Silvester Schiele, First Rotary President

One of Paul's first clients, close friend and the first president of a Rotary club.
He was also the first person to be included in discussions of this new idea.
Rotarian article of 1914 on Schiele's business success.
1945 Rotary International Secretary General Philip Lovejoy's tribute to Silvester Schiele.
1946 Obituary by GS Lovejoy.
Silvester read Harris' 1936 message at Atlantic City at Paul's request.
The Schiele's became the Harris' lifelong neighbors and are buried next to Paul. See memorial.
See also Paul Harris commentary on Silvester from "This Rotarian Age"
See Norm Winterbottom's comments about "Bound to Each Other"
The full text of This Rotarian Age here

The Schiele family originated in Wittenberg, Germany before immigrating to America and landing in New York in the spring of 1852. From there the family went to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania where there were already many German settlers; the 'Pennsylvania Dutch' or more properly 'Deutsch'. According to one account (1), the family moved on in 1854 to Medina County, West of Akron, Ohio and seven years later to Indiana. There, after a short stay in Owen County, near to Bloomington, the Schiele’s finally crossed the county boundary to Harrison Township in Clay County, Indiana. Although trained in Germany as a shoemaker, Michael Schiele, Silvester's father, also took up farming and by 1888 was the owner of a large and prosperous 220 acre farm.

After Michael's first wife Mary died, he married Elizabeth Krieble from Montgomery, PA on February 12, 1867. Of their 9 children, Silvester was the second, born on June 29, 1870 (2). His obituary in 'The Rotarian' records, in 1946, that "He was born ....in a log cabin in Clay City, Indiana. He had all the difficulties of a young pioneer." (3) . Since his parents , were certainly living there at the time, this makes sense. However, according to the IGI, the birth took place in Pennsylvania, but no record of this event has so far been found. The 1880 Census of Clay County in Indiana records that Silvester was born in Indiana and the I.G.I. attribution appears to be incorrect.

Silvester attended school in Terre Haute. Service in the military during the Spanish American war was followed by a move to Chicago. There Silvester involved himself in the coal trade, perhaps using contacts from the mining areas of Indiana. The story has often been told about how in 1896, he found himself unable to recover 20 dollars which he had loaned to a friend. Passing by his coal office frequently was a young lawyer, and one day Silvester asked this young lawyer to help him collect the money. The lawyer was Paul Harris and thus began a friendship between the two men which continued for the next 50 years.

Schiele and Harris even shared a hotel room in those early years of the century when both were still bachelors. They often dined together at Madame Galli's where, on February 23, 1905, the 'gang of four' met to discuss the formation of what later became the Rotary movement.

In 1909, Silvester married Jessie MacDonald of Michigan who was to assist him throughout their life together. The two couples, Paul and Jean Harris, and Silvester and Jessie Schiele became great friends and neighbors as well as often holidaying together. In death the two men lie close to each other in the Mount Hope Cemetery. (see below) It was Silvester who suggested to Paul that each of the members of the new club should give a talk about their business, thereby starting a tradition for new members which continues to this day. Silvester had become a successful and Christian businessman, and was President of the Schiele Coal Company from 1902 until he retired in 1939.

His work and life in Rotary is chronicled elsewhere, however it can be noted here that Silvester Schiele became the first President of the Chicago Club and remained involved in Rotary throughout his life. He did not take any international office until July 1945, when he was made International Treasurer. He was not to fill the post for long, dying in Chicago at the age of 75 on December 17, 1945. He was buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois, where, thirteen months later, Paul P. Harris was laid to rest next to Schiele.

1. The History of Clay County, Indiana by Battery, 1888
2 The History of Clay County, Indiana by Travis, 1909
3 The Rotarian February 1946 Obituary by Philip Lovejoy.

** Silvester seems to have preferred the spelling SILVESTER but SYLVESTER is also used.

For help in compiling this account, we are indebted to Rtn Amos Thomas of Brazil, Indiana.

Basil Lewis

HOME	GLOBAL	DISTRICTS	CLUBS	MISSING HISTORIES	PAUL HARRIS	PEACE
PRESIDENTS	CONVENTIONS	POST YOUR HISTORY	WOMEN	FOUNDATION	COMMENTS	PHILOSOPHY
LEGAL ISSUES	CLUB PRESIDENTS	DISTRICT GOVERNORS	TRUSTEES	DIRECTORS	1ST PRESIDENT	TIMELINE
EARLY HISTORY	RGHF VOICES	FAMOUS WOMEN	ROTARY ANN	JEAN THOMSON	INNER WHEEL	SUBSCRIPTIONS

Close friend of Paul Harris. It was Paul and Silvester who met for dinner on Thursday evening, the 23rd of February, 1905. The Schiele brothers: l-r Nathan, William, Silvester, Reuben, Charles, David and Andrew. The photo is not dated but there are some clues. William (2nd from left) died on 20 August 1899. Charles (5th from left) was born in 1885 and looks as though he is over 11 and must be under 14. Silvester (3rd from left) served during the Spanish American War which began in April 1898 and ended December 1898. The likelihood is therefore that it was either taken just before the war started or in early 1899 when the war was over. Basil Lewis

Silvester Schiele 29 June 1870 - 17 December 1945	Paul Harris' next door neighbor, Silvester Schiele looks on as Paul (far left), near the end of his life, is still active taking care to feed the many little animals about Comely Bank.	Silvester and Jesse (photo at right) date unknown, courtesy of Schiele's grand daughter, Deborah Sweeney from their family album	"Silvester Schiele, my most intimate Chicago friend, and one of the three who first met with me, was made our first president, and has been a constant member." Paul Harris, from "My Road to Rotary" Paul Harris Study at Evanston
Schiele's 1938 article in The Rotarian tells that he knew about Paul's idea in 1900.	Dinner and then the meeting, initiation of new members. The club grows.	Silvester has an idea to liven up the meeting. Fines for non attendance. Ladies night in 1905.	Some background on the founder. Wolfgang Ziegler