 |
| Harvey, John, Andrew and Mary Ann (Shelly) Bechtel, c1890 |
The final 10 photos from the album:
Saturday, January 19, 2013
John Bliem Bechtel married Mary Ann Shelly in the early 1870s, and they made their home on the farm in Gablesville where their three children were born. One child was stillborn, but the other two boys, Andrew and Harvey, grew up there.
Andrew answered the call to the pastorate and became a Mennonite minister. He served pulpits in Bally, PA; Deer Creek, OK; Hanston, KS; and Summerfield, IL. He married Susanna Idella Hauck and and the couple had four children. Harold, my grandfather, was a teenager when the family moved to Deer Creek, OK, and graduated from Deer Creek High School with the class of 1929. He married his high school sweetheart, Esther Kuehny, and the couple made their home in Deer Creek together for over 50 years.
The final 10 photos from the album:
Photo 41: origin unknown
Photo 42: taken in Bethlehem, PA
Photo 43: taken in Philadelphia, PA
Photo 44: taken in Reading, PA. This may be the same gentleman who appears in Photos 17 and 25.
Photo 45: taken in Reading, PA
Photo 46: origin unknown
Photo 47: taken in Allentown, PA
Photo 48: taken in Pottstown, PA. The tax stamp on the reverse side indicates this photo was taken on July 2, 1866.
Photo 49: taken in Norristown, PA
Photo 50: origin unknown
The final 10 photos from the album:
Friday, January 18, 2013
Isaac H Bechtel, during the American War of Independence,
served in the Pennsylvania Militia and participated in the Battle of Brandywine
Creek (September 11, 1777) in which about 300 Americans were killed. The battle took place near Chadd’s Ford,
about 15 miles west of old Philadelphia .
It’s also worthy of note that Isaac’s Brother-in-Law,
Christian Stauffer, also served in the Colonial Militia during the War, being
stationed in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia. This is a copy of the Veterans’ Grave
Registration Record indicating that Isaac was a Private in Captain Crumrine’s
First Battalion and that the location of his burial is the Mennonite Cemetery
The next 10 photos from the album:
Photo 40: origin unknown
This is a map from 1862 showing the Colebrookdale, PA,
area. Circled in red is the area
surrounding the intersection of North Funk Road and West Philadelphia
Avenue. Two Jacob Bechtels are shown
along North Funk Road, as well as two G Bechtels. Also of note are the black lead mine and the
grave of an indian chief.
This map from 1876 shows the two Jacob Bechtels, one of
which must be Jacob B Bechtel.
This close up of Gabelsville from 1876 shows the Jacob
Bechtel properties, as well as the indian chief’s grave again, this time with
the notation that the grave is marked by a chestnut tree. These may be the two Bechtel houses shown in
the photo in the previous blog entry.
The next 10 photos from the album:
Photo 30: taken in Allentown, PA.
Hans George Bechtel arrived in Pennsylvania in 1728 and helped
found the Hereford Mennonite Church in Bally, PA. A monument recognizing him stands in the cemetery
across the street to the southeast of the church building.
The original Hans George Bechtel plantation occupied land at
today’s intersection of Niantic Road and Pine Street, a little more than half a
mile southeast of the church building. Isaac
Bechtel, whose gravestone stands in the cemetery in Bally, may have also lived
on this land.
By the 1860s, Isaac Bechtel’s grandson, Jacob B Bechtel, had
acquired land and had established a farm in Gablesville, PA, about 5 miles to
the southwest. The Jacob B Bechtel farm
occupied land that today is at the intersection of North Funk Road and West
Philadelphia Avenue. Jacob B Bechtel and
John Bliem Bechtel lived in two houses on this property and Andrew Shelly
Bechtel and his younger brother Harvey were both born there. The houses remained in the possession of
Harvey Bechtel’s children until the mid-1980s.
This is a photo of the farm taken when the barn between the two houses was
still intact.
 |
| Bechtel Farm, Gablesville, PA |
The next 10 photos from the album:
Photo 20: unknown origin
Thursday, January 17, 2013
My grandfather, Harold
Andrew Bechtel (d1995), was born in Philadelphia, PA, in 1911, to Rev. Andrew Shelly Bechtel (1874-1968) and
Susanna (Idella) nee Hauck (1881-1960).
Reverend Andrew Bechtel was descended from the Bechtel families living
in Berks County, PA. Harold was Andrew
and Idella’s 3rd child.
Andrew’s parents were John
Bliem Bechtel (1840-1912) and Mary Ann nee Shelly (1840-1915). I haven’t confirmed it yet, but Mary Ann may
have been descended from European Royalty via the 15th and 16th
Century Counts and Countesses of Solms-Lich, Germany. This family itself counted such European
luminaries as William the Conqueror, Frederick Barbarossa, Rurik of Kiev, Arpad
of Hungary, Charlemagne, and Charles Martel (among others) as ancestors.
John Bliem Bechtel was a great grandson of Isaac Bechtel
(1751-1820), via his father Jacob B
Bechtel (1812-1894) and his grandfather Jacob Stauffer Bechtel (1774-1850). Isaac Bechtel, son of Hans
George and Maria Bechtel, veteran of the American War of Independence, was born in
1751 and died in 1820 and lies buried in the Mennonite cemetery in Bally, PA. Mennonite minister Hans George Bechtel (d1759) arrived in Pennsylvania from the German
Palatinate in 1728 aboard the ship Mortonhouse.
These Bechtels intermarried with other prominent German families of
early eastern Pennsylvania including Stauffer, Cassell, Reiff, Buchwalter, and
Weiss, among others.
Harold Bechtel had an active interest in his genealogy and
kept an old Bechtel Family photo album.
Before his death in 1995, Grandfather Harold gave to me the photo album,
and I’ve kept it in a safe place ever since.
The small, worn, leatherbound album is filled with carte de visite (CDV) photos that were popular in the American
Civil War era, as well as several tin ferrotypes. Most of the photo cards identify the
photographers’ studios as being in the vicinity directly northwest of
Philadelphia, PA: Allentown, Boyertown, Pottstown, Norristown, Reading,
etc. Several of the photos hold tax
stamps which were issued between 1864 and 1866.
For example, one can be read as issued in 1866.
 |
| Bechtel Album |
The album contains 50 photos, but unfortunately, I cannot
identify many of the people portrayed.
An index page is included, but aside from a couple last names it’s fairly
illegible to me. I can make out the a
couple Bechtels, Bahrs and Yoders, but only first initials are listed, and
several of these are faded and very difficult to make out.
The only photo I can positively identify is
John Bliem Bechtel. From the look of the
his age in the photo, the time period is consistent with the others in the
album; probably from the mid to late 1860s.
 |
| Album index page |
 |
| John Bliem Bechtel, c1865-1870 |
Below are the first 10 photos. If you can identify any of the people
depicted in these photos, please contact me.
Photo 5: taken in Norristown, PA. Photos 4 and 5 were obviously taken in the same studio in Norristown. Are 4 and 5 a man and wife?
Photo 10: taken in Reading, PA
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)