Beckemeyer Family History - A Web Page
by the Children* of Roy Stanley Beckemeyer and Loretta Marie (Anderhalter)
Beckemeyer of Beckemeyer, Illinois -
*Roy Beckemeyer, Elaine Beckemeyer
Soulé,
Richard Beckemeyer, and Jane Beckemeyer Hempen.
Page Maintained by Roy J. Beckemeyer
- UNDER
CONSTRUCTION -
Last Updated 23 July 2003
- Anyone having information on
our family tree or history is asked to get in touch with us by email at: 
This is a
combined chronology and tree. Entries for people and events are listed
chronologically. Note that information in gray font is uncertain and needs
further verification. Indentions are various generations. Entries
are given as - "Relationship to us: Name - EventN where the note
"N" is linked to the source of the information.
Paternal Great Grandfather: August Beckemeyer (Full name
August Heinrich Beckemeyer)1 - Born
8 March 18572 in
Mindin,
Germany(?)8 ,
Died 6 November, 19162.
But there is another record7 that lists August as 35
years old in 1886 on the birth of his 7th child, Edward, which would make his
birth date 1850 or 1851. See Family
History for additional information.
Paternal Great Grandmother: Elizabeth Beckemeyer (Full
name Elizabeth (Jacobs) Beckemeyer)1- Born
24 July 1858, Died 22 November, 19134 Born in Illinois8 .
But there is another record7
that lists Elizabeth Jacobs Beckemeyer as 38 years old on the birth of her 7th
child, Edward, which would make her birth date 1847 or 1848.
Paternal Great Grandparents: August
Beckemeyer & Elizabeth Jacobs - Married in Clinton County, Illinois, 27
August 18765
Paternal Grandfather: August Beckemeyer
(Full name John Von August Heinrich
Beckemeyer) - Born 2 January 1881 to August
Heinrich Beckemeyer & Elizabeth Jacobs Beckemeyer1 .
This date matches the age
given in the 1920 census8. There is
no known record of his death, according to family verbal lore. No record
found in the Illinois Statewide Death Index of 1916-1950.
Paternal Grandmother: Cora M.
Ackman - Born
3 June 18826 , Died 16 March,
19216,9 . [Maiden name may
have been Meyer according to family recollections.]
Paternal Grandparents: August
Beckemeyer and Cora M. Beckemeyer - Married
around 1906?8 . Paternal Grandparents and
their children were living on Fairfax
Street in Carlyle, Illinois in 19208.
Maternal Grandparents: Oliver V. Anderhalter and
Kathruyne (sic - should be Katherine) Vollet - Married 4 June 191513.
Paternal Grand Uncle: Edward Beckemeyer - Born 14 March
18867
Mother: Loretta Marie Anderhalter - Born 10 June,
1916, Died 26 March, 198014.
Children of August and Cora Beckemeyer - in 1920
census8:
Paternal Aunt: Hazel B. - age 13 - Born 4
November 1906, Died 29 March, 193112.
[Family lore has it she died of scarlet fever.]
Paternal Aunt: Reba R. - age 12.
Paternal Uncle: Keneth (sic) L. - age 11 - Kenneth L. Beckemeyer - Born 24 May, 190810.
Died 27 September, 195710. Known to
us as "Uncle Zev".
Paternal Aunt: Audrey G. - age 9.
Paternal Aunt - Olive M. - age 7.
Father: Roy - age 4 - Roy Stanley Beckemeyer - Born March 3, 191511.
Died 25 May, 195811. Worked as a
fireman (shoveling coal into a furnace) at the Zinc Smelter in
Beckemeyer. Died of Leukemia. Worked as a secretary (?) for
his labor union local, did people's taxes, and was Township Clerk for a
time. Known as "Pal" to friends and acquaintances in
Beckemeyer, Illinois.
Paternal Uncle: Gilbert R. - age 2.
NOTES ON SOURCES OF DATA
1Christening Certificate for
John Von August Heinrich Beckemeyer, Evang. Luth. Church, Carlyle, Illinois.
Christened 27 March, 1881.
2Tombstone
of "August Beckemeyer" in Beckemeyer Public Cemetery, Transcribed by
Thomas Kruse and posted on Clinton County Genealogy Website3.
There is also an entry in the Illinois Statewide Death Index 1916-1950 for
"August Beckemeyer". The dates fit the correct time span, but need to be checked with documents.
3Clinton County Genealogy
Website. Posted by
4Tombstone
of "Elizabeth Beckemeyer" in Beckemeyer Public Cemetery.
