Tombstone Tuesday - More From The Bean Cemetery

Last week we began a journey through the Bean Family Cemetery, located near Waiteville in Monroe County, West Virginia.

What stones are visible are worn and illegible. Some look merely like lumps of rock or granite. So, for the next few weeks we will visit each stone. However, since we have no idea who is buried where, we will simply "assign" a personage to each stone. We know several of the family members who are buried there, and thus we are able to provide fodder for these illuminations!

The above stone is about 14-inches high, and is almost box-shaped. There are no visible markings or engravings.

Today, let us discuss the matriarch of the Bean family here; Rachel Wiseman Bean.

Born 23 Apr 1790 in Rockbridge County, Virginia to Joseph Wiseman [1759-1836] and Elizabeth Bateman [1762-1842], Rachel was one of eleven children the couple had.

The Wiseman tree has been traced back to Robert Wiseman and 1592 in England.

Rachel married William Bean on 20 Nov 1813. In so doing, she took a great chance! William, an orphan, had just been released from indenture servitude two months prior. He was penniless and had no property. However, a chord was struck between the two, and it seems even between her parents and William, for many business dealings were held betwixt them!

Following a law suit against his former "Master" of indenture, and winning a substantial amount of fortune from the suit, William became a man of wealth and means. And while his wealth grew, so did his family! He and Rachel had thirteen children, all of whom reached adulthood! [Quite the feat for the early 1800's!]

Rachel was petted and pampered however, by her husband. He first built her a modest log cabin on Sinking Creek, near Back Valley. Later he acquired substantial lands across Peter's Mountain near Waiteville. It was here that he built her a large, roomy log house that remains in habitation to this very day!

On 11 Oct 1856, Rachel's daughter, Nancy, died quite suddenly following a fever of unknown origin. Rachel nursed Nancy the entire duration of the fever, never leaving her side. Nancy was single, having never married, and was 41 years of age.

Three weeks after burying Nancy, Rachel suddenly collapsed. Whether it was a stroke, or sheer heartbreak at having buried a child who had become as much companion and friend as child, wwe will never know. Rachel died on 07 November 1856.

Rachel was laid to rest some place in this lovely little cemetery that sits across the meadow from the house that William built for her. Here, for eternity, she lies, lovingly looking upon that which stands a memorial to the family's love.

It is a quiet and peaceful spot, this little cemetery in the woods. I'd like to think that William and Rachel lie side by side here, as they should.

Amanuensis Monday... William Bean

This is a copy of the marriage bond for William Bean to marry Rachel Wiseman.

It reads as follows:

Know all men by these presents that

we William Bean & Joseph Wiseman

are held and firmly bound unto James

Burton, governor of Virginia and his successors

in the penalty of $150  this 20th November 1813 - with condition

that there is no legal cause to obstruct

a marriage intended to be solemnized

between the William Bean & Rachel

Wiseman then the above obligation

to be void Else to remain in full

force -

Seal                                William Bean {Seal}

J Hutchison                         Joseph Wiseman {Seal}

William M. Bean was born 18 Sep 1792. Rachel Wiseman 23 Apr 1790. The couple were wed in Monroe County, [West] Virginia on the above date. They went on to have 13 children.

This couple were my great-great-grandparents.

Convolutions

The following is in regard to the Bean family of Monroe County, West Virginia. The family was rather large. Old William and Rachel Bean having 13 children, and their various lines of descendants. Today they are spread abroad, but the family remains tightly woven with the many families that remain in the county today.

Who’s Related To Who?


So, I was emailing my cousin, Mandy, and we were discussing the Crosier links to the Bean family. Especially the Thomas Crosier family. Thomas Crosier was the father of Martha Jane Crosier, who married Samuel Waite Bean [son of William and Margaret Perkins Bean].

Mandy mention that on the 1870 Census, Martha [known affectionately as “Mattie”], is found with the last name Hedrick.

Well, that’s easily enough explained. Mattie’s mother, Mary E. Chennault was married to Moses Hedrick on 22 May 1858. Following the birth of two children –James Joseph and Moses, Jr., Moses Sr. died on 12 Jul 1862, in Greenbrier County, WV. Mary, left alone with two children, married Thomas Crosier on 14 Feb. 1866. The couple had two children, Mattie and Amie. [Thomas had previously been married to Malinda J. Kinzley – b.1831-d. abt 1865] and had four children by her: Hannah Sarah [known as Sarah], Jacob, Agnes and Mary. On the 1870 census, the census taker was listing the children from oldest to youngest, and the first two were Crosiers [from Thomas’ first marriage], the next were two Hedricks [from Mary’s first marriage] and the last Martha Jane. However, the census taker simply carried down the last name given him, and poor Mattie looks to have the surname Hedrick on this record, which can be extremely confusing to this scenario.

