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Where it began

Biblis Germany is where it all started. The Beckerle's with six other families came from Tirol an area of Berchtesdaaden in the Alpes. Under order from the bishop of Mainz they came to settle the uninhabited Rhine river valley town of Biblis, in southwestern Germany. The Beckerle's were mostly catholic farmers. Life was relatively quite for a few hundred years.

Movement

Circa 1725 Jacob Beckerle crossed the Rhine River, settling on the western side of the Rhine River, closer to the "Black Forest Area" of south western Germany. His many descendants have become known as the "Black Beckerle" branch of the Beckerle's : See Black Beckerle's.

Shakeup

After Napolean was defeated at waterloo in 1815, things started to gradually change in Germany. Germany organized into a loose organization called the German Confederation of city states. German stability was now fragile. There was a power vacuum. The two main powers in the area: the Prussian Kingdom and the Austrian Empire were in a power struggle to control the loosely knit German Confederation. The fragile stability ended with the German Revolutions of 1848. There were major population shifts during this time. Some of the Beckerle's emigrated. One of the "Black Beckerle" Families to emigrate to the USA (Pearl River NY), was Johann Beckerle's Family.

A New Seed is Planted

To make a new life for themselves, in October of 1859, Johann Beckerle (b.1812-1897) with his spouse, Margaretha Bardon Beckerle (b.1814-1895) and, FOUR of their ELEVEN children: Conrad(16), Katharina(10), Philip(5), and Barbara(3), left Biblis, their small farming village in Germany, to start a new life in America. Sailing from Hesslock Rheinhesse Germany in October 1859, aboard the steamship BAVARIA, they arrived in New York on November 03 1859. Conrad (b.Dec 1842-d.30 March 1931) the eldest son, moved on to Scranton Pennysylvania, and started a family of his own. Philip (b.1854-d.7th Jan 1939) who was five at the time, settled in Pearl River with the rest of the family. See Beckerle Family History.

The Start of Something Big

Young Philip received his first schooling in Nanuet and later in New York City. While still in his teens he started the wood cutting business, cutting cord wood for the wood burning locomotives. He later sold wood for the railroad ties to the approaching railroad. The laying of the tracks through Pearl River, then known as Middletown and later as Muddy Brook, took place in 1870. At this time there were thirty two families dwelling in Middletown (Pearl River). He married Pauline Miller (1861-1933) and settled down to a productive life in a growing Pearl River. Some of his other notable achievements included being on the committee which laid out the wide streets of Pearl River. He was also one of those responsible for building the original Catholic church in town. His immediate family included three daughters. Miss Margaretta Beckerle (1890-1976), Miss Anne Beckerle (1897-1967). Anne worked for a time as a nurse for the radio city music hall rockettes! and Sister Mary Pauline. He also had five sons. John P., Joseph, Alfred, George (co-inventor of the automatic pin setter developed by AMF), and Laurence Thomas. In 1940, a year after Philip died, Laurence started Beckerle Lumber.

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