John Becker was born on June 14, 1844, son of John and Margaret Rousch Becker, in a small town near Metz, France. The earliest known artifact belonging to him is dated 1844 and has an address, Bistroff, Moselle, France.
I never met my great-great grandfather John Becker, but through his diaries, have grown to love him. He was a pioneer of the rugged North Country, a man who put the welfare and concerns of others ahead of his own needs. He was an immigrant, a husband and father, a devout Catholic, an educator, a logger, a builder. John Becker was a farmer, a miller, a boatman on the Erie Canal, an assessor, a Justice of the Peace, a store manager and bookkeeper. His voice is made clear to us in his collection of diaries which he so copiously kept. Through them he becomes a man of all seasons and a man for all time.
Thank you to my aunt, Sharon Murphy Marti, and my mother,
Betty Murphy Moonan for sharing these precious diaries.
Please note - the diary entries have been transcribed exactly as written.
John Becker Obituary
Original newspaper clipping from the Journal and Republician,
Lowville, NY, Thursday, April 17, 1930. <http://nnyln.org/>
Catholic Missal dated 1849.
*The leather cover dated 1844, the year of his birth, which was wrapped around his earliest diary (1864).
