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Johannes Engleberth Becker, called Engle, is my G-G-G-Great Grandfather on my father's side. He was born on January 27, 1806 in the village of Burbach in Germany. Engle was one of three brothers that emigrated to the United States in 1854 (though despite knowing the names of over 30 people who traveled together, I have yet to find a record of their ship). All three settled in Callaway county, Missouri. Engle and his brother Phillip, who owned adjoining farms, were both farmers. Their third brother, John Henry, lived in Fulton. Upon arrival, the family changed the spelling of their name from Becker to Backer (either spelling is supposed to be pronounced "Baker").
Engle was first married on Dec 30, 1830 to Katherine Sophie Sauer, at the Lutheran Church in Burbach, Germany. The couple had six children: Christian, Sohpia Landman, Katherine Frank, William, Leonard, and Henrich. In 1843, Engle's wife Katherine died in childbirth with Henrich, who also died. Engle then remarried Dec 24, 1843 to Juliann Hild in Burbach. Engle and Juliann had nine children, six of whom lived to adulthood. Of these children four were born in Burbach: Henriette Charlotte Bury, Charlotte Hagebusch, Henry and Charles Backer. Two more were born in Missouri: Louis Backer and Matilda Brooks.
Engle lived in Callaway county, Missouri from 1854 until about 1877. During this time he and his family were members of the Presbyterian Church in Fulton. Between 1876 and 1880 Engle moved his family to Washington, Missouri, in Franklin county. His wife Juliann died in 1885. Engle remained in Washington until his death on Jan 27, 1890 of pneumonia. He died on his birthday and was exactly 84 years old. He was survived by 11 children.
Below is a copy of the Fulton Sun from Jan 28, 1890, recording the death of Engle Backer. Right click and select zoom in to read the text. His obituary is at the bottom of the middle column.
Showing posts with label Backer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Backer. Show all posts
Monday, August 17, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Jacob Frank, 1833-1909
Today is the first in a series of obituary postings I plan to make. The county libraries in Fulton and St. Louis, Missouri have indexes for local obituaries going back to the late 19th century that make it very easy to find multiple obituaries for relatives. The St. Louis library has their obituary index online here. Both libraries charge only a nominal fee to locate and mail copies of the obituaries to you. If you have any relatives who lived in these areas (regardless of where they died) then you should check with these libraries as obituaries are one of the best pieces of genealogical evidence available.
My first profile is for my G-G-Great-Grandfather Jacob Frank. The Fulton library had two obituaries and a burial notice for Jacob Frank. These obituaries provided a great deal of information and I was happy to see most of my theories in my prior post on the Frank family were correct.
Jacob Frank was born in Hammelburg, Bavaria on April 19, 1833. He emigrated to the United States at age 17 and settled in Fulton, Missouri at age 19 (about 1852). In 1857 he married Katherine Backer, the daughter of a recent Prussian immigrant.
Jacob worked as a coal miner from 1852 until 1891, when he retired and became a gardener. He had a house on Market St. in Fulton with a small plot of land in the back with a garden from which he sold produce to other residents of the city. Oddly, neither obituary mentions his service in the civil war. He served for about three years in the Missouri 9th Calvary Regiment State Militia Volunteers. Perhaps this was omitted because much of his service during the war was dedicated to combatting Confederate sympathizers in the Fulton area.
Jacob was a member of the Fulton First Presbyterian Church. His obituary from the Fulton Journal describes him as a very holy and honorable man:
Below are Jacob's obituaries from the Fulton Telegraph and Fulton Journal, and a burial notice. You can right click on the obituaries to zoom in if you would like to read the text better.
Jacob Frank Obituaries
My first profile is for my G-G-Great-Grandfather Jacob Frank. The Fulton library had two obituaries and a burial notice for Jacob Frank. These obituaries provided a great deal of information and I was happy to see most of my theories in my prior post on the Frank family were correct.
Jacob Frank was born in Hammelburg, Bavaria on April 19, 1833. He emigrated to the United States at age 17 and settled in Fulton, Missouri at age 19 (about 1852). In 1857 he married Katherine Backer, the daughter of a recent Prussian immigrant.
Jacob worked as a coal miner from 1852 until 1891, when he retired and became a gardener. He had a house on Market St. in Fulton with a small plot of land in the back with a garden from which he sold produce to other residents of the city. Oddly, neither obituary mentions his service in the civil war. He served for about three years in the Missouri 9th Calvary Regiment State Militia Volunteers. Perhaps this was omitted because much of his service during the war was dedicated to combatting Confederate sympathizers in the Fulton area.
