Roster – Twenty-Fourth Regiment. B. Peter Becker, Belle Plaine, Date of Commission: February 15, 1863, Office: Second Lieut. Rank: Second Lieut. (Annual Report of the Adjutant General, to the Legislature of Minnesota, Session of 1864, Frederick Driscoll, State Printer, Saint Paul, 1863, Page 51)
Peter L. Becker, born in 1830, is a native of Prussia. He learned the shoemaker’s trade, and in 1854 came to America. In the spring of 1857 he came to Belle Plaine, and continued in trade here until 1876 when he removed to the farm where he now lives. Mr. Becker has held various town offices. He was the first German settler in Belle Plaine. In 1854 he married Catherine Peifer, who has born him nine children; three are married and all reside in this town. (History of the Minnesota Valley, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Rev. Edward D. Neill, North Star Publishing Company, Minneapolis, 1882, Page 330)
Minnesota, Belle Plaine, Scott (County), Peter Becker. (The American Sugar Industry, Herbert Myrick, Orange Judd Company, New York, Springfield, Chicago, 1899, Page 214)
By 1901 the Peter Becker brickyard shipped an even hundred carloads of brick and produced about 22,000 bricks a day through 20 to 25 men.
BECKER, PETER, pioneer, b. in Prussia, Oct. 7, 1830; d. in Belle Plaine, Minn., Dec. 3, 1902. He came to the United States in 1854, and settled in Belle Plaine in 1857; engaged in shoemaking, farming, and the manufacture of brick. [237 (28).] (Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society, Volume XIV, Minnesota Biographies 1655-1912, Compiled by Warren Upham and Rose Barteau Dunlap, Published by the Society, June, 1912, St. Paul, Minnesota, Page 43)
Belle Plaine, Minn. – Peter Becker, the brickyard man, was kicked in the head by a horse this morning and is dead. He was the oldest resident of this part of Minnesota. (The Minneapolis Journal, Tuesday Evening, December 2, 1902, Page 13)
A Sad Accident. Peter Becker Dies at 10 o’clock This Morning. Kicked by his Horse. Like a bolt from a clear sky came the report yesterday morning of the fatal accident which had befallen our prominent and venerable townsman, Peter Becker, and as the news wafted from neighbor to neighbor, the whole community was deeply shocked and grieved. He died at 10 o’clock this forenoon from the effects of a vicious kick by a horse. In the early dawn of yesterday morning, alone in his barn he met with the fatal accident, and when found was in an unconscious condition from which he never recovered. As was his custom he arose early and went out to feed his team of horses which he recently acquired. While doing this it would seem that one of the horses became frightened and kicking back savagely with hoof newly shod, struck Mr. Becker just back of the right temple, crushing the skull.
He was discovered by his daughter, Mrs. Jos. Albrecht Sr., lying prostrate upon the floor, his feet partly within the oat bin as if he might have stumbled, thus frightning the horses. Tender hands carried him to the house where all the loving hearts and medical skill could do was tried in vain. He lingered unconsciously for twenty eight hours, and then his soul ascended. The funeral is announced to take place from Sts. Peter and Paul's church at 10 o’clock a. m. on Friday. Peter Becker was a native of Prussia, born Oct. 7, 1830. In the Fatherland he learned the shoemaker’s trade which he continued to follow many years after his arrival here. He was married in 1854 to Catherine Peifer and in the same year came to America. In the spring of 1857 he located in Belle Plaine where he has since resided, and has the distinction of being our first German settler. He continued in trade until 1876, when he removed to his farm at the edge of the Borough, but for the past few years resided in town.
About twelve years ago he went into the brick manufacturing business, in which pursuit he was engaged at the time of his death. He was 72 years, 1 month, and 20 days old. Mr. Becker was one of our model citizens. He always took an active part in the industrial life of the town; ready at all times to advocate any movement tending to advance the interests of the place. He leaves an aged and feeble wife to mourn his loss, and of ten children born to them, eight are living, namely, Frank, residing in California, and John C. Becker, Mrs, Jacob Schmitt, Mrs. Jos. Albrecht Sr., Mrs. Chris Albrecht, Mrs. Martin Imhoff of St. Paul, Mrs. Jos. Albrecht Jr., and Sister Catherine of Detroit, Mich. Forty six grandchildren survive him, and fourteen great grandchildren. As one of our old settlers, as an upright citizen, a generous father and kind husband, he will be greatly mourned by all. (Belle Plaine Herald, Wednesday, December 3, 1902)
When Becker died, the business was continued by his son-in-law, Joseph Albrecht, Jr. The clay diminished over time and brickyard closed.