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Surnames: Becker, Loch, Klein, Stoll & Foster
Classification: Biography
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/gh.2ADI/5402
Message Board Post:
"History of Huntington County, Indiana"1914 By Frank S. Bash pg. 499-501
Michael J. Becker. The adroit manipulation of the chisel has at all times commanded a
liberal share of the world’s applause and admiration. It has preserved to us the beauty of
antiquity, has marked the resting-place of our dearest and most beloved friends, and has
made the home of their mortal remains a garden of art and loveliness; it has also
contributed largely to the beauty of our cities, the adornment of our public parks and to
the perpetuating of the memory of the great and the good. In this connection it is a
pleasure to present a review of the life of one of the masters of his craft, Michael J.
Becker, who as a born carver of stone has won his way to fame and recognition.
Mr. Becker was born in the city of Huntington, Indiana, November 29, 1859. He is the
youngest son of Jacob Becker, one of the early residents of this city, a native of
Prussia, who was born July 25, 1824, and was the oldest of five children, four sons and
one daughter, the mother being Mrs. Elizabeth (Loch) Becker, also a native of Prussia. At
the age of twelve years Jacob Becker began to learn the trade of a stonecutter, and on
completing his apprenticeship started to work as a journeyman, but left his trade when he
joined the army, as is customary with the youths of his native land. Entering the Prussian
military service, he remained therein for four and one-half years, and during this time,
in February, 1850, was married to Miss Elizabeth Klein, daughter of Jacob and Catherine
(Stoll) Klein, natives of Prussia. In 1852 Jacob Becker, his wife and child, father and
mother, three brothers and a sister, emigrated to America and reached New York on the 5th
of April. From that!
city the little party removed to Williamsport, New York, and later to Wilkes Barre,
Pennsylvania, and Huntington was reached December 11, 1852. The period from 1873 until
1877 was spent in Logansport, but in the latter year Mr. Becker returned to Huntington,
and here continued to reside until the time of his death. He was an honest, industrious
and thrifty workman, skilled in his trade and possessed of strict integrity. He won the
friendship and esteem of his fellow men and at all times proved himself loyal to his
adopted country and its interests. In political matters he was a stalwart democrat, while
his religious connection was with the Catholic church. Six children were born to Mr. and
Mrs. Becker: Elizabeth, Jacob F., Nicholas, Peter, Michael J., and Margaret, of whom three
are deceased.
Michael J. Becker was educated in the Catholic schools of Huntington, but at the age of
thirteen years laid aside his books to take up the hammer and chisel in association with
his father, who had entered the monument business. Thus he learned the business of a stone
cutter and then a letterer, gradually acquiring a knowledge of every department of the
business. At the age of nineteen he took over the management of the business, which he has
since conducted with a full measure of success, and this is now one of the oldest concerns
of its kind in Huntington county, as well as one of the most reliable. An artist of true
genius, his love for the picturesque and beautiful asserts itself in every detail of his
business, and the work that comes from his establishment has excited admiration all over
Huntington and the surrounding country. The mechanical equipment of the monument works is
driven by electricity, sufficient horse power thus being secured. An ever increasing
volume of!
business testifies to the place Mr. Becker has made for himself in his special field of
endeavor. Mr. Becker is a member of the Knights of Columbus, he belongs to Ss. Peter &
Paul’s Catholic church of Huntington, which the members of his family also attend and in
the work of which they have been active. The pleasant family home is located at No. 1034
Oak street.
In 1881 Mr. Becker was married to Miss Margaret A. Foster, a daughter of Michael and
Catherine (Klein) Foster. To this union have been born the following: Ferdinand J., a
graduate of the Huntington Business University, who is associated with his father in the
monument business; Carl G., a graduate of St. Joseph’s College; Hilda E., a music teacher;
Marcellus C a graduate of St. Francis College and a musician; Leo M., also associated with
his father; Bertha M., a graduate of St. Mary’s high school; and Beatrice, Margaret and
Agnes, students of Ss. Peter & Paul’s school. The entire family are musically educated
and have a family orchestra that has attracted wide attention and interest at the many
occasions at which they have exemplified their talent. Mr. M. J. Becker has played with
the city bands of Huntington since he was fourteen years of age in the capacity of
cornetist, and also filled the same position in the Huntington theater for many years.