Old Houses Mushroom in Many Ways
Today the mushroom factor, the phenomenon that one small factor will inevitably lead to much more, struck in full force. And I wasn’t even working on my house! Well, not entirely.
Over the years, as we’ve renovated various rooms in our 1917 American Foursquare, John Bhend has popped up here and there. Better said, he’s popped up almost everywhere—under the stairs, behind the woodwork, in the attic. Wherever there’s a backside of lumber, there’s John Bhend.
His name, anyway.
Many pieces of wood in our house bear the scrawled signature of “John Bhend, Watertown, Wi.” We’ve always thought it was rather cool and assumed he built our house. We’ve heard somewhere that loads of wood are commonly labeled with the builder’s name before being shipped to the building site.
So today, I had a few minutes to spare and stopped at the Dodge/Jefferson Counties Genealogical Society. My intention was to learn a bit about John Bhend, but instead the mushroom factor kicked in. Obviously, you don’t spend just a few minutes in a genealogical society, not if you have an inkling of investigative curiosity for anything historical. Within minutes of my arrival, several helpful people brought me Plat books, old city directories and obituaries. Not only did I get information on our guy, but I now have a list of previous property owners back to the 1860′s and a fixation to learn more.
But back to John Bhend.
According to a 1930 city directory, John was indeed a general contractor and home builder. His ad details 18 years of experience in building or remodeling and guarantees good construction, blue prints and specifications to the customer’s order. His obituary, dated March 2, 1944, describes him as a “widely known contractor” who was also a member of the Watertown Builder’s Club.
Reading John Bhend’s obituary brings him to life as more than the builder of our house. He becomes a person, as well. According to the paper, he was born in Aschi, Canton of Bern, Switzerland on Sept. 28, 1881, to Mr. and Mrs. Christian Bhend. In 1906, at the age of 25, he came to the U.S. and for a time lived with his brother Christ Bhend.
On October 4, 1913, John married Saraphine Krueger (Saraphine—what a beautiful name!) Together they had two children; a daughter, Irene, and a son, Marcel, who at the time of his father’s death was serving in the Pacific in World War II. Saraphine preceded John in death in 1935.
The obituary goes on to list John as a member of the Congregational Church, Watertown Lodge No. 49, F& AM and Watertown’s Plattdeutscher Verein (Low German Club). He also was a director of the Wisconsin National Bank and active in local affairs.
So that’s John Bhend, the guy beneath our stairs and behind our woodwork. If our house is a testament to his work, he was indeed a very fine builder. Ninety-one years later, it stands sound and true.
But now I want to know more. How many other homes in our area bear his name? And which ones? What do those homes look like today? The mushroom factor has definitely kicked in.
February 6th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
while looking for renovation ideas for my foursquare, i came upon your posting. just wanted to let you know i found it interesting and i would have been carried away by the mushroom factor as well. John Bhend died on my birthday – strange.
February 6th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Thanks Kelley. Yeah, whether it’s renovating an old house or digging through archives, it’s easy to get drawn into the project!
The American Foursquare is a great house, yes? How old is your house and what are your renovation plans? Please keep us informed!
February 10th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Bhend was my maiden name. My grandfather Adolph Bhend came to the US from Switzerland in 1892 at the age of 12. My father told me that when his family first came to the US, they stayed for a little while with relatives in Southern Wisconsin, but he did not know who or where, before moving to Minnesota. Because Bhend is an usual name, I have a feeling that I am somehow related to John Bhend as a distance cousin or somehow and possibly the relatives you mention are those that my relatives first stayed with when they arrived in the US.
February 10th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Wow, Pat, that’s pretty cool! Did your father say why they came to the U.S., and why the Midwest?
Bhend definitely is not a common name in this area of Wisconsin. Not today, anyway. There are none listed in our county phone book and only 20 listed in whitepages.com for all of Wisconsin.
Very interesting. I love genealogy and I love history.
March 16th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Not real sure why they came, but I think it was simply the opportunity to own more land and make a better life. they were not poor in Switzerland became they did own an Inn and there is a story about a Duke and Duchess from England who would come and stay with them frequently in their Inn. They arrived in 1890, but like I said before they first came to Southern Wisconsin and stayed with relatives until they found land in Minnesota. So there were Bhend’s already here at that time. My grandfather stayed in Minnesota, but my greatgrandfather and 2 of my great uncles moved to the Athens, Wisconsin area about 1900 and some of the descendants still live in that area. My grandfather was born in Bex, Switzerland.