Now, Thomas was the son of William Crosier [eldest son of Andrew Crosier and Elizabeth Maxwell – one of the four Maxwell sister’s whose family were among the very first settlers in Gap Valley, Monroe County.] and Sarah Bowyer.

Keep up here! Then we have Mary Chennault’s first husband, Moses. Moses was the son of Frederick Hedrick and Hannah Tuckwiller. [You’re probably saying you recognize that name.] Hannah Tuckwiller was the daughter of John Tuckwiller and Catherine Riffe. John and Catherine were the parents of Elizabeth Tuckwiller, yes the wife of Rev. Samuel Perkins/Parkins, and the couple were the parents of Margaret Smith Perkins/Parkins, who married William McHarvey Bean, and became the parents of Samuel Waite Bean, who married none other than Martha Jane “Mattie Crosier”.

[You will probably need a scorecard here!]

To really confuse you… Viranda Elizabeth Bean, [the daughter of William and Margaret Perkins Bean – affectionately known as “Betty”] married none other than James Joseph Hedrick, who was the son of Mary Chennault and Moses Hedrick. And yes, we now have convoluting circles within circles, within circles!

WARNING: Don’t try to draw this family tree out! You’re bound to get dizzy if you do!!!

So… I lovingly like to say… “Who are the Bean’s related to? I think it would be much easier to list who they are NOT related to!!!”

At least in Monroe County.

An Indentured Servant

William Bean was born 18 September 1792, we believe in Baltimore, Maryland. [Family lore leaves us to believe that, and a search through Baltimore Church records indicate a male child was baptized who was born on 18 September 1792, whose name was William Bean.]

At some point, William McBean [William's father], brought his wife, Sarah, and his oldest son, John, into the the Potts Valley area of Monroe County, Virginia [now West Virginia].

What happens next is unknown. William McBean disappears from history sometime before February 1804. It was then that Sarah places John Bean, her eldest son, into an indenture contract. [through the overseers for the county poor] where he was to be taught to be a weaver. [We'll discource on John another time.]

Just a few months later, on his 12th birthday, young William was also placed through the county poor for indenture. A copy of the contract is above.

A transcription of the document reads:

Dated 18 Sept. 1804

"This indenture made this 18th of Sept 1804 one thousand eight hundred and four between Jas. Christy owen Neal Robt Johnston and henry McDaniel of the one part overseers of the poor for monroe County and henry Smith of the other part witnesseth that the so overssers doth bind an orphan boy named William Bean aged twelfth years to the said henry Smith of the county aforesaid and State of virginia to Serve the said henry Smith until he arrives at the age of twenty one years, during all which time the Said William Bean Shall faithfully Serve his Master and all his lawful Commands obay he Sall not suffer any Damage to be done to his Said Masters goods without giving him notice thereof he Shall not frequent Still houses or taverns he shall not play at Cards dice or any unlawful game or at any time abscond himself from his masters business without his Masters leave he Shall not commit fornication nor Contract matrimony during said term but as a true and faithful servant shall truely and diligently Serve his Said Master until he arrives at the age aforesaid and the henry Smith in Consideration thereof doth Covenant and agree to have the so William Bean taught the art trade or Mastery of a Black Smith and provide for him a sufficiency of everyt thing thats requiset for an aprentice during the term of his aprenticeship likewise he is to have him taught to read the holy Scriptures planely to write a plane hand and arithmatic through te rule of three which Education he is to be thoroughly acquainted with at the Expiration of his time and also to give him Such freedom dues as the law direct taking Care to have Said aprentice instructed in the Principals and duties of the Christian religion as far as Said Master is Capable In writing whereof the partys have interchangeably set their hands inscribed this day and year above writen Signed Sealed ad delivered in the presents of - John Hinchman - Owen Neal - Henry Smith - Jas. Christy" [sic]

I have left the grammar exactly as the original was written. There are no paragraphical or line delineations. You will also note that punctuation is sporadic at best.

Young William was taught to be a blacksmith. It was a trade he did not use.

Instead,  9 years later on 20 Nov. 1813, he married the daughter of one of the county's most influential residents, Joseph Wiseman.He married Rachel, who was born in 1790.

