Pioneer Robert Schroeder
Peter and Robert Schroeder (father and son) came to the area that would become Marshall County first in 1832 for exploration purposes, digging ginseng and gathering cranberries to sell to markets in Logansport and Lafayette. The two spent a few months in the area, then returned to Clinton County. Robert was so pleased with the area that he returned in September 1833 and settled near the location of the farmstead where he resided in the county for the remainder of his life. When Robert returned to Marshall County, there were only two white families living in the county: Samuel Taber (his son, Cyrus, was the first white child born in the county on June, 26, 1833), and Charles Ousterhaut. Both families settled in 1832 and lived south of Plymouth. Upon arriving in the county, Robert was employed as a superintendent of construction by contractors opening the Michigan Road through Plymouth and some distance north and south of town; he also assisted in constructing the first bridge across the Yellow River in Plymouth. The 1876 Illustrated Atlas states that Robert and Jesse Schroeder (brothers) settled along the line of the Michigan Road in 1832 and were the only white inhabitants in the area until 1835 when the remainder of the lands opened for settlement.
In 1834, Robert was joined by the remainder of his father’s family. Peter located on Michigan Road Lands three miles north of Plymouth. This appears to be on Section 9 of Michigan Road Lands in North Township, in the vicinity of or partly located on the original Robert Schroeder Farmstead. This appears to be on the east side of Michigan Road on the south side of 5B Road, an area where it is reported that Peter and Robert operated a cooper shop in the mid-1830s. Peter Schroeder was present at the organization of the county in 1836, being appointed one of two first associate judges when the first term of court was organized in October, 1836; he continued in that role until 1843. Robert’s mother, Nancy, died in 1846 and was buried at Fairmount Cemetery north of the farmstead along the Michigan Road. Peter died on November 15, 1868 and was also buried at Fairmount Cemetery. Their son Joel, age 15, died on November 20, 1840 and was also buried at Fairmount Cemetery. This would have been one of the earliest interments at the cemetery known as the oldest in the county.
Robert, in conjunction with Mr. Packard, erected the first sawmill in the county on Pine Creek in what would become Polk Township in 1835, as well as a log hut in which he resided during that time. Robert Schroeder’s first home was described as a log cabin that had been built on what was the Frank Martin farm in the 1920s; this is located in the northwest corner of the intersection at Black Bridges. The saw mill was abandoned and Robert returned briefly to central Indiana to marry Catherine Driskill on February 1, 1836 in Tippecanoe County. Robert became North Township Constable in 1837 and held the office of County Commissioner from 1849-1851.
In the 1850 census, Robert is listed as a farmer and head of household in North Township. His wife, Catherine, and children John, Caroline, Mary, Susana, and Nancy are also listed. John was called the second white child born in the county in a news article reporting his death in 1925; his birth would have been in 1838 and the article stated that his family had settled near Burns Bridge. Robert, along with his brother, John, and Mr. Woodward left for California to mine for gold in 1852; they returned in 1855. The same year, the Marshall County Agricultural Society was formed chiefly through the efforts of Robert Schroeder and two other men. In 1857, Robert Schroeder Sr. became a Wesleyan Methodist minister and in 1858 he was admitted to the Marshall County Bar Association. He made a lucrative business of drafting legal documents.
From 1860 to 1868, Robert Sr. engaged again in the mill and lumber business and it was during this time he purchased the existing farmstead and constructed a large German bank barn and I-house. The family moved into their new homestead in 1867; it was located on a parcel containing just over 150 acres on the east side of Michigan Road, set on high ground to the east. Robert Sr. was elected Justice of the Peace for North Township in 1874 and held the office for four years. When the Old Settlers’ Society of Marshall County formed in 1878 he was unanimously elected President, since he had lived in the county the longest of anyone at that time. In 1880, Robert Sr. ran for the office of State Representative; he lost by only 331 votes. The Schroeders sold a strip of land for construction of the Vandalia Railroad in 1882 and at that time, what would become 6th Road was constructed east of Michigan Road to access the farm.
Catherine died in 1890. Her obituary complimented her by stating that the hospitality of the Schroeder household is known to almost every person in the county. Services were held at the Fairmount United Brethren Church (once located opposite the cemetery) and she was buried at Fairmount Cemetery. Robert Sr. died at his home on Tuesday afternoon of August 7, 1894 after being ill for several weeks, only able to sit in a chair day and night. His funeral service was also held at the Fairmount church. At the time of his death, he was called the oldest settler of Marshall County. Their tombstone is inscribed with “first white settler of Marshall County.”
In 2010, the property left the Schroeder Family for the first time since 1865 and became our home. My wife and I restored the house in 2016 and are working toward restoring the barn which was named one of Indiana’s Bicentennial Barns the same year. The property was listed on the State Register of Historic Places in 2015.