Apr 02

Tombstone Tuesday–John & Friedericka Becher

John & Friedericka Becher, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

John & Friedericka Becher, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of John and Friedericka Becher, located in row 6 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed:

BECHER
Father
John F.
1864-1927

 Mother
Friedericka
1862-1951

According to the church records of Zion Lutheran, Chattanooga, Johann Friedrich Becher was born 14 March 1864 in Mercer County, the sixth child born to Johann and Anna Maria (Becker) Becher. He died 1 June 1927 of cancer at the age of 63 years, 2 months and 17 days. He was buried on 3 June and his funeral text was Rev. 3:11. Survivors included his widow, 5 sons, 9 grandchildren, 2 brothers and 3 sisters. According to John’s death certificate, he died of pancreatic cancer. [1]

John F. Becher death certificate, Mercer County, Ohio.

John F. Becher death certificate, 1927, Mercer County, Ohio.

Johann Becher married Louise Friederike Mamber on 11 November 1886 at Zion Chatt.  Witnesses to their wedding were Heinrich Becher and Emilie Rieger. Emily was also listed as a bridesmaid.

Louise Friedericke Mamber was born 27 October 1862 in Ochsenbach, OberAmt Brakanheim, Württemberg, according to Zion’s records. She died 1 March 1951 in Center Township, Mercer County. Her parents are shown as Unknown on her death certificate. [2]

Friedericka Becher death certificate, 1951, Mercer County, Ohio.

Friedericka Becher death certificate, 1951, Mercer County, Ohio.

Obituary:

Death Claims Mrs. Becher
Native Of Germany; Leaves Six Sons
Mrs. Fredericka Becher, 89, passed away at 1 p.m. yesterday in the home of her son, Carl, of near Neptune, where she had resided for the past four years. Death was attributed to complications.

She was born in Germany, October 27, 1862, and come to the United States in 1881. In 1886 she married John Becher, who preceded he in death. She lived several years near Chattanooga.

Survivors include six sons, Fred, Chattanooga; Carl, near Neptune; Roma, Albert, Ernest and Walter, all of Ft. Wayne, Ind.; 16 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

She was a member of Zion Lutheran Church of Chattanooga, where services will be conducted Sunday at 2:30 p.m., with Rev. Waldo Byers officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.

Friends may call at the Dick and Stallter funeral home, Rockford, after 7 p.m. this evening, and until time of the services. [3]

John and Friedericka had the following children:
Friedrich Wilhelm Becher (1887-1960?
Christian Carl Becher (1888-1960)
Rome Johann Phillip Becher (1896-1964)
Albert Wilhelm Becher(1897-1865)
Ernst Heinrich Becher (1900-1968)
Walter Heinrich Conrad Becher (1902-1984)
Louisa Wilhelmina Becher (1904-1926)

Their daughter Louisa (Becher) Hileman died shortly after the birth of her daughter Helen Jean in 1926 and Fredericka raised her granddaughter Helen Jean.

 

[1] “Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8LC-WPF : accessed 14 Mar 2013), John F Becher, 1 June 1927; citing Liberty Twp., Mercer, Ohio, Regis. Dist no. 5307, File no. 36736.

[2] “Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X6TF-LXL : accessed 14 Mar 2013), Fredericka Becher, 1 March 1951; citing Center Twp., Mercer, Ohio, Reg. Dist. No. 5300, State File no. 18610.

[3] The Daily Standard, Celina, Ohio, 2 March 1951, p.1.

Mar 29

Lutheran Records on Archives.com

Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, Ohio. (2009 photo by Karen)

Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, Ohio. (2009 photo by Karen)

This past week a large number of Lutheran church records were made available and searchable on Archives.com, a division of Ancestry.com. Archives.com released about 1,000 rolls of microfilmed church records, acquired through a partnership with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. This means that about 4.6 million individual Lutheran records are now available on-line.

This is of particular interest to me because I quickly discovered that some of Zion Chatt’s records are among the records that were recently released. Archives.com is a subscription website of which I am a member. I searched for a familiar name on their website and saw a church record book that I was very familiar with–Zion Chatt’s newer record book.

