I like to talk about history, especially the history of the Jonathan Clark House, its occupants, and their lives in early Wisconsin territory and state. Sometimes I get invited to share my research with others, and I put together an illustrated presentation. This coming Friday, April 24, 2026, I’ll be talking to the members of the Milwaukee County Genealogical Society about the German immigrant experience in our area circa 1845–1910, as lived by the extended family of German immigrant, and Clark House occupant, Fred Beckmann.

You’re invited!

My April 24th MCGS presentation will be held in the 1st floor Rotary Club of Milwaukee community meeting room of the Milwaukee Central Public Library Downtown, 814 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee. The event will start with a short business meeting at 1:00 p.m. My presentation begins about 1:15 p.m. and will last about 45 minutes, followed by plenty of time for questions & answers. The meeting is free and open to the general public, and I hope to see you all there.

Is there more to say about Fred Beckmann?

Indeed there is!

As you may recall from earlier CHH blog posts like (this one) and (this one), Fred Beckmann and his new wife, Lena Hackfeld, lived in the Clark House, and farmed the Clark farm, from 1868 until 1873. Their story connects the history of the early Anglo-American settlement of Mequon with the subsequent influx of German-speaking immigrants to the area.

What’s New?

In this revised and expanded of edition of the illustrated talk that I first gave in April, 2023, I’m going to focus on how I combine genealogical research with a wide variety of other historical sources to create lively, illustrated stories that inform and also serve as a great way to organize and share research results, and guide further study and discovery.

My extended Beckmann family research has continued since 2023, and my upcoming April 24th talk will include lots of new information and images, gathered over the last three years from a number of period maps, deeds, newspapers, and other sources. Whether your main interest is the Jonathan Clark House, the Hamilton grist mill, life in early Cedarburg, or mid-century German immigration to Milwaukee and Washington/Ozaukee counties, I think you’ll find this presentation interesting and informative.

“Can’t tell the players without a scorecard!”

I had to do a lot of genealogical research to make sense of all the extended Beckmann family connections in old Washington/Ozaukee county. The various branches of the Beckmann family intersect with many other local German-American families, in a fascinating tangle of personal and business relationships. It’s easy to get lost among all the surnames (and variant spellings), of the ADLER, BECKMANN, HACKFELD(T), PODOLL, RIGBERS, SCHULTZ, and other related families. It’s complicated.

How to make sense of it all? Well, as the vendor at the ball game used to shout, “You can’t tell the players without a scorecard!” So here’s my latest “scorecard” of the Fred Beckmann family. We’ll have copies of this at the MCGS meeting on the 24th, but feel free to click on the chart to download and use it as you see fit. (And please let me know if you find any typos or other errors, if you have questions, or if you can add missing/additional information.)

Hope to see you there

I enjoy giving these presentations and I hope to see you there on Friday, April 24th, one o’clock, at the 1st floor Rotary Club of Milwaukee community meeting room, Milwaukee Central Public Library Downtown, 814 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee. Be sure to ask questions if you have them, and come say “hello” after the event.