My Immigrant Beckers from "France"

My gg-grandparents are Nicholas Becker and Anna Marie Butro from France.  One of the things I love about writing this blog is that it makes me review the research I have in hand and search to see if their are "new" items that may have been added since the last time I researched these ancestors.  This time, once again, I hit "pay dirt." 

I knew that my Becker immigrants had come from Lorraine, France.  I also "proved" for the Hamilton County Genealogical Society that this set of ancestors was living in Cincinnati before 1860.  This enabled me to submit their names and documentation for inclusion in the "Settlers and Builders" Lineage Group.  However, in preparation for this post, I found a few "new" facts that I did not know when I was submitting my original application.

I had not attempted to find out where the Beckers were buried.  I should not have been surprised that I found them in St. John's Cemetery in St. Bernard, Ohio.  Numerous other relatives from this family and the Irish family they married into are buried in that cemetery.  Unfortunately, all of them are in unmarked graves.

Last week I visited the cemetery office located at St. Mary's Cemetery and was able to get a map showing the general location of their graves.  In addition, they provided me with a list of names of the six people who are buried in the plot.  The office told me to look for the grave marker for Joseph Hauscher and his wife, Augusta, who were buried in marked graves in the same plot.  I took a picture to use as a reference point and discovered that the marker for Augusta was no longer there (for whatever reason).

I have no idea who the Hauschels are.  The "M" designates that the grave has a marker (as pictured above).  Anna and Nicolaus Becker are buried there, along with two young grandchildren of their daughter, Rose, and her husband, Charles Gross.  I have at least 13 relatives buried in this cemetery and none of their graves are marked.  I think it speaks to their level of poverty at that time.  I wonder how many of my readers have relatives buried in unmarked graves.

Thanks to the Civil War service of one of the Becker sons, Victor, I know that the family emmigrated from a small town in France called Sarraltroff, (Lorraine) Moselle, France.  The father, Nicholas, listed his occupation as "farmer." (I've since learned, however, that everyone was listed as a "farmer" unless they were traveling in a higher class).  A google search of the town shows that even today the population is less than 800. You can view copyrighted pictures of Sarraltroff by clicking on this link.

Charles' Widow -- Rosina (Rose) Becker Gross

Charles C. Gross died at age 37 leaving his wife with four children to raise on her own.  In the 1910 Census, Rose is listed as the mother of seven children, with four still alive.  (Two children, Charles and Katharina, died before the age of two.  I've not been able to identify the third child).  So what is known about Rose Becker?

Rose was the daughter of Nicolaus Becker and Anna Marie Butro.  She was born in Lorraine, France.  The Alsace-Lorraine area of France is very confusing for genealogists.  The region was largely comprised of ethnic Germans.  This website does a great job of summarizing the political changes that have taken place over the centuries.

Table Credit: Website Linked Above in Narrative

When the Beckers emigrated to the United States in the 1860s, they were citizens of France (and Census records reflect this fact).  In the 1910 Census, their ethnicity is listed as German (French).  When I speak of my own ethnicity, I do not include a French component, even though the region is currently part of France.

Rose was older than her husband, Charles.  Despite inconsistent age listings for Rose, her Death Certificate lists her date of birth as May 2, 1832.  (Most other documents say she was born in May, 1831 and I believe this to be true).  That would mean that Rose was 33 years old and Charles was only 22 when they married in Cincinnati on June 21, 1864.  Charles, a veteran of the Civil War, was working as a baker.

Over the next year, the couple had seven children.  The youngest, Alice (Eliza) was born in 1874.  It was shortly after her birth that Charles became an "invalid" and was unable to work for the next four years.  We know that he died on January 3, 1879 at the age of 37.  Rose was a widow and mother of four surviving children at the age of 48.  She was a first-generation immigrant in a country where English was a second language, her husband was incapacitated living in an age when there was no such thing as Social Security.  So how did she survive?  In a word -- family!  We'll discuss this in the next post.