From Proud Heritage, Volume II by DCPA. This hardcover book is available online.
Daniel Bechtol and his wife, Mahala, migrated to Duck Creek, Dallas County, Texas, from Middletown, Frederick County, Maryland, in 1876, settling on 310 acres in what is now south Garland. Daniel Bechtol was born 13 January 1824 near Middletown, the son of Ludwig (Lewis) Bechtol (1783-1851) and Catherine (Stemple) Bechtol (1782-1874). The Bechtols are believed to have been of Swiss ancestry and were among the early settlers of Pennsylvania, western Maryland, and eastern West Virginia.
Daniel Bechtol and Mahala Biser were married 10 September 1846 at Middletown. She was the daughter of John Biser (1789-1865) and Mary (Schlosser) Biser (1794-1848). Daniel and Mahala Bechtol were the parents of seven children, four of whom settled with their parents in Dallas County: Mary Catherine (born 26 November 1849, died 17 September 1923 at Garland, married 17 December 1874 to L. M. T. Flook), Daniel Wesley (born 9 April 1857, died at Rio Vista, Texas, married Melissa ) Edward Clayton (born 10 June 1860, died 1939 at Grapevine, Texas, married 14 October 1877 to Sarah J. Willingham), and Charles Elmore (born 18 October 1862, died 31 March 1912 at Garland, mar ried 1 November 1883 to Sarah A. Lander). A fifth sibling, John Lewis Bechtol and his wife, Alice (Linebaugh) Bechtol, came but stayed only briefly moving on to Gettersburg, Ohio.
After his father’s death, Daniel Bechtol operated the family farm in the Middletown Valley for more than 20 years, caring for his widowed mother. He served a brief stint in the Union army during the Civil War. When his mother died in 1874, Daniel inherited the farm but soon sold it. In December, 1875, he purchased the farm on Duck Creek in Dallas County. The following April, he brought Mahala and their three youngest children to their new home. His daughter, Catherine, and her hus band, L. M. T. Flook, had preceded the Bechtols to the Duck Creek community by a few months. Tragically, before their first year in Texas had passed, Mahala was struck down by typhoid fever and died. She was buried in what is now known as McCree Cemetery, on Audelia Road in Dallas.
The Bechtols were accompanied to Texas by a single woman, Elizabeth Babbington, who had been raised as a foster child by Daniel Bechtol’s parents. A year after the death of Mahala, Daniel and Elizabeth Babbington were married and she became a beloved step-mother to Daniel’s children.
Daniel Bechtol’s farm fronted on the south side of present-day Kingsley Road in Garland and stretched from First Street on the east to Saturn Road on the west. Daniel primarily raised cotton, but also kept a large herd of goats-perhaps a manifestation of his Swiss heritage and something of a rarity for this part of Texas. For several years he owned and operated a cotton gin directly across Kingsley Road from his
house.
A grandson of Daniel Bechtol, John L. Bechtol (1881-1979) of Grapevine, spoke of his memories of his grandfather in an oral history interview in 1972. He recalled Christmas being celebrated in the home by Daniel Bechtol bringing a 5-gallon jug of cider and Elizabeth baking a big batch of gingerbread. John Bechtol also recalled his grandfather coming to his (John’s) parents’ farm in Mesquite to help with the chores of hog killing in winter, when four or five animals might be slaughtered and dressed in a single day. “The last time Grandpa came down to help with hog killing, about 1893, a flock of prairie chickens flew over-15 or 20 birds-the last I ever saw.” John recounted another event in association with his memories of his grandfather, “The day Grandpa died in Garland [8 December 1905], a Mr. Ryon came to town drunk. He went into Naylor’s Store [on the square], bought a six-shooter, and came out shooting. Shot one man before they could take cover!”
Daniel Bechtol’s obituary in the Garland News cited his strict honesty and observed that by ” … attention to business ‘Uncle Dan’ accumulated a handsome competency, and that without being miserly. He was always ready to help those in distress, and nothing he could do to help suffering humanity was ever withheld.” Daniel Bechtol and both of his wives are buried in McCree Cemetery.
By Jerry M . Flook, Forney, Texas
