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 27 — “I Will Go to the Altar of God”
Hilda and Fred Schmieder on the day of their First Communion at St. Vincent de...
Chapter 26 — Preparing the Heart, Setting the Soul in Order
“Create in me a clean heart, O God,and renew a right spirit within me.”— Psalm...
Chapter 25 — Broadway Pilgrimage
Sattler’s Department Store, 998 Broadway, Buffalo, New York — Broadway–Fillmore District A Season of Counting...
Chapter 24 — Alexander, 1931 — A Dedication, as the Depression Takes Hold
Margaret Elizabeth Adkins-Curtiss (1839-1922) Roswell Carter Curtiss (1833-1934) “Let us not...
Chapter 23 — Every Wagon Counted
Photograph of Attica Prison Construction, 1930s In 1930, the construction of Attica Prison reshaped life...
Chapter 22 — Work of the Hands
George Schmieder’s Team of Workhorses—the Power Behind the Farm Set in the late...
Chapter 21 – The Crash on the Hill and the Birth of Erma Rosa
The Storm Two days after Easter, on April 22, 1930, winter returned. Overnight, a sharp...
Chapter 20 – Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Labor
Henry Vollmer (Hired man), Magdalena Beck, George Schmieder, and Rosa Beck-Schmieder. The child in front...
