"Past and Present of Shelby County Iowa"
By Edward S. White ~ ~ 1915 Volume II Illustrated
B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.
Indianapolis, Indiana
Pages 720, 721, 722

SCHECHINGER , JOSEPH

The history of Shelby county is replete with the successes which have attended the citizens of German birth. No other foreign country is so well represented in this county and without exception they have become prosperous and substantial citizens of their adopted country. The habits of thrift and industry which always mark the peoples of German extraction have made them welcome additions to the various communities in this country which have been honored by their residence. Probably no family has had more marked success in this county than the Schechinger family, one of whose representatives, Joseph Schechinger, is one of the largest land owners in the county.
Mr. Schechinger, the son of Martin and Katherine (Reedel) Schechinger, was born April 29, 1866, in Altbrein, Germany. Martin started to work out as a farm hand after leaving school and upon his marriage bought a small farm of twelve acres. He increased this to forty~four acres and then decided to sell it and permanently locate in the United States. In 1875 he came to this country with his large family and at once located in Westphalia township, in Shelby county, Iowa, where he bought eighty acres of land for eleven dollars an acre. A few months later he bought eighty acres more for eighteen dollars an acre. By thrifty methods and the valuable assistance of his four worthy sons he accumulated four hundred acres of land, which he divided among his four sons a few years before his death. To Martin Schechinger and wife were born eleven children: Katherine, the wife of Joseph Fromm; Crazens, the wife of Barttell Stoll; Martin, who married Anna Book; Mary, the wife Valentine Flintner; Frances, the wife of Peter Kauffman; Theresa, the wife of Benjamin Blum; George, who married Elizabeth Blum; Caroline, the wife of Michael Schiltz; Joseph; Anastasia (deceased), who was the wife of Jacob Cooker; Vitus, who married Barbara Hennis.

Joseph Schechinger attended school for three years in Germany and completed his education in this county. He was nine years of age when his parents moved to Iowa and worked on the home farm while attending school, remaining at home until he was twenty~four. He then married and commenced farming on one hundred and sixty acres which his father gave him in Lincoln township and lived on this one hundred and sixty for the first three years after his marriage. In 1893 he bought two hundred and eighty acres of land in Westphalia township (the Joseph Smith farm), and by hard work along the most approved lines has accumulated additional land from time to time until he now has seven hundred and forty~six acres of land in this county. For four or five years before his marriage he and his brothers operated a corn sheller and threshing machine for their father. He is a breeder of Shorthorn and Hereford cattle and has about one hundred head of cattle on the farm.

Mr. Schechinger was married in 1890 to Katherine Hennis, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Hennis, and to this union there have been born seven children: Martin, Elizabeth, Barbara, John, Cecelia, Cunnie and Katherine. Martin and Elizabeth are deceased; Barbara is the wife of Charles Wageman and has two children, Anthony and Cecelia; all the rest of the children are single and living with their father. The mother of these seven children died November 13, 1910, at the age of forty years. She was born in Arcadia, Iowa, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Hennis, natives of Luxemberg, Germany.

The Hennis family came from Germany to America in 1873 and located in Arcadia, Iowa, but shortly afterward permanently settled in Shelby county. John Hennis became a prosperous farmer and at the time of his death was one of the substantial men of his township. He and his wife have both been dead many years. They reared a family of three children: Katherine, the wife of Mr. Schechinger; Barbara, the wife of Vitus Schechinger, and Elizabeth, the wife of Henry Ebert.

Mr. Schechinger and all his family are loyal members of the Westphalia Catholic church. He is a member of the Catholic Knights of America. In politics he is identified with the Democratic party but has never been active in political affairs. He is an independent voter and believes in supporting the best men for office regardless of politics.

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