In his outstanding book, Schenbeck, Shanebeck-Shanbeck Family Record, 1798-1959, author Safara Shanebeck showed the earliest family parentage known at that time as being John Schenbeck and Katherine Oesch (see attached photo). Daniel Shanebeck was their first born son. On Nov 23, 1856 Daniel married Anna Klopfenstein (b Feb 12, 1834 d Jan 4, 1932). The pair had 5 children: Catherine Shanebeck (b July 26, 1861 d May 4, 1951); John D. Shanebeck (b Oct 24, 1862 d Oct 24, 1890); Anna Shanebeck (b June 7, 1864 d Sept 2, 1940); David Shanebeck (b Nov 3, 1866 d Jan 28, 1932); and Lydia Shanebeck (b Apr 26, 1869 d July 27, 1955).

In Safara’s preface he wrote in part, “I must point out the fact that although this record has its beginning with John Schenbeck, born Oct. 29, 1798 the spelling will be found in three different ways –Schenbeck, Shanebeck and Shanbeck –but it is still the same relationship. Very little is known about the early life of John Schenbeck except that he was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany and came to the U.S. A. with his parents and lived on a farm in Holmes County, Ohio. He married Katherine Oesch and some time later moved with his family to a farm near Berne, Indiana.”

I would add that John Schenbeck and Katherine Oesch Schenbeck are my ggg-grandparents. Their daughter, Anna Schenbeck (b June 5, 1841 d October 29, 1928), was married to my gg-grandfather, Joseph Sauder (aka Souder). Anna was Joseph’s 2nd wife after his first wife, Lydia Yaggy, died after only 6 months of marriage. In addition, I would add that I have run across three additional spellings of the last name, to wit: Shenbeck, Schoenbeck (the name Catherine Schoenbeck appears on Anna’s mother’s grave) and Chainbeck which appears in the 1850 U.S. Census.