day to next Wednesday evening, and at York from next Thursday morning till Friday evening, where I shall be ready to agree for waggons and teams, or single horses, on the following terms, viz.: I. That there shall be paid for each waggon, with four good horses and a driver, fifteen shillings per diem; and for each able horse with a pack-saddle, or other saddle and furniture, two shillings per diem; and for each able horse without a saddle, eighteen pence per diem. 2. That the pay commence from the time of their joining the forces at Will’s Creek, which must be on or before the 20th of May ensuing, and that a reasonable allowance be paid over and above for the time necessary for their travelling to Will’s Creek and home again after their discharge. 3. Each waggon and team, and every saddle or pack horse, is to be valued by indifferent persons chosen between me and the owner; and in case of the loss of any waggon, team, or other horse in the service, the price according to such valuation is to be allowed and paid. 4. Seven days’ pay is to be advanced and paid in hand by me to the owner of each waggon and team, or horse, at the time of contracting, if required, and the remainder to be paid by General Braddock, or by the paymaster of the army, at the time of their discharge, or from time to time, as it shall be demanded. 5. No drivers of waggons, or persons taking care of the hired horses, are on any account to be called upon to do the duty of soldiers, or be otherwise employed than in conducting or taking care of their carriages or horses. 6. All oats, Indian corn, or other forage that waggons or horses bring to the camp, more than is necessary for the subsistence of the horses, is to be taken for the use of the army, and a reasonable price paid for the same.”
Note. My son, William Franklin, is empowered to enter into like contracts with any person in Cumberland county.
“B. FRANKLIN.”
It is not known for sure whether Leonard was a waggoner before this call for wagons went out or if he seized upon this opportunity to make money.
By E. Sachse & Co., publisher, No. 5 N. Liberty St. Artist is unknown. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Although many wagons were probably in use by farmers and waggoners during this period of time, none were as utilitarian as the Conestoga wagon which was developed by German wagon makers in the Conestoga Valley of Lancaster County before the French and Indian War started. The box part of the wagon was made with upward sloping floors and an unusual shape in order to prevent shifting of the cargo over hills and rutted roads. The wagons were pulled by a team of six horses – huge, powerful, and usually, black – that were also bred in Lancaster County. The driver usually walked beside his team, but occasionally, would ride on the “lazy-board” which could be pulled out on the left side of the wagon.
Somewhere around 1768, Leonard May’s family and those families of his two brothers packed up and moved to Loudoun County, Virginia. Leonard and family appear to have owned land and lived around Waterford, Virginia. Leonard and his sons were involved with the road-building in that area. Their names appearing in Loudoun County road order reports.
Then sometime between May of 1775 and May of 1777, Leonard passed away. His brother, Daniel, died in 1777 and it appears that he and his wife were childless. In his will, he left his estate to his namesake and god-son, Leonard’s son, Johann Daniel, who was born in 1756 in Lancaster. (Again, this is my line of descent.) It appears as if Leonard May had purchased land in Bedford County, Pennsylvania before his death and that he was perhaps planning on making the move there from Virginia as his name (and other family member’s names) appears on a list of land warrants issued.
Daniel married Elizabeth Dorcheimer and had moved to Bedford County, Pennsylvania where they had at least six children, including their son, Daniel, born in January of 1794. Daniel, grandson of Leonard, appears to have kept up the family propensity for being innkeepers.
Daniel had three wives – Rachel Miller (who bore all eight of his children), a Charlotte – whose maiden name is unknown, and Eve Diebert Wertz. The following clip describes the boarding house in some detail:
This was a good family story to learn about. Once again, I am forever in debt to those who did such well-documented research in the past.
Name: John G. MAY Birth: 28 April 1816; Harrison Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania Parents: Daniel MAY and Rachel MILLER Spouse: Rebecca O’SULLIVAN Death: 14 February 1891; Hyndman, Bedford County, Pennsylvania Relationship to Hollie: paternal 3rd great grandfather
Name: Lloyd Albert SCHRADER Birth: 19 April 1899; Plain Township, Stark County, Ohio Parents: *Albert OTTO and Lydia Pearl MAY Spouse: Mary GEISINGER, Erma R. Minnie PITTMAN Death: 03 January 1943; Canton, Stark County, Ohio Relationship to Hollie: paternal grandfather
Photograph believed to be that of Lloyd Albert Otto. Photo courtesy of Vicki Schrader Shreve.
