My Genealogy Hound

Peter Bockelman. Prominent among the many enterprising and respected citizens of the county, and among those deserving special notice for their long residence in the county, stands the name of Mr. Bockelman, who was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1833. His parents, George F. and Anna (Ficken) Bockelman, were both natives of Hanover, Germany, and the father was a tiller of the soil. They immigrated to America in the fall of 1848, settling in Benton County, Mo., on what was then known as Big Prairie, where the father purchased and improved a farm. Here he died in 1860, at the age of sixty-five years. The mother died in 1884, at the age of eighty-four years. They were both members of the Lutheran Church, and took an active part in church work. Their family consisted of five children: Margaret, wife of Fred Behrens; Frederick (deceased), Peter, Henry, now a farmer of Benton County, and John C., also a farmer of Benton County. Peter Bockelman was educated in the schools of Germany, and came to America with his parents in 1848, when sixteen years of age. He stopped at St. Louis, and was engaged in teaming and in public work for a few months. He then went to St. Charles, Mo., and worked in a livery stable for three years. After this he went as teamster for a surveying company on the North Missouri Railroad, and remained with them for a number of months. He then visited his parents, and while there engaged with John Frink & Co., as a stage driver. He drove from Boeschenville to Warsaw, and was engaged in this business for three years and three months without missing a day, and endured many hardships. February 3, 1856, he married Mrs. Nancy E. Carrieo, a native of Benton County, and the daughter of James I. and Matilda Weaver, both natives of Tennessee. The father was among the first settlers of Benton County, and died in 1862, at the age of seventy-eight years. The mother died in 1878, at the age of seventy-seven years. Both were members of the Baptist Church. After marriage Mr. Bockelman purchased a farm of fifty-three acres in Williams Township, where he remained until 1863, when he purchased 160 acres, and to this he added until he now has 596 acres of excellent land. He and wife are the parents of four children: George, at home; James H., farmer in Benton County; John R., now on a farm in the county, and Sophia, wife of Henry Harms, of Cole County, Mo. Mr. and Mrs. Bockelman are devoted members of the Lutheran Church, and he takes an active part in church work. Politically he is a Republican. During the war he enlisted in the Benton County Home Guards, and was in the battle of Cole Camp, and received a gunshot wound in the thigh which partly disabled him from further duty. He is a liberal contributor to all public enterprises in the county. He commenced life a poor boy, but by industry and economy is now one of the leading men of the county, and is well known and respected by all.