Friedrich Johann Bechly | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 21, 1807 |
| Died | January 26, 1892
Sheboygan, Wisconsin, U.S |
| Nationality | German American |
| Other names | Tenacresmith |
| Occupation | knife maker |
| Known for | Bechly family patriarch in America |
| Spouse | Charlotte Beutel |
| Children | 14 |
Friedrich Johann Bechly (1807–1892) was patriarch of the Bechly family in America.
Personal life
Friedrich Johann Bechly was born to Friedrich Georg Bechly (1778–1844) and Christina Krummrey (1779-1844) in Prenzlau, within the Uckermark region of what is now Brandenburg, Germany. [1] Friedrich married Charlotte Christine Beutel (1812-1876) in 1833 [1] and they had 14 children together. [1] [2] Eight of their children died as infants in Germany. [1] Their German family records are maintained at the French Church of Friedrichstadt in Berlin, Germany. [1] [3] Bechly died in 1892 and is buried in Wildwood Cemetery in Sheboygan, Wisconsin with his wife and four of his children. [2] [4]
Immigration to America
Friedrich Johann Bechly is the patriarch of the Bechly family in America. [3] [2] In 1852 Bechly emigrated from the Kingdom of Prussia with his wife and six children. [3] [2] They arrived in New York City with no friends to greet them. [5] They were alone in a great crowd with little knowledge of their new environment. [5] They had followed other emigrants from Germany who had already dispersed to other parts of the nation. [5] Bechly traveled by boat to Albany, and then by rail to Buffalo where he learned that there was a sizable German settlement near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. [5] He brought his family there to Town Herman where they found friends from their homeland. [5] [2]
Bechly Corners
Bechly purchased ten acres of land at a crossroads in Mosel, Wisconsin, within Sheboygan County. [5] [6] He used his remaining funds to purchase sawmill lumber to build a temporary house and a blacksmith shop which became known as Bechly Corners. [3] [5] The first house was little more than a board shanty that used four equidistant trees that served as columns to which he used the sawmill lumber to build crude walls and a roof. [5] Bechly later built a log cabin on the property as a permanent residence for his family. [5] He became a knife maker known as "Tenacresmith", with the nickname being that he owned ten acres and worked as a smith. [3] [6] Two of his children became involved in Sheboygan's thriving cigar industry in the late 1800s with son Ferdinand owning a cigar box factory, and son Charles owning the Charles Bechly Cigar Store on the corner of Eighth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Sheboygan City. [3] [4] [6]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Bechly family archive, Consistorium der Franzosischen Kirche, Berlin, Germany
- ^ a b c d e National Demokrat, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, January 28, 1892
- ^ a b c d e f Bechly, P.L. (2018), The Bechly Family in North America, Azeas Consulting. ISBN 9781970138016
- ^ a b Findagrave memorial for Friedrich Johann Bechly.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Fred Bechly Dies Suddenly, Poweshiek County Palladium, Vol 21, January 26,1916, Montezuma, Iowa.
- ^ a b c Former Sheboygan Man Makes Headlines on the Western Coast, Sheboygan Press, January 25, 1951, p.7
External links
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