Hephzibah Dumville Bechly

Hephzibah Beulah Bechly ( Dumville; September 9, 1833 – April 6, 1869) was a writer who wrote about the life of common women in the pre-American Civil War era in the Midwest of the United States.

Family life Hephzibah Beulah Dumville was born in Lancashire, England to Thomas Dumville (1793-1842) and Ann Johnson (1795-1873). She emigrated to the United States with her parents and siblings, arriving in New York Harbor on September 16, 1840. The family settled on a farm in Macoupin County, Illinois where her father Thomas intended to form a colony. The venture failed when Thomas died in 1842, forcing the remaining family to move to find work. Life was difficult for Hephzibah, her mother Ann, and her sisters Elizabeth and Jemima; as was detailed in their writings. There are 117 letters in the collection that were written by Dumville family members, neighbors, Civil War soldiers, and Methodist clergy. The letters were written over the period 1851 through 1863. Most of the letters in the collection were written by Hephzibah Dumville.

What makes the Dumville Family letters important is that the letters reflect the trials and tribulations of a family of Midwestern women that lacked social status and economic means. Such primary sources that cover the lives of ordinary women in this time period are rare. The Dumville letters provide first-person accounts of the lives of ordinary Midwestern women from their own perspective. The Dumville letters act as a counterweight to the dominant elite and male perspective of the period.