The Proeger Family · Generation 6 — Earl's 3rd-great-grandparents and their siblings

August Betcher

Father of Pauline Augusta Betcher Schultz · 1831–1919

August Betcher

Probable

Father of Pauline Augusta Betcher Schultz · 1831–1919

Born
in Germany
Buried
at Denton Cemetery
Sources
2

Research status

Research status: PROBABLE as the father of Pauline Augusta Betcher Schultz. The evidence: her obituary in the Abilene Reporter-News of 8 September 1944, p. 2, read as machine text, says that she was born Pauline Boetcher and came to the United States with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. August Boetcher, and it names her brothers Otto and Henry Boetcher of Dudley and Albert Boetcher of Oplin and her sister Mrs. E. M. Wristen of Baird; the indexes of the Texas death records of Henry, Otto and Albert Betcher and of Emma Wristen each name August Betcher as the father (Henry’s spells him August Boettcher) S1736. It stays Probable because one obituary, read as machine text and not from the page image, is the only record that names him as Pauline’s father; her own death certificate has not been found; and that he is the August Betcher who died at Clyde in 1919 rests on those brothers and that sister.

Evidence: The 1944 obituary of Pauline Schultz, read as machine text, says she was born Pauline Boetcher and came to the United States with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. August Boetcher, and names her brothers Otto, Henry and Albert Boetcher and her sister Mrs. E. M. Wristen; the indexes of the Texas death records of those four name August Betcher as father; the index of his own death record gives his birth on 10 December in Germany and his death on 27 August 1919 at Clyde, Callahan County (S1736). Weak or missing: One obituary, read as machine text and not from the page image, is the only record that names him as Pauline's father; her own death certificate has not been found; the index gives his son Albert's birth ten weeks before Pauline's; the year of his birth differs between the indexes; no image has been read. Not yet confirmed. Know more? Confirm or correct this →

Life in the order the records give it

Death1919
August Betcher died on 27 August 1919 at Clyde, Callahan County, Texas. He was born in Germany on 10 December 1831. The day of death, and the day and month of birth, are in the index of the Texas death records; the year of birth is in the Find a Grave index, which gives a day of death two days later, 29 August S1736; the death index is followed here. He is buried at Denton Cemetery, Callahan County, Texas: Probable, from the Find a Grave index alone; no stone and no image has been read. The index of the 1900 census gives his birth as December 1832 and the index of the 1910 census as 1833. No image of any of these has been read.
Arrival1900
He came to the United States in the 1870s: the index of the 1900 census gives 1871 and the index of the 1910 census gives 1872 S1736. His daughter’s obituary gives 1871 and says that the family lived in New York City and at South Bend, Indiana, came to Texas in 1878 with the families who founded Colony Hill, and later lived in Callahan County where Dudley is now. The census entries for Pauline herself give 1873 and 1874 for her arrival. Both readings are kept.
Census2026
History of this card. 12 Oct 2026
card written when he was added to the family tree, from the death, grave and census indexes (S1736) and the machine-read text of his daughter Pauline’s 1944 obituary. 12 Oct 2026 — the children sentence rewritten when Albert, Emma, Otto and Henry were given cards; until then it said they had no cards. 12 Oct 2026 — the burial at Denton Cemetery stated as a fact of its own, Probable, when it was entered on the family tree from the Find a Grave index (S1736); the card had only said where the grave was indexed.

Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it

Probable
Probable confirm or correct → Husband of Elisabeth Kamiska Betcher (1838–1926). The index of the 1900 census of Callahan County lists “E. B.” as his wife and the index of 1910 lists “Lebe”; the index of their son Henry’s death record names his parents as August Boettcher and Libby Kamiska, and the index of their daughter Mary Johnson’s names August Betcher and Lizzie Cominske S1736S1737. What is weak or missing: no marriage record has been found, and every one of these is an index.
Probable
Probable confirm or correct → Father of Pauline Augusta Betcher Schultz (1865–1944), by her obituary. Four more of his children have cards, each Probable from the index of a Texas death record that names him as father: Albert Betcher (1865–1954), Emma Betcher Wristen (1871–1967), Otto Betcher (1876–1974) and Henry Edward Betcher (1880–1974). His daughter Mary (Mrs. Johnson, died 1925) is named in the indexes and has no card; the index of the 1900 census lists two more daughters at home. His own parents are not in this record.
Weak or missing
What is weak or missing: the link to Pauline rests on one obituary read as machine text; her own death certificate has not been found; the index gives his son Albert’s birth as 9 June 1865, ten weeks before Pauline’s on 24 August 1865, so one of the two dates is wrong or they are not full brother and sister; the year of his birth differs by a year or two between the indexes; no image has been read. Know more, or think this is wrong? Use “Add to this record”.
Cited on this card S1736 S1737 Card added 2026-10-12

In the record Generation 6 — Earl's 3rd-great-grandparents and their siblings

August Betcher · Sources

Citations

Sources cited on this card

2 of the record's sources are cited here. The numbering is the record's own; the full list, with where else each is cited, is at Sources.

