Back In The Saddle Again

Back In The Saddle Again

Hello to all of my family and friends, who have supported me while I took the last two years off to just let go, and Let God! Sometimes we simply have to separate ourselves from all things in order to get to that sweet spot that God preserves for us. And I thank you all for allowing me time to do that.

So, with that being said, Mountain Genealogists, and therefore, the Monroe Bean Newsletter are back up and running. Our first newsletter should be ready in the next couple of days. Those who have been with us for so long will recall that I previously kept two blogs. This one for business, and another for the family newsletter. From now on, they will all be combined into this single blog page. And the newsletter will be transformed from The Monroe Bean's to Mountain Genealogists. 

Mountain Genealogists takes me back to that thrilling time when I met with the elders of our family and the first bug for family genealogy bit me. Many of you will remember Fannie Bell Beane and her husband, Jim, who did so much for our family genealogy! We have built upon their foundation, and I will always be indebted to Fannie's tireless research! I miss her very much, and I know one day, when I pass from this life, I will sit down with her and we will not only talk about the Beane family, but get to see those we are talking about as well!

Sometime after the New Year we will be doing another DNA test. This time to discover the haplogroup that tells us where the majority of our ancestry comes from. Yes. We will finally be able to say with a relative certainty whether our line of Bean's comes from Scotland or Ireland. 

Clan MacBean Tartan

 

In our newsletter, we will also be featuring a new section which will feature "famous" relatives, as found through  new research. These will all be verified, which means you can count on these being correct.

Last, we have begun work on a trilogy of fiction based on fact of the Bean's of Monroe County. This is a project I outlined several years ago, and will be working on it daily. This will take some time to complete, but it is something you can look forward to in future print.

 

Once we have completed these three novels, we will begin work on a complete, referenced, genealogical study of William Bean (1792-1864) and his descendants. When that work begins, we will be reaching out to everyone to assist us with updates. (The last one was written by Fannie Beane, and was written before many of our young adults were even born!) This will be in a bound book form for passing onto your children and grandchildren.

As before, I would love to have guest writer's each month. This does not have to be professionally written, and the subject is up to the writer. Have a poem you've written? A short story? Song lyrics? Or would you like to relate something about an ancestor? You can email it to cynthiahenry@consultant.com Because of digital newsletters, there is no limit to the size of article you submit. Just remember that you want to hold your audience captive during their entire time reading. So, send us your stories! We'd love to have them. We would also love to have birth and death announcements. Achievements. And photographs.

I look forward to sending you the newsletter in a few days! So be watching your email in box. Be sure to have our email address listed in your contacts so that the newsletter will arrive safely to you and not be put in your junk, or spam, folder. That email address is texicanwife@hotmail.com

 

And last, beginning in January we will be keeping copies of our newsletter. At the end of each year, we will be printing these newsletters into a bound book. These will be inexpensive and within a price range most everyone can afford. This will make a lovely gift to pass down to future generations. 

Be watching for your newsletter!

Cyndi Beane Henry

Mountain Genealogists

 

Surname Saturday - 21 November 2009

The name I research the most for my family line, is naturally, my maiden name. It began as "Bean", or at least for 3 generations before my father it was "Bean". In our particular line, it wasn't until the 20th century when family members began changing the spelling to "Beane". My own grandfather's last name was spelled "Bean". But I am getting ahead of myself here.

It is believed that before 1792 the spelling was actually "McBean". And that particular ancestor [my gr-gr-gr-grandfather] is believed to have been a conscripted soldier in the American Revolution from either Ireland or Scotland [DNA evidence pushes that possibility more to Ireland than Scotland]. Family lore states he "served under Lord Cornwallis" during the Revolution. We know he received land grants in the western lands of Virginia [into what is now West Virginia]. He disappears from all records about 1803-1804, and his children are placed for indenture in 1804. His land is sold in 1805 for back taxes. And his widow is listed on the tax rolls of 1805 as owing "nothing atall, owning only her spinning wheel and clothes".

The next generation is immediately known at birth as "Bean". There were 2 of the brothers. One had a rather large family. And the other, has had no spouse or family found on record to date. He died alone, with only a friend reporting his death, and his grave unknown.

The brother with family married and had 13 children. All of these children were born with the last name "Bean". But it is with this generation that we begin to see a division in those utilizing the "e" on the end of the name. There are complete lines of this generation that remain without the "e" to this very day. However, most have morphed into the now known "Beane".

My gr-grandfather was in that generation. His was a rather strange case, as at times he used the "e" on the end of his name, and at others he did not. Even reflecting this uncertainty in his own signatures, sometimes signing with- sometimes signing without. However, his children were all born without the "e" on the end of their name.

My own grandfather falls into this next generation. Grandpa was adamant that the family not have the "e" on the end of their name. And each child was born with the last name "Bean". Their birth records ALL reflect this. However, as they reached adulthood, each and every one adopted the little alphabetical change to their name. My own Dad's birth certificate lists his last name as "Bean", however, all other documents reflect his name as "Beane". By the time I came along, and all of my cousins, the "e" was a permanent fixture.

I do have "cousins" from the other branches of our family, in Kentucky and Arizona, whohave remained true to the "Bean" name. That is if one can say the name is true! We know that it metamorphed from McBean to Bean before it ever transformed to Beane.

It will be interesting to peek into our name in another 300 years, and see just what it has become by then! Perhaps "Bene" or Biene" or Bien" or just "Ben".

Only time will tell.