The Becker-Hemmerich Families

The Becker-Hemmerich Families
Information taken from “The Becker-Hemmerich Families” a Genealogical Collection by Arthur
M. Schumann and W. H. Beers, History of Montgomery County, 1882.
Randolph Township history recognizes the contribution of many different Becker families
throughout the years. Most are probably related to John I who was born on the Atlantic Ocean
in 1737 when his parents moved to America from southwest Germany (the palatinate region
west of the Rhine). He had a son, John II, born in Bedford Co., Pennsylvania. Later the family
moved to Lancaster Co., PA. John II and his wife whose maiden names was Snowberger had 9
children who lived to adulthood: John III, Jacob, Samuel, Andrew, Marie, Henry, David,
Elizabeth and Nancy. John II brought his family to Randolph Twp., Montgomery County, Ohio in
1815. He was accompanied by the William Hart family and they settled on adjoining farms in
sections 4 and 5 of the township. John III soon married Rebecca Hart with whom he had five
children: Henry, David, Rebecca, Abraham and Annie. John III worked with his father John II to
clear about 103 acres in Section 4. The two men working together made many improvements
on the land including a sawmill along Pigeye Creek, a subsidiary of the West Branch. Both were
millers and John III also served as a township trustee for several years. Rebecca Hart Becker
died in November 1856. Her husband, John III, died a year later at about the age of 66. While
growing up, young Henry and probably some of his brothers and sisters attended a nearby
subscription school. This most probably was a log school run by Quakers at West Branch. Henry
married Sarah Shiltz of Darke County, Ohio in 1840. His father gave him the sawmill and 24
acres around it where he continued to ply his milling trade. In 1865, Henry built a new sawmill
and shipped large quantities of black walnut to distant points on the C. H. & D. Railroad which
stopped at Becker Station. Sarah and Henry had six children: Sarah A. (died age 22), Catherine
(m. Fred Hemmerich), Thomas J. (m. Martha Hickman), John S. (m. Elizabeth Weybright),
Clement and Isaac. Children of some of these later Becker’s may have attended No. 19 school
in 1906, i.e., Raleigh, Clifford and Ralph Becker and perhaps even Clarence and Ethel Baker.
Residents may recall that an early hotel in Harrisburg stood at the southwest corner of
St. Rt. 48 and U.S. Rt. 40. This hotel went by several names but in 1880 it was called the
National Hotel and was owned by Jacob E. Becker born in Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania in 1833.
His father was Henry Becker who may have been John III’s younger brother who bought a farm
of 160 acres in Montgomery County, Ohio near Liberty (Madison Twp.). When Henry died in
1851, Jacob ran the farm for three years but after his marriage to Nancy Cox in 1857 tried
various pursuits before settling into the restaurant and hotel business. He and Nancy had four
children three of whom survived to adulthood: Charles E., Clara and Emma. Sometime later,
Charles E. was running the local hotel under the name of Harrisburg Hotel. The sign in front of
the hotel building shows up in many of Edwin Sink’s photos of Englewood ca. 1915.