KNOW BOETCKER?

Who was William John Henry Boetcker?

A THINKING MAN.  WJHB was the third child in-between three sisters born in a suburb of Hamburg, Germany in 1873.  When he was eight, his father (a factory foreman) was carried home on a stretcher because he had been beaten by striking workers.  The incident that left his father disabled for life...marked the young boy's soul and also gave him purpose in life.

William started a book when he was 15 of puzzles and mind problems.  Although his father thought it a waste of time, the boy worked hard and by his next birthday he had completed 500 pages.  When published, the novelty of being Germany's youngest author drew the attention of a wealthy American-born countess.  She saw Boetcker's potential, but believed he needed to go to America to fully realize it.  So on his graduation from high school, her gift to Boetcker was $65 for travel money.  He was 18 and alone when he boarded a steamship for New York City.

A FOCUSED MAN.  Although his ship was reported lost in stormy weather, Boetcker arrived in America and went to Chicago to enroll in Chicago Theological Seminary.  He spoke no English and his teachers spoke no German, so they conversed in Latin.

A FUNNY MAN.  In 1893 the Chicago World's Fair came to town with all its innovation and invention that would have captured the mind of this seminary student.  When the Pope sent a Cardinal to represent the church at the fair, one of the Swiss ceremonial guards became sick.  The church advertised for a coronet player who was 6' tall.  Boetcker answered the ad and although he was not 6' tall, he was great on the coronet.  No one else responded and he got the job. 

The fair introduced George W. Ferris' new invention, a steam-powered wheel that was 264 feet high and towered as crown jewel over all the other exhibits.  Each of its 36 cars held 60 passengers (40 revolving chairs and room for 20 to stand) who could look out plate glass windows to the fair below.  It was lit by 3,000 of Edison's new electric light bulbs.  Boetcker paid 50 cents to ride the wheel...it malfunctioned...and he was left at the top.  Before it could be repaired, people across the fair could hear a coronet playing "Nearer My God to Thee".

A SERVING MAN.  Boetcker finished seminary in New Jersey, graduated and pastored churches in New York and Indiana.  Then at the turn of the century, he began to give motivational speeches on social justice.  His concern was for individual character and personal initiative.  His early convictions that were formed as a result of his father's attack convinced him that industry and labor could change as individuals changed from the inside out.  So William John Henry Boetcker came to be known as the "Inside Man".

He published a leaflet in 1916 called "Lincoln on Private Property" and on the back he put his TEN CANNOTS.  Ronald Reagan once used them and attributed them to Abraham Lincoln, but they were written by Boetcker.  Most of us have read them.  They are what used to pass as just good common sense.

Do you think our times illlustrate this Boetcker list?

The Seven National Crimes:

I don’t think.

I don’t know.

I don’t care.

I am too busy.

I leave well enough alone.

I have no time to read and find out.

I am not interested.

William John Henry Boetcker came a long way from the suburbs of Hamburg, Germany...and he blessed many lives along the way.  Well done, Mr. Boetcker.  Your first-class life speaks to us still.

"Before you can write a check, you must first make out a deposit slip; before you can draw money out of a bank, you must put money into a bank; before you are entitled to a living, you must give the world a life; if you want to make a first-class living, learn to give the world a first-class life."  William John Henry Boetcker