View source for Smucker (Schmucker, Smoker, Smuker, Smooker) family

Records indicate that members from this family lived in Switzerland and near Heidelberg, [[Germany|Germany]] in the 18th century. Christian Schmucker emigrated from Switzerland to [[Berks County (Pennsylvania, USA)|Berks County]], Pennsylvania in 1752. As of 1959, he was the ancestor of approximately 8,000 descendants living in Mennonite communities, chiefly in [[Pennsylvania (USA)|Pennsylvania]], [[Ohio (USA)|Ohio]], [[Indiana (USA)|Indiana]] and [[Illinois (USA)|Illinois]]. His grandson, also Christian Schmucker, was the first Smucker pioneer to push westward from [[Pennsylvania (USA)|Pennsylvania]], settling in [[Wayne County (Ohio, USA)|Wayne County]], Ohio about 1819. In 1841, [[Smucker, Isaac (1810-1893)|Isaac Schmucker]], an [[Amish Mennonites|Amish]] preacher, moved from [[Ohio (USA)|Ohio]] to Elkhart County, Indiana and conducted the first Amish Mennonite service in Indiana. In 1843 he was ordained as bishop. His son, [[Smucker, Jonathan P. (1834-1903)|Jonathan P. Schmucker]], was ordained as bishop in 1878. The latter was active in promoting Sunday schools among the Amish Mennonites and was one of the originators of the [[Indiana-Michigan Amish Mennonite Conference|Indiana-Michigan Amish Mennonite Conference]].

Four ministers were particularly well known in Mennonite circles: Ralph Smucker, a [[Mennonite Church (MC)|Mennonite Church (MC)]] missionary in [[India|India]], George R. Smoker, a MC missionary to [[Africa|Africa]], [[Smucker, Donovan E. (1915-2001)|Don Smucker]], a General Conference Mennonite (GCM) professor at [[Mennonite Biblical Seminary (Chicago, Illinois, USA) |Mennonite Biblical Seminary]], and Jesse N. Smucker, president of the [[General Conference Mennonite Church (GCM)|General Conference Mennonite Church]] and later the editor of <em>The Mennonite. </em>Jerome Monroe Smucker (1858-1948), a Mennonite from Orrville, Ohio, founded the J. M. Smucker Company, America's top producer and marketer of jams, jellies, and preserves.
= Bibliography =
Johns, Gladys. "Christian Heroes Biography of Jonathan P. Schmucker." <em class="gameo_bibliography"> Youth's Christian Companion</em> (21 June 1936).

Mast, C. Z. and R. E. Simpson. <em class="gameo_bibliography">Annals of Conestoga Valley. </em>Elverson, PA, 1942: 201.

Smucker, Donovan E. <em>Jerome M. Smucker: Pioneer Ohio Mennonite Entrepreneuer</em>. Lima, Ohio: Fairway Press, 1995.
{{GAMEO_footer|hp=Vol. 4, pp. 553-554|date=December 2008|a1_last=Smucker|a1_first=Silas J.|a2_last=Thiessen|a2_first=Richard D.}}
[[Category:Family Names]]