MENKER BIOGRAPHIES, Henry County, Missouri ==================================================================== MENKER, Bernard - b: 1843 Germany source: 1919 History of Henry Co MO, Uel W. Lamkin, Historical Publishing Co - page: 427 residence: Germantown, Deepwater Twp Bernard Menker. In the neighborhood of Germantown, in Deepwater township, Henry County, Missouri, is the oldest German settlement in the western part of Missouri. This settlement began nearly ninety years ago when the Schmedding brothers came to this locality and built the first cabins in this part of the county. A Catholic Church was built and a congregation formed as early as 1834, and its growth was steady as the years passed. Many excellent German families crossed the ocean to become a part of the new settlement which gradually spread to all parts of the southwest part of Henry County. The people living in this part of the county are prosperous, happy and loyal to the land of their adoption and all have excellent homes and good families who take a just pride in the accomplishments of their ancestors, who came to this country to find homes for themselves and their kinfolks. Bernard Menker, who resides on the old Weisman place, which was originally the Barney Hagebock place, the first proprietor of the farm having erected a splendid stone house as early as 1860, he having come from Osage County to Henry County in 1839, is one of the oldest and best known of the old settlers of the Germantown neighborhood. Mr. Menker was born in Germany May 26, 1843, and immigrated to America in 1861. He was accompanied across the ocean by his sister, Francesca Menker, who later became the wife of Franz Weisman. Mr. Menker joined his relatives in Henry County and has been a continuous resident of the Germantown neighborhood with the exception of one year spent in Germany in 1880, when he returned to the land of his birth for an extended visit. He is a Democrat in politics and is a member of the Germantown Catholic Church. Mr. Menker makes his home with his nieces, the Misses Josephine, Elizabeth and Louisa Weisman, on the Weisman homestead. He is owner of 240 acres of land. The late Franz Weisman was born in Germany in 1835 and died at his home near Germantown in 1907. He immigrated to America in 1866 and settled at Germantown, Henry County, where he was married to Francesca Menker in August, 1866. Mrs. Francesca Weisman was born in 1836 and died in 1895. Mr. and Mrs. Weisman made their home continuously in the large stone house which now shelters their three daughters and Mr. Menker. They accumulated 290 acres of land, 170 acres of which adjoins Germantown and 120 acres is in another tract. There were eight children born to Franz and Francesca Weisman as follows: Mrs. Francesca Tilling, Walker township; Frank Weisman; Mrs. Anna Schmedding; Elizabeth, Josephine, Louisa, Mrs. Mary Goth. Francesca married Louis Tilling and is mother of seven children: Anna, wife of Frank Bettels of Deepwater township, mother of one child, Ida; Jennie, Joseph, Minnie, Fred, Louis and Clara; Frank Weisman married Katie Bettels and died in 1905, leaving two children, Henry and Bernard, who reside with their mother in Walker township; Anna is the widow of Barney Schmedding and resides near the Bates County line with her four children: Monica, Frank, Elizabeth and Mary. Elizabeth, Josephine and Louisa reside on the home place. Mary is the wife of Edward Goth, who resides on a farm near Montrose. Mr. and Mrs. Goth have four children: Orpha, Bertha, Omer and Ethel. All of the family are members of the Catholic Church. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by the Henry County MOGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~mohenry/henryco.html Contact the Henry County Coordinator for comments or corrections. ====================================================================