Biographical Information on John and Joseph Schwartz
Files generously submitted by Art Fulaber on 15 Jul 2008

Joseph Schwartz (son of the oldest German settler in Avon, Ohio) tells his own story in the following words:

JOHN SCHWARTZ, d. 1870 @ 84 years "My father, John Schwartz, came with my mother, Catharine d 1858., from Bavaria, Germany, in 1833. Their young family consisted of five children, namely: Joseph, Anna, Mary, Catharine and Frederick. My father settled on section thirty-three, in Avon, on the 24th of December, 1833. Two other persons, both heads of families, accompanied him, by name, Jacob Miller and Paul Faber. The Miller and Faber Families, they located near, and were the only settlers direct from Germany for some years. These were the first and only German settlers that I know of in Avon until 1840, when my uncle, Peter Schwartz, came in with a family of seven persons. Then German settlers came flocking in. In 1844, Holy Trinity church was built in East Avon."

JOSEPH SCHWARTZ (1st born of John Schwartz) Mr. Joseph Schwartz lived with his father until the latter's death, in the year 1870; his mother having died in July, 1858. He married Catharine, daughter of Peter Kraus. This marriage left eight children, seven sons and one daughter, all living. Still living on the old homestead, a member of the German Catholic church, with his dear old wife, always and ever attedning to the farm and its interests, refusing always any tender of office from his fellow citizens, he is a striking example of what German thrift may do for a man. (Source: History of Lorain County, Ohio by Williams Bros., 1879: Avon, pp. 276-7.) In 1840, a brother, Peter Schwartz, with a family of seven, settled in this locality, and soon German settlers began to locate rapidly in this vicinity. They are a frugal, thrifty people.

Source: History of Lorain County, Ohio, Williams Bros., 1879: Avon, pp. 273.)