On Sunday, May 15, 2016 at the Chisholm Chapel Cemetery the Craig Austin Rowley Chapter, The Society of the War of 1812 in the State of Texas, and the John Cavet Chapter of the United States Daughters of 1812 honored Samuel Sylvester Beeman (1795-1877) for his service in the War of 1812. Members of the Samuel Beeman family were in attendance. Samuel Sylvester Beeman was the oldest son of James Jackson Beeman and Nancy Moore Beeman.
(Photos courtesy of Paul Ridenour, unless otherwise indicated)
Biography of Samuel Sylvester Beeman by Beeman Descendant, M. C. Toyer:
Samuel Sylvester Beeman, born in 1795, was just a child when his parents, James and Nancy (Moore) Beeman, and his siblings left their home on Dutchman’s Creek, North Carolina, and set out on a journey of several years that would take them to the far western boundary of the United States. They were accompanied at times by Nancy’s brothers, George, William and Abel Moore, and their parents John D and Nancy (Roberts) Moore Sr.
The opening of the Northwest Territory for settlement (the area north of the Ohio River, east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes) may have been their destination as the eastern seaboard states became increasingly crowded and suitable farm lands became scarce. Some accounts suggest they may have been following the lead of Daniel Boone who moved his family to the future Missouri Territory in 1799 before it was a part of the United States.
It would be an arduous and dangerous trek. They started northwest from their homes in North Carolina through Virginia to the Cumberland Gap then into Kentucky. There were extended stops along the way to plant, raise and harvest crops, join churches, and to birth and bury children. Beyond Kentucky there were not any established roads – just frontier trails and the paths used by Native Americans and wild animals and faint traces of military campaigns.
During the long journey the Louisiana Purchase doubled America’s territory. Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1803 – 1804 at Wood River on the Mississippi just across from St Louis before their epic expedition to explore and map the new acquisition and travel to the Pacific Ocean, the western edge of the continent. The next year Daniel Boone’s sons established a road and settlement at Boone’s Lick, 150 miles west of St Louis.
The Moore brothers and their parents reached the Mississippi River about 1806 and continued on to Boone’s Lick. Nancy and John Moore Sr died there in 1808 and their sons later returned to Wood River to settle. James Beeman and his family had arrived at Wood River about 1807 and another child was born therein1808. In1809, the Beeman, Moore and Rattan families were among the founding members of the Wood River Primitive Baptist Church.
The ever present danger from Native Americans escalated with the flow of new settlers. Volunteer militias were raised and stockades built for the families’ protection. During the War of 1812 the British further empowered and stirred the Native Americans.
In March 1813, Samuel Beeman enlisted in Captain Samuel Whiteside’s Rangers at Edwardsville, Illinois, where he would serve a total of 26 months during the War of 1812, receiving his final discharge in May 1815.
In July 1814, a horrendous event known as the Wood River Massacre occurred. Six children and a young pregnant mother were killed in a single brutal attack on their way home from church. The children were all Samuel’s younger cousins. Their fathers were away on militia duty and the other mothers at home preparing for the evening meal.
- Abel and Mary Moore: sons William 9 and Joel 6
- William and Margaret Moore: sons John 10 and George 7
- Reason Reagan: wife Rachel 24, daughter Elizabeth 7, son Timothy 3, and an unborn child
- All were scalped and mutilated and their bodies stripped of clothing
The attackers were soon pursued by the militia under Captain Samuel Whiteside and a fight ensued in which several Indians were killed. Samuel Beeman was a member of that campaign. Some believe that Reason Reagan was also killed in the fight. Mrs. Reagan’s scalp was found in a pouch on an Indian body. The massacre victims were buried in the Vaughan Cemetery at Wood River in three graves, one for each family.
After Samuel married Mary Ann Smelser in 1816 they moved out of his father’s home and he began to acquire farm land of his own in Madison and Greene counties. 12 children were born to the couple.
In the fall of 1840, Samuel’s brothers John and James, and his oldest son, John S Beeman, along with their families and several other relatives and neighbors set out to Texas for the offer of free land to immigrants. At their urging Samuel and the rest of his family followed in 1846, taking up 640 acres east of White Rock Creek in Dallas County where he farmed and raised livestock.
Two of Samuel and Mary’s sons, William and Jacob, were killed in the Civil War. The other ten children survived to adulthood and married.
In their later years Samuel and Mary removed to Kaufman County to live with their son John. Samuel passed in 1877 and Mary in 1893 and both are interred in the McClendon Chisholm Cemetery in Rockwall.
The War of 1812 Veteran Medallion for Samuel Sylvester Beeman was dedicated in 2016.
