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Below is a family biography included in The History of Franklin County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1888.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Frederick T. Beckmann, one of the oldest citizens and merchants of Franklin County, is the son of Frederick and Fredericka (Waldschmidt) Beckmann, who were born, married and reared a family of eight children in Hesse Cassel, Germany, where they passed their days. The father was a Protestant preacher, and lived to be sixty-two years of age. The mother died at the age of eighty-six. Frederick T. was born in Hesse Cassel in 1814, and received every advantage for an excellent education. After attending the public schools he graduated at the gymnasium, and then entered the university at Marburg, where he took a course in law, but a change of purpose caused him to take a course in theology, graduating in 1845. He then entered upon his ministerial duties, continuing at the same for about two and a half years. In 1850 he came to America, located in St. Louis, and, after living there a short time, moved to New Orleans, where he sold newspapers, books, etc. While there, and in 1852, he married Miss Charlotte B. Pfotenhauer, a highly educated German lady, born at Eisenach, Germany, in the year 1819. Having located in Ste. Genevieve he followed peddling for some time, after which he purchased a small farm near Ste. Genevieve, on which he lived for about five years. After spending some time in Illinois, he came to Franklin County, opened a store, and has continued merchandising ever since. In 1885 he had the misfortune to lose his wife, and is now spending his last days alone. Mr. Beckmann was a Democrat in politics before the war, and since that event has been a Republican. He is a member of the Evangelical Church, as was also his wife.

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This family biography is one of 305 biographies included in The History of Franklin County, Missouri published in 1888.  For the complete description, click here: Franklin County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Franklin County, Missouri family biographies, click here

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