Person:John Schoennauer (2)

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Personal Data

John Schoennauer was born in 1839 in Pennsylvania. He served in the military during the years of the Civil War, between 1861 and 1864, in the 88th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. (His service during the Civil War is highlighted at another web location.) He lived in Chicago, Illinois from about 1867 to 1886. In 1887 he moved to the Milwaukee Soldier's Home in Wisconsin,^S5 where he died and was buried in 1889.^S3S5

Early Life

John Schoennauer was born on 10 Mar 1839 in Gouglersville, Cumru Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, and was baptized on 19 Aug 1839. He was the 7th of 22 children of Joseph Schannauer (1801-1874). He served in the Union Army between 1861 and 1864 as a Private, and was assigned to Company B, 88th Infantry Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers.^S2 On documentation related to John's Civil War service and pension, his name was spelled as Shonour. His pension papers reveal a vivid history of his military service and records clearly the wounds received in three of the more famous battles of the civil war. He is described as 5 feet 8 inches in height, light complexion, gray eyes and brown hair. He ended his period of service assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 59th Veteran Res. Corps.^S2

Married Life

John was married to Amalia Schlichting (daughter of Fredrick William Schlichting) on 7 February 1869 in St Paul's Church, Chicago, Illinois. They had eight children, of which only two lived to adulthood. He appeared on the census on 8 July 1870 in Chicago living with his family, which at the time consisted of wife Amalia and son Emil, in Ward 9. He worked as a file cutter at Chicago File Works in 1871 in Chicago, and lived at 82 Foster at this time. He moved to 258 Mohawk, Chicago in 1874 or 1875. In 1877 and 1878 another city directory shows him living at 315 S. Jefferson in Chicago, still working as a file cutter. He appeared on the 1880 census in Chicago. In the 1883 and 1885 city directories he is shown as a laborer, and in the 1886 city directory as a file maker; all three show him residing at 303 23rd in Chicago. He was divorced from Amalia in February 1887 through the Cook County Civil Court in Chicago, Illinois. John was found guilty of abandonment, and "of extreme and repeated cruelty without her fault," as indicated by court documents.

End of Life

After his divorce, with his health deteriorating, John spent the last few months of his life at the National Home for Disabled Veterans in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, probably still suffering from wounds - both mental and physical - received during battles of the Civil War.^S5 He died on 22 Oct 1889 there, and was buried on 24 Oct 1889 at the Soldiers Home Cemetery in Milwaukee.^S5 (The National Home is the historic name of the present Zublocki Veteran's Administration Hospital located there. The actual name and address of the cemetery where he was interred is now Wood National Cemetery, 5000 West National Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, situated just west of the County Stadium where the Milwaukee Brewers play.) John's headstone is identified as "JOHN SHONOUR, PVT, CO B, 88 PA INF" and is located in section 4, grave number 175, just north of the interstate which cuts through the cemetery.^S3 (A bridge overpass connects the two parts of the cemetery).

Map of Wood National Cemetery, formerly the Milwaukee Soldiers Home Cemetery at the time of John's death and burial there in 1889.

Cemetery headstone of John Schoennauer, who died as a resident at the Veterans Home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1889.

BobC visiting the grave site of his great-grandfather, John Schoennauer at the Ziblocki Veterans Administration Hospital Cemetery in 2007.

Extract of Burial Register for Military Posts and National Cemeteries (1862-1960) for John Shonour

Extract of Seattle City Directory (1874)

Military Service Card for John Shonour

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ancestral File (R). (Copyright (c) 1987, June 1998, data as of 5 January 1998).
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 John Shonour, in NPS: Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System.

   John Shonour (First_Last)
   Regiment Name 88 Pennsylvania Inf.
   Side Union
   Company B
   Soldier's Rank_In Pvt.
   Soldier's Rank_Out Pvt.
   Alternate Name
   Notes
   Film Number M554 roll 111
   
   John Shonour (First_Last)
   Regiment Name 2 Batt'n. Veteran Res. Corps
   Side Union
   Company 59
   Soldier's Rank_In Pvt.
   Soldier's Rank_Out Pvt.
   Alternate Name
   Notes
   Film Number M636 roll 35/36

3. ↑ John Shonour, in Find A Grave: Wood National Cemetery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
   Find A Grave Memorial# 2925896, Mar 04, 2000.

   Birth: Mar. 10, 1839, Cumru Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA
   Death: Oct. 22, 1889, Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, USA
   Burial: Wood National Cemetery, Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, USA
   Plot: 4, 175

   John was buried at the Milwaukee Soldiers Home Cemetery, now the the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, with his name spelled as "John Shonour" or "Schonehower" matching many of his war records.

   John Shonour Headstone in Milwaukee
4. ↑ ^4.0 4.1 John Shoener, Death Certificate, in Rootsweb: John Shonour's Pension Application Documents
   Form 13, 22 October 1889.

   NORTH-WESTERN BRANCH, NATIONAL HOME FOR D.V.S.,
   Oct 22d, 1889
   I hereby certify that John Shoener late B Co, 88th Reg't Pa Vols Pensioner No. _____ at $_____ per month died at Hospital at 9:45 o'clock AM Oct 22d, 1889. Admitted to Hospital June 26th, 1889. Disability, Heart Difficulty. Cause of death, Cardiac Dropsey. Signed W.H. Seighton, Asst Surgeon.
   The funeral of deceased will take place at 10:30 o'clock AM October 24, 1889. Approved/Signed Kelburn Knox, Governor.

5. ↑ John Shonour, in Old Soldiers Home Book 1864-1900 by Dr. Jeanette L. Jerger
   Jan. 6, 2014.

   Note from and research of original source record by Nadeen Sobottka: "[John was] Admitted to Soldiers Home on 7/2/1887. Died at the age of 52 on 10/22/1889. Heart Disease."

6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4} John Schoenauer, in Cole, Robert. Cole-Schoennauer Family Tree. (Ancestry.com: Cole-Schoennauer Family Tree)
   retrieved 21 Jul 2018.

   When John Schoenauer was born on March 10, 1839, in Cumru, Pennsylvania, his father, Joseph, was 37 and his mother, Susanna, was 29. He had five sons and three daughters with Amelia Wilhelmina Schlichting between 1869 and 1886. He died on October 22, 1889, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the age of 50, and was buried there.

7. ↑ ^7.0 7.1 John was buried at the Milwaukee Soldiers Home Cemetery, now the the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, with his name spelled as "John Shonour" or "Schonehower" matching many of his war records.
8. ↑ ^8.0 8.1 John Shonour Headstone in Milwaukee