Notes
for Walter Carl Herman Schneider:
He was 1st of 6 children of Albert and Therese
Schneider.
He was 79 years 3 months and 12 days old.
Walter
Carl Schneider was born 1860, born in
Newark, N.J. and died in Kankakee, Illinois
in 1946 and Bertha Birr (born in Kutzweil,
Germany died in Kankakee, Illinois in
1918. He was the eldest of three brothers
which included Frank and William. His
father Albert owned several businesses
in Kankakee including a Savings and Loan
Company, a travel company and an insurance
business which was his primary income.
Walter grew up in an upper middle class
home. At the age of 14 he started to do
photography with a view camera. The first
glass images that we have were taken in
July of 1898. Later in 1899 and 1900 he
started to sell his pictures in and around
Kankakee (See account book of 1989-90).
He took images for neighbors and associates
and sold them finished pictures, raising
money for his expenses as well as spending
money. One of Alberts brothers owned a
carriage shop, so images of newly created
carriages became a mainstay as well as
individual and family portraits and images
of buildings and houses. By 1900 Walter
and his view camera were commonplace in
Kankakee and his work as a photographer
was much in demand. His skill in this
form of art grew quite fast. In addition
he developed the plates and created his
own prints. After 1899, his record keeping
of each individual image was quite extensive.
He attended the Kankakee Business College
in 1902. He enrolled at Wisconsin University
in 1903 in the law program. By the time
he was 18 he was quite a proficient photographer,
developing his own plates, trying new
speeds and effects, and using flash to
illuminate his subjects. He joined the
University of Wisconsin Camera Club. In
1905 in a program he traveled to Germany
for two years. He traveled through Germany,
Alsace, Switzerland, Italy and Liechtenstein.
The photographs that he took while there
were marvelous. He took a law degree from
University of Wisconsin 1908 and later
opened his office in Kankakee. He practiced
law throughout his life, yet photography
played a large role. He married Edith
Albert in July 1912, also of Kankakee,
and they had two sons, Richard in 1914
and Allan Kenneth, 1916. Both born in
Kankakee. After Edith died in 1924 of
tuberculosis, Walter married Vera Bartel.
His son Richard married Erika Ratsche
and they had two children, Kathe and Walter.
Allan married Florence Spraker (1916)
and they had a daughter Joan (October
29,1942, Wilmington Delaware) and Thomas,
born in Wilmington Del on December 3,
1944. Allan died in 1970 and Florence
in 1994. Joan married William Church and
they had two children, Catherine Kelly
and William III. Thomas married Joan Vaala
and they have two children, Scott and
Kara. It is from Joan and Thomas Schneider
that these glass plates were obtained.
Joan Schneider is married to Lucian Niemeyer.
In
the first year of his photography(1898),
Walter at 14 years of age learned photography
by taking pictures of his family, house
and his environment. Limitations because
of the slow speed of his lens and film
(4"x 5" glass plates) resulted
in mistakes that by the middle of 1899
were corrected, when he was 15 years old.
The recording of a popular street fair
in Kankakee was a major emergence into
his recognition as a photographer. He
sold many prints from this event. With
this success he concentrated on the technical
execution of houses, portraits and environment,
winning many sales and commissions. His
work by this time was technically very
good and showed an improving composition.
By 1901 he was an excellent photographer
and he showed his new penchant for news
photography. By the time he went to college
he was a self-assured photographer who
knew his equipment well and who used his
avocation as a form of making money, while
he was in school and at home during the
summer. In 1905 he traveled to Europe
and stayed there for almost two years.
His work in Europe covered Germany, Switzerland
and Italy mostly and the images are quite
excellent. The whole collection of 4"x
5"glass plate negatives consists
of approximately 1200 images that were
kept in a secure non-lighted storage area
until now. In addition there are about
60 film images and about 60 prints, which
complete the collection. They are in excellent
condition, most with individual envelopes
and descriptions as to subject and data.
The images reflect, houses, buildings
and infrastructure around the turn of
the century(1888-1922). The families of
important personages of Kankakee are recorded
as well as picnics, social events, clothes
and pets and their homes, exterior and
interior. Farms are shown with their new
barns. Wheat threshing is recorded with
the belching steam engines powering the
threshers. Ice making as well as stone
quarrying is recorded. The life of Kankakee
is shown with roads, carriages, street
lights and festivals with horse drawn
floats. A study of University of Wisconsin
reflects university life as well as the
plant. Trips to Niagara Falls, Long Island,
New York, Michigan, Indian, Kentucky,
Wisconsin reflect the lifestyle of that
time. Disasters such as floods, fires,
and train wrecks are recorded. A trip
to Europe gives a good insight of Europe
prior to the two world wars. From 1913
through 1924 the images taken slowed down
due to two reasons. He was using film
negatives and the demand of his law business
limited his work to family portraits.
