When my husband’s family cleared out their parents apartment after their mom died, we had box after box of pictures and memorabilia they had saved over the years. We brought home what we could in the middle of a blizzard last year tied in a large container on top of our car. Being a genealogist, I wanted to sort through, make copies, and divide them among the family. What had been saved was amazing.
The above photo is a just one of my finds. It was in with some newspaper clippings and other photos that had been sent to my mother-in-law from a niece. This appears to be a family photo until you read the names on the back, and then you wonder exactly who is who. I was quite confused until I started doing a little family research.
Here is a photo of the back of the picture.
“Top Left
Henry Schrader – cuz grandma
Anna Bender (Schiender)
Katie Bender Fose (Schender)
Eichmen (girl?)
Front Row
Grandpa Schender
Uncle Henry
Step Grandma (Eichmen)
Lizzie Bender (girl)
Not pictured
John Schender
George Schender
This is what was wrote on back.”
One name I could easily Identify was Anna Bender.
That is my husband’s grandmother, his mom’s mother. Anna is Anna Elizabeth Schneider Bender. Her father was Fredrick Schneider, born in Russia in 18481. He is noted in this photo as grandpa Schneider. His second wife was Marie Elizabeth (Lizzie) Muhlberger Schroeder2) Schneider. She is noted in this photo as step-grandma (Eichman).
Eichman, I do not remember any Eichman. Now the fun begins. The question “who is, and where does Eichman tie into the Schneider family?
First, I looked at the family group sheet to see who I had for Fredrick’s family. Well, I see we have a Katherine Elizabeth who married a Fose3. So that may be Katie standing next to Anna. Katherine is a couple of years older than Anna, which seems to fit. We have a Henry Schneider who is seven years younger than Anna4. That is probably the younger boy standing in front of Anna, identified as Uncle Henry. It is believed that Maria Katherine (Schrader) Schneider died in Russia sometime between 1892 and 18945, after Henry was born. Fredrick remarried on 24 October 1894 in Russia, Katherine Elizabeth (Muhlberger) Schröder6. Hey wait, Schrader and Schröder (Schroeder is another way of writing Schröder without the umlaut) they are very similar, are they related?
The surname Schrader has a number of variants, spellings and surnames of the same origin. Schrader is the German version of the name and is derived from the Middle High German rader meaning “one who rolls”. It is also related to the occupational surname of a wheel-wright. It is spelled the same in German, Dutch and Danish languages. Variants and spellings of the name include Schradère, Schradere, Chradere, Chradér, Stradere, Strader, Schrader, Schradyr, Schrade and Schrader. Surnames of similar origin include Straten, Stratton, Strater, Schradin, Schraeder, Schratz, Schrama, Schramm, Schraml, Schraut, Schreiber, Schreyer, Schrickel, Schricker, Schroeck, Schröder, Schroth, Schrott, Schuett, Schul, Schulte, Schulz, Schule and Schuler.7
Maria was a Schrader. Henry, standing to the left of Maria, was identified as a Schrader and “Grandma’s cousin.” 8
Katherine Elizabeth (Muhlberger) Schröder’s first marriage was to Henry Jacob Schröder. From that union, three children have been identified:
- Elizabeth Schröder was born in 1875 in Russia.
- Mary Schröder was born in 1880 in Russia.
- Henry Jacob Schröder Jr. was born in 1885 in Russia.9
An interesting observation is that they are born five years apart.
I found that ElizabethSchroeder had married Henry Jacob Eichman in 190010. So now the woman to the right of Katie is most likely Elizabeth Schroeder Eichman, Fredrick Schneider’s step-daughter, who was born in Russia in 187511. Does she look 7 years older than Katie?
And the young girl identified as Lizzie Bender may be Elizabeth Eichman’s daughter Elilzabeth Eichman, born in Russia in 189712. That makes her 5 years older than “Uncle Henry.” I don’t know, they look closer in age than that, to me.
Hope I didn’t lose you. It is still confusing; I need to keep referring back to my sources to keep them straight. The 1900 Census in Bezine, Kansas, indicates that the Schaders and the Schneiders are all in the same household13.
Please provide any comments or questions below.
Endnotes
1 The National Archives at Kansas City; Kansas City, Missouri; Naturalization Index, Western District of Missouri, 1930 – 1950, Records of the District Courts of the United States; RG 21, card # 1195-P-20, Fredrick Schneider; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2494/records/77862 :pub. 2012, viewed 26 January 2026). Shows date of birth 18 June 1848.
2“Mrs. Lizzie Schneider”, obituary, The Russell Record (Russell, Kansas), Thursday 14 July 1921, p. 4, col. 3; image, Newspapers https://www.newspapers.com/image/387672321 :pub. 2019, viewed 26 January 2026). Shows son from first marriage, Henry J. Schroeder.
3 Ancestry, Russell County, Kansas, Vitals and Newspaper Records, 1800-1937, Marriage, A-G (Russell Record), Adam Foase & Katie Schnieder; image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2201/images/33134_1020703344_0006-02405 : pub. 2011, viewed 26 January 2026). Find a Grave, photograph gravestone for “Katherine E. Fose”, Russell City Cemetery, Russell, Russell, Kansas; database with images Find a Grave (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/60525/records/34796768 : pub. 10 March 2012, viewed 26 January 2026) photo by Glenda B., information by JLF.
4 1900 US Census, Kansas, Barton, Union, Enumeration District 0028, roll 471, p. 222, Dwelling 6, Family 7, line 36, Schneider Henery b. 1892; online database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4120134_00454 :pub. 2004, viewed 25 January 2026), image 1. Shrader, Schneider, Schneider families all under # “6” in order of visit.
5 Ibid. In 1900, Elizabeth listed that they had been married 6 years, making their marriage around 1894.
6 “Mrs. Lizzie Schneider” , obituary, The Russell Record (Russell, Kansas), Thursday 14 July 1921, p. 4, col. 3; image, Newspapers https://www.newspapers.com/image/387672321 :pub. 2019, viewed 26 January 2026). This obituary lists her son as Henry Jacob Schroeder.
7 Surname Schrader Meaning and Origin, IGENEA: Genealogie and Ahnenforschung per DNA; online, IGENEA (https://www.igenea.com/en/surnames/s/schrader/ : viewed 25 January 2026).
8 Wilma & John Akers, Schneider Genealogy, unpublished, unindexed, undated, typed manuscript, Frerick Schneider Family from Russia to Kansas narrative. Copy in the author’s library.
9 Ibid.
10 Russell City Cemetery, Russell, Kansas; images, Find a Grave jacob-eichman.
11 Ibid. The birth year for Elizabeth is shown as 1875.
12 1910 US Census, Kansas, Russell, Grant, Enumeration District 0175, roll T624 455, p. 3b, Dwelling 46, Household 46, line 68, Eichman, Elizabeth; online database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7884/images/31111_4329900-00109 :viewed 25 January 2026), image 6.
13 1900 US Census, Kansas, Barton, Union, Enumeration District 0028, roll 471, p. 222, Dwelling 6 , Family 6, line 23, Schnader Henery b. 1862; online database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4120134_00454 :pub. 2004, viewed 25 January 2026), image 1. Shrader, Schneider, Schneider families all under # “6” in order of visit.