Joannes Nicolaus Schmidt

Brief Life History of Joannes Nicolaus

When Joannes Nicolaus Schmidt was born on 24 August 1820, in Lucerne, Switzerland, his father, Franciscus Schmid, was 40 and his mother, Anna Maria Catharina Elmiger, was 34. He had at least 4 sons and 3 daughters with Rosa Meyer. He immigrated to Illinois, United States in 1859. He died on 14 March 1895, in Highland, Madison, Illinois, United States, at the age of 74, and was buried in Highland, Madison, Illinois, United States.

Photos and Memories (1)

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Family Time Line

Joannes Nicolaus Schmidt
1820–1895
Rosa Meyer
1821–1907
Amelia Schmidt
1851–1922
Adolf Schmidt
1853–
Otto Smith
1856–
Schmidt
1864–1864
Ottus or Otis Schmidt
1853–1870
Carolina Schmidt
1858–1858
Albert Schmidt
1861–1941

Sources (7)

  • Nicholas Smith, "United States Census, 1880"
  • Nicklaus Schmidt, "Illinois Deaths and Burials, 1749-1999"
  • Joannes Nicolaus, "Switzerland, Catholic and Reformed Church Records, 1418-1996"

World Events (8)

1821 · Financial Relief for Public Land

A United States law to provide financial relief for the purchasers of Public Lands. It permitted the earlier buyers, that couldn't pay completely for the land, to return the land back to the government. This granted them a credit towards the debt they had on land. Congress, also, extended credit to buyer for eight more years. Still while being in economic panic and the shortage of currency made by citizens, the government hoped that with the time extension, the economy would improve.

1832 · Black Hawk War

"The Black Hawk War was a brief conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted soon after Black Hawk and a group of other tribes, known as the ""British Band"", crossed the Mississippi River, into Illinois, from Iowa Indian Territory in April 1832. Black Hawk's motives were ambiguous, but records show that he was hoping to avoid bloodshed while resettling on tribal land that had been given to the United States in the 1804 Treaty of St. Louis."

1846

U.S. acquires vast tracts of Mexican territory in wake of Mexican War including California and New Mexico.

Name Meaning

Some characteristic forenames: German Kurt, Otto, Hans, Erwin, Gerhard, Klaus, Helmut, Fritz, Manfred, Wolfgang, Ewald, Gunter.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name from Middle High German smit, German Schmied ‘blacksmith’. This surname is also established in many other parts of Europe, notably in Denmark, France (mainly Alsace and Lorraine, also Nord), the Netherlands, Hungary, and Poland. It is also found in Slovakia, Czechia, Croatia, and Slovenia, where it is more common in Slavicized forms (see below). In part, Schmidt is a Gottscheerish (i.e. Gottschee German) surname, originating from the Kočevsko region in Lower Carniola, Slovenia (see Kocevar ).

Germanized form of Czech Šmíd and Šmít, Slovenian, Croatian, and Slovak Šmid or Šmit, surnames of German origin (see above and Smid 2 and Smit 3).

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

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