By 1820 William had begun to have a collective amount of land that would net him a fortune [worth a couple of million dollars today]. He brought a suit against a Mr. Ballard in Monroe County [to whom he had been indentured], and won a large sum of money which enabled him to begin his climb to fortune. While the suit is named in Monroe County, records, no one, to date, has located the details of this suit. I have searched through the County Clerk's records for the time, and if the suit actually went to court, the records are not there to support it, although the date for hearing was set and is noted on the court calendar.

William led a full life. He and Rachel were married just 13 days shy of their 43rd wedding anniversary, when she succombed to a fever. [Their daughter Nancy had fallen from the same fever just 27 days earlier.] Rachel was buried in the family cemetery on Potts Creek, near present day Waiteville, WV.

William was 72 years old when he lead a posse of "home guard" to arrest some renegade's from the Civil War who had stolen items from various homes in the area [the latest being clothing from a washline]. As he was approaching a cabin in Wiseman's Hollow, one of the renegade's shot from the loft of the cabin. The bullet hitting William in the top of his head.

He was carried back to the Bean home on Potts Creek, and "layed out" in the parlor. He was buried the next day in the family cemetery beside his love, Rachel.

From the county poor, to one of the most wealthiest men in the county at the time, William Bean overcame and prospered.

When I hear individuals say that they are victims of their circumstance, I am compelled to them that we are all victims. But we must rise above that victim mentality to become victors.

What an example I have had to come before me.

William is but one of the examples from which I have shaped my life. The poor little boy, who was placed up for indenture on his 12th birthday. He was my great-great-grandfather.

Black Sheep Sunday - November 29, 2009

William McHarvey Bean

1832 - 1890

William Bean, also known as "Irish" and as "Uncle Willie", was born to William Bean and Rachel Wiseman Bean on Dropping Lick in Monroe County, in what is now West Virginia. William met and married Miss Margaret Smith Perkins from Fort Spring in Greenbrier County on April 26, 1852. And, as nature would take its course, a family ensued.

Life was soon interrupted with the threat of a Civil War. And families were being torn apart with the dissension. Literally torn down the middle, the Bean family was no different than many other families of the Civil War. With one exception. William, taking a stand for the Union Army, silently decided to be an undercover agent. William, already enlisted in the Union Army, undercover, enlisted in the Confederate Army.

His status remained undercover, and undetected, except by his purely Confederate father, who threatened to disown him. Two of William's brothers, Joseph Floyd Bean, and James Franklin Bean, were also enlisted in the Union Army, and were attached to an Ohio unit. This did not help their father's frustration at what appeared to be treason to the South.

To the world at large, William was true to the Bonny Blue! Then on July 13, 1864, William was taken as a Prisoner of War near Hagerstown, Maryland and sent to Elmira Prison in Elmira, New York. This was the Union's answer to the worst Confederate prisons! Prisoners who were sent to Elmira were expected to live no more than 6-months. Most wasted away to nothing more than skin stretched taut over bone. But William did not lose weight, and only spent a 6-week time in the present before being transferred, as a Union soldier, to Johnson Island in Ohio, a prison camp restricted to holding Confederate Officer's. This facility seemed more like a camp than a prison, and the inmates were treated with honor and dignity.

Shortly after William arrived in Ohio, his wife and children joined him, having moved by covered wagon pulled by oxen across enemy lines to be reunited.

Johnson Island became known for an infamous Confederate attempt to free the many officers held there with a stunning steamboat escape! However, an unknown soldier, fresh from Elmira Prison, only 2 weeks after the arrival of William at Johnson Island, thwarted the attempt by passing on vital information he had learned at the hands of the Confederate soldiers at Elmira. It is unknown if this information came from William, however, in reading Johnson Island's records, William was the most recent arrival from Elmira at that time, deductions lead one to believe it may have been he who thwarted the Confederate breakout!

Although William had 2 brothers who had also enlisted in the Union Army, he alone was singled out by family and friends in his mostly Confederate community as a "traitor to the Cause". William however, took it in stride.

In December of 1866, following the War and the birth of his son, John on the 15th of that month, and amidst the blowing, cold snows of winter, William and his family moved back to Monroe County, West Virginia. William, now recognized by the Federal Army and government as a Unionist, soon became active in local politics, and was made a U.S. Marshall. He remained so for the remainder of his life.

In 1890, a local constable named Henry Egleston, was sent to retrieve William's horse and buggy as a lien had not been paid on them. Meeting William at Keenan, he agreed to allow William to drive the horse and buggy back to his home first before taking them back to Union, the county seat. However, rounding the bend in Gap Mills, just below the first mill on the creek, Egleston, who was following closely behind William, pulled his pistol and fired through the buggy window in the rear of the buggy, hitting William in the back of the head.