May 21st, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Hi. I had exactly the same sitution here in the UK. The mushroom factor is present everywhere…
September 17th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Hi all -
Pat, I read your March 16 2009 post and can fill in some of the blanks for you, as we are distantly related. Your grandfather Adolph had a sister, Ida. Ida married William Nuernberg, who is my great grandfather. Ida and William’s son Roy (my grandfather) was a geneaology fan, so I grew up hearing the stories about Ida and Adolph and their Inn in Bex. I’ve got a few typed notes of stories about Adolph that were orally told to my grandfather by one of Adolph’s sisters. Ida and Adolph’s father was Christian Bhend, but I don’t believe that this is the same Christian Bhend referenced in the original column about the mushroom factor.
October 28th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
my grandfather was christian bhend, from the bernese oberland in switzerland.
I believe that his grandmother was Ida. His father moved to London in the 1800′s.
He died last year at 102.
December 22nd, 2009 at 11:32 pm
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March 20th, 2010 at 6:12 am
Genealogy: A hay stack full of needles. It’s the threads I need.
May 4th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
Hey everyone, here’s a little more info on John Bhend. You are all on the right track, but maybe I can clarify a little. John Bhend was the younger brother of my great-grandfather, Christian (Christ) Bhend from Aschi, Switzerland. From our family geneology, Christian came to the United States in 1894. He was a cheese maker. John did indeed follow in 1906 and was a building contractor. The city directory is correct in all the information you list. He married Sarahphine as you list and died in 1944. He is buried in the Oak Hill cemetery in Watertown, Wisconsin. I only vaguely remember Marcel, but I do remember my “Aunt Irene”. I have a picture of Christ and John and their parents in front of the family home in Aschi. The house was built in approximately 1150 AD and was in our family until 1924 when Christ and John’s younger sister Margaret died. As for the “relatives” in southern Wisconsin, Christian Bhend Sr., Christ and John’s father, had only the two sons and a daughter. The daughter stayed in Switzerland and as far as we know, never married. John had Marcel and a daughter, Irene. Marcel had no sons, so his branch of the family name ends there. Christian’s branch comes only through me and my sons, so our family is quite small. However, there were many families with the Bhend name in that region of Switzerland and we have been informed of a branch that settled in Minnesota that were very close to our family at about that time. It’s quite possible that they stayed with John or Christian and then continued on to Minnesota. It’s incredible that you live in a house built by my great-great Uncle! Thank you so much for sharing this information. My father will be amazed to see it. In fact, it was my oldest son’s fiance that found this site and sent it to me. Good luck with all your remodeling. Dave
May 4th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
I just finished talking with my father. The topic was brought up about asking if it would be possible for our family to have a scrap board with John’s signature. It would mean very much to us. I do not know how to contact you, but I live in Chippewa Falls, Wi. If you have a board available, we would love to hear from you. Thank you so very much. Dave
May 5th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Thanks so much for the fascinating history! I’d love to know more about John as a builder. The American Foursquare is popular in this area and I often wonder if he built any of them as well. Because I’m a genealogy junkie, I love that, in a very stretched way, I’m part of your family tree.
And just to prove the extent of my addiction, I’ve also written about geneaology and homes here.
June 1st, 2010 at 7:48 am
John Bhend was my grandfather Christian Bhend’s brother! Heidi Bhend
(his granddaughter and daughter of Irene) still lives in Watertown and I believe in the house that was her grandfathers. I see my nephew David
has left you a message!
This is very interesting.
June 1st, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Pat,
I tried contacting some Bhends through FaceBook and I was told that there are two different clans of Bhend in Switzerland. One Bhend family’s place of origin is Unterseen. John Bhend’s clan is from Beatenberg. I was told that both are in the same area.
July 22nd, 2010 at 12:23 pm
My husband and I just bought a fixer (read: total gut and remodel) American Foursquare in Madison and, searching for design and layout ideas, I came across this post. I loved it, and I loved that the search drew you in to the point that you learned so much about the builder. I’m already wondering what hidden history our house will hold. I grew up in Watertown and still visit my parents there often. Riverfest fireworks, here I come!
August 17th, 2010 at 11:27 am
Renee, thanks for your comment. And so interested to hear you’re redoing an American Foursquare! Keep in touch and share your ideas!