Sunday, June 16, 2013

Forefathers For Father's Day


Here are all my photographed forefathers - interesting facial hair, hairdos, and all - ganged up. They are: 

Two of my eight great-great-grandfathers:
Carl Gottlieb SCHÖNHERR
born: 1834 Börtewitz / Kleinpelsen, Sachsen (now Germany)
died: 1909 Carterville, Missouri
occupation: blacksmith; coal trimmer; stoker; saloon keeper  
George LAMB
born: c1838-40 Hunslet or Leeds, Yorkshire, England
died: 1914 Bradford, Manchester, Lancashire, England
occupation: striker, boiler maker, holder up 
My four great-grandfathers:
Carl Heinrich Thomas SCHÖNHERR
born: 1859 Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Denmark (now Germany)
died: 1938 Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
occupation: ships carpenter 
Nikolaus BRAUN
born: 1860 Stefansfeld, Banat, Austria-Hungary (now Serbia)
died: 1941 Tschakowa, Rumania
occupation: farmer 
Peter Rayfield GRAY
born: 1866-68 New York, New York
died: 1940 New York, New York
occupation: prizefighter; butcher; watchman 
Robert ENDSOR
born: 1877 Ancoats, Manchester, Lancashire, England
died: 1948 New York, New York
occupation: cork maker; greengrocer; machine driller; milkman; inspector, foreman, and night superintendent at Sheffield Farms
My two grandfathers: 
Johannes Ferdinand SCHÖNHERR
born: 1900 Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
died: 1982 Volusia County, Florida
occupation: oiler; machinist; deck engineer on oil tanker; tool-and-die maker
Raymond Thomas GRAY
born: 1911 Woodside, Queens, New York
died: 1966 New York, New York
occupation: shoe-last maker
My one and only father: 
John Carl SCHOENHERR
born: 1935 New York, New York
died: 2010 Easton, Pennsylvania
occupation: illustrator; author; artist

2 comments:

Unknown said...

As usual, great touching stuff Ian. I sure would have liked to have met Carl Gottlieb Schonherr and Peter Rayfield Gray. I bet they could spin some wonderfully colorful yarns. Btw, did you ever have a chance to visit Flensburg during your trip to Denmark/Germany back in the day?

Ian Schoenherr said...

I did - just for a day - and I only wish I'd known then what I know now: could've dug up much more on the family, who'd been in the areas for generations and generations. I think I took one measly photo: of what was left of my grandpa's birthplace (a roof line on a once-adjoining building) before an Allied bomb took it out.

And one day maybe I'll meet YOU again, Thor! What's the deal?