Beck: Calligrapher’s Family Tree (circa 1979)
| File Type | image/jpeg |
| Date | between 1978 and 1980 |
Narrative
This family tree hung for many years in the home of Alfred and Margit Beck.
It was made by a calligrapher hired by their son Bill. The information was
based on interviews Bill conducted with Alfred, and Alfred's brother, Frank.
A larger image of the tree can be found under Media or Thumbnails. Search
for "Beck: Calligrapher's Family Tree (circa 1979)".
It is a descendants tree for Salomon and Therese Beck. They were
the grandparents of Alfred and Frank. Salomon and Therese were the
furthest back Alfred and Frank knew their ancestry. Research has since
pushed further back to Salomon's great-grandfather (three generations), all
of which are included on this website, and several generations for Therese,
although only one is so far included here.
The root of the tree states that Salomon and Therese were "known to have
21 children," but only nine branches, are shown. Alfred and Frank weren't
able to provide more names. Research has expanded the tree to
fourteen children, and proven that Salomon and Therese could not
have had 21. However, Therese died four years after her fourteenth
child was born, and Salomon lived another thirteen years after that. It is
possible, that Salomon remarried and had additional children. So far, no
records have been found to prove, or disprove, that possibility.
While minor mistakes have been found in the calligrapher's tree, Alfred
and Frank's memories have proven nearly impeccable. The five children
of Salomon and Therese that they could not recall, all died very young.
The oldest wasn't yet seven.
The tree we have today lacks the beauty of the calligrapher's, but includes
much more information. It isn't limited to being a descendants tree, an
ancestry tree, or even both, but is instead a relatives tree. In addition to the
known relatives of Alfred and Frank Beck, it also includes the known relatives
of my grandmother Margit and her siblings, Fery and Herman. Over 450 people
are already in the tree and, with your help, it continues to expand.