The Family's Story

The Family's Story

The story passed down through the generations was that our ancestor William Schneider and his brother came to Canada as soldiers during the American Revolutionary War. After the war William and his brother stayed in Canada and settled in what was then called Vaudreuil, where they operated an Inn (sometimes called a tavern, or a hotel).

The Schneider Inn was located about 35 miles west of Montreal on the south shore of the Ottawa river. The river was the major transportation route used by fur traders. The Schneiders would make a fortune serving the traders of the North West Company.

Back then money was mostly silver coins. According to family stories, the Schneiders stored their fortune in hogsheads (barrels of about 50 gallons). The story goes that the brothers could not count so they would use a dipper to scoop out coins when paying bills. Perhaps something like: one dipper full of coins for the baker, two dippers full for the butcher.

There is an old saying that goes rags to riches to rags in three generations. The saying has at least a grain of truth for the Schneider. William's children were well off, and we know from Rev. Royle's history that at least one grandson traveled to England. By the time of William's great grandson, John Edmund, the fortune seems to have dissipated.

Duncan was told by his father (Frank), that his grandfather, John Edmund, was a gentleman farmer, that is he owned a farm but had hired help to do the work. When John Edmund died his children were still young (his son Frank was only eight). By that time the money was no more. The fate of the farm is not known, but Edmund's widow Mary, and his children lived for a while above Mullin's store. Eventually the family moved to Montreal and lived the lives of regular folks.

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