Smithsonian Researcher F.L.J. Boettcher Dies of Flu, Feb. 8, 1920

From The Independent, Elizabeth City, N.C., Feb. 13, 1920

Master of 20 Million Words Died Feb. 8^th. . . F.L.J. Boettcher, Brother of Wm. Boettcher of Elizabeth City, Was a Hard Working Scientist                                            

F.L.J. Boettcher, a brother of Wm. Boettcher of this city, died of pneumonia at his home in Washington, D.C., last Friday. He was 68 years old.

F.L.J. Boettcher was a student and a scientist of great versatility and ability. He did much notable work for the Smithsonian Institution and the past 25 years of his life had been spent largely in the perfection of a universal language, a work which required the collection, translation, classification and co-ordination of more than 20 million words in several hundred languages and dialects. The great work in which he spent so many years labor will probably die with its originator.

The deceased is survived by a wife, who is at this time the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Boettcher on Pennsylvania avenue.