Conrad Bescherer

Died April 2, 1846, Salisbury, North Carolina, USA.

Conrad immigrated from Germany with his 21 year old wife, Margaretha, in July, 1818. They sailed from Amsterdam and landed in Charleston, South Carolina after an eventful voyage that saw the birth of their first son, Godfrey. Conrad settled near Salisbury, North Carolina. His 175-acre family farm on the Bringle Ferry Road near Salisbury became known as "the Bisherer Plantation." By the mid-1830's, the Bescherers also owned several other tracts of land throughout Rowan County, North Carolina: "152 acres on the north bank of the middle fork of the Crane Creek below Vogler oil mill," another of 22 acres on the south fork of Crane Creek, and other parcels. The Bescherers had no slaves--a fact verified by U.S. Census-takers, as well as by family legend. Family lore has it that Conrad's philosophy was 'Why pay for slaves when you can have children for free?'

Upon his death in 1846, Conrad left some property to a brother, Philip, in Weilburg, Nassau, Germany. He signed his will with an "X," whether out of infirmity or illiteracy is not known. His grave lies unmarked today in the historic Old Lutheran Cemetery in Salisbury, North Carolina. The gravestone of his daughter, Sophia, is intact in the same boneyard, and confirms the original spelling of the family name as "Bescherer."

Click here to see Conrad's branch of the family tree.

Some of Conrad's descendents:

Godfrey Bischerer

William Bescheer

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Weilburg is a lovely Baroque city on the Lahn River in the heart of Germany.