William j. h. boetcker biography

William John Henry Boetcker was born in Altona, a suburb of Hamburg, Germany on July 17, 1873, the third child in a family of three sisters. At the age of 8, his father, a foreman in a factory, was carried home on a stretcher, disabled for life when he was beaten by striking workers.

When he was about 14 or 15, Boetcker started a book.

Despite his father's assertion that he was crazy, he worked hard and finished it at age 16. It was called Neuester Rätzelschatz and was a collection of puzzles and mind problems. A newspaper described him as Germany's youngest author, and this drew the attention of the Countess Von Waldersee, an American born woman, who believed that Boetcker would have to go to America to make something of himself.

William j. h. boetcker biography

She thought he would never amount to anything in Germany. At age 18, after he finished high school, she gave Boetcker $65 to go to America.

Boetcker took the steam ship Augusta Victoria to America. It was a stormy crossing, and when it arrived