Maria 'Mary' SCHMID & John PFEIFFER, Sr.

This web page is dedicated to Florence DANIELS Pierson 1920-2024, 

Great, Granddaughter of Maria SCHMID and John PFEIFFER. 

While I never met Florence in person, we enjoyed exchanging emails and phone calls.  She was our greatest resource for all things Mary [Maria} SCHMID Pfeiffer Line, genealogy, ancestor data, lists, charts, etc.  Florence helped me enormously on the "Mary Schmid Line" when I created the first SCHMID ancestors web site in 2017/2018, and she continually expressed how much she enjoyed perusing the pages of our web site. - Toni 

Florence was unable to attend our 2018 Gathering, but she was with us in spirit, and she sent a sweet Letter to Descendants, which was read aloud at the event.  Her son, Dan, represented her at the gathering, and took photos and stories back to her.

** Link to Florence's Letter to Cousins, Memories of her Grandmother, Emma, and Photos (on google drive)  https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1e31pASbBP1SXTgCVWRf7BupGYdMt1TLx?usp=sharing 

Maria (Mary) SCHMID and John PFEIFFER, Sr.

Maria is an older sister of Joseph and Benedikt Schmid, our immigrants from Württemberg, Germany.   At some point she changed her name to MARY.

We read about Maria in America, in her brother Benedict's 1857 Diary and his Civil War Diary.  He mentions receiving a letter from his sister, Maria, which places her in the St. Paul area of Minnesota near his wife, Rosina.   [see the diary PDF at links below.]

Surnames in this line:  Pfeiffer, Daniels, Moore, Haugen, Tester, Matson, Rau, Nelson, Bolke, White, Tittle, Allen, Urbach, Moline, Beekman to name a few.  

CLICK HERE to VIEW  Mary & John's PHOTOS (Shutterfly) https://link.shutterfly.com/XgOtwMnIzyb 

NOTE:  if you enjoy reading, we highly recommend that you read these two sets of Diaries

1)  The Diaries of Benedict Schmid.  1857 up to May 10, 1905, 4 days before his death. 

Transcribed from German to English.  he writes of his life before, during, and after his service in the Civil War. Benedict  gives us a real feel for what pioneer farming life was like for all of these immigrants.  He mentions his sister Mary, her husband John Pfeiffer, his brother Joseph Schmid, Sr, their Mother and Step-Father, his son-in-law John Leuthard, and several other names that we know.  And, you will also note that our Benedict had a sense of humor. 

2)   The Diaries of Ezra Fitch Pabody, neighbor of Joseph Schmid, Jr and wife Anna.  Ezra began writing in 1882 at the age of 14, and continued up until 1890.  He had lovely handwriting, and was quite articulate for a young teenager.  He frequently visted Joseph Schmid Jr and wife Anna.   He sometimes referred to them as "Smiths".  He refers to Joseph Schmid, Sr as the old man.  The diaries give a good insight to farm life in the late 1800s.

BOTH of these sets of Diaries are GOOD, ENJOYABLE READS!

CLICK HERE to VIEW   Documents, Plats, Maps, Charts, Benedict's Diaries, 1882-1890 Ezra Fitch Pabody Diaries, Oral Histories, and more on Google Drive