Person:Koenelius Schuur (1)

Cleveland Public Library Necrology File Id#: 0319740 Name: Schuur, Cornelius Date: 1877 Source: Cemetery record Notes: 1835-1877. Monroe Cemetery Cleveland, O.

"Schuur" is translated as "place to store grain" or "shed" and is a well-known name in Holland. The name also is used in numerous descriptions of places and buildings (hospital, streets, farms, etc.) in South Africa, especially in the Cape Town district, as well as other places. Pronounced "Sckeer" or "van Sckeer" by some Holland Dutch people.

Koenelius (Cornelius) Schuur was born in Prussia (Germany), was an expert cabinet maker and came to Amsterdam to work at the "Glass" or "Crystal" Palace in The Hague, about May, 1857, when he was 21 years old. His Amsterdam visa (Cornelius Jacobus Schuur) to United States is dated 04-27-1871, and Certificate of United States Citizenship (Cornelius Schuer) is dated 11-02-1876. The Schuur family came to America for better working conditions and religious freedom. Seemed rather well-to-do, had some fine china and jewlery. Cornelius built (or purchased) a home on West 58th Street in Cleveland, Ohio, was an organizer of the West Side Christian Reformed Church, and the first meetings of the congregation were held at the Schuur residence. He was working on a ship at the Cleveland dock and fell into the cold lake, walked home in his wet clothes and died of pneumonia, when 42 years old. There was no insurance as the Christian Reformed Church at that time thought insurance was sinful "paying someone for another's death." Willemina was left with six children under age of 11 years, with another child born in October, so the family was really hard-up, and the oldest boy, Jacob, had to leave school and work. Buried in Monroe Street Cemetary, Cleveland, Ohio, 07-21-1877, Sec. 10, Tier 1, Grave 8.

1. ↑ Cleveland Public Library Necrology File.