The Becker Family



Johannes Becker (John Becker in English) was born in Oberlein (or Coberlein) West Phalia, Prussia on the 22nd of May, 1824. He was the son of Nicholas and Magdalena Becker. He immigrated to America around 1850 and settled in Hamtramck, Michigan which was later renamed Detroit, Michigan.

Johannes married Elisabeth Friedrichs on the 21st of May, 1855 in St. Mary’s Church in Detroit, Michigan. They both gave their residences as Mackinaw. This is not the Mackinac at the tip of the peninsula, but rather the small township of Mackinaw that existed on the near west side of Detroit in the 1850s.

Johannes Becker was an ambitious man. Soon after he married Elisabeth Friedrichs, Elisabeth’s father gave to Johannes several plots of land on Gratiot Avenue just outside the eastside of downtown Detroit. It was on this land that Johannes built his cooper shop. The building was done in 3 phases, each one enlarging the cooper shop. (A cooper is a person who builds barrels and casks.) John’s business flourished in the 1860’s as the shop was very busy supplying barrels and casks to the Civil War effort. Johannes’s father, Nicholas Becker also worked as a cooper in this Gratiot Avenue shop as well as Johannes’ son Nicholas.

Johannes (now called John) joined the Union Army in 1862 and fought in many battles of the Civil War, including the Battle of Gettysburg in which he was severely injured.

Johannes and Elisabeth Friedrichs Becker had 5 children, Sophie Becker Ott, born 25 February, 1856, Nicholas John Becker, born in 1858, John H. Becker, born in May, 1865, Mary E. Becker and Elizabeth Becker.

Our great grandmother Sophie Becker married Wilhelm Ott and had 3 children, Elisabeth Ott Bender, Anne K. Ott and Agnes Ott Koch Mc Dermitt. Wilhelm Ott had 2 children, Pauline Ott and Adolf Ott by his first wife Elisabeth Braun who died of cancer at age 43.

Elisabeth Ott married Henry Bender and had 6 children who survived infancy, Arthur Bender, Beatrice Bender Gamache, Mildred Bender Neff, Harold (Elmer) Bender, Edward Paul Bender and Norman John Bender.


Becker Family Links:

If you like what you see, please sign the Guestbook and/or send us an email.