William was carried to Dr. Pharr's home, just across the creek, where he died a short two hours later without ever regaining consciousness.

William was known as a "traitor to the Cause", and could be quite harsh to known Confederate sympathizer's following the War. But it is said that to his family he was loving and caring, and would have given his life in an instant for any one of them.

William McHarvey Bean was my great-grandfather, and I am proud to proclaim him my "Black Sheep" ancestor.

Tombstone Tuesday

This is the story about the cemetery and tombstones nearly forgotten in the woods. It is the story of my great-great-grandparents, William and Rachel Wiseman Bean.

The Bean Cemetery is located near the tiny hamlet of Waiteville, WV. In order to reach this little burial place, one must park their car on the edge of the one lane road and hike across a wide open field to a dense stand of trees and woods. It is here that you will find William and Rachel's final resting place.





















For over 100-years the little cemetery sat. It's tombstones slowly deteriorating and breaking away with decay and disrepair. Until 10-years ago when the family placed this new memorial tombstone for our ancestors.

We know there are several more buried here, as evidenced by the broken stones that remain.












On Sunday, August 9th, I visited this tiny little cemetery for the first time.

I photographed 10 stone markers. And I counted 11 mounds and depressions that were indicative of grave sites.

I located pieces of the old wire fence that once surrounded the cemetery, as well as the rotting fence posts that have long ago fallen over and are swiftly becoming a part of the forest floor.

The cemetery was covered in small trees that have grown there since my Dad was a boy. He recalled the open area then, with a few large trees surrounding the graves. Now trees grow right through the grave sites.

I saw deer scat, and counted 4 squirels scampering through the trees while we were there.

Standing on the hill, as I looked to the south, I could clearly see the old homestead. I could see why my great-grandparents would want to be buried here. Overlooking their beautiful log home.

No one alive today knows who is buried in which grave. And, as I have stated, the 10-grave stones that remain are worn with time and if there was ever any engraving on them, it is lost to time. Still, we do know that William and Rachel are buried here. Rachel died in November of 1856, less than a month after her daughter Nancy, both with a fever of unknown origin. Son Archibald's first wife, Amanda died in this area, and was buried here, about 1852. Daughter Emily, and her husband, Thomas, [d. 1889 and d. 1888 respectively] are also believed to be buried here. And William is buried here [d. 1864]. I can also account for 3-slaves who were buried here as well.

This is a beautiful spot.

The property has long ago left family hands, and is now owned by a hunters co-op. They will not allow us to do any more improvements on the cemetery. That includes a protective fence.

My heart breaks that one day, no one will know where this little slice of history is at. The forest will either encroach completely. Or the property sold yet again.

It is the protectiveness within me that despairs. These loved ones are my past. They are my core. And I am helpless to protect their final resting place. I despair that the family let this land slip from them.

As I stand here, breathing in the warm summer air, from this mountain side, I feel at home. So at home.

I speak to William and Rachel now. "Rest in peace. Know that your future continues with the family. We are growing. And we are stronger than ever. Rest. Rest in peace."

Saturday Night Challenge

Randy Seaver is at it again! Giving us yet, again, a wonderful challenge for blogging! This time, Randy has challenged us with the idea: "Decide what year and what place you would love to visit as a time traveller. Who would you like to see in their environment? If you could ask them one question, what would it be?"

I don't have to think very hard for this one!

If I could go back in time to any time, I would go back to 1800 in Monroe County, Virginia [now West Virginia]. And I would have a little visit with William and Sarah McBean, and their sons, John and William [and maybe Roy?].

William and Sarah McBean are my gr-gr-gr-grandparents [my Dad's side]. I'd ask William who his parents were, and where he came from! This is my biggest brick wall.

Sometime between 1803 and 1804 William dies and his widowed wife puts their sons up for indenture. Son, William, is my gr-gr-grandfather. He is indentured to be a blacksmith apprentice on his 12th birthday. As an adult he became a gentleman farmer, and quite the wealthy gentleman for the times. He went on to marry Rachel Wiseman, and one of their many children was also named William. That William is my gr-grandfather.

William marries Margaret Perkins. And among their many children is born John Monroe Bean, my grandfather, in 1866.

John is in his 30's before he marries the first time. He goes on to marry 3 times, his first two wives dying tragically [one from tuberculosis and one from complications of child birth]. He fathered a total of 15 children, the last 3 being born after he was in his late 70's. It is from this last marriage that my Dad was born.

Needless to say I never knew my grand father. He passed away in 1954, just a few years before I was born.

But it is my gr-gr-gr-grandfather that stumps me, and has stumped the past 3 generations as well!