I continue to work slowly through the descendants of Rosella Kelley with her two husbands, Frederick William (Fred W.) Becker Sr. and Edward Becker (who may have been born as Edward Ingstrom (or Engstrom). I have, more or less, finished with Bernard Frederick Becker (wife Ruby Croney), Clarence E. Becker (wife Dorothy ?), James Herbert Becker (wife Alice Belle Davis), and Frederick William Becker Jr. (wife Hortense Brown). I am now working on the next in line, Melvin L. Becker and then to the most difficult of all, William Becker. At that point I will switch to the children of Rosella and Edward, about whom I know little. If anyone has any information on the clan, please contact me.

I'm still working on the descendants of Amalia (formerly "Amelia") Wehner daughter of Lorenz and Flora Wehner (and niece of Nicholas Wehner). After some thought I decided to change the name from the Anglicized "Amelia" to the Germanic "Amalia" because that appears to be the spelling used by Lorenz and by Amalia's children. "Amelia" appears only in two censuses, taken by enumerators who may not have known the family. Actually, Amalia really used almost solely the name "Mollie." At present I am working on her grandchild Frederick William Becker Jr., who married Hortense Brown. Hortense's life is a little difficult to unravel, but I am making progress. Her mother and father, Harold Brown and Ary Leaman apparently divorced when Hortense was quite young. She then went to live with her Leaman grandparents and later on with a Thomas and Mary Ryan. I believe that Mary Ryan and Are Leaman may be one and the same, but I am having difficulty proving this. (Help would be appreciated.) Hortense married a "Hull" (first name?) and ended up working in East St. Louis where she met Fred Becker when they were both working for Sears. Hull apparently died and Hortense and Fred married. From then on things get easy though I do not have much information. Fred and Hortense ended up in Florida (possibly upon retirement) and they died there, Hortense on 28 Dec 1986 and Fred on 22 Feb 2002.

Thanks to the help of a descendant of Amelia Wehner, I have been able to add quite a bit on Amelia Wehner's children, particularly Frederick William Becker Sr. and his descendants. It's beginning to look like I might be able to finish this Albatross hanging from my neck - the Wehner book, Bier und Brot.

I was very lucky in being contacted today by a great granddaughter of Amelia Wehner and William F. Becker. I sent her a copy of the draft pages from my book on the Beckers so that we can discuss the Becker history. Otherwise the book is coming aloong slowly. It is entirely written, but is being continually updated, corrected, and expanded as I edit. At some point I need to stop. Today I am working on the descendants of William Wehner and Henrietta Burgsmüller. William, Lorenz's only son, moved to Crystal City, a town with more opportunities. Though William continued working as a blacksmith, most of his children went to work with (or married employees of) Pittsburgh Plate Glass (PPG) and most of his descendants are still in the area. Though there are still some questions, William's family has been relatively easy to trace.

One of Lorenz Wehner's children was Amelia M. Wehner (b 28 Mar 1860, d 21 Jan 1932), who married William F. Becker. The marriage ended in divorce but the family had two children, Elmer Bernard Becker (b 9 Jul 1887 d 22 Oct 1961), who left no descendants, and Frederick William Becker Sr. (b 26 Dec 1888 d 5 Apr 1955), who married Rosella (sometimes "Rose Ella") Kelley (b 22 Aug 1896 d 23 Mar 1959), who had lots of descendants. That is where the problem lies for Rosella was married twice, both times to a Becker, Frederick and Edward, who were apparently unrelated. It is difficult to tell what child belonged to whom and where they all ended up (Rosella had 12 children!). Some of Frederick's children ended up in Missouri (Pilot Knob and Festus) while Edward's may have stayed behind in Chicago. If you believe you are a descendant of this family please contact me, I would like to hear from you.

I am completing a book titled Bier und Brot, The Wehners of Southeast Missouri on the descendants (and to a limited extent the ancestors) of Lorenz Wehner and his younger brother Nicholas Wehner, who came to the United States in 1848 and 1847 respectively. The brothers ended up in Pilot Knob, Missouri, although Nicholas soon moved on to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. The book is very heavy on history with genealogy merely providing the skeleton to be fleshed out with with biography, tale, and anecdote (mostly confirmed). As I finish up this book, I plan to present the families and areas I am working on in hopes of being contacted. If you have information to share on this family or are a descendant, please contact me. I am best reached by email. (See my Profile.) And don't hesitate to add comments.