Amazon Reviewer K. Vestal Calls Darlene Schneck's Book a "Wild West Adventure With Heart"

AMAZON  REVIEWER  CALLS  DARLENE  SCHNECK'S  STORY  OF  ISAAC  S.  SCHULTZ

A "WILD  WEST  ADVENTURE  TALE  WITH  HEART"


This is the review posted on Amazon by Professor K. Vestal:


A Wild West Adventure Tale with Heart May 18, 2013

By K. Vestal

     A captivating biography told in actual letters written to, from, and about Isaac S. Schultz between 1880-1931. The very educated Isaac left his home in PA to seek his fortune in the wild west, but when financial disaster struck, ashamed of his perceived failure, he severed ties with his family, leaving them thinking for 44 years that he was dead. This page-turning volume is filled with adventures/descriptions of sheep farming, bears, cowboys, horse thieves, wild west entertainment, 1885 politics, wool trade, Miles City Montana, Thermopolis Wyoming, killing blizzards, and the story of the Schwenkfelder Church, all woven seamlessly into an emotional heart-tugging story of love and forever family ties.

     An intriguing and fast read, written in folksy and colorful language, I couldn't put it down. Filled with photos and excellently edited, highly recommended for anyone remotely interested in our nation's Wild West past.

MY CLOSE RELATIVES NOTED IN A RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOK -- Darlene Schneck's Tale of Isaac S. Schultz

MY CLOSE RELATIVES NOTED IN A RECENTLY PUBLISHED BOOK

This is the book to which I refer:

Darlene Della Schneck Letters From a Montana Sheep Man: The True Tale of Isaac S. Schultz                                                                                                                                  (CreateSpace,2013)

                                     178 pp    $23.00  ISBN-10: 1484861728    ISBN-13: 978-1484861721

     This book mentions many of my close relatives, which is not surprising since the Isaac S. Schultz of this Tale is the brother of my paternal grandmother Elizabeth Schultz. Mentioned in the book are she, my paternal grandfather (her husband) Levi G. Schultz, and all of their eight children: My Uncle Eugene, my Aunt Carrie, My Aunt Daisy, My Aunt Geneva, My Father Wayne, My Uncle Alfred, My Uncle Norman, My Uncle Lloyd plus my Cousin Paul (son of my Aunt Daisy), my Cousin Lucille (daughter of my Aunt Geneva), my Aunt Selina (wife of my Uncle Eugene), and last, but not least, the one who told me about this book (and made some contributions to it), my Sister Sharon, whose full name is Sharon Elizabeth (nee Schultz) Reihmann, with her middle name, Elizabeth, named after our grandmother Elizabeth. I, Forrest Wayne Schultz, who am not mentioned in the book, received my middle name from my father Wayne.

     On pages 126-127 is an excellent quality group photograph of Elizabeth and Levi and their eight children taken alongside the house, built in 1810, in which Levi and his eight children grew up and in which Sharon and I grew up, and which still stands, and which was built by Abraham Schultz [the son of the Schwenkfelder emigrant, George Schultz (one of the three Schultz orphans in the main emigration in 1734)], who was the father of Isaac Schultz, who was the father of Abraham Schultz, who was the father of Levi Schultz). It and the farm passed out of our family when my father Wayne retired and sold the farm in 1960.

     There is a list of those in the photo in a genealogical record shown on p. xxx. In addition to that here are my close relatives and the pages where they are mentioned in the book:

My Sister Sharon -- pp. xi, 128

My Grandmother Elizabeth -- pp xiv, xv, 102, 124, 139

My Uncle Eugene -- pp xv, 57, 62, 74, 98, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 109, 124, 125, 138, 139

My Aunt Carrie -- p 124

My Aunt Daisy -- pp viii, 124

My Uncle Alfred -- p 124

My Cousin Paul Schultz Martin -- pp viii, ix, xi

My Cousin Lucille Berky -- pp xi, 96

My Aunt Selina -- pp 62, 138, 139

     The book was published in 2013. Information is found at http://www.amazon.com/

This is a really strange experience -- to read a book in which your close relatives are named, and in which some of them are important to the story!

Sincerely,

Forrest Wayne Schultz

May 23, 2013

Review of Darlene Della Schneck's "Letters From a Montana Sheep Man: The True Tale of Isaac S. Schultz

Man  "Found"  In  1931  After  44 - Year  "Disappearance"

Roles  Played  In  This  Tale  By  My  Grandmother,  My  Uncle,  And  My  Cousin 

                                

A Review of 

Darlene Della Schneck Letters From a Montana Sheep Man: The True Tale of Isaac S. Schultz                                                                                                                                (CreateSpace,2013) 

                                     178 pp   $23.00   ISBN-10: 1484861728   ISBN-13: 978-1484861721

Reviewer:  Forrest Wayne Schultz

     Although I have read historical accounts of my remote ancestors, the book under review here is the first one in which I have close relatives who are among the cast of characters.  The Isaac S. Schultz referred to in the subtitle was a brother of my paternal grandmother Elizabeth S. Schultz, who was the favorite of his four sisters.  Speaking of favorites, my favorite uncle, Eugene,  was involved in the "finding" of Isaac, and my favorite cousin, Paul, was involved in the documentation of the tale!  I had no knowledge of these roles they played until I read this book, and I had even forgotten about Isaac & his "disappearance" itself, which I had been briefly told about when I was a boy:  it apparently had "disappeared" from my memory.  I now hold Eugene and Paul in even higher esteem than I did before:  what they did here was worthy of high praise.

    The outline of Isaac's life is easily told.  After accomplishing what very few people did in the 19th Century -- getting a lot of higher education -- he failed at his next goal, namely to get rich by going west to become a sheep rancher.  Due to his consequent embarrassment, after 1887 he ceased writing letters to his family back east, which led them to wonder what had happened to him.  He was legally declared dead in 1896 by the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Registrar's Office (p. 135 f); but the Genealogical Record of the Schwenkfelder Families book (published in 1923) lists him as "disappeared" (p 52).  The  mystery was solved in 1931 and contact was renewed, after a 44 year lapse!!  How this was done you can learn for yourself by reading the fascinating account of it in this book.

    There is a remarkable twist in this tale.  Isaac regards his sister Elizabeth highly and she repays the compliment by producing two progeny -- her son Eugene and her grandson Paul -- who are very helpful to Isaac!!  This is the kind of thing that makes learning about history so interesting and so much fun!!

    There are some insights into the history of the late 19th century West in this account, just two of which I shall note here:  in his letters Isaac refers to "cow boys" (two words) and to "Sanfrancisco" (one word), which is very striking.

     The author is also deserving of high praise for the inclusion of the magnificent photograph taken a century ago of Elizabeth and Levi G. Schultz and their eight children.

     I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in American history, and especially for Schwenkfelders and other Pennsylvania Germans. 

     Information is available at http://montanasheepman.blogspot.com/