Matthais Breyel (1843-1909)
Matthais Breyel (Breiel in some records) was born on February 27, 1843, in Wyhl, Duchy of Baden (Germany) to Johann Evangelist and Rosa Dirr Breyel. Like his father and grandfather Franz, he was abauer or farmer around Wyhl, and later Morrilton, Arkansas.
He was married to Barbara Strudel in Wyhl on September 6, 1869. They had four children: Amalia, Franz (Frank) Xavier, August and Joseph. Barbara died after childbirth on November 4, 1874 and the widower Matthais later married Genovefa (Genevieve) Fraenzle on May 31, 1875. They had six children; three born in Germany (one child – Pius – died there in 1876) and three born in Morrilton, Arkansas. Matthais and Genevieve immigrated to the United States in May 1879 with their two children Peter and Stephan. Amalia, Franz, August and Joseph from his first marriage as well as the children from her first marriage accompanied them.
It took him approximately six months to dispose of his farm, clear his debts and obtain immigration papers from the Duchy of Baden before he was permitted to disembark for America. His family travelled by ship in a second class berth. This is assumed considering US Immigration in Ellis Island in New York did not delay their arrival; generally third class immigrants were detained.
Matthais purchased land from the Holy Ghost Fathers, a Catholic order from Germany, in their Morrilton, Arkansas colony. These farms were between 40 to 60 acres and cost US$5.00 per acre. This is how land was parcelled out to immigrants in this colony. His farm was located near the Holy Ghost Fathers’ Marienstadt Monastery (named after the monastery in Germany) on Monastery Ridge, north of Morrilton.
On a Sunday morning in 1890 while Matthais and family were attending Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, which he helped organize, a tornado destroyed the farm. He donated part of this farm to the Sacred Heart Parish for its present day cemetery. He sold the remaining acreage and purchased another farm about a mile to the east.
Joseph and Elizabeth Breyel continued to live on this farm until 1948 when it was sold. Matthais died on May 29, 1909 at the age of 66 and was buried in the Sacred Heart Cemetery with his second wife Genevieve, three sons and a daughter. The Sacred Heart Cemetery is located on the east side of Highway 95 and north of Morrilton on Interstate 40.
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| Far right: Franz X. Breyel |
The first son of Matthais Breyel and Barbara Strudel, he was born in Wyhl, Baden in 1871 (gravestone states 1872). He emigrated to America (central Arkansas) with his father, step-mother and siblings in May 1879.
He was married to Louise Rolf. They had five children.
Like his father before him, he was a farmer and worked the land in Morrilton, Arkansas. Acreage was also farmed in east Little Rock, near Adam’s Airfield. Though he lived most of his life in Arkansas, he spoke with a distinctly German accent.
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| John J. Breyel, Sr |
The second son of Franz Xavier Breyel and Louise Rolf, he was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1902.As a teenager, he was stricken with meningitis.
He was married to Catherine Carolyn Nutt in 1925, in Dixie, Arkansas. The daughter of Joseph A. Nutt – an immigrant originally from Balzers, Liechtenstein and one of 21 pioneer families from German speaking nationalities in Central Arkansas – she and her husband had eight children – seven daughters and one son.
Hw was an Electrician by trade and was involved in Labour Union acivities. In later years, near the end of his life, he was a Night Watchman for Bruce’s, in east Little Rock, Arkansas.
He was quiet and personable in demeanor. He enjoyed baseball and had an encyclopedic memory of the sport.
A diabetic, he died in his sleep from a stroke the day after American Indepedence Day (July 5, 1963), at age 61. He is interned with his wife at Calvary Cemetery in Little Rock.
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| John J. Breyel, Jr |
The fifth and only son of John J. Breyel, Sr and Catherine (Nutt) Breyel, he was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1934.
He grew up on the Breyel family farm in east Little Rock, near the present day Little Rock Airport. In later years his family would reside in a huge two-storey house located at 1609 Denison Street, two houses down from Little Rock Central High School.
He attended Subiaco Catholic High School in Morrilton, Arkansas between 1948 and 1953, A distinguished athlete, he was an All-State/All-Conference football tackle and All-State/All-Conference baseball catcher.
