Hi Melissa,
I believe that I might have some information for you on Maria Magdalena Schnepp b. 1773. The earliest ancestor in my Strouse line was a David Straus who settled in the Lehigh and then Berks Co, PA. David came to Philadelphia in 1765 on the ship Betsy. David married Maria Phillippinna (?) and had son, John Strous b.7/28/1773. John Strous married Maria Magdelena Schnepp on 9/18/1795 in the Falkner Swamp Reformed Church. John Strous & Maria Magdelena Schnepp had at least 3 children, John, Jonas and Lydia.
Jonas Strouse, my ggg-grandfather was born 10/09/1800 and died 1900 (100 years, 3 days old). I have contact with a 2 gg-grandsons of John Strouse, Jonas' brother. John and Jonas Strouse moved to Noble Co, IN and had many descendants! We are still researching the remaining Strouses in Berks County and believe we may have located Maria Magdelena on the 1850 Pennsylvania Census - located in Penn Township. There is also a Lydia Strouse located in Penn Township in 1850.
Do you know if your Schnepp family had any connection with the Falkner Swamp Reformed Church? The only mention of Maria Magdelena is for her wedding day in 1795.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Annette DeHoff
email - netandmike@nni.com
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Subject: Maria Magdelena Schnepp
Date: Fri, 08 May 1998 18:29:44 -0400
From: Annette DeHoff <netandmike@nni.com>
To: Melissa Ward <sarafina@phoenixat.com>
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for your response. You put our John Strous as having married Maria Margaretha, but it was actually Maria Magdelena that he married and who is my ancestor. With so many Marias, it is easy to get confused. I do have the whole descendant list for John Strous and Maria Magdelena Schnepp, but do not have anything except circumstantial evidence that your Maria Magdelena and ours is the same. Let me know if you would like the Strouse information anyway.
Schnepp is certainly not a common name in Berks County and Maria Magdelena's birth date makes her a very possible wife for John Strous. We have David Straus in the Berks County Militia and I have also seen Leonard Schnepp in the Berks County Militia rosters for the American Revolution so it is very possible that the families were familiar with each other. I get a funny feeling when I run into ancestors that I can't prove were mine, but that evidence suggests probably is. Don Strouse and John Cramer both feel these are the correct people and they've been doing this longer than I have.
Annette
