Schneider family collection.
9.5 m of textual records and other material.
View full finding aid of Schneider family collection (PDF)
Johann Christoph Schneider was born in Germany, in Unteröwisheim, Baden, on August 27, 1831. His father, a farmer, was also Johann Christoph Schneider; his mother was Margarethe Elizabeth Zoller. He left Germany in 1847 when he was sixteen years old and settled in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario, where a substantial German settlement already existed. He worked as a carpenter and later as a mechanic, and by 1858 was a building contractor. He married Anna Elizabeth Metz on April 26, 1857. They had seven children, of whom John Metz Schneider, founder of the meat packing firm later known as the Schneider Corp., was the first.
Johann Christoph Schneider contributed to the physical growth of Berlin as a builder, helping construct buildings such as the Waterloo County Court House and the Breithaupt tanneries. In 1860 he purchased a 100-acre farm in what is now the Victoria/Lawrence St. area of Kitchener, cleared the land and spent the next thirty-seven years as a farmer. He was a founding member of the Church of the New Jerusalem, a Swedenborgian congregation. In politics he was “a staunch supporter of Reform principles.” (Obituary) He died in 1900.
The descendants of Johann Christoph Schneider played active roles in business, politics, the cultural and social life of the area from the nineteenth century to the present day.
The Schneider family collection was originally assembled and maintained at the archives of the Schneider Corp. in Kitchener, Ont. It was transferred to the University of Waterloo in 2001 after the sale of Schneider's to Smithfield Foods. The corporate archives remains with the company.
Fonds consists of material relating to descendants of Johann Christoph and Anna Elizabeth Schneider, their families, friends and activities. It also contains genealogical information about the Schneider and Ahrens family origins in Germany and relatives there. Includes clippings, correspondence, ephemera, films, manuscripts, photographs, slides, etc.
Includes: 2489 photographs, 322 negatives, 2323 slides, 54 film reels, 7 videocassettes, 3 audiocassettes.
Organized in 18 series:
Call number: GA 134
Dana Porter Library, first floor
University of Waterloo Library
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1
519-888-4567 x42619 or x42445
The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is co-ordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.