Whiteside County IL Archives Biographies.....Bechtel, Ephraim M 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 January 31, 2008, 12:25 am

Author: Portrait/Bio Album, Whiteside County IL 1885

Ephraim M. Bechtel, a farmer on section 10, Clyde Township, was born March 23, 
1833, in Columbiana Co., Ohio. Benjamin R. Bechtel, his father, was a native 
of Berks Co., Pa., and was a stone mason by trade. He learned his business in 
the State where he was born, and was there married to Rebecca Myers. Both 
parents were of German ancestry and descent. After the birth of their eldest 
child they removed to Ohio, where they located in Columbiana County. Mr. 
Bechtel of this sketch was born soon after, and is the second child born in 
that county, being the third child of his parents. When he was five years of 
age the family removed to Chester Township, Wayne Co., in the same State. He 
was there brought up and educated and was an inmate of the paternal home until 
he was 20 years of age, when he learned the trade of a cooper, and was was 
engaged in that business two years. Subsequently he engaged as a mechanic in 
the employ of the Chicago, Fort Wayne & Pittsburg Railroad corporation, and, 
after two years in their service, he came to Illinois. He was first employed 
by the Chicago & Rock Island corporation, in whose interests he operated one 
year. He then came to Whiteside County, whither his parents had removed in 
1855. He purchased 40 acres of land in Clyde Township, which was his second 
purchase of real estate, he having previously become the owner of 40 acres of 
land in Benton Co., Iowa. This he afterwards sold and devoted his entire time 
to the improvement of his property in Illinois. His parents were residents on 
a farm in the eastern part of Clyde Township, where they passed the remainder 
of their lives. The father died about a year after removing to Illinois. The 
death of the mother occurred about 1872. Both were in advanced years. Mr. 
Bechtel devoted his time and strength to the improvement of his farm in Clyde 
Township until March, 1859, when, in company with James Wood, Thomas Aldritt 
and Richard Frye, he started for the promised land of Pike's Peak. They drove 
across the plains, encountering hardship, privation and fatigue, and finally 
arrived at Denver. They went thence up the Platte River, prospecting for gold 
but with success far below the hopes which had induced them to leave the 
certainties of a life of effort on the beautiful and fruitful prairies of 
Illinois, to chase the will-o-the-wisp promises of speedy wealth in the Rocky 
Mountains, and they learned that the gold that came through the medium of 
their toil was just as swift recompense as the placer yields of the Platte, 
and a deal more certain. Their tarry in the mountains was brief, and selling 
their equipments they purchased provisions with the proceeds and set out on 
their return homeward. They made the route in hungry weariness, encountering 
throngs of starving and distressed emigrants pressing on to repeat the 
experiment which had proved to them anything but a success. Mr. Bechtel 
resumed farming in Whiteside County, and added further purchases to his 
acreage. A few years later he made a change in location and purchased 80 acres 
on section 10, which he bought with the purpose of making it a permanent 
location. It was wholly unimproved, and he entered vigorously into the work of 
converting it into a farm. Later, he purchased 80 acres on section 9, and 
still later bought 80 acres additional on section 10, on which some 
improvements had been made. He is now the owner of 240 acres, all of which is 
under cultivation, and constitutes one of the splendid estates which gives 
Whiteside County its value. Its buildings are valuable and serve to increase 
the attractions of the place. The proprietor is heavily interested in stock 
and sends to market annually upwards of 100 head. Mr. Bechtel inclines to the 
principles of the Republican party, but is in no sense aggressive in his 
political affiliations. He is a Deacon in the Dunkard Church. His marriage to 
Sarah Wilson took place Feb. 22, 1861, in Clyde Township. She is the daughter 
of John and Jane (Blue) Wilson, and is a native of Clyde Township, where she 
was born March 29, 1841. (See sketches of David and William Gsell.) To Mr. and 
Mrs. Bechtel four children have been born as follows: John, Feb. 17, 1862; 
Ella, July 1, 1866; Lana, Nov. 1, 1876; and Rebecca, who died when nearly 15 
years of age.

Additional Comments:
Portrait and Biographical Album of Whiteside County, Illinois, Containing Full-
page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative 
Citizens of the County. Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1885.

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