When I was growing up, Zion Chatt was a member of The American Lutheran Church (ALC). In 1986 three church bodies, the ALC, The Lutheran Church in America and The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, joined to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). This ELCA collection probably includes records from these earlier denominations and others as well. Zion Chatt is no longer a member of the ELCA. In 2011 Zion Chatt voted to join the newly-formed North American Lutheran Church (NALC).

When I heard that the ELCA had released about 4.6 million records of individuals, I had to take a look. I was curious because someone at church once mentioned that one of our record books had been filmed years ago. I have always wondered who had filmed it and when.

I was pretty sure that the Family History Library (FHL) had not filmed our records because no film from Zion Chatt is listed in their catalog. Zion Schumm’s records (1846-1989) have been microfilmed by the FHL and I have that film on permanent file at the St. Marys Family History Center. Zion Schumm is Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, so their church records would not be among the ELCA records.

I did several name searches in the ELCA records on Archives.com and I notice that the records stop at about 1940. There does not appear to be a way to browse through the records page by page. You have to do a name search.

Church records are some of the best records for genealogical research and the German Lutherans recorded some of the very best. The records in the ELCA Church Records Collection on Archives.com date from the mid-1800s-1940. Records include births, baptisms, confirmations, marriages, deaths, and burials. Within these records you often find parents’ names, dates, places and other information. Even if you can’t locate a birth/baptism record the confirmation records can be a very good source of birth information. Confirmation records often give the date of birth and the names of the parents and could be considered a birth record substitute if no other birth record exists.

Zion Chatt has two record books. The older book includes records from 1855-1892 and the “new” book has records 1893-present. I did several searches in the ELCA records on Archives.com and I did not get a hit for any of the names in Zion’s old book. It appears that the “new” book was the only book filmed years ago and that the older book is not on Archives.com. The older book is written entirely in the old German script. It would be no small feat to translate, transcribe and index that book. This I know from experience because I did just that in 2000, when I translated and compiled a book from the old records.

One thing that is interesting is that Chattanooga/Rockford is not listed as Zion’s location in the Archives.com index. The index makes it appear that Zion Chatt’s records are from Christ Lutheran Church in Columbus, Ohio. Christ Lutheran is actually in Bexley, a suburb of Columbus. Christ Lutheran is very near Trinity Lutheran Seminary and the ELCA Region 6 Archives are at Trinity Seminary. I suspect that our filmed records have been stored at the Region 6 Archives but I am not sure why they are indexed as being from Christ Lutheran Church.

So if you search in the ELCA records on Archives.com, the church location in their index may not be the actual location of the church. The church you are seeking may be indexed as a different location.

The Region 6 Archives has a lot of information about the Lutheran churches in the Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Lower Peninsula of Michigan. They were extremely helpful to me when I compiled a history of Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, and its pastors for our 150th anniversary in 2005.

Mar 26

Tombstone Tuesday–Friedrich Becher

Friedrich Becher, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

Friedrich Becher, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Friedrich Becher, located in row 3 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. His tombstone is located between the markers of his wife Margaretha and their son John. It is broken and unreadable.

According to Zion’s Family Register in the old church record book, Friedrich Becher was born 9 November 1797 in Schliegenreith [sp?], District Oberfranken, Kingdom of Bavaria. He was the son of Nickolaus & Gertaudt Becher. After his confirmation he stayed with his parents until he was 19 years old, at which time he entered the service/employment. [It is unclear if the record meant he entered the military service or was employed by someone.]

When Friedrich was 33 years old he married Margaretha (Schmidt) Haffner, the widow of Dietrich Haffner. Margaretha and Friedrich had a son Johann, born 20 March 1833. Margaretha had two sons from her first marriage, Conrad and George Haffner.

Friedrich and Margaretha and their children lived in Thuisbrunn for several years before immigrating to America in 1840. They lived in Butler County, Ohio, for nearly a year and then moved to Mercer County.

Friedrich died 25 January 1878 at the age of 80 years, 2 months and 16 days. His wife passed away in 1875.

