William Blechle, a retail liquor dealer of Perryville, Mo. was born in St. Louis in 1841, and is a son of Gottfried and Cecelia (Meyers) Blechle (see sketch of Joseph Blechle). William Blechle grew to manhood on his parents' farm in Perry County, Mo., and in 1863 removed to Shelby County, Ill., where he was engaged in farming for ten years.

In 1865, he married Miss Ellen Underiend, who was born in Perry County in 1842. She died in 1866, and in November 1867, Mr. Blechle married again, choosing for his second wife Miss Mary Machler, who was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, on August 5, 1848. She is a daughter of Ignatius and Catherine Machler, both natives of Germany. Mr. Machler is now residing in Perry County, Mo., aged sixty-eight years. His wife died in 1864, aged forty-four years.

By this union Mr. Blechle has three children: Anna, William and Teresia, aged eighteen, sixteen and thirteen respectively. The first two were born in Shelby County, Ill., and the last one in Perry County, Mo.

In 1873, Mr. Blechle returned with his family to Perry County and located in Perryville, where he was engaged in teaming for six months, after which he established his present business. Politically he is a Democrat. He and family are devoted members of the Catholic Church.

The Goodspeed Publishing Company compiled a series of histories of various counties in the U.S. in the late 19th century. The information in the History of Southeast Missouri, published in 1888, was provided by the contemporary residents of Perry County and her neighboring counties. The biographies are a valuable source of genealogical information, despite a few minor inaccuracies. We are glad to present the transcribed biographies here for anyone researching Perry County's history.