The Linn Brothers

Michael and Magdalena Linn had four sons, in addition to their two daughters, that lived to adulthood.  Interestingly, three of those sons never married.   All but Louis stayed in Ripley their entire lives and worked in the retail business dealing with either dry goods or clothing.

William F. Linn, also known as Wilhelm F.,  was born September 13, 1856.  He married Ida Beyersdoerfer in 1897.  They became the parents of two children, Michael Raymond and Elizabeth.  W. F., as he was commonly known, died in Ripley in 1953.

Born Ludwig L. on November 1, 1858, Louis left Ripley at an early age.  In 1880, he was living in Atchison, Kansas along with his cousin, Henry Linn.  He then settled in Gunnison, Colorado.  For reasons unknown, he returned to Ripley by 1910 where he stayed until his death in 1935.

Emil Linn was the twin of his sister, Emilie, or Amelia as she was called.  The twins were born on the last day of January in 1861.  Emil was a grocer.  He, along with his younger brother, Walter, lived with their sister, Flora, until Flora's death.  After her passing, they continued to live in the Montgomery house on Fifth Street until their deaths.  Emil died in 1947. 

The youngest Linn son was Walter.  He was born April 30, 1863.  Walter was a dry goods merchant in Ripley.  He died September 17, 1954.  Upon his death, his estate was valued at $220,005.78.

Flora Linn Montgomery

My great great grandmother's name was Flora, and while I have never met anyone named Flora in my lifetime, it must have been a popular name back in the mid 1800's.  I seem to have several Flora's scattered throughout the branches of my tree.

The youngest living child of Michael and Magdalena Linn, Flora was born in 1866 in Ripley, Ohio.  At the age of twenty, she married William Albert Montgomery.  They became the parents of four children, three of whom lived past infancy.  Flora died in 1936 and is buried alongside Albert in Maplewood Cemetery in Ripley. 

High School Reunion Time

This weekend marks the annual Ripley High School alumni dinner and dance in Ripley, Ohio.  Each year, my parents take the long road trip to attend the event along with several of my aunts and uncles.  They all enjoy the opportunity to catch up with each other.  

I'm not sure how long this annual event has taken place, but I do know it has been for a long while.   Looking through my photographs the other day, I came across this one of my great-grandmother, Amy Montgomery Becker, and her classmates.  Amy was a 1909 graduate, also of Ripley High School.  This photo is of the 25th high school reunion which took place in 1934.   

Amy is the seventh lady from the left.  I do not know who the other women are, but the book, Ripley, Ohio - It's History and Families, lists eighteen graduates from that year.  This may or may not be a complete list.  

Class of 1909

                                       

Roy Kelsey

Clara Edith Liggett

Florence West

Frances A. Germann

Amy Montgomery

Sarah Kate Smith

Archie Criswell

Mattie Alleen Tweed

Mary Ross

Margaret Yearsley

Joseph Fichter

Mary Helen Frank

Lorena Berling

Lester McCormick

Katherine Hawk

Lola Kate Bradford

Elizabeth Letts

Wylie Spears

The House on the Hill

One of the most noticeable things in Ripley, besides the Ohio River, is a house that sits on a hill behind the town.  It can be seen from a great distance, and all children who live in the area are taught its significance to Ripley's history.  

I don't know when I was first told the story of the Rankin House, but it seems that it has always been a part of my Ripley repertoire of knowledge.   As a child I knew that slaves had crossed the Ohio River, headed toward a light in a window on the hill, where the Rankin family would hide them in their house, just one stop on their way north to freedom.  As I progressed in school and learned of the Underground Railroad, the pieces came together and I understood the part that Ripley had played in our country's history.

Part of the Rankin House story includes the one hundred wooden steps that led from the town to what became known as Liberty Hill.  When my mother was a young girl,  my grandparents purchased a house on Fourth Street just up from St. Michael's Catholic Church.   The backyard of the house led into woods and the bottom of those steps.  My grandmother claimed that her great - grandfather, Joseph Montgomery, helped build the steps.  I have never found any proof of that claim, and, in fact, the Montgomery's did not actually live in Ripley before the Civil War, but they did live in Brown County so maybe it is possible that my grandmother's story is true.  I would like to think, anyway,  that maybe part of my family was involved in the abolitionist effort.

If you are interested in the history of the Rankin House and Ripley's part in the Underground Railroad, there are many web sites that you can view.  You will find links to a few of them at the bottom of this post.  There are also books that have been written on the subject that deserve a spot of their own which will be my next posting.  

