Magdalena Bekker

Additional information from Gary Becker (Magdalena Becker's grandson), from his FB post, June 3, 2020, he lives in Vinita, Okla.). Note: This info. for your consideration...……..

GRANDMOTHER, AJ's First Wife
Becker, Magdalena Hergert (1878-1938)
Magdalena Hergert Becker: a pioneer missionary; born 4 August 1878 in Ebenfeld, Kansas, the daughter of Wilhelm Hergert (1839-1912) and Magdalena (Ernst) Hergert (b. 1839). Magdalena married Abraham J. Becker on 27 October 1897, and they had six children (a seventh died in infancy). Magdalana died 7 July 1938 in Indiahoma, Oklahoma.

Magdalena, with her husband, Abraham, spent 37 years working for the Mennonite Brethren Mission board at the Post Oak Mission near Indiahoma, Oklahoma (1901-1938). For 28 years she served half-time as a United States Government field matron to the people. The job of field matron involved record-keeping of land ownership, rent contracts with white farmers, government allotments, and all Department of Interior transactions with Indians. Magdalena was known to the Comanche as the "kind white mother." She became a skilled mediator in family disputes among the Comanches. She taught first aid and hygiene, nursed the sick, and organized sewing, cooking, and flower clubs among the women. The concern she and her husband showed for people extended to the Hispanic community in Lawton, Oklahoma, resulting in the establishment of a church.

Bibliography
GRANDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 5.05 ed. Fresno, CA: California Mennonite Historical Society, 2008: #3219.

Kroeker, Marvin E. Comanches and Mennonites on the Oklahoma Plains: A. J. and Magdalena Becker and the Post Oak Mission. Winnipeg, MB and Hillsboro, KS: Kindred Press, 1997.
Contributor: CallenRL (48268876) •

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Feb 24 2021, 3:45:40 UTC

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POST OAK MISSION

A Comanche Indian mission, Post Oak Mission was located five miles northeast of Indiahoma. Established in 1896 by the Mennonite Brethren Churches of North America, the enterprise had an inauspicious start. After twelve years the first missionary, Henry Kohfeld, could not claim a single baptized convert. A turning point came in 1907 when Abraham and Magdalena Becker were appointed head missionaries. Seven converts were baptized that year, and the work was soon on a firm foundation. Critical to the institution's success was the service of Magdalena as field matron in the Indian service. For twenty-eight years she trained Indian women in the skills of housekeeping, child care, cooking, and sewing. Her fluency in the Comanche language enabled to her to break down barriers and make the Comanches amenable to the Beckers' religious message.

A friendly relationship developed between the Mennonites and Comanche leader Quanah Parker. The chief had the grave of his white mother, Cynthia Ann Parker, removed to Post Oak Mission Cemetery, and he also chose to be buried there. An imposing granite monument over his grave became a local landmark. To-pay, one of his seven wives, and several other family members also joined the church.

The Beckers developed Post Oak Mission into, arguably, the most successful one in western Oklahoma. Longtime worker Annie Hiebert Gomez contributed to its success. Abraham Becker retired in 1941, three years after his wife's death. From 1948 to 1959 the mission operated an elementary school. In 1957, over the protests of many Comanches, the mission and historic cemetery were relocated to Indiahoma to make room for a missile range. In 1959 the status of Post Oak changes from a mission church to a self-administering congregation. That the Post Oak Mennonite Brethren Church still existed at the beginning of the twenty-first century testifies that the mission enterprise succeeded.

Marvin E. Kroeker

• Post Oak Mission from Oklahoma Historical Society: https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=PO020
• Mennonite Brethren Churches of North America: https://www.mennoniteusa.org/

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• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Feb 24 2021, 4:20:15 UTC
• Reference: Biographical Summaries of Notable People - SmartCopy: Feb 24 2021, 4:21:15 UTC
• Reference: Famous People Throughout History - SmartCopy: Feb 24 2021, 4:21:43 UTC

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Census: County Comanche, State Oklahoma, Date 1920, Series T625, Sheet 2-A, Line 10, Image 1043

Household

                                        Relation to head Name	Age

*Head Abraham J Becker 47

• Wife Magdelene Becker 41
• Son Daniel A Becker 21
• Son William J Becker 19
• Son Abraham P Becker 16
• Daughter Herwanna Becker 12
• Son Samuel Becker 9
• Son Glen V Becker 1 year, 10 months
• Servant Mary Heinrichs 31
• Residence: 1920 - Comanche, Oklahoma, USA
• Race: White
• Ethnicity: American
  • Reference: 1920 United States Federal Census - SmartCopy: Feb 24 2021, 4:31:42 UTC
• Residence: 1900 - Deep Creek Township, Woods, Oklahoma Territory, United States
• Residence: 1920 - Cache, Comanche, Oklahoma, United States
• Residence: 1930 - Quanah, Comanche, Oklahoma, United States
  • Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Feb 24 2021, 5:15:02 UTC
• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Feb 24 2021, 7:19:24 UTC
• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Feb 24 2021, 7:21:40 UTC
• Residence: 1900 - Deep Creek Township, Woods, Oklahoma Territory, United States
• Residence: 1920 - Cache, Comanche, Oklahoma, United States
• Residence: 1930 - Quanah, Comanche, Oklahoma, United States
  • Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Feb 24 2021, 14:13:22 UTC