Abraham Nash Moyer was born to Abraham Bechtel Moyer and Mary Gross Moyer (nee Nash) on August 10, 1837 in Haldimand Co., Ontario. He married Nannie Entrekin on September 7, 1870 and together they had two children: Metta Sophia (1873-1963) and Clyde Entrekin (1879-1954). Moyer died in Missouri September 12, 1919.
The Schantz Family in North America is large and widespread; alternative spellings of the last name includes variations such as Tschantz, Shantz, Shonts, and Schanz. The family descended from Jacob Schanz (June 12, 1710-February 5, 1781) who emigrated to the United States of America in 1737 and settled in Pennsylvania. In 1810 Jacob’s son Christian Shantz (1769-1857) came to Waterloo County and settled at Freeport on the Grand River.
Christian’s son Benjamin Shantz (1811-1868) was an early Waterloo County inhabitant and one of the founders of Port Elgin, Ontario where he settled in 1854 and established a grist and flour mill. Benjamin married Lydia Kolb (1814-1862) on April 10, 1842 and together they had ten children; Josiah K. Schantz (1834-1913), Catharine Schantz (May 17, 1836-February 28, 1917), Hannah Schantz (April 1, 1838-August 20, 1841), Christian Schantz (January 20, 1840-?), Tobias Schantz (1842-1925), Abraham K. Schantz (September 20, 1844-?), Benjamin K. Schantz (December 5, 1846), Menno K. Schantz (January 31, 1849-July 6, 1888), Lydia K. Schantz (August 17, 1851-July 16, 1900), Sarah K. Schantz (April 1, 1854-April 10, 1878), and Enoch K. Schantz (October 7, 1856-May 25, 1888).
When Lydia died in 1862, Benjamin remarried his housekeeper, Margaret Swinton. Benjamin and Margaret left Port Elgin, Ontario and settled in Dallas County, Missouri. Correspondence in the collection between Benjamin and his son Tobias recount Benjamin’s settler experiences in Dallas County, Missouri.
The Schantz Russell Family Papers centre around Tobias Schantz, his wife Mary Schantz and their descendants, drawing together primary sources relating to several early white settler families of Waterloo County, primarily the Schantz, Moyer/Meyer and Bowman families, and material relating to descendants of the Moyer settlers of Lincoln County, Ontario.
Published
A photograph album detailing Abraham Nash Moyer's trip from his home in Kansas across America to visit family in Ontario, Canada. The album consists of approximately 110 photographs mounted on pages with typed captions and a travel story. The cover reads "With Kodak-from Kansas to Canada." Abraham's daughter Metta created the album, along with eight others, that were sent to friends and family. Photographs feature locations such as Iowa, Kansas, Illinois and Ontario and include Moyer, Schantz, Albright, Houser and Fry family members.
Album is in poor condition. Paper has become brittle and many pages have detached at the binding. Although some are loose, they appear to all be present. Some images have come unmounted, and photographs are fading and discolouring. Cloth cover is faded and dirty.
Donated by Harold and Lynne Russell in 2011.
* Revised by NM in January 2019.
Scanned as TIF files July 2014. The [Moyer, Abraham Nash : travel album](https://digital.library.uwaterloo.ca/uwdl-acb2005b-1720-434c-a95b-531bc5919f7d/moyer-abraham-nash-travel-album#page/1/mode/1up) is available for viewing via the Waterloo Digital Library.
Public Domain