Tombstone Tuesday-Fredrick Betzel

Fredrick Betzel, North Grove Cemetery, Jefferson Township, Mercer County, Ohio.

This is the tombstone of Fredrick Betzel, located in Ward 2, row 8 of North Grove Cemetery, Jefferson Township, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is inscribed: BETZEL, Fredrick Betzel, Died Dec. 9, 1900, Aged 76 Y, 10 M, 21 D.

Obituary:
Dies At A Ripe Old Age
Mr. Fredrick Betzel died Sunday afternoon in his room in the south part of town. Although he was quite old and feeble, his death came as a surprise to his relatives. His daughter, Mrs. John Schlenker returned to his bedside after an absence of only ten minutes to find that the spirit had flown. He will be interred in the Celina cemetery today, funeral services being conducted at the Lutheran church at 10 o’clock by Rev. Smith, of Chattanooga.

Mr. Betzel was born January 23, 1823 in Germany and was brought to America by his parents while yet quite small. They settled in Butler County. Fredrick, after spending some years in Lawrenceburg, Ind., came to Mercer County in 1851 and settled on a farm south of Chattanooga. He afterwards removed to Ft. Recovery and thence to Celina in 1892. Here he has lived since.

He was married twice. In Butler Co., to Rosa Hartock [sic] and after her death to a Miss Koenig, near Ft. Recovery. Eight children were born to him, one of whom preceded him to the great beyond. Henry, living in Celina, William and Jacob, near Chattanooga, and Fred, in Geneva, Ind., are the boys. The daughters are Magdalena, now Mrs. John Schlenker, of Celina, Mrs. Katharine Cook, of Wapakoneta, and Mrs. Mary Behm, of Chattanooga. [1]

According to the Familienbuch portion of the records of Zion Lutheran Church, Chattanooga, Ohio, Georg Friederich Betzel was the son of Johann Georg and Anna Margaretha Betzel, born 18 January 1824 in Erkenbrechtshofen, County Court Windsheim, Kingdom of Bavaria. He came to America with his parents in 1828 and married Anna Rosina Herzog on 1 October 1846.

Fredrick’s first wife and their son Johannes are buried in Kessler Cemetery, a couple miles south of Chattanooga. Fredrick is buried in North Grove Cemetery, Celina. The two cemeteries are about 15 miles apart. Fredrick is buried next to his daughter and son-in-law, John and Catharine Schlenker. Those buried near Fredrick and in the same row, looking right to left in the photo below (south to north): Frederick (1870-1940) and Catharine (1870-1947) Schlenker, John Schlenker (1847-1903), Magdalena Schlenker (1849-1922), Sophia Schlenker (1879-1900), Emma Coate (1877-1901), Benjamin Schlenker (1882-1949), and Carl Schlenker (1886-1917).

Row of Fredrick Betzel family, North Grove Cemetery.

 [1] The Daily Standard, Celina, Ohio, 12 December 1900, p.1.

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