Updated: July 2005

JOHN and MATILDA BEAGLE
John Betchel (later known as Beagle) was born about 1796 in Frederick County, Md. His parents may have been Georg and Esther (Eller) Betchel. (1)
John married Matilda Selsom on Sept. 10, 1825, in Frederick County. (2)
Children: (3)
Martin.
Eli.
Alva, born about 1830 in Ohio.
Eliza, born about 1832 in Ohio. Married Joel Tracy.
John.
Elizabeth. Married a man named French.
Sarah, born about 1838 in Ohio. Married A.W. Waltermire.
Hester. Married a man named Shearer.
David, born May 17, 1846. Served with the 133rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War.
George T.
A child died in infancy.
John appears to have been part of the German Bechtel (or Beachtel) family of Frederick, Md. Some researchers have linked him to Georg Bechtel Sr. and his wife Esther Eller. (4)
Sometime between their marriage in their marriage in 1825 and the birth of Alva in 1830, the Bechtel family moved to Ohio. At that point, the family name begins appearing as "Beagle." It is unclear whether this change was intentional or whether John, like many Germans, had his name Anglicized for him by his new neighbors.
An account in "History of Hancock County, Ohio," which was published in 1886, gives a brief account of the Beagles’ migration. It mentions that David Beagle "was born May 17, 1846, in Muskingum County, Ohio, son of John and Mathilda (Selson) Beagle, natives of Frederick County, Md., and who, after living twenty years in Muskingum County, Ohio, came, in 1852, to Jackson Township, this county, and purchased a farm on which they resided until their death."
Matilda died April 20, 1861 and John died Jan. 10, 1874.
(1) Information in this item comes from "History of Hancock County, Ohio," by Warner, Beers & Co., page 788. This account, which focuses on John’s son David, says that John died in 1874, in his 78^th year. See information on Georg Bechtel in footnote 4. (2) "Marriage Licenses of Frederick County, 1811-1840," by Margaret E. Myers, page 210. Birth dates of some children listed in Mormon’s International Genealogical Index. (3) Children and women’s married named are mentioned in "History of Hancock County," along with the birth date of David. Other birth years and birth places come from the 1880 Census of Hancock County, Ohio, where Alva, Eliza and Sarah’s households listed near each other. (4) Georg Bechtel married Esther Eller on March 18, 1794, according to "Maryland German Church Records, Vol. 6, Records of the Evangelical Reformed Church, Frederick, Frederick County, Maryland, 1790-1828," translated by William. J. Kinke and edited by Frederick S. Weiser, page 7. Georg died sometime before 1803, when Esther Bachtell married Martin Rohrer on Sept. 5 in adjoining Washington County, Md., according to "Washington County Maryland Marriages, 1799-1860, Vol. 3: C-R," by Dale W. Morrow and Deborah J. Morrow, page 29.