T h e o d o r e D r e i s e r - T H E G I A N T

By: Wayne F Burke

Published by Cyberwit.net, 2025-09-22

Herman Theodore Dreiser’s father, John Paul Dreiser, born in Mayen, Germany, along the Moselle River, come to America in 1844 to avoid military conscription; he 23-years old. Theodore Dreiser’s mother, Sarah Dreiser nee Schanab, born in 1833, and grown in Ohio, USA—born in Dayton (pg. 20, Lingeman, Richard, THEODORE DREISER, At the Gate of the City, vol. 1). Daughter of Mennonites (Dunkards). She and John Paul met in Fort Wayne, Indiana (pg. 20, Lingemen, vol. 1) where the Schanab’s had relocated, from Ohio. The couple married against the wishes of Sarah’s father. She, 16-years old, and he, John Paul, twenty-seven.