Transcribed by Thomas Kruse and posted on Clinton County Genealogy Website3.
The dates fit the correct time span, but need to be checked with documents.
5Illinois State
Marriage Records Posted on the Illinois State Website. Clinton County Vol.
1, Page 13, Lic. # 248.
6 Tombstone
of "Cora M. Beckemeyer" in Beckemeyer Public Cemetery. Transcribed
by Thomas Kruse and posted on Clinton County Genealogy Website3.
The dates fit the correct time span, but need to be checked with documents.
7 Clinton County Births, Jan.
1884 - Jun. 3, 1887. Clinton County Genealogy Website3.
7th child of August Beckemeyer and Elizabeth Jacob Beckemeyer, born in Buxton,
Illinois. Parents residing in Buxton, Father a farmer of German
Nationality and born in Germany, mother of German Nationality and born in
"Belle".
8 1920 Census - Clinton County -
Carlyle. Clinton County Genealogy Website3.
August Beckemeyer, 38 year old head of household, proprieter (sic) of garage,
born in Illinois, father born in Mindin, Germany, mother born in Illinois.
Cora Beckemeyer, 38 year old wife of August, born in Illinois, mother and father
born in Illinois.
9 Illinois Statewide Death
Index, 1916-1950. Illinois State Website. Cora M. Beckemeyer died 16
March, 1921 in Clinton County.
10 Tombstone of Kenneth L.
Beckemeyer in Beckemeyer Public Cemetery. Transcribed
by Thomas Kruse and posted on Clinton County Genealogy Website3.
11 Tombstone of Roy S.
Beckemeyer in St. Anthony's Cemetery, Beckemeyer, Illinois. Transcribed
by Thomas Kruse and posted on Clinton County Genealogy Website3.
12 Tombstone of Hazel Beckemeyer
in Beckemeyer Public Cemetery. Transcribed
by Thomas Kruse and posted on Clinton County Genealogy Website3.
13Illinois Statewide Marriage
Records, Clinton County to 1920. Illinois State Website.
14Tombstone of Loretta
Anderhalter Beckemeyer in St. Anthony's Cemetery, Beckemeyer, Illinois. Transcribed
by Thomas Kruse and posted on Clinton County Genealogy Website3.
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Family History
The village of Buxton, Illinois, in Clinton
County, was "a way station on the Ohio and Mississippi railroad", and
"...was laid out into town lots by Zophar Case in 1866, and named
Buxton by him in honor of H.P. Buxton, who was then an attorney for the
railroad.' (Wade Township History, from the Clinton County Genealogy Website3.
A web site that lists place name origins for Illinois noted that Buxton had a
Post Office 2 August 1867 through 19 Nov. 1886, and 21 July 1890 through 27 July
1905, when it changed to Beckemeyer. It also notes that Beckemeyer,
"named for the Beckemeyer family", was incorporated on 23 February
1905.
Family lore has it that our great
grandfather, August, donated land for the village and it was renamed
Beckemeyer. The 1913 Commercial History of Clinton County, Illinois
(Clinton County Genealogy Website3) says: "The
village of Beckemeyer was organized in 1905 by August Beckemeyer and several
other prominent citizens of that place. Previously it had been known as
Buxton...It has a population of approximately seven hundred souls. The
town has one mill, one mine, one zinc smelter, two banks, one saw and grist
mill, three large general stores, and two smaller ones, two hotels, one
restaurant, seven saloons, one barber shop, a telephone exchange, one large
hardware store, two lumber yards, two livery stables and a host of smaller
concerns."
We are still trying to obtain documentation
regarding the birth date of the August Beckemeyer who was the father of our
grandfather, but believe it was the August Beckemeyer who was born in Minden,
Germany in 1857. In an article on Henry Beckemeyer from Portrait and
Biographical Record of Clinton, Washington, Marion and Jefferson Counties,
Illinois (Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1894) that was
posted to the Clinton County Website by Connie Albers: "...[Henry
Beckemeyer's]...father, Christian Beckemeyer, was born in Minden, Prussia, in
May, 1813, and followed the occupcation of a farmer. His wife, whom he
married in Minden, was a native of that place and bore the maiden name of
Christina Poss. In 1857 he emigrated to America, and in November of that
year he settled in Merrimac Township, St. Louis County, Mo., where he engaged in
farming. In 1863 he came to Clinton County and settled on section 21,
where he followed his chosen occupation...In the family there were nine
children, six of whom are now living, namely: Christian, Henry, Christina, who
is married and lives in Wheatfield Township; William, August, and Harmon
H. The parents were members of the Lutheran Church, in which denomination
the father was an active worker both in the Old ountry and in the United
States. He assisted in building the church in Carlyle and was one of its
trustees. In his agricultural enterprises he was very successful, and at
his death [in December, 1880] bequeathed a farm to each child...". We
wonder if Christian might have been our Great-great grandfather, and if his son
August might have been our great grandfather. If so, he would have come
over to the US as a new baby in the year of his birth. There is so far no
documentation to this effect other than this circumstantial information.