As noted in last week’s Tombstone Tuesday, the Bechers lived in Black Creek Township, Mercer County. According to the 1853 Mercer County Plat Book, Black Creek Township, p. 305, Friedrich’s 65 acre farm was located in the west part of the southwest quarter of Section 31. His farm was described as excellent land valued at $605. He had 29 acres of plowed land, 7 acres of meadow and a cabin house and barn.

Mar 22

The Sewing Circle is Smaller

Quilts, Zion Chatt.

Quilts, Zion Chatt.

Zion Chatt’s sewing circle is smaller these days. Catherine (Leininger) Miller, one of Zion’s faithful sewers, passed away last week. Catherine liked to knot the comforts sewn by Zion’s Women of the Church, tying knots with heavy thread to bind the layers of fabric together.

Catherine Miller, at the age of 90, was the oldest female lifetime member of Zion Chatt. Catherine was born 30 October 1922 in Mercer County, Ohio to Theodore “Ted” and Carrie (Becher) Leininger. Catherine was baptized 7 December 1922 by Rev. Albrecht at Zion, confirmed 31 May 1936 by Rev. Carl Yahl at Zion and married 29 December 1945 at Zion. Her funeral was 16 March 2013 at Zion. And she faithfully attended services at Zion all throughout her lifetime.

L to Rt Front: Helen Miller, Lela Bollenbacher, Rev. Carl Yahl, Irene Schott, Catherine Leininger. Back: Johh Willrath, Paul Schott, Catherine Becher, Laverne Ripley, Cleo Heffner, Rosemary Byer, Waldo Stuckey, Kenneth Byer.

1936 Confirmation Class. L to Rt Front: Helen Miller, Lela Bollenbacher, Rev. Carl Yahl, Irene Schott, Catherine Leininger. Back: Johh Willrath, Paul Schott, Catherine Becher, Laverne Ripley, Cleo Heffner, Rosemary Byer, Waldo Stuckey, Kenneth Byer.

Catherine’s maternal Becher family line goes to back to the very beginning of Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga. In fact, Catherine’s great-great-grandparents were sponsors for the first child baptized at Zion. Zion’s first recorded baptism was that of Johann Haeffner, born 22 October 1854 and baptized 18 November 1854 by Rev. Gackenheimer. His sponsors were Johann Becher, Friedrich and Margaretha Becher. This baptism actually occurred a couple months before Zion’s official formation in 1855.

If you follow my Tombstone Tuesday blog posts you will notice that I have recently featured members of the Becher family of Chattanooga. This past Tuesday I featured the tombstone of Margaretha (Schmidt) Becher, Catherine’s great-great-grandmother. Margaretha (Schmidt) Haffner married Friedrich Becher. Their son Johannes Becher married Anna Maria Becker. Friedrich and Anna Maria’s seventh child was Heinrich Conrad Becher who married Rosina Schlenker. Heinrich and Rosina’s daughter Carrie Becher married Ted Leininger. Ted and Carrie were Catherine’s parents.

Catherine’s maternal Becher line looks like this:
Friedrich Becher (1797-1878) & Margaretha Schmidt (1800-1875)
Johannes Becher (1833-1883) & Anna Maria Becker (1837-1917)
Heinrich Conrad (1866-1906) & Rosina Schlenker (1871-1964)
Ted Leininger (1895-1992) & Carrie Becher (1898-1988)
Glenn Miller (1923-1994) Catherine Leininger (1922-2013)

Catherine’s great-great-grandfather Friedrich Becher and great-grandfather Johannes Becher were both born in Germany and came to America about 1840. All of this wonderful family history is from Zion’s church records. Thanks to the German Lutherans for being great record-keepers.

Catherine & Dolores at Zion, 2005.

Catherine & Dolores at Zion, 2005.

We will miss seeing Catherine at church on Sunday mornings. She sat on our side of the church, about half way back. We don’t have assigned seating at Zion but everyone seems to sit in their own particular pew on Sunday mornings. As I recall, Catherine and her husband Glenn used to sit on the other side of the church before Glenn passed away in 1994. I think her parents used to sit near them back then.

