John Schoennauer was born on 10 Mar 1839 in Gouglersville, Cumru Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, and was baptized on 19 Aug 1839. He was the 7th of 22 children of Joseph Schannauer (1801-1874). He served in the Union Army between 1861 and 1864 as a Private, and was assigned to Company B, 88th Infantry Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. On documentation related to John's Civil War service and pension, his name was spelled as Shonour. His pension papers reveal a vivid history of his military service and documents clearly the wounds received in three of the more famous battles of the civil war. He is described as 5 feet 8 inches in height, light complexion, gray eyes and brown hair.

John was married to Amalia Schlichting (daughter of Fredrick William Schlichting) on 7 February 1869 in St Paul's Church, Chicago, Illinois. They had eight children, of which only two lived to adulthood. He appeared on the census on 8 July 1870 in Chicago living with his family, which at the time consisted of wife Amalia and son Emil, in Ward 9. He worked as a file cutter at Chicago File Works in 1871 in Chicago, and lived at 82 Foster at this time. He moved to 258 Mohawk, Chicago in 1874 or 1875. In 1877 and 1878 another city directory shows him living at 315 S. Jefferson in Chicago, still working as a file cutter. He appeared on the 1880 census in Chicago. In the 1883 and 1885 city directories he is shown as a laborer, and in the 1886 city directory as a file maker; all three show him residing at 303 23rd in Chicago. He was divorced from Amalia in February 1887 through the Cook County Civil Court in Chicago, Illinois. John was found guilty of abandonment, and "of extreme and repeated cruelty without her fault," as indicated by court documents.

After his divorce, with his health deteriorating, John spent the last few months of his life at the National Home for Disabled Veterans in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, probably still suffering from wounds - both mental and physical - received during battles of the Civil War. He died on 22 Oct 1889 there, and was buried on 24 Oct 1889 at the Soldiers Home Cemetery in Milwaukee. (The National Home is the historic name of the present Zublocki Veteran's Administration Hospital located there. The actual name and address of the cemetery where he was interred is now Wood National Cemetery, 5000 West National Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, situated just west of the County Stadium where the Milwaukee Brewers play.) John's headstone is identified as "JOHN SHONOUR, PVT, CO B, 88 PA INF" and is located in section 4, grave number 175, just north of the interstate which cuts through the cemetery. (A bridge overpass connects the two parts of the cemetery).