  1. S1736Indexes — August Betcher and his children, Callahan and Taylor Counties, Texas, 1900–1974. FamilySearch: Texas death records index (K388-HCD) and Texas Death Index (VZD3-ZVB); Find a Grave index (QVKH-7GJY); 1900 census index, Callahan County (M3LZ-TFR); 1910 census index, Justice Precinct 4, Callahan County (M29Z-1WV); Texas death records indexes for his children Henry (K38H-9HN), Otto (K3S1-QHN), Albert (K3QG-6BB), Emma Wristen (K3FW-Y8Y) and Mary Johnson (K3Q1-P55); for Henry, the Find a Grave index (QVKH-BPLQ) and the 1900 census index (M3LZ-TF1); for Otto, a second death index entry (JLNN-PZD), the Find a Grave index (QVKH-7GVC) and the 1900 census index (M3LZ-TFY); for Albert, the census indexes of 1910 (M298-MHQ) and 1930 (HKJ1-4W2). Indexes read on 5 and 6 October 2026; no image read. Probable Death index: born 10 December in Germany, died 27 Aug 1919 at Clyde, Callahan County. Find a Grave: born 10 Dec 1831, died 29 Aug 1919, grave indexed at Denton Cemetery, Callahan County. 1900: born Dec 1832 in Germany, immigrated 1871, with E. B., his wife, and four children at home. 1910: born 1833, immigrated 1872, with Lebe, his wife. The five children’s death indexes name the father as August Betcher (Henry’s: August Boettcher); Henry’s names the mother as Libby Kamiska and Mary Johnson’s as Lizzie Cominske. Henry: born 11 Nov 1880 in Texas, died 20 Mar 1974 at Abilene; grave indexed in the Denton Cemetery. Otto: born 1 Sep 1876 in Indiana, died 25 Jun 1974 at Abilene; in his father’s household in 1900. Albert: born 9 Jun 1865 in Prussia, died 15 Dec 1954 in Callahan County. Emma Wristen: born 15 Mar 1871 in Germany, died 21 Dec 1967 at Baird, Callahan County. ⚠ Index only: no image has been read. None of these entries names Pauline; she is tied to him by her 1944 obituary, read as machine text, which names the same brothers and sister. The Find a Grave index gives a day of death two days later than the death index, and the year of his birth differs by a year or two between the entries. Albert’s birth is indexed as 9 June 1865, ten weeks before Pauline’s, and no entry names his mother. Otto’s and Emma’s death indexes name the father alone. Other indexes give 4 November and 4 December 1880 for Henry’s birth, and the Find a Grave index gives 6 June 1974 for Otto’s death. Serves the cards of August Betcher, Elisabeth Kamiska Betcher, Pauline Augusta Betcher Schultz, Albert Betcher, Emma Betcher Wristen, Otto Betcher and Henry Edward Betcher.
  2. S1737Indexes — Elisabeth Kamiska Betcher, “Mrs. August Betcher”, Abilene, Texas, 1926. FamilySearch: Texas death records index (K37K-B7V) and Texas Death Index (VZD3-ZK5); Ancestry, Texas death certificates index, the same certificate; Find a Grave index (QVKH-7GVQ); Texas death records indexes for her children Henry (K38H-9HN) and Mary Johnson (K3Q1-P55); Social Security claim index for her daughter Emma Wristen (6K7V-D5LY). Indexes read on 5 and 6 October 2026; no image read. Probable Death index, filed under her husband’s name: born 26 Oct 1838 in Germany, died 26 Aug 1926 at Abilene, Taylor County, father O. Kimski. Find a Grave: Elisabeth Kamiska Betcher, born 6 Oct 1839, grave indexed at Denton Cemetery, Callahan County. Henry’s death index: mother Libby Kamiska. Mary Johnson’s: mother Lizzie Cominske. Emma Wristen’s claim: mother Libbie Engle, birthplace South Bend, Indiana. ⚠ Index only: no image has been read. No entry names her as the mother of Pauline. Two dates are given for her birth, and one entry gives her maiden name as Engle. Serves the cards of Elisabeth Kamiska Betcher, August Betcher, Pauline Augusta Betcher Schultz, Henry Edward Betcher and Emma Betcher Wristen.

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