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 3^rd 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 15^th and 16^th 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.

Album index page

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.

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 1: taken in Reading, PA

Photo 2: unknown origin, but obviously taken in the same studio as Photo 3.

Photo 3: taken in Boyertown, PA.  Although Photo 2 is blank on the back, it was obviously taken in the same studio as Photo 3.  Are 2 and 3 a man and his wife?

Photo 4: taken in Norristown, PA

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 6: taken in Norristown, PA

Photo 7: taken in Norristown, PA.  Again, Photos 6 and 7 were taken in the same studio in Norristown.  Man and wife?

Photo 8: taken in Norristown, PA

Photo 9: taken in Reading, PA

Photo 10: taken in Reading, PA