Becker – Surname Saturday

Glarus
Switzerland
By Don Taylor

Ancestry indicates that Becker is a Dutch, German, Danish, and Ashkenazic Jewish occupation name for a baker of bread or baker of bricks and tiles, which comes from the German word backen “to bake.” Ancestry mentions a couple of English meanings; however, this is one of those cases where knowing where your ancestors come from helps to understand the surname. In this case, there were nine generations of Beckers who all lived in Glarus, Switzerland, from 1624 to 1801. As such, I am completely ignoring the English origins and staying with the German heritage.

Geographical

Today, in the Canton of Glarus, there are 71 instances of people with the Becker surname. That is 1 in 548 people.[i]

In Switzerland, there are 1,520 incidents of Becker, making it one in just over 5,000 people in Switzerland who have the surname.

It is most prevalent in Germany and most frequent in Luxembourg, where one in 228 people have the surname.

Direct Becker Ancestors

• • Grandmother – 7. Florence Wilma Huber Darling (1908-1934)
  • 1^st great – 15.  Bertha Barbara Trümpi Huber (1884-1968)
  • 2^nd great – 30.  Bernhead Trumpi (1844-1913)
  • 3^nd great – 360.  Bernhart Trumpi (1817-1879)
  • 4^th great – 3120. Bernhard Trümpi (1776-1848)*
  • 5^th great – 241. Anne Magdalena Becker (1745-1801)*
  • 6^th great – 482. Johannes Becker (1698-1750)*
  • 7^th great – 964. Johannes Becker (1665-1743)*
  • 8^th great – 1928. Hans Becker (1624-1694)*
  • 9^th great – 3856. Fridli Becker (1591-1673)*
  • 10^th great – 7712. Hans Becker (1550-1610)*
  • 11^th great – 15424. Fridolin Becker (1525-___)*

Note: Ancestors identified with “*” have NOT been confirmed and verified by my independent research. Their names and dates rely upon the work compiled by Patrick A. Wild.[ii]

Historical

All of the Becker ancestors in this line were born, lived, and died in Glarus, Switzerland.

The Alemanni (German) settled this area in the 8^th century.

In 1531, following the Second War of Kappel, both Catholic and Protestant residents gained the right to worship. Both religious groups used the same town church, which created many problems over the centuries.[iii]

It is an area where the predominant language is the “Highest” dialect of Alemannic German (Swiss German).

Today

Glarus (town) is the picturesque capital of the Canton of Glarus. It is a small town of about 12,500 people nestled in a valley of the Linth River amongst the Glarus Alps, which rise 10,000 feet above the valley.[iv]

Glarus, [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons – Photo Credits: Samuel Trümpy Photography[v]

Direct Becker Descendants

Anna Magdalena Becker (1745-1801) married Fridolin Trümpy on 30 October 1767. I have not researched Anna and Fridolin in-depth to determine their children, other than Bernhard (see above).

Sources:

• Ancestry Surname Page: https://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts
• Forebears Surnames Page: https://forebear       s.io/surnames
• Don Taylor’s Howell-Darling-2021 tree. The Howell-Darling-2020 tree is available on Ancestry.

Endnotes

[i] Forebears – 2014 data for surname Becker in Switzerland.

[ii] Patrick A. Wild, Descent of Mary-Alice Darling Howell from Charlemangne (Zurich, Switzerland, , 2021) and Patrick A. Wild, Pedigree Chart for Shirley Elizabeth Darling:  Following the Trümpy line in Glarus (2021). Contact Glarnus Families Worldwide (https://www.glarusfamilytree.com/).

[iii] Internet: Family Search Wiki – “Canton Glarus,  Switzerland Genealogy” https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Canton_Glarus,_Switzerland_Genealogy

[iv] Internet: Wikipedia – “Glarus” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glarus

[v] Because I know there were at least four generations of Trümpy’s in Glarus related to my wife, and the photographer of this photo is a Trümpy, I suspect this photographer might be a cousin. It would be fun to make the connection.