Family Stories & Reflections
Memories and reflections passed down through the Schmieder-Beck family are shared here as stories of faith, hard work, and perseverance—stories that help keep their lives and legacy alive.
Chapter 37— Music, Memory, and Fellowship on the Schmieder Home Place
Picture of a Schmieder gathering during the Depression years in the 1930s. Pictured in the...
Chapter 36 — The Hired Man on the Schmieder Farm: The Life of Henry Vollmer
Henry Vollmer (left) and Magdalena Beck (center) on the Schmieder farm, early 1930s, prior to...
Chapter 35 — For a Season: The Life of DeForest “Chrissy” Christ, Hired Man
Gravestone of DeForest “Chrissy” Christ (1899–1974). The Hired Man’s Room The hired men slept in...
Chapter 34 — The Outhouse Behind the House: Necessity and Order on the Schmieder Farm
A worn Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog hung within reach, its pages serving a second...
Chapter 33 — From Stream to Well: The Water of the Farm
The Tonawanda Creek, bordering what would become the Schmieder farm, was a steady source of...
Chapter 32 —The Setting of the Bone
Dr. John A. Kneeler (1889–1946), a physician in Attica, New York, who began his practice...
Chapter 31 — A Washing Machine of Her Own
Maytag advertisement,1933, promoting both electric and gasoline-powered farm washers. Marketed for durability and ease of...
Chapter 30 — The Loan
Sarah Magdalena Mader Miller — Attica, New York, circa 1900–1910. Photographed in earlier years. During...