I had originally planned to write about this ancestor some time in the fall of 2015 after I had, hopefully, stumbled upon more information about my paternal grandfather, Lloyd Albert Schrader. However, the optional theme for this week in the 52 Ancestor challenge, “Different”, prompted me to move this post up some months. I would have loved to have titled this post after the infamous (at least, to my generation) catch-phrase from Monty Python’s Flying Circus, because it was my exact thought upon finding a piece of information a few years ago. But, you know…although I could not find information that the phrase is copyrighted, I would rather err on the safe side and not use it. I believe that a majority of us probably have some version of Michael Lacopo’s Hoosier Daddy?simmering on the back burner in our family histories, but probably few of us are able to put forth that story in such an eloquent and entertaining manner. (I admit that after I had found his blog, I binge read his installments until I got caught up with the series.)
I have admitted here before that I have not researched my father’s family as often or as in-depth as I have my mother’s. A lot of that has to do with the fact that it was my maternal grandmother who peaked my interest in the family history and who passed me a lot of information, sometimes just written on the back of an envelope. When I started actually working on a family tree, though, it bothered me a lot that I knew nothing at all about my paternal grandfather’s father. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. The only thing that I had to go on was the name of the father listed on my grandfather’s death certificate, “Wm. A.”.
I had spent somewhere around seven years attempting to track something down with that information. During this time, I would take my children along with me to the county library for a Saturday “Library-a-thon”. With my daughter in a Snuggly front carrier or a backpack and my son close by my knee, we would pretty much spend the entire day at the library while I searched through old books and microfilm and while the kids looked through a huge stack of board books, and then later on, as they were grew older, they would check in with me every half hour from the children’s department. With the advent of genealogical information becoming available online, everything changed. Slowly, at first, tediously trolling through bulletin board systems. And then, the information available (literally at your fingertips) exploded! And that’s when I found the fact that had me doing a 180, or at the very least, a 165…
Lloyd Albert Schrader
The facts, then:
My dad’s father was born, Lloyd Otto, on Wednesday, 19 April 1899, in Plain Township, Stark County, Ohio to Lydia Pearl May, the unmarried daughter of Joseph C. May and Margaret F. Dobson. The father is listed as Albert Otto.
Lloyd Otto birth 1899.
In the 1900 census of Plain Township, we find Lydia listed in the household of one Louisa Stoner as a servant, along with her year-old son, A. Lloyd Otto. Although technically, Lloyd is listed as the son of the head of household, we know that census takers can and did note things incorrectly and that the 61 year old, widowed, Louisa Stoner could not be the mother.
1900 Census Middlebranch, Plain Twp, Stark County, Ohio
Lydia Pearl May married William S. Garner on 16 February 1905. In the 1910 census, we find 11-year- old Lloyd Otto listed as a servant in Lydia and William’s household and it is noted that he is a “helper” on the farm.
1910 Census Osnaburg Twp., Stark County, Ohio
In 1918, Lloyd registers for the WWI draft using the name Lloyd Albert Schrader. Hmmmmmmm. This is the first instance where I have a document with the surname Schrader. Lloyd is described as being tall, of medium build, with brown eyes, and dark hair. He lists his mother, Lydia Garner, as his nearest relative. He states his occupation as a thrasher working on the farm of a Fred Brown where he is apparently also boarding, according to addresses given.
WWI Draft Registration
In the 1920 census, we find Lloyd Schrader living in North Industry as a boarder in the house of Albert F. Deible. His occupation is listed as a truck driver, hauling coal. Mr. Deible is a coal dealer, so it would seem that Lloyd is probably working for him also.
1920 Census North Industry, Stark County, Ohio
On 29 October 1923, Lloyd married 19-year-old Mary Bruce Geisinger, daughter of Erin Bruce Geisinger and Rosa Manley, in Holmes County, Ohio. Lloyd’s occupation is a steam shovel operator and he lists his parents as Harry Schrader and Lydia May.
Marriage to Mary Bruce Geisinger
We find Lloyd and Mary Schrader in the Louisville City Directory living at 123 S. Chapel St. in 1927 and Lloyd is working at Oyler Brothers.