I remember going to Sunday School and Bible School with Catherine’s children, Janet and Jerry. I remember the times her sister and nieces would attend Zion for a visit. Catherine often helped with Vacation Bible School in the summer. She said she enjoyed being around the children. She was also the Parkway High School secretary for 21 years.

Sewing and knotting comforts at Zion Chatt.

Sewing and knotting comforts at Zion Chatt.

Every year Zion’s Church Women sew between 50-100 comforts for Lutheran World Relief and now the sewing circle is a little smaller. And we will always remember this great lady who knotted the comforts.

 

 

 

Mar 19

Tombstone Tuesday–Margaretha Becher

Margaretha Becher, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

Margaretha Becher, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Mercer County, Ohio. (2011 photo by Karen)

This is the tombstone of Margaretha Becher, located in row 3 of Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer County, Ohio. All that is readable of the broken marker is: Margaretha.

The Mercer County Chapter OGS read and transcribed the tombstones in Zion’s Cemetery in 1990. Their transcription of this stone indicates that it belongs to Margaretha Becher, who died 4 May 1875 at the age of 75 years, 3 months and 18 days. She was the wife of Friedrich Becher. [1]

According to Zion’s old Family Register Margaretha Becher was born 16 January 1800 in Thuisbrun, District Oberfranken, Kingdom of Bavaria, to Johann and Kunigunde Schmidt. She married Dietrich Haffner in Bavaria and they had three sons, Conrad, George and George. The middle son died young but Conrad (1822-1878) and Georg (1828-1898) reached maturity. Dietrich Haffner died in 1828 and Margaretha married Friederich Becher in about 1830. They had a son Johann Becher (1833-1883). Their son Johann/John and his wife Anna Maria were featured here in last week’s Tombstone Tuesday.

Margaretha and Friedrich Becher resided in Thuisbrun with their sons until they immigrated to America in 1840. They lived in Butler County, Ohio, for nearly a year before moving to Liberty Township, Mercer County. What a wealth of information, all from the Family Register!

Her death record was later in the church records: Margaretha Becher died 4 May 1875 at the age of 75 years, 3 months and 18 days.  Her funeral text was the 23rd Psalm.

In 1850 Friedrich “Bachar“ (52) was living with wife Margaretha (50) and sons George (21) and John (17) in Black Creek Township, Mercer County. The census indicates they were all born in Germany. Margaretha’s son Conrad Hefner (28) was married and living next door. [2]  

In 1860 Friedrich (62) and Margaretha (60) were still living in Black Creek Township. They were living next door to son Conrad Heffner (38) and near to son George Heffner (35). Their name was listed as “Baker“ and Friedrich was a farmer. [3]

The Bechers were still living in Black Creek Township in 1870 and were enumerated as Fredrick (72) and Margret (70) Bakeher, Fredrick was a retired farmer and both were born in Bavaria. They were living next to Coonrod and George Hafner. [4]

Margaretha’s tombstone is located next to her husband’s marker. Their son and daughter-in-law John and Anna Maria Becher are buried immediately to the north. Margaretha‘s son and daughter-in-law Conrad and Margaret Heffner are buried immediately to the south of  the Becher markers. Son and daughter-in-law George and Sophia Heffner are buried in the same row, just a little farther north.

 

[1] The Mercer County Chapter OGS, Mercer County, Ohio, Cemetery Inscriptions, Vol. VI, Blackcreek, Hopewell, Liberty Townships  (Celina, Ohio: Privately printed, 1990), 95.

[2] 1850 U.S. Census, Mercer, Ohio, Black Creek Township, p. 290B, line 34, dwelling 73, family 78, Fredk Bachar; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 March 2013); from National Archives microfilm M432, roll 710.

[3] 1860 U.S. Census, Mercer, Ohio, Black Creek Township, p. 333, line 23, dwelling 629, family 634, Fredrik Baker; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 March 2013); from National Archives microfilm M653, roll 1009.

[4] 1870 U.S. Census, Mercer, Ohio, Black Creek Township, p. 298, line 21, dwelling 157, family 157, Fredrick Bakeher; digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 March 2013); from National Archives microfilm M593, roll 1243.