Individual Details

We were always told that Ida's father was Otto Schniebs; however her father died prior to 1890 when Emilie remarried and years before Joe McKim was born. The death certificate of son Otto and daughter Martha both gave their father's name as August Schniebs and it seems that was the correct name.

Correspondence with David Stevinson, descendant of daughter Mattie, reveals that he had found a confirmation certificate for August, giving his name as Friedrich August Schniebs, born November 1847. David stated his place of birth was Neueibau, Lobau-Zittau, in Saxony, Germany. I must admit that I don't see such an address on the copy of certificate and I am bothered a bit by the fact that the age does not agree - August was 41 in 1882, or born in 1841. David also says that Mattie was said to have been born Leipzig, Saxony. She was raised in Lutherville, Johnson County, AR.

An August Schniebs is shown as arriving through Castle Garden, 13 Mar 1882. The ship was the "Oder" and he had come from Bremen, Germany, via Southhampton, England. He was age 41. I believe this is the correct person. A little over a year later, Emilie came with three daughters - again sailing from Bremen.

I found a picture and description of the S. S. Oder, built 1873 by Caird & Co, Greenock Scotland, for North German Lloyd. She was 3,265 tons, 1 funnel, 2 masts, iron construction. Service speed was 13 knots. She had a crew of 103 and could accommodate 90 passengers in 1st class, 126 in 2nd class, and 650 in 3rd class [steerage] which was how Aug. Schniebs crossed the Atlantic. She made the Bremen - Southampton - New York run from 1874 until 1885. She was rebuilt in 1886 for the Imperial German Mail steamer Service to the Far East. On 30 May 1887, she was wrecked in a storm on the southeastern rock outcrop of Socotra Island, Indian Ocean, 4 lives lost.

A German marriage appeared in a database on Ancestry that gives the bride's name as Amelie Auguste Bohmer - the birth date is very reasonable for the groom - August Benjamin Schniebs, born 5 Jan 1841. The marriage was 25 Jul 1887 in Ostlich, Dresden, Deutschland. Parents of the groom were Christian Gottlieb Schniebs and Johanne Rahel Schniebs.

Birth	1841	Germany
Marriage	Ca 1871	Emilie Berthold
Death	Bef Oct 1890

Spouse	Emilie Berthold (1845 - 1934)
Child	Anna Selma "Annie" Schniebs (1873 - 1946)
Child	Mathilde Maria "Martha or Mattie" Schniebs (1874 - 1952)
Child	Mary Ida Schniebs (1878 - 1964)
Child	Otto John Schniebs (1888 - 1945)