Louisville City Directory
Lloyd and Mary have two sons, but on 06 June 1928, Lloyd is granted a divorce from Mary. Around this point in time is where my grandmother Erma R. Minnie Pittman, daughter of Jeremiah Mason Pittman and Sarah “Lena” Pool, comes into the picture. We find Lloyd and Erma in the 1930 census in North Industry, Stark County with Lloyd’s two sons from his previous marriage and a new son. Lloyd’s occupation is still as a shovel operator and says that he is a “road-builder”.
1930 Census North Industry, Stark County, Ohio
In December of 1936, Lloyd applies for his Social Security Number. Notice that the year of his birth is incorrect on this document (below). He is now working for Garaux Brothers and has listed his parents as being Albert Schrader and Lydia Pearl May.
Lloyd’s Application for a Social Security Number
The 1940 census finds Lloyd and Erma and their growing family living in Plain Township, Stark County, Ohio. It is stated that they were living in Canton, Ohio in 1935, but this might be the North Industry home as the area is also known as Canton South. Lloyd is working for Garaux Brothers as a shovel operator.
1940 Census Plain Twp., Stark County, Ohio
On 03 January 1943, Lloyd died of a “heart malady”. He left seven sons and three daughters besides his widow, Erma. He is buried at Valley Chapel Cemetery on Trump Road in Stark County, Ohio in Section 3 South End, Row 7.
Death Certificate
There are a lot of unanswered questions for this line of my ancestry. Besides Lloyd, my grandmother, Erma, the two oldest sons and the youngest son, have all passed away. I have two documents that I have not been able to find that would prove my descent from Erma and Lloyd and those are the marriage document of Erma and Lloyd and the birth document for Erma. Neither one seems to be in existence where they should be located. I have no idea and no viable theories about the name change from Otto to Schrader. After a long search, I have located an Albert Otto associated with the May family in Pennsylvania, and believe him to be the father of Lloyd; however, this is just speculation at this point. It took looking at many, many census records and looking at collateral lines to come up with this information. Because of obvious reasons, foremost being that this is only a theory, I have not laid out my research here that led me to this conclusion.
As far as DNA? I realize that when comparing autosomal DNA results, the results for comparison are only as good as the number of people from a certain surname who have tested, but it is interesting to note that, so far, I have not a single match to anyone with the Schrader surname in their lines, but have more than a dozen carrying the Otto surname. Until more members from my family test, I’m just kind of grasping at straws here. I have no doubt that eventually this mystery will get figured out. It’s just taking such a very long time…
I have to remind myself that patience is a virtue.
Schrader Coal truck with two of Lloyd’s sons flanking his nephew. Photo courtesy of Vicki Schrader Shreve.
Léon Perrault [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
I’d like to imagine that there are some truly romantic love stories out there among my ancestors, especially since today is Valentine’s Day, but there really are none that I am privy to. Not that we observe this particular “holiday” here in this house… It was kind of fun when my kids were very young, or when I was much younger than I am now, but these days it is mostly a non-event. We are spending this windy, snowy, wintery day by laying around and reading and then ordering in pizza for dinner. That’s pretty much a perfect day! Perhaps I’ll bake some heart-shaped cookies later to warm up the kitchen. Anyway, as usual, I digress.
After looking over those distant relatives with surnames of Love, and Valentine, and Hart in an attempt to find something that would resonate with Amy Johnson Crow’s suggested optional theme for the 52 Ancestors 52 Weeks Challenge for this week and not feeling inspired, I started searching for a couple who might have been married around the 14th of February. I found that I have exactly one.
Admittedly, I have not spent as much time on my dad’s ancestral line because gathering the information has been such a chore. My dad’s father died when he was three years old and no one really knows too much about that family and then, add to that, the fact that my dad’s father was born with the surname Otto, but for some unknown reason started going by the name of Schrader as a young adult. I know! Like I said, it’s mostly a chore. No one seems to have much information on my grandmother’s family either, so it has been like starting with a blank piece of paper…literally.
There is an interesting branch of my father’s line, though, the Mey family (and if I could figure out how to type an umlaut on this laptop, I would do so). Johann Nickel Mey is my paternal 7th great grandfather. He was born on 29 May 1673 in Alsenz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany to Johannes Mey, a judge from Callbach and Margaretha Lauers from Niedermoschel. Johann Nickel was a shoemaker and married Anna Catharina Beyer on 18 April 1699 in Niederhausen. Two sons were born to the couple over the next few years and it appears that Anna Catharina died in childbirth in 1707 at the young age of 26. Both sons died in infancy.
