Volume 1, Number 10 - Winter 1963


The Sechler Saga in Taney County
by Earl T. Sechler

The Sechler name appears in the 1790 U. S. Census. Six Sechler brothers, all six-footers, Pennsylvania Dutch, migrated to North Carolina near 1800.

Christian Sechler (1821-1885) was related to the brothers mentioned above. He lived in Rowan County, No r t h Carolina. In 1847 he married Martha Susanna Anthony of Catawba County, North Carolina. Martha Susanna Anthony had a twin sister, Barbara. Martha Susanna at 24 years of age married Christian Sechler. Her father presented to her a little negro girl whom she sold for $500.

Christian Sechler was an invalid for many years. He had served as a cook in the Civil War on the Confederate side. The war meant financial losses to the family, an experience which helped direct their thoughts Westward.

The family left North Carolina in 1869, going by rail to York River, then by ship up Chesapeake Bay to Richmond, Virginia, then by railroad to Columbus, Ohio, thence to St. Louis and Lebanon, Missouri, reaching Dallas County in February 1870. An Uncle John Boston of near Buffalo met the family. Their residence until 1873 was in Dallas and Polk Counties.

"Then they started to Texas with 5 wagons and 12 horses. The said horses took blind staggers and all but two of them died. Grandpa got a yoke of oxen with the other team, went to Taney County to visit Aunt Deem. The two remaining horses found a sack of wheat one night and foundered, one passed away next morning and then there was one. The feet came off this last one, but they kept the old cripple anyway. The before mentioned oxen were traded to a discontented farmer for his homestead rights, this being the old home place in Taney County near Bradleyville, Mo. Here Grandpa lived and died." (Excerpts from a letter by Grace Sechler to E. T. Sechler, 1925, dictated by D. C. Sechler, son of Christian Sechler.)

Mr. and Mrs. Christian Sechler were buried in Bradleyville Cemetery near Little Beaver Creek. They were cared for in their last days by their oldest son, Henry Sechler and his wife.

Eight children were born to the Christian Sechler family before leaving North Carolina. One son, Peter, died in infancy. From the seven children, over forty families are descendants, scattered over a dozen states. In Missouri, Sechler relatives are found in Taney, Christian, Greene, Webster, Dallas and Polk Counties.

The Christian Sechler Homestead is now used for a cow pasture. The remains of the two room cabin and lean-to are used for a cow shed. The spring nearby is a landmark where Sechlers used to fill the water bucket by dipping with a gourd.

The Sechler descendants include farmers, teachers, preachers, doctors, bankers, merchants, electricians, engineers, insurance men, aeronautical workers and horse traders.

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