Page 5 - 5 Who Fled, The Story of the Obermann-Beck Family

In the mid-1800s, five German siblings came to America to find a better life. They were a hard -working family devoted to God, education, social justice, and each other. They spent their lives caring for their families and their communities. This book is a history of that family. The original intent was to print the life stories of the original “Five Who Fled” Germany plus as many of the following generations as we had information on. But that soon involved hundreds of pages and hundreds of life stories. So this book gives an overview of the first four genera- tions of the Obermann-Beck families.
The information included here has been gathered from boxes and boxes of materials. Nearly all of it came from Charles Beck, editor of the Obermann-Beck
News for almost 40 years. For nearly four decades, Charles col-
lected information from newspaper clippings, letters, funeral
programs, birth announcements and family photos. He inter-
viewed people by phone and correspondence, and made tape
and video recordings of reunion gatherings. He constantly up-
dated names, addresses, and bio forms to maintain contact
with family members throughout the country. He took pictures
at all reunions and collected endless family photos. Additional
info came from Dr. F. Max Stein who traced much of the Obermann-Beck genealogy back to the mid-1400s. Much of the information was cross checked with Tribal Pages, our online gene- alogical site established and maintained by Marj Beck Gibson. Although the genealogical dates and location details aren’t exactly captivating reading, it’s important to document this information for ancestral enthusiasts. Numerous family members who have stayed connected over the years have submitted biographical information, photos, stories, and family memories (which make all the dates and locations more interesting). If you don’t find events that you deem important in the lives of you and/or your family, there’s a good chance it was not sub- mitted. Nearly everything that was submitted is represented here.
The Obermann-Beck archives contain a lot of information from a lot of different sources kept in newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, letters, wrinkled notes, Christmas cards, the backs of nap- kins, and anything else that was available. Some photos are missing names and/or dates. There have been occasional discrepancies in the information gathered from these many sources, but great effort has been spent to confirm the facts and photos included here. Please accept our apologies for any accidental inaccuracies.
The Obermann-Beck heritage is a proud one that we are blessed to be a part of. I hope you will treasure this book – and the family members who have lived it.
This book is dedicated to
the original “5 Who Fled” Germany for a life of
freedom and opportunity in America
and the many Obermann and Beck descendants who have stayed connected and contributed information for this printed history.
Compiled by Holly Paulson