My grandfather told me that the Selchers had originated from Alsace-Lorraine. Selcher means "butcher" or "meat smoker" in German. It is quite an uncommon name, with less than 500 bearing the name worldwide. Through the generations, the Selchers lived in Alsace-Lorraine until one decided to relocate to the wine-rich land surrounding Weisskirchen.
Andrew Selcher and his wife, Mary Kuhn, are the first recorded Selchers in our family. They had three known children: Philip, and an unknown named son and daughter. The unknown named son had a son, Frank, who later came to America. When Philip Selcher came of age, he married Catherine Marter, the daughter of Frank Marter and Barbara Kuhn. The couple had one child, Maxmillian, who was born July 26, 1867.
One story of Maxmillian's childhood is recollected by his son, Charles: "When my dad was a boy he was an alterboy, and so was my brother Max. My father got fired because he was playing priest - chanting Latin."
The Selchers, like so many other immigrants, were lored by the American Dream. The Selcher family came to America when Maxmillian ("Max") was seventeen.
The Selchers travelled often. They first settled in Buffalo, NY. Then they went to St. Louis, Missouri, where Max worked in a lumberyard and glass company. While in St. Louis, he heard from friends that he knew from Weisskirchen about a town on the border between Oklahoma and Missouri named Seneca. The Selchers packed their bags and moved.
When Max first lived in Seneca, he worked in a flour mill. After that he bought forty acres of timberland to work as a farm. He built a log cabin on it. This was the house which Max would settle with his wife, Anna.
Anna Weiss, the future Mrs. Selcher, was born in Weisskirchen on September 19, 1869. She was the only child of Josef Weiss, a farmer, and Mary Magdalene Harlacher. At eleven she travelled by boat to America with her parents, aunt, and uncle.
The Weisses purchased 400 acres along with Balthasar Harlacher, Anna's uncle, in Seneca, Missouri. Eventually, Balthasar Harlacher decided to pull up roots and move east.
At age 21, Anna married Max Selcher.
Anna Weiss and Max Selcher had nine children of whom eight survived (the first William died young): Catherine (b. Oct. 2, 1890), Elizabeth Ann (b. March 26, 1892), Maxmillian, Jr. (b. 1896), Emma M. (b. June 15, 1898), Mary Magdalene (b. December 19, 1900), William ( 2nd one, b. March 16, 1900), John Lawrence (b. June 9, 1909), and Charles Philip Selcher.
Many of the Selcher children were born in Missouri and spent their childhood in the log cabin on the forty acre Selcher farm. Along with their parents and grandparents, the Selcher children experienced the frontier firsthand, reminding me of Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved stories.
One night, Anna went looking for her father's cane. She came across an object shaped like one. She was about to pick it up when she heard a "hiss!" It was a rattlesnake!
Max Selcher rented some land from an Indian who made it a habit to scare away the person who was renting his land and keep the crops for himself. Elizabeth Selcher was out in the fields with her father when she saw the Indian coming. Max told his daughter to run home. Max told the Indian that he was not going to give him his hard-earned crop. The Indian had an ax, but Max convinced him that he better not mess with him. Max was well-known as a boxer. It is said he could knock any man down he was put up against.
Max decided there would be more opportunity for his family if he moved elsewhere. He took a covered wagon, some men, and the family dog with him and journeyed as far south as the border of Texas. At that time, Oklahoma was Indian country. The United States government was selling tracts of land and Max had the the opportunity to buy. Not knowing that this land had large tracts of oil, Max turned down the offer. One day, Max noticed that the family dog had disappeared. Max and the hired help searched for the dog, but soon gave it up for lost. Unknowingly, the dog had travelled hundreds of miles across unknown territory by itself back to the Selcher homestead in Missouri. When Elizabeth saw the dog coming, she thought her father and the men were not far behind. The family became frantic when it was soon discovered that the men were not close behind. The men turned up two weeks later, without buying land.
Max finally decided on Pennsylvania. Anna had relatives there. The Selcher family lived on several farms in the Middletown area, but finally settled on their own farm in Lower Swatara Township.
Max Selcher Sr., Philip Selcher
Second Row (left to right):
Catherine Selcher, Anna Weiss Selcher, Max Selcher Jr., Elizabeth Ann Selcher, Catherine Marter Selcher