| Notes |
- BIOGRAPHY:
Biography of John Matthias Shoudel, pages 862/863. History of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1914. In placing the name of John Matthias Shoudel before the reader as one who stood for many years in the front rank of the enterprising men of affairs and a leader in agricultural circles of DeKalb county, Indiana, whose influence tended to the upbuilding of the locality of his residence and the advancement of the affairs of his county, simple justice is done a biographical fact, recognized throughout the community by those at all familiar with his history and cognizant of the important part he acted in the circles with which he was identified. His career presents a notable example of those qualities of mind and character which overcome obstacles and win success, and he was eminently deserving of the high place he held in the hearts of those with whom he was associated. John Matthias Shoudel was born in 1814 in Bavaria, Germany, and was the son of John Shoudel. He was reared and educated in his native land, and there, on reaching mature years, he married Magdalena Miller, a native of the same locality anda daughter of John Miller. Mr. Shoudel learned the trade of a weaver in his native land and also gave some attention to farming. In 1854, desiring larger opportunities for advancement, he came to the United States. After spending a few months in New York he went to Chicago, and while living there, in 1855, he sent for his family, who had remained in the fatherland. He was employed on the docks in Chicago, but in 1857 he joined, with four others, Frank Miller, John Miller, Xavier Schmidt and Frederick Schmidt, and they brought their families to DeKalb county, where they bought forty acres of land, for which they paid three hundred dollars, and then they divided the land between then, eight acres each. This land was located in section 15, Smithfield township, and had not been disturbed by human hand since the red man left it. Mr. Shoudel at once cleared a spot on which he erected a log cabin, and applied himself to the strenuous task of felling the timber and getting the land in shape for cultivation. His first winter's efforts amounted to two acres of cleared land, and during the season the main diet of the family consisted of corn bread and wild game, of which latter there was an abundance. Eventually Mr. Shoudel was able to buy a yoke of steers, and after a while he secured a second yoke, which greatly facilitated this labors. He managed well, was wisely economical and at length was able to buy forty acres more land, and with this as a nucleus his affairs assumed a promising aspect. Industry, persistence and good management were the essential qualities which contributed to his success and he was able to buy more land from time to time until at the time of his death he was the owner of two hundred acres of splendidly improved farm land. John Matthias Shoudel died in 1880, and was survived a few years by his widow, whose death occurred in 1886. In the affairs of the community Mr. Shoudel took a leading part and no movement of any moment was launched without his assistance and co-operation. When St. Michael's Catholic church was instituted here during the eighties, Mr. Shoudel was one of the thirteen persons who requested the bishop of the diocese to establish the church, and for many years he was one of the leading members of the parish. He was one of the oldest men in the community, and to him many looked for advice and counsel in their temporal affairs, and he ever proved worthy of their confidence. His integrity and fidelity were manifested in every relation of life, and his plain, rugged honesty, his open-hearted manner, undisguised and unaffected, is to his descendants a sweet and lasting memory. To John Matthias and Magdalena Shoudel were born the following children: Baltzer, Michael L., Matthias, Agnes and John, the latter dying at the age of twenty-two years. Submitted by: Arlene Goodwin Auburn, Indiana Agoodwin@ctlnet.com
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1816 - 1881 (65 years)
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