Stacey, Yes, I do have the obituary you speak of. His obituary in the "Centre Democrat" of Thu. 8 Dec 1904 read: "Frank Bechdel died very suddenly of heart failure at Howard. He was aged 65 years and is survived by seven daughters who live in Minnesota; one sister, Mrs. Levi Rupert of Howard township, also survives. Interment was made in the Disciple graveyard." This certainly seems like he had ties to Minnesota. He perhaps came back here to die. His death record is on file in Centre County, PA. It reads: Centre Co., PA Death Records: F. L. Bechdel, male, 64, single, bp Liberty Twp, farmer, d 27 Nov 1904 in Howard Boro of consumption, interment at Blanchard. Now, "single" was often used in these records to denote one whose spouse had passed away, or perhaps divorced. Thus, he probably at one point was married, and had seven daughters. It is interesting that the death record says he died of consumption (tuberculosis), which is a long-term, wasting disease of the lungs, whereas the newspaper said he died suddenly of a heart attack. I will be back with more info after I install my 1880 census on this computer and consult that also. Justin Justin Kirk Houser Genealogist/Researcher of Central PA and Beyond Main Lines: Houser, Breon, Shawley, Ranio/Hrynio (and others) President, BAHS Class of 2003 Student Representative, BASD Board of Education Listowner, PACENTRE-L@Rootsweb.com Historian, Schürch Association of North America (specialty Central PA lines) Member, Valley View United Methodist Church "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature"