Remembering Margaretha Schneider Schorr on Mother's Day

My mother, Bernyce Gates, continues to be a learner, a thinker, one who spends much time in God’s Word and prays about everything. She insists on doing most of the cooking - always nutritious and kitchen cleaning - disinfecting with Clorox. Daily she and I have given thanks that we are sheltering in place “together” this spring. She doesn’t like the limelight so as a gift to her I have written a Mother's Day tribute about a matriarchal ancestor much like my mother. Margaretha Schneider Schorr, my great-great-great-great-great Swiss grandmother who lived over three hundred years ago, gives such inspiration for a time like this.

Honoring a Swiss Grandma on Mother’s Day

            A year or so ago, I stumbled upon the surprising genealogical fact revealing Grandpa Edmund Gates, Sr., my paternal grandfather, had a sprinkle of Swiss mixed in with a robust amount of German. I had known about the German ancestry all my life. This week I delved a little deeper into the Swiss influence.

            When researching Grandpa’s grandmother, Passingfair Shore Gates, an upstanding woman in her community in northern Illinois in the 1800s, I happened upon the small, important tidbit of information -  the spelling of the surname of Passingfair’s father, Friedrich, had changed from Schor to Shore. Almost immediately, I found the Schors (Schorrs) had immigrated from Switzerland.

            I discovered another twist. The first Schorr in Switzerland immigrated from Baden, Germany. In Baden, Germany, the Schorr family held beliefs closely aligned to the Anabaptists, but persecution ensued. Friedrich’s great grandfather, Hans, relocated to Muttenz, (rhymes with “buttons”) Switzerland, in the canton of Basel in the late 1500s. He became a naturalized Swiss citizen and the innkeeper of Hotel Rossli. Life seemed good.

Drawing of the Rossli Hotel as it looked in the time of Karl Jauslin, renowned
artist of Muttenz. He sketched this during the 19th century.
source: https://www.heimatkunde-muttenz.ch/index.php/wirtschaft/gaststaetten-
restaurants-cafes-pensionen-hotels/verschwundene-restaurants/
hotel-restaurant-roessli?showall=1
(This site will need to be translated from Swiss German to English for most
readers.)

Yet things changed when persecution began in Switzerland. In 1731, all Anabaptists were threatened with banishment from the city of Basel within six months. Even though few were banished, the threat remained. Study of the Anabaptist persecution revealed the ruthless efforts to destroy these believers who held staunchly to baptismal immersion following one's conversion and profession of faith in Jesus. Their opposition to infant baptism put them at odds with both the Catholic Church and more newly formed Protestant churches.

            When Friedrich Schorr, the third Schorr generation born in Muttenz, was 44 years old, he chose to immigrate to the colonies with his family. He, at age 22, had married Margaretha Schneider, a 20-year-old Swiss lass, in March of 1729. When they chose to immigrate, she was 42 years old. They were accompanied on the voyage by their sons, who were 18, 16, and 13 years of age and their only daughter who was 7 years old. Two sons had died in Switzerland. Margaretha was pregnant with her seventh child.

            The question came to my mind – Why did they immigrate if few Anabaptists had been banished? Why did Friedrich and Margaretha uproot their family from the little village of Muttenz, Switzerland, and board the ship, The Sandwich?

            The historical backdrop in Basel, Switzerland, provided some insight into their decision. 100 years before the marriage of Friedrich and Margaretha, the plague reduced the small village’s population of around 800 when 112 of its citizens died. The city of Basel legally held the villagers of Muttenz as subjects. In reality, they were serfs or sharecroppers, rendering the villagers unable to rise out of poverty in spite of their hard work. Friedrich and Margaretha desired much more for themselves and their children.

            In May of 1750, the Schorr family boarded The Sandwich at Basel, Switzerland, traveled down the Rhine River to Holland. Captain Hazelwood then navigated the passenger ship across the English Channel to Cowes, England. While awaiting the resumption of their voyage, Margaretha gave birth to a baby boy.

Heartbreak touched the Schorr family as they launched on the arduous Atlantic Ocean journey. Their tiny son lived only a few weeks. Margaretha soon joined her precious little one in death. Both were buried at sea.

 Friedrich and his remaining children arrived in Philadelphia in the Colony of Pennsylvania. He pledged allegiance to his new land of America in November of 1750. He and his children moved to the colony of Virginia where he realized his dream of owning his own land. By 1756, the Schorr family had continued south to the colony of North Carolina, settling in Surry County.

Friedrich lived 23 years after the death of his beloved Margaretha. He never remarried but his four children grew to adulthood. This statement was made of her son, Heinrich, from whom Grandpa Gates descended: “a Brother who loved the Lord with all his heart.” 

Margaretha, my dear fifth Swiss grandmother, married a man who shared and valued a strong relationship with the Lord, even if it meant persecution. She cherished her children even to the point of risking and giving her own life for a later-in-life pregnancy. Even though she did not live to see it, her husband and children and even those of us who descend from this courageous woman realized the shared dream of her and her husband. They yearned to live on a place they owned, from which they could reap harvests, and worship their Lord and Savior with no fear of constraints from the government or anyone else.

Lord, thank you for the strong mothers in our ancestry who loved their families fiercely, worked tirelessly for the betterment of their husbands and little ones, and worshiped You daily with awesome reverence and obedience. We desire to honor them and You as we follow their devoted obedience to You. Now we pray to You as the Psalmist David did in Psalm 61:5

For You, O God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.
We know, Lord, our God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant of love for a thousand generations with those who love You and keep Your commandments. (personalization of Deuteronmy 7:9)
Lord, You have blessed us, the descendants of Margaretha and other godly women, as You promised in Your Word. Please empower us to be faithful so as to impact, in a godly way, future generations. In the Powerful Name of Jesus, Amen.

Note of Appreciation: Dawna J. Vicars, another descendant of Margaretha Schneider Schorr, granted gracious permission for me to utilize Schorr research of hers that I discovered.