Hi, Jill! You may e-mail me at driversis@att.blackberry.net if you wish to correspond.
My Bechtol search led me to Mathias Bechtold found in the 1790 census of Oley Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. I realize that you are searching the 1800's, but this may give you some migration connection later on.
Ibegan my search pre-computer with not much luck. I am still not certain if Mathias is mine, but that same census lists an Amos (with Mathis' son, David)in Mathias'household. My Amos was born in Oley Twp and the Amos shown would have been the right age.
I share your frustration in searching as my father's father, James, died when dad was six. Dad never met his paternal grandfather, Amos (possibly George Amos) Bechtol of New Castle, PA.
Dad's father was James Walter Bechtol(James had two brothers, John and possibly George) who was raised in New Castle, PA. James (b.Jan 27, 1867) had two children from his first marriage, Albert and Jeanette.

Amos was in George Durrell's Battery "D" Pennsylvania's Volunteer Light Artillery during the Civil War. He was in all four years from 1861-1865. I am sure many men named their sons after men they admired with whom they served during the war.

My dad, John, had two brothers, William and James(who was going to be named George Amos).

They attended their mother's funeral in 1952 in New Castle, PA(she lived in Marion,Indiana, but buried in New Castle, PA) and met three Bechtol cousins from Steubenville, Ohio--John, William and James (I have been told by a lady connected to the Steubenville Bechtols that there is now a William Watson Bechtol the fifth. Steubenville, Ohio is not that far from New Castle, PA
New Castle, PA is the home of Amos' wife, Elizabeth Pattison.
The Pattisons were from the Glasgow area of Scotland. They were in New Castle in 1828 and lived as dairy farmers on Scotland Lane As you can see, Amos and Elizabeth had James 1867 after the war. Looks like Elizabeth could have had a brother, David Pattison, who may have served in the war with Amos.

Amos' only connection to New Castle could have been just because it was Elizabeth's home.
I have no personal items for this couple, or their son, James, my grandfather.

I have a picture of James and his daughter Jeanette and one letter he wrote to my grandmother(his second wife), sending her instructions on moving to NY,-- she was in Indiana and he was a furnace foreman at the Corning Glass Works in Corning, NY
My father was born in Mossy Glen, NY in 1920.Mossy Glen was annexed into the town of Corning.
I know more about the Pattison line than I do the Bechtols.
This was always my question--why would no one in the Bechtol family be around for three little boys when their father died? Why don't we know ANY Bechtols except dad's two brothers? For that matter, the same questions apply to the Pattison family.
I do know from James' letter to my grandmother from Corning that he drank. That led me to believe that his dad's( Amos's) family could have been part of the Mennonite community of Oley Twp in Berks county who would not have abided liquor.

I showed the different spellings of Bechtel(most prominent spelling in Berks County in 1790 census), Bechtol, Bechtold, Bechtoldt to a German lady who had been in the USA for 30 years. She said the 'TEL' spelling was Jewish and the 'TOLD' was certainly Bavarian(no question) from the Black Forest(Swartzwald) of Germany
James' daughter, Jeanette, used to sing me a song in German.
My husband and I made a stop in Oley Twp in the 1980's. The highway took us up a hill with a retaining wall and we passed a Bavarian costume shop and a very old church. I didn't take pictures and the historical society and library were closed.
The church may have been Lutheran. There was a churchyard cemetary with headstones in German and also iron crosses with circles
.
There are quite a few Bechtol families around Montpelier, Ohio, but I can't make a connection.

My husband's farming family migrated from Lancaster County, PA(--home to the Amish, Mennonites, German Baptists (Dunkers/Tunkers)and Anabaptists early immigrants to PA)to Montgomery County, Ohio in 1807 in search of good farmland and easy access to water. And then from Ohio to Indiana.
When searching, remember that the people back then were very practical and were mostly farmers.
Amos was listed as a nailor--made cut nails. Blacksmiths made and used cut nails in horseshoeing. The Blacksmith was important to early settlers. He would have also made iron pots and kitchen items. It is very possible that since my Amos was the last male mentioned in this census for Mathias' household, and about seven years younger than the next youngest, David, he could have been a brother, half brother to David and his brothers, or Mathias' grandson or nephew. One thing I did learn this week when I looked into the Mennonite history online is that for some reason, many women changed their first names to Elizabeth. Maybe that is why I keep coming up with Suzanna and Elizabeth as names for Mathias' wife. I lean toward her name being Suzanna Bertolet Bechtold.

Our Bechtol name ends with my brother, James Michael,
who has no children. My only have two Bechtol cousins who are female with no children.
I found one Pattison cousin on the net and one Bechtol from New Castle living in Pittsburgh.
One lady in Ohio told me her grandfather would sign his name Bechtol sometimes and Bechtel othertimes. I thought that Bechtold/dt would be dropped to Bechtol as they moved west, but there is one Bechdolt family in Camden, Indiana.
One other fact to remember is that many of the "plain" churches, while not worshiping together, tend to farm in the same areas and gives you a location to explore.
Hope this helps in some small way.
Barbara (Bechtol) Flory