Jacob was a member of the Fulton First Presbyterian Church. His obituary from the Fulton Journal describes him as a very holy and honorable man:
He was faithful in filling as his obligations to his fellow man and to his God. His one ambition in life was to deal justly and fairly with all men and in this he was remarkably successful. He was a man of generous heart and sought to be helpful to those about him. Mr. Frank was a consistent and faithful member of the Presbyterian Church and lived a truly Christian life in both his public and private affairs. It can be truly said of Mr. Frank that he was a faithful servant to his God, his country and his home. For none truer or more faithful and useful men have come and gone in this life than our departed friend and neighbor.Jacob Frank died at his home in Fulton on Wednesday, May 12th, 1909 at 9:30 a.m. of a heart attack. He was preceded in death by one son, Albert Jacob Frank of Fulton (I will post his obituaries later) and one daughter, Lottie Kester, wife of August, also of Fulton. He was survived by his wife, Katherine, and seven children. He left three sons: Charles, Henry and William Frank, all of Fulton, and four daughters: Matilda Langenbach, wife of Herman, of Marion, Ill., Julia Egerer, wife of Adolph, of Mexico, Mo., Bertha Lockridge, wife of James, of Fulton, and Mary Fitzhugh, wife of George, also of Fulton.
Below are Jacob's obituaries from the Fulton Telegraph and Fulton Journal, and a burial notice. You can right click on the obituaries to zoom in if you would like to read the text better.
Jacob Frank Obituaries
Friday, January 30, 2009
The Backer Family
In my previous post on the Frank Family, I noted how there are few living Frank descendants in America. But this does not mean we do not have many relatives. The Frank family has always been closely tied to the Backer family of Fulton, Callaway County, Missouri. Jacob Frank married into the larger Backer family, which came over from Burbach, Prussia in 1854.
Katherine came to Fulton with her father, two uncles - John Henry and Phillip Henry, their wives and their many children. At least 15 Backers immigrated together. The family was Lutheran, but after they immigrated, most of the family attended the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Fulton.
Location of Burbach in North Rhein-Westphalia, Germany
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Burbach Coat of Arms
Katherine's father was born Johann Engelberth Becker (the name Backer is actually an Anglicization of the name Becker) in Burbach, Prussia, which is today in the German state of Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhein Westphalia). At the time of their immigration, Burbach was part of the Prussian empire. Before that it was part of the Duchy of Nassau. I have been able to trace the Becker family back to Arnoldus Becker, born about 1690 in Burbach.
After moving their families to Fulton, the three Backer brothers started farms. Katherine lived on a farm with her father Engle, and her stepmother, Julianne (Katherine's mother died in childbirth in Germany), three brothers, a sister, and six step brothers and sisters. Though they started as farmers in Fulton, most of the family did not remain farmers. "Becker" means baker in German, which was in fact exactly what the Becker/Backer family did. Some of the Backer children went into business as bakers in the town of Fulton, a business which the Frank family eventually joined. The family has flourished in running businesses of all kinds, including blacksmiths, teamsters(truckers in the horse and buggy days), grocers, and tailors.
Today there are a number of Backers still in the Fulton area. In fact, at least one very prominent business bears the family name, the Backer Potato Chip Co. The Backer family also founded one of Fulton's chief tourist attractions, the Backer Auto World Museum, an impressive collection of antique automobiles displayed in a period setting.
Unfortunately I do not have extensive documentation for the Backer family in Germany. Most of my information is courtesy Mildred Miller, a Backer genealogist in Mexico MO but did not include the original records. A lot of the transcribed records can now found at Familysearch.org, a website with databases of church and civil records of baptisms, births and deaths in many European countries. Eventually I plan to order the microfilm of the original records and will post copies of the records once I get them. Until then, here are some other links regarding the Backers and Burbach that you might find interesting:
Ancestry Tree for Katharine Elizabeth Backer (PDF)
Descendants of Arnoldus Becker (PDF)
Burbach, North Rhein-Westphalia on Wikipedia
Burbach Homepage (Google Translation)
Obituary of Bill Backer, president of Backer Potato Chip Co. and founder of the Backer Auto World Museum, Fulton, Mo.
Backer Potato Chip Co.
Backer Auto World Museum
Katherine came to Fulton with her father, two uncles - John Henry and Phillip Henry, their wives and their many children. At least 15 Backers immigrated together. The family was Lutheran, but after they immigrated, most of the family attended the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Fulton.
Location of Burbach in North Rhein-Westphalia, Germany
Burbach Coat of Arms
After moving their families to Fulton, the three Backer brothers started farms. Katherine lived on a farm with her father Engle, and her stepmother, Julianne (Katherine's mother died in childbirth in Germany), three brothers, a sister, and six step brothers and sisters. Though they started as farmers in Fulton, most of the family did not remain farmers. "Becker" means baker in German, which was in fact exactly what the Becker/Backer family did. Some of the Backer children went into business as bakers in the town of Fulton, a business which the Frank family eventually joined. The family has flourished in running businesses of all kinds, including blacksmiths, teamsters(truckers in the horse and buggy days), grocers, and tailors.
Today there are a number of Backers still in the Fulton area. In fact, at least one very prominent business bears the family name, the Backer Potato Chip Co. The Backer family also founded one of Fulton's chief tourist attractions, the Backer Auto World Museum, an impressive collection of antique automobiles displayed in a period setting.
Unfortunately I do not have extensive documentation for the Backer family in Germany. Most of my information is courtesy Mildred Miller, a Backer genealogist in Mexico MO but did not include the original records. A lot of the transcribed records can now found at Familysearch.org, a website with databases of church and civil records of baptisms, births and deaths in many European countries. Eventually I plan to order the microfilm of the original records and will post copies of the records once I get them. Until then, here are some other links regarding the Backers and Burbach that you might find interesting:
Ancestry Tree for Katharine Elizabeth Backer (PDF)
Descendants of Arnoldus Becker (PDF)
Burbach, North Rhein-Westphalia on Wikipedia
Burbach Homepage (Google Translation)
Obituary of Bill Backer, president of Backer Potato Chip Co. and founder of the Backer Auto World Museum, Fulton, Mo.
Backer Potato Chip Co.
Backer Auto World Museum
Friday, January 23, 2009
The Frank Family
I started my current genealogy research in the hope of finding clues as to the origin of my surname, a side of the family largely neglected in prior genealogy research. I started my research by talking to my grandfather, Forrest F. Frank Junior. Forrest was largely raised by his mother and stepfather, and did not keep in contact with much of the Frank family. He did however know his grandparents' names, and that was enough for me to start my research.
The Frank family story starts with Jacob Frank, an immigrant from Hammelburg, Bavaria. Hammelburg is a small town in northern Bavaria on the Saale river, well known in Germany for its wineries and the nearby Rhön nature preserve. In America, Hammelburg is best known as the location of several POW camps during WWII. It is also the setting for the fictional POW camp in the sitcom Hogan's Heroes.
I do not have information about Jacob's parents or his life in Hammelburg. I know that in 1852 he emigrated to the United States, settling in Fulton, Callaway County, Missouri, where a small German community was formed the First Presbyterian Church in the early 1850's. Two years later, the Backers, a large Prussian family of merchants and bakers (Backer means Baker) moved to the area and began attending the same church. It was then that he met Katherine Backer, his future wife. The two were married on July 29, 1857 in Fulton. I will post more about the Backer family in later posts.
Jacob and Katherine started a family during tumultuous times. In the late 1850's tensions between the northern and southern states were rising. These tensions were felt especially in Callaway county. Missouri was a split state, with northern abolitionists settling parts of the state and slave owners from the south settling others. While Missouri was a slave state, it actually had few slave owners. Almost all the slave owners were concentrated in an area called "Little Dixie" along the Missouri River in central Missouri where a large number of families from Virginia and North Carolina had settled between 1820 and 1850. Callaway county lies at the heart of this area.
When war broke out in 1861 and the Missouri government voted to remain in the Union, Callaway county famously tried to secede from the state and proclaim itself the Kingdom of Callaway county. In response to the strong anti-Union sentiment in the area, the state set up several volunteer militia regiments to guard against attacks by Confederate sympathizers. On April 19, 1862, Jacob Frank enlisted with the 9th Calvary Regiment State Militia Volunteers. The Regiment remained for the most part in the central Missouri area, and saw action in a number of small skirmishes against guerrilla Confederate troops and sympathizers seeking to sabotage railroads and roads.
Jacob was one of the rare few soldiers in the Civil War who made it through the war without injury or illness. He was discharged on April 21, 1865 and returned home. However, a few months later he was again summoned to service. Although the war was over, gangs of Confederate sympathizers known as "Bushwackers" still plagued central Missouri. One of the gangs operating in the area eventually became known as the James-Younger gang (Jesse James' gang). Jacob re-enrolled under command of Lt. William H. Thomas in the Callaway County Volunteer Militia on July 5, 1865 and served off and on as needed to protect the countryside from Bushwackers.
After the war Jacob remained in Fulton. He worked for the next few decades in a local coal mine. Eventually as his health began to fail him, he took a less demanding job. On the 1900 census his job title was listed as "Market Gardener." He and Katherine lived on Market St., so it is possible that he worked as a caretaker at a nearby municipal park or garden.
Jacob and Katherine had nine children, 5 girls and 4 boys, all of whom lived to adulthood and married. For the most part their children married the children of other German immigrants, and stayed in Fulton. Their son Charles Henry "Charley" Frank is my g-g-grandfather.
Charley Frank was born in 1865 in Fulton. He married Emma Weimeyer of Franklin county on 24 Sep 1890. Charley worked for the Backer family's grocery and bakery. He and Emma had four children, Effie, Melvin, Forrest, and Beulah. Effie married Poole Harrison from Mexico, Mo., and moved to the Chicago area, where the couple owned a chain of gas stations. The couple became quite rich but never had children. Melvin followed his father into the family business, eventually becoming co-owner of the Frank & Backer bakery. Melvin married Louise Humbrook, and they had one daughter, Marcella, who married Harry Johnson, and currently lives just north of Kingdom City. Beulah married a distant cousin, Frank Backer, who worked as a car salesman. They had two sons, Homer and Howard Backer. Howard lives in Los Angeles and Homer lives in Florida.
My great-grandfather, Forrest Sr. was born on October 27, 1896. He married Lela Harrison around 1918. They had one child, my grandfather, Forrest Jr. For the next few years, Forrest Sr. worked as a laundry truck driver in Fulton. He and Lela divorced around 1930, and Forrest Sr. moved to northern Indiana, where he managed a gas station owned by his brother-in-law Poole Harrison. Around 1945 he moved back to Fulton where he worked as a salesman at a department store. He died in 1953 at his son's house in St. Ann, Missouri. His death certificate lists the cause of death as stomach cancer.
The Frank family is a small family, with few living descendants today. Unlike the farmer families common on other branches of my family, who often had 10+ children, the Franks were city dwellers and often had two working spouses and little time for children. My research indicates that the only living descendants with the Frank last name are my grandfather and his family, of which only myself and my cousin James might still carry on the family name.
Below are documents related to the Frank family, including the military service record of Jacob Frank, census data sheets, and death certificates for my direct ancestors. I have also created a descendants chart that traces all the generations descended from Jacob Frank. It contains much more detailed information on the family.
Descendants of Jacob Frank -- A 'register report' style list of all the Frank relatives I have found so far.
Jacob & Katherine:
Grave of Jacob and Katherine Frank in Hillcrest Cemetary, Fulton, Mo.
The Frank family story starts with Jacob Frank, an immigrant from Hammelburg, Bavaria. Hammelburg is a small town in northern Bavaria on the Saale river, well known in Germany for its wineries and the nearby Rhön nature preserve. In America, Hammelburg is best known as the location of several POW camps during WWII. It is also the setting for the fictional POW camp in the sitcom Hogan's Heroes.
I do not have information about Jacob's parents or his life in Hammelburg. I know that in 1852 he emigrated to the United States, settling in Fulton, Callaway County, Missouri, where a small German community was formed the First Presbyterian Church in the early 1850's. Two years later, the Backers, a large Prussian family of merchants and bakers (Backer means Baker) moved to the area and began attending the same church. It was then that he met Katherine Backer, his future wife. The two were married on July 29, 1857 in Fulton. I will post more about the Backer family in later posts.
Jacob and Katherine started a family during tumultuous times. In the late 1850's tensions between the northern and southern states were rising. These tensions were felt especially in Callaway county. Missouri was a split state, with northern abolitionists settling parts of the state and slave owners from the south settling others. While Missouri was a slave state, it actually had few slave owners. Almost all the slave owners were concentrated in an area called "Little Dixie" along the Missouri River in central Missouri where a large number of families from Virginia and North Carolina had settled between 1820 and 1850. Callaway county lies at the heart of this area.
When war broke out in 1861 and the Missouri government voted to remain in the Union, Callaway county famously tried to secede from the state and proclaim itself the Kingdom of Callaway county. In response to the strong anti-Union sentiment in the area, the state set up several volunteer militia regiments to guard against attacks by Confederate sympathizers. On April 19, 1862, Jacob Frank enlisted with the 9th Calvary Regiment State Militia Volunteers. The Regiment remained for the most part in the central Missouri area, and saw action in a number of small skirmishes against guerrilla Confederate troops and sympathizers seeking to sabotage railroads and roads.
Jacob was one of the rare few soldiers in the Civil War who made it through the war without injury or illness. He was discharged on April 21, 1865 and returned home. However, a few months later he was again summoned to service. Although the war was over, gangs of Confederate sympathizers known as "Bushwackers" still plagued central Missouri. One of the gangs operating in the area eventually became known as the James-Younger gang (Jesse James' gang). Jacob re-enrolled under command of Lt. William H. Thomas in the Callaway County Volunteer Militia on July 5, 1865 and served off and on as needed to protect the countryside from Bushwackers.
After the war Jacob remained in Fulton. He worked for the next few decades in a local coal mine. Eventually as his health began to fail him, he took a less demanding job. On the 1900 census his job title was listed as "Market Gardener." He and Katherine lived on Market St., so it is possible that he worked as a caretaker at a nearby municipal park or garden.
Jacob and Katherine had nine children, 5 girls and 4 boys, all of whom lived to adulthood and married. For the most part their children married the children of other German immigrants, and stayed in Fulton. Their son Charles Henry "Charley" Frank is my g-g-grandfather.
Beulah, Charley, Forrest, Emma, Melvin and Effie Frank.
Charley Frank was born in 1865 in Fulton. He married Emma Weimeyer of Franklin county on 24 Sep 1890. Charley worked for the Backer family's grocery and bakery. He and Emma had four children, Effie, Melvin, Forrest, and Beulah. Effie married Poole Harrison from Mexico, Mo., and moved to the Chicago area, where the couple owned a chain of gas stations. The couple became quite rich but never had children. Melvin followed his father into the family business, eventually becoming co-owner of the Frank & Backer bakery. Melvin married Louise Humbrook, and they had one daughter, Marcella, who married Harry Johnson, and currently lives just north of Kingdom City. Beulah married a distant cousin, Frank Backer, who worked as a car salesman. They had two sons, Homer and Howard Backer. Howard lives in Los Angeles and Homer lives in Florida.
My great-grandfather, Forrest Sr. was born on October 27, 1896. He married Lela Harrison around 1918. They had one child, my grandfather, Forrest Jr. For the next few years, Forrest Sr. worked as a laundry truck driver in Fulton. He and Lela divorced around 1930, and Forrest Sr. moved to northern Indiana, where he managed a gas station owned by his brother-in-law Poole Harrison. Around 1945 he moved back to Fulton where he worked as a salesman at a department store. He died in 1953 at his son's house in St. Ann, Missouri. His death certificate lists the cause of death as stomach cancer.
The Frank family is a small family, with few living descendants today. Unlike the farmer families common on other branches of my family, who often had 10+ children, the Franks were city dwellers and often had two working spouses and little time for children. My research indicates that the only living descendants with the Frank last name are my grandfather and his family, of which only myself and my cousin James might still carry on the family name.
Below are documents related to the Frank family, including the military service record of Jacob Frank, census data sheets, and death certificates for my direct ancestors. I have also created a descendants chart that traces all the generations descended from Jacob Frank. It contains much more detailed information on the family.
Descendants of Jacob Frank -- A 'register report' style list of all the Frank relatives I have found so far.
Jacob & Katherine:
- Jacob Frank Civil War Service Card
- Jacob Frank Civil War Service Card 2
- Katharine Backer Frank Death Certificate
- Jacob Frank & Family 1860 Census
- Jacob Frank & Family 1870 Census Pg. 1 and Pg. 2
- Jacob Frank & Family 1880 Census
- Jacob Frank 1890 Veterans Schedule
- Jacob Frank & Family 1900 Census
- Charles Henry Frank Death Certificate
- Emma Weimeyer Frank Death Certificate
- Charles Frank 1900 Census
- Charles Frank 1910 Census
- Charles Frank 1920 Census
- Charles Frank 1930 Census
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Digging for Roots
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sanh.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today.
-- Inaugural Address of President Barack Obama, January 20, 2009.
Hello and Welcome!
The above quote pretty much sums up why I am interested in genealogy. The stories of our ancestors make us who we are today. Their life stories, both famous and obscure, rich and poor, remind us of the significance each life has on the rest of the world.
I have created this blog in order to keep my family updated on the findings of my genealogy research. Most of the posts will be updates on research into particular family lines. I will post updates and interesting stories I find on the families I am researching. Along the way I will also post on other subjects related to genealogy. I am especially interested in efforts to digitize ancient records and make them accessible to the public. I will post on these efforts as well as tips on the resources available on the internet that I have found most helpful in my searches.
Here are the main family names I will am researching:
My father's family:
- Frank
- Dickson
- Beasley
- Backer
- Shelton
My mother's family:
- Sullivan
- Hickey
- Gruenewald
My wife's father's family:
- Roberts
- Westerfield
My wife's mother's family:
- Ebelhar
- Riney
You can keep up to date on my findings for all of these families by subscribing to this blog's rss feed. Thanks for visiting, and I wish you the best of luck in your own searches.
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