In addition his wife was ill with tuberculosis.
In developing his plates both Gold and
Silver chloride were used. Two small hand
written books keep an account of pictures
taken and his business. While the inventory
documentation goes into some specifications,
others explaining more about picture conditions
and locations will give additional viewpoints
into his work. This is an important work
by a relatively unknown photographer done
at the turn of the century. It is a treasure
for historians and photography interested
persons alike.
OBITUARY:
WALTER C. SCHNEIDER DIES, FUNERAL MONDAY
Walter C. Schneider, 79, a Kankakee attorney
for 50 years until his retirement in 1958,
died early today at St. Mary's Hospital,
where he had been a patient since Monday.
He lived at 175 Croswell Ave., Bradley.
Mr. Schneider, in addition to his law
practice, was an organizer and charter
member of the Kankakee County Chapter
of the American Red Cross, which he served
as chairman and a board member for a number
of years. He was also well known in amateur
photography circles as one of the pioneers
in recording Kankakee History on film.
In the early years of this century, he
produced and sold the first picture post
cards of Kankakee landmarks and scenes.
He served in the United States diplomatic
corps in 1905 and 1906 as viceconsul at
Solingen and Freiborg, Germany. During
those years, and on another occasion,
he traveled in Europe and took numerous
photographs.
Mr. Schneider was a former Kankakee city
attorney and a former master in chancery
of the Kankakee County Circuit Court.
He was a past president of the Kankakee
County Bar Association and a member of
Phi Beta Kappa. He attened St.
Joseph's Church in Bradley and was
a member of the Holy Name Society there.
He was born in Kankakee Oct. 16, 1884,
the son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl A. Schneider.
The elder Schneider was one of the founders
of the Kankakee Building and Loan Association
and served for 50 years as its secretary.
Mr. Schneider was valedictorial of the
Kankakee High School class of 1902, and
attended the University of Wisconsin and
Northwestern University Law school. He
graduated in 1908 and was admited to the
Illinois Bar the same year.
He was associated in law practice for
several years with attorney Elmer Wilson,
then with the late Judge A. W. Deselm.
From 1949 to his retirement following
a heart attack in 1958, he maintained
law offices in his home.
On Nov. 4, 1911 he married the former
Edith Albert in Kankakee. She died in
Feburary, 1924, and on July 21, 1928,
he married the former Vera Bartel of Sterling,
who survives.
Surviving, in addition to the widow, are
two sons, Allen of Wilmington Del. and
Richard of Heidelberg, Germany; a brother
William of Lakeside, Mich.; four grandchildren
and two great grandchildren.
Requiem mass will be celebrated at 11
a.m. Monday in St. Joseph Church, Bradley,
with burial in Mt. Calvary Cemetery.
Visitation will begin at noon Sunday and
will continue until time of services.
The rosary will be recited at 8 p.m. Sunday.
A memorial has been established in his
name for the Heart Fund.
W.
C. SCHNEIDER, ATTORNEY, DIES IN KANKAKEE
Walter C. Schneider, 79, a retired lawyer
of Bradley, Kankakee county, died yesterday
in St. Marys Hospital, Kankakee.
An attorney for 50 years, Mr. Schneider
was the former city attorney in Kankakee,
former president of the Kankakee County
Bar Association, former president and
one of the founders of the Kankakee Chapter
of the Red Cross.
He served two years in Germany as a vice-consul
for the United States before earning his
law degree at Northwestern University.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday
in the St. Joseph church, Bradley. Surviving
are his widow, Vera two sons; Richard
and Alan; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren;
and a brother.
More About
Walter Carl Herman Schneider:
Burial: March 03, 1964, Mt Calvary Cem,
Kankakee, Kankakee Co, IL.
Church Aff.: St. Joseph Church, Bradley,
IL.
More
About Walter Carl Herman Schneider and
Edith Alberts:
Marriage: November 11, 1911
More
About Walter Carl Herman Schneider and
Vera Bartel:
Marriage: January 21, 1928
Children
of Walter Carl Herman Schneider and Edith
Alberts are:
| i |
|
Richard
Albert Schneider, b. July 25,
1914, Kankakee, Kankakee Co, IL, d.
April 2002, Germany |
| ii |
|
Allen
Kenneth Schneider, b. July 07,
1916, Kankakee, Kankakee Co, IL, d.
1970, St. Francis Hospital, Wilmington,
De |
