Day 16 - Beck History in Ohio

Today Ileana and I drove down to Wayne and Holmes counties (Ohio). This is where my Great-Great-Great (3G) and Great-Great (2G) grandfathers lived. My 3G grandfather, Michael Beck, moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio in a covered wagon in 1822.

He eventually settled in an area and built a sawmill on Doughty Creek in an area that came to be called Beck's Mills. One of his son's (Benjamin) continued to run the mill, which remained in operation until after 1900.  The Becks there also opened a general store, ran a schoolhouse, and Michael also was the postmaster.

My 2G grandfather (Daniel) remained in the area as well. Daniel opened and operated a flour mill;  unfortunately he died in a mill accident. Both Michael and Daniel are buried nearby.

The mill is long gone. There is a Beck's Mills Country Store; however I don't think there are any Becks in Beck's Mills anymore. We went into the store and purchased a few locally made fishing lures and some whole wheat flour. We chatted with the people at the shop who told us the last Beck they knew was Bob Beck, but he had sold his farm years ago. Probably a distant cousin...

One of Daniel's sons, Charles, eventually moved to Michigan, establishing the Beck presence in the central Michigan area.

The entire area surrounding Beck's Mills is populated with Amish. We saw dozens of horse-drawn wagons, people on bicycles, and people working farms by "horse-power"

We drove out and visited the cemeteries of my grandfathers. After looking around there, we headed out to see Lehman's, a pretty cool hardware store.

Then we headed back to Nolancito's to pack for the trip back home.

Beck's Mills Country Store

Amish wagon at Beck's Mills

Michael Beck (3G grandfather)

Daniel and Sarah Beck (2G grandfather and 2G grandmother)

Working the land!