The Berk Families

“The Berk Families”
Written by Sue Cummings
Bob Frantz donated an original photo of the Louis Berk family to the historical society.
Bob identified the people in the photo, including his grandmother Alice Berk Frantz, wife of
Marion Frantz, his grandfather. I have sorted out the information for this column from Bob’s
notes, biography of Henry V. Berk of Randolph Twp. from Beer’s 1882 History of Montgomery
County, and from phone conversations with Louis Berk (Brookville) and Margaret Berk Hough
(Dayton), whose fathers were brothers and sons of Louis Franklin Berk.
Henry Berk, Sr. was a native of Hesse Darmstadt, Germany. He and his wife Margaret
Abt had three sons. Both Henry, Sr. and his wife died at age 39 and only two sons were still
alive in 1882: Lewis and Henry V., Jr. Henry V., Jr. was born in Germany in 1816 and trained as
a cabinetmaker. He came to America in 1836, landing at Baltimore. Shortly thereafter, he
traveled to Frederickstown, Maryland, then Vienna Crossroads, Clark Co., Ohio and then to
Dayton. By 1857, Henry V., Jr. had purchased 28 acres in Randolph Twp. He has acquired 400
acres in Randolph Twp. by 1882.
In 1840, Henry V., Jr. married Anna Glass and they had eight children: Amelia, Anna,
Enna, Ellen, Henry, Louis and Theodore. Henry V., Jr. saw that all of his children received some
of his land. The Montgomery County Atlas of 1895 shows Henry Berk (the son) owning 160
acres (northeast quarter of Section 28) and Louis owning about 100 acres (northwest quarter of
Section 27). The two farms were separated by Union Road and each was south of Wenger
Road. Their neighbors were the Moist’s, Engle’s and Mann’s. The photo, ca. 1902, shows the
Berk farmhouse, and Louis Franklin, his wife Mary and children Frank W., Clara F., Mary Alice,
Harry Albert and Earl Ralph born between 1878 and 1893. Clara married Melvin Bennet and her
daughter Ruth are also in the photo. Bob Frantz’s grandmother Mary Alice was the wife of
Marion Frantz and their son Harry was Bob’s father. Margaret Berk Hough’s father was Harry
Berk who married Martha Black. Louis’ father was the youngest son, Earl Berk, and he married
Ethel Black, sister of Martha. The Black’s were from Covington, Ohio.
More details on these families can be found in the society’s genealogy archives along with the
original photo.