Evangelische Kirche Niederhausen By Nahefoto 19:03, 30 December 2007 (UTC) (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
On 14 February 1708, Johann Nickel married again. This time to Maria Catharina Graeff, the daughter of Anna Margaretha and Johann Nicolas Graeff in the Niederhausen Reformed Church. According to essays written by Fred T. Mays on the mayhouse.org website, this day was also a special day in the village because St. Valentine was the protecting saint of the congregation. This marriage then, is my romantic story for today.
Johann Nickel and Maria Catharina would go on to have seven sons and three daughters and although two of the boys would die as infants, the rest all grew to adulthood and married. During this time, Johann Nickel became a judge as well. On 21 February 1743, Johann Nickel succumbed to an illness and passed away. At some point after his death, the family began making plans to move to America.
The years following The Thirty Years War in Germany were followed by many years of religious persecutions and other upheavals. This resulted in more than thirty thousand immigrants flooding into Pennsylvania just prior to the Revolutionary War during the years 1727 through 1776. During the summer of 1748, Maria Catharina said goodbye to her husband, long buried, and two of her children who were staying behind, to travel up the Rhine to Rotterdam on the North Sea. There she boarded the ship Edinburgh along with three sons and two daughters, bound for a new life. They arrived at the port of Philadelphia on 05 September 1748.
Palatines who were living in Pennsylvania said that they had left the Palatinate because of religious reasons and financial difficulties. Because they were allowed a greater liberty of conscience in Pennsylvania, they left the Rhine valley for the Conestoga Country. And it was here in Conestoga Township in Lancaster County where Maria Catherina died in 1751 barely three years after she had left her homeland. It was also here where one of her sons, Johann Leonhardt May (my 6th great grandfather), became a wagoner – Conestoga style. But then, that’s another story…
Lineage Notecard
Name: Johann Nickel Mey
Parents: Johannes Mey and Margaretha Lauers
Spouse: Anna Catharina Beyer, Maria Catharina Graeff
Surnames: MEY, LAUERS, GRAEFF, MAY, SCHRADER
Relationship to Hollie: 7th great grandfather
Johann Nickel Mey
Johann Leonhardt May
Johann Daniel May
Daniel May
John G. May
Joseph C. May
Lydia Pearl May
Lloyd Albert Schrader
George Orren Schrader
Hollie Ann Schrader
SOURCES:
“Deutschland, Heiraten, 1558-1929,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NZ6K-13L : accessed 14 February 2015), Johannes Mey in entry for Johann Nickel Mey and Anna Catharina Beyer, 18 Apr 1699; citing Alsenz, Bayern, Germany; FHL microfilm 193,751.
Egge, Marion F. Pennsylvania German Roots across the Ocean. Philadelphia, PA: Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, 2000. Print.
Eshleman, H. Frank. Historic Background and Annals of the Swiss and German Pioneer Settlers of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and of Their Remote Ancestors, from the Middle of the Dark Ages, down to the Time of the Revolutionary War; an Authentic History .. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub., 1969. Print.
Jordan, John W. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Rupp, I. Daniel. General Remarks on the Origin of Surnames Interpretation of Baptismal Names, Which Occur in the Collection of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss and Other Immigrants ; to Which Are Added Other Baptismal Names, Both of Males and Females. Harrisburg: T.F. Scheffer, Printer, 1856. Print.
STRASSBURGER, RALPH BEAVER. Pennsylvania German Pioneers: A Publication of the Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808. Edited by William John Hinke. Norristown [PA]: Pennsylvania German Society, 1934. 3 vols. Vols. 1 and 3 reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1964. Repr. 1983. Vol. 1. 1727-1775. 776p.
Yoder, Don, editor. Pennsylvania German Immigrants 1709-1786, Lists Consolidated from Yearbooks of The Pennsylvania German Folklore Society, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1980
![By E. Sachse & Co., publisher, No. 5 N. Liberty St. Artist is unknown. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://relativityitsallrelative.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/roadsideinn.jpg)
![By Photo Ad Meskens of painting by Newbold Hough Trotter (1827-1898) [Public domain, CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://relativityitsallrelative.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/2048px-conestoga_wagon_1883.jpg)
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RELATIVITY 
