Fred C. Schmail was born on June 14, 1833, in Germany.91 While living in Germany, he married Sophia (Krager) Schmail and had their first son Fred “Fritz” J. Schmail (b.1861). Schmail and his family immigrated to the United States and moved to New Albion, New York on July 14, 1861. There, they had three more children: Mary (b.1863), Carrie (b.1865), and William F. (b.1869).92
He was a farmer and owned Hudson Day Farm. He also worked as a school teacher.93
In 1886, the local Prohibition Party caucus in New Albion nominated Schmail as its candidate for excise commissioner. The town excise commission prior to the election consisted of two no-license excise commissioners and one pro-license excise commissioner. The no-license majority meant that no licenses for selling alcohol were being issued in the town. The seat for one of the no-license commissioners was open in the 1886 election and the winner of the seat would determine which side would have control of the town excise commission.
Pro-alcohol Democrats and Republicans in the town opposed Schmail and created fake ballots to try to trick anti-alcohol voters into mistakenly not voting for Schmail. While they did manage to trick 12 voters, Schmail still managed to get enough votes to won the election. Schmail’s election as excise commissioner meant that the town of New Albion remained a no license town in 1886.
94 In the later part of his life, Schmail continued to work as a farmer. Schmail died on November 11, 1908, and was buried in Little Valley Rural Cemetery, in Little Valley, New York.95
Sources:
William Adams, Ed., Historical gazetteer and biographical memorial of Cattaraugus County, N.Y, (Syracuse, New York: Lyman, Horton & Co., 1893), https://archive.org/details/historicalgazett00adam, 850
Adams, Historical gazetteer and biographical memorial of Cattaraugus County, N.Y, 850; “Fred Schmael: New York State Census, 1865”, FamilySearch.org, Accessed, June 8, 2021, https://www.familysearch.org/search/ark:/61903/1:1:QVNN-ZMNT;
“Fred Schmale: New York State Census, 1875”, FamilySearch.org, Accessed, June 8, 2021, https://www.familysearch.org/search/ark:/61903/1:1:VNV2-WJC;“Fred Schmail: United States Census, 1880”, FamilySearch.org, Accessed, June 8, 2021, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZZ3-YMX;
“Fred C Smail (1833-1908) - Find A Grave Memorial”, Find a Grave, Accessed June 8, 2021, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/145062599/fred-c-smail
Adams, Historical gazetteer and biographical memorial of Cattaraugus County, N.Y, 850; “Fred Schmael: New York State Census, 1865”, FamilySearch.org; “Fred Schmale: New York State Census, 1875”, FamilySearch.org; “Fred Schmail: United States Census, 1880”, FamilySearch.org; New York State Department of Agriculture, Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1895, Vol. 1, (Albany, New York: Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., 1896),
“It is Simply Immense”, The Voice, (New York City, New York), March 11, 1886
Adams, Historical gazetteer and biographical memorial of Cattaraugus County, N.Y, 850; “Fred Schmail: New York State Census, 1892”, FamilySearch.org, Accessed, June 8, 2021, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MQ92-GVW; “Fred C Smail (1833-1908) - Find A Grave Memorial”, Find a Grave
-- Contributed by Jonathan Makeley
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