We do know that our grandfather was chrstened in the Lutheran Church in Carlyle
in 1881.
Added 24 January, 2003: From the
Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild records of immigration in the 1800's, the
manifest of the ship Bremen, out of either Bremen or Hamburg, disembarking at
New Orleans on 28 Oct. 1857, were passengers: Christian Beckemeyer, 44 year old
farmer from Prussia, with his family: Christine, 42 year old wife, and children
16 year old H. Beckemeyer, 14 year old Ferdinand Beckemeyer, 10 year old
Christine Beckemeyer, 7 year old Wilhelm Beckemeyer, 6 year old August
Beckemeyer, 4 month old Gottlieb Beckemeyer. (Another passenger with the
surname Beckemeyer was listed before the family as: "Beckemeyer, ?.H.C., 15
years old, Miller, from Prussia. The "?" denotes a letter that
the transcriber could not make out.) This appears to be the correct family
discussed in the above paragraph.
Christian's son, Henry "...was born in
Minden, Prussia, September 21, 1841, and came to America in 1857...In
1866...[he]...was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Schroeder, a native of
Breese Township, Clinton County, and a daughter of John Schroeder, one of the
earliest settlers of that township, but now a resident of the village of
Breese. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Beckemeyer has resulted in the birth of
eleven children, as follows: John, Fredericka, who married John Schuckmann, and
has one child; Mary, the wife of George Schuchmann; August, Frederick, Frank,
Otto, Emil, Anthony, Bertha and Martha. Settling upon section 21 in 1875,
Mr. Beckemeyer engaged in farming...from his father he received one hundred and
sixty acres, and to this he has added by purchase until his landed possessions
now aggregate seven hundred and eighty and one-half acres...".
The 1913 Commercial History of Clinton County
refers to Henry as H. C. Beckemeyer, and states that, with his son Fred,
he started a lumber
yard in 1904. H. C. died in 1911 and Fred and his brother Emil took
over. It repeats that H. C. was a native of Minden, Germany, who came to the United States
in 1857, and married Elizabeth Schroeder of Breese, Illinois in 1866. He fought
in the Civil War, returning to Clinton County to farm and serve as Beckemeyer
City Treasurer and Wade Township Clerk. His son Fred was born in
1876.
The 1913 history also mentions the firm of
"Beckemeyer and Son", "...the largest general store in the
city. It is located south of the tracks and is housed in a fine two-story
brick building...Mr. August Beckemeyer, the Senior member of the firm, is one of
the pioneers in the county, having settled these when the county was in its
infancy...Oscar W. Beckemeyer, the active manager of the store, has been a
member of the firm for five years...he attended the University of Illinois and
graduated from that institution in 1907." [This may have been the building
that was, in the days when we were children, Diekemper's store. It is not
clear if the August Beckemeyer who owned the store in 1913 was our great
grandfather or not at this point. If he was, and Oscar W. was his son,
Oscar W. would be a great-uncle.]
We obviously have more questions at this
point than answers...
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Miscellaneous
Family recollections: Our grandfather, August, apparently
disappeared in mysterious circumstances. He may have been mayor of Carlyle
when this happened. The young sisters of our father were sent to Little
Rock Arkansas to live after their mother died. Juanita Beckemeyer's
married name was Stark. One of our relatives, possibly a great uncle, was
an architect and designed Diekemper's store. Our cousin, Nikki (Olive
Beckemeyer List's daughter) was given a brick from the building when it was torn
down for that reason.
When our parents married, our father converted to the Catholic
religion, and we all attended St. Anthony's grade school in Beckemeyer, and
eventually graduated from Mater Dei High School in Breese, a consolidated
school.
Roy J. Beckemeyer, 957 Perry Ave., Wichita, KS
67203-3141. Phone: 316-264-0049, FAX: 316-265-3640, Email: royb@southwind.net
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