He was offered a number of collegiate scholarships to play football, including an offer from Texas Tech University. Instead he opted to further his education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (formerly University of Little Rock), majoring in Metallurgical Engineering.
On February 21, 1953 he married Rilla Dean Wolf, daughter of Laurence Newton Wolf and Bonnie Leah Shockey, at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Little Rock. They had met two years earlier during a football game at North Little Rock High School. Subsequently, they had eight children between 1954 and 1970. Their youngest son, Gregory Benjamin, died in 1973 of a rare respiratory ailment at St. Luke’s Hospital in Denver.
He worked first for Booth Steel in North Little Rock, starting as an apprentice Welder, and in subsequent years worked as a Journeyman Fitter/Welder/Quality Inspector for various sheet-metal and steel companies In Arkansas, Texas, Colorado and Missouri. This was his profession for nearly 38 years until early retirement at 58, due to a medical disability.
In 1955, he took his family to Fort Worth/Dallas, Texas where he worked for General Motors. A year later, they returned to Little Rock, resuming his work with Arkansas Steel & Foundry.
He was a member of the Knights of Columbus in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966, he was a Boy Scout Troupe Leader (Troupe No. 5) which was met weekly at St. Edward’s Elementary School in Little Rock.
Seeking to improve the lifestyle of his family, he moved them to Grand Junction, Colorado in July 1966. In 1969, he worked for Dow Chemical in Denver (Rocky Flats Nuclear Plant). They lived in Northglenn, a suburb of Denver, for eight years.
His family made their last move in Colorado to a home in the country, five miles south of Brighton, in 1977. It was a large two-storey house on 2.5 acres of land. Much of the land was used for an orchard, garden, barn and pasture for horses.
He suffered his first heart attack at age 47, the result of years of cigarette smoking and exposure to asbestos. In 1983, a final move was made to Freistatt, Missouri where he and his wife resided until his death.
In disposition, he was generally reserved. He had a mind for mathematics and history. He was adroit of hand and able to craft items from steel and wood. He was ever-ready to engage in conversation when topics touched upon politics, history, gardening and labour issues. He was an avid gardener, spending much of his free time in huge vegetable and flower gardens that he cultivated at his various homes.
He was 6’2” in height and weighed over 200 pounds. He suffered from diabetes and heart-related aliments later in his life. He succumbed to a cardiac arrest after a debilitating stroke six months earlier on 16 December 1998, in Monett, Missouri. He was 64. He was cremated and his remains were interned at Highland Mortuary in Northglenn, Colorado.
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| Timothy L. Breyel |
The son of John J. Breyel, Jr. and Rilla D. (Wolf) Breyel, he is the eldest of their eight children. He was born in Little Rock, Arkansas (USA) where he spent his boyhood. In 1966, his family migrated to Colorado, where he lived, worked and studied for nearly 18 years.</span>
He was an outstanding athlete in the sport of track throughout his secondary school years, excelling in the quarter mile and half mile events. In 1981, he obtained a Bachelor's Degree in English, emphasis in Secondary Education from Metropolitan State College of Denver. Thirteen years later, in 1994, he received a Postgraduate Diploma in Islamic Studies from the International Islamic University, Malaysia.
Before immigrating to Malaysia in December 1987, he lived and worked in Houston, Texas (USA) for approximately three years. He converted to Islam from Catholicism in the same month, taking the Muslim name, Muhamad Breyel. The following year, on 12 March 1988, he married Khatijah Abdul Rahman. They had their first and only child, Zulaikha Elsbeth Breyel, on 2 September 1989.
Over the past 25 years, he has written numerous poems and articles for Malaysian and American publications. He has worked in the advertising industry for more than 20 years.
An American citizen with Malaysian Permanent Residency, he resides in Malaysia where he has lived and worked since 1987.
His interests are rather ecletic. He is an avid reader of historical, theological and fictional literature. He enjoys listening to all genre of music, albeit his preference leans towards Progressive/Art Rock, Blues and Classical. He has a penchant for art, foreign, silent and classic films. And shortwave radio listening is a long time hobby he has enjoyed since his youth.