Rankin House Links

Historic Ripley - The Ripley Bee

The Rankin House

Ripley's Underground Railroad

Amy, Edith, and Ethel Becker

I love this picture! It looks like it should be in some long ago women's fashion magazine. I'm not sure when the picture was taken, but I believe it was probably sometime between 1910 and 1920. Amy Montgomery Becker, the beauty on the far left, was 18 in 1910 and the twins, Edith and Ethel Becker, were about 19 that same year. In 1920, they would have all been almost thirty, and I think they look younger than that. Does anyone else have an opinion?

I wish I knew the occasion which called for the girl's finery. I'm sure it was something special and how I wish someone had written on the back of the picture to let me know. Maybe someone out there in cyberspace knows more about this and will contact me. Wouldn't that be something!

In the meantime, be sure you label your pictures so future generations don't sit and wonder what is happening or why you recorded the moment for posterity!

Amy Montgomery Becker

Amy Elouise Montgomery was born on 17 September ,1891 in her parent's house at 207 North Fourth Street in Ripley, Ohio. She was William Albert and Flora Linn Montgomery's second child. Amy's older brother, Hodson Linn, was three years older. After her marriage to Louis Lynn Becker in 1911, she and her husband lived in Stuebenville, Ohio where he was employed at a clothing store. Six years later, their daughter, Janet Linn was born.

When Janet was five years old, the family returned to live in Ripley. There, she was a member of the Ripley Centenary Church and the Danbery Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star of which she served as an officer. She also belonged to the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Not wanting to be called Grandma or Grandmother, Amy was known as Dee Dee by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Widowed at age 52, she was a very independent woman and often took her two granddaughters to Cincinnati for shopping and lunch. In the summer, she would travel to Jacksonville, Florida by train to visit an old friend.

Amy lived just a few houses down from her daughter, Janet Haitz, on Fourth Street in Ripley. During the day, she would visit with her daughter and return to her home in the evening. According to the February 4, 1966 issue of Hillsboro, Ohio's newspaper, Press Gazette, Cincinnati had received nine inches of snow on the first day of February, its worst snowfall in fifty years. The areas surrounding the city, including Ripley, fared no better. With the weather so cold and snowy, Amy stayed overnight at Janet's house during this time. In the early morning hours of February 3, Amy died in her sleep having suffered a heart attack. Funeral services were conducted on Saturday, February 5 with burial in Maplewood Cemetery in Ripley.

Lou Becker

Louis Lynn Becker was born in Ripley, Ohio on May 18, 1888. He was the first child and only son of Nicholas and Anna (Beyersdoerfer) Becker.

While his childhood was spent in Ripley, Lou moved to Stuebenville, Ohio in 1910, where, according to his 1917 World War I draft registration card, he worked as a salesman for Hub Clothing Store. On January 25, 1911, he married Amy Elouise Montgomery of Ripley. According to the marriage announcement in The Ripley Bee, printed on January 25, the couple were married in Cincinnati by the Rev. Gervais Roughton.

After a wedding trip, Amy and Louis returned to Stuebenville to begin their married life. It was in Stuebenville that their only daughter, Janet Linn Becker, was born in 1917. In 1922, the family returned to live in Ripley where Lou purchased the Linn Clothing Company, changing its name to Becker's Department Store.

Louis did not enjoy good health as he grew older. He had problems with his heart, and in June of 1943, he contracted pneumonia. Louis died on June 29 at 6:30 PM at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is buried in Maplewood Cemetery in Ripley.

Janet Linn Becker

Janet Linn Becker was born April 21, 1917 in Steubenville, Ohio which is in Jefferson County. Her parents, Louis and Amy (Montgomery) Becker were originally from Ripley, Ohio, but were living in Steubenville due to Louis's job as a salesman. The family would return to live in Ripley by the time Janet was 12 years old.

A Family With Deep Roots in Ohio

As I start this blog, I guess it's best to start with the basics - the who and the where. As time goes by, the details will emerge. This blog will focus on my maternal line - a diverse group of families. Represented in this line are Germans, Scotch - Irish, English, and French. Some first settled in the colonies of Maryland and Pennsylvania and went on to fight for freedon from the English crown. Others made the difficult decision to cross an ocean in the mid-1800's in hope of making a new life in this country. Today, their descendents can be found all across the United States, but the roots are deep in the soil of southwestern Ohio.

This blog will include stories, photographs, and vital statistics of the following families and those connected to them.

• Bauer
  
• Becker
  
• Beyersdoerfer

• Gates
  
• Germann
  
• Guy
  
• Haitz
  
• Koewler
  
• Linn
  
• Montgomery
  
• Thill

I am looking forward to sharing this family with you. They are an interesting group of people!
Until later!