John W. Beem

BEEM, HERMON, MENDENHALL, NEWKIRK, PEEL, SMITH, YOUNG

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 10/19/2004 at 15:42:35

John W. Beem, who has lived in this county for a half century, being brought here by his parents when but two years of age, has devoted his attention to general farming with excellent results and is now the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of rich and productive land on section 8, Scott township. His birth occurred in Jackson county, Indiana, on the 29th of January, 1862, his parent; being Richard and Elsie (Newkirk) Beem, who were born, reared and married in Indiana. They came to Madison county, Iowa, in 1864 and took up their abode in Scott township, the father being employed as a laborer in the old Buffalo mills. To Mr. and Mrs. Richard Beem, both of whom are deceased, were born the following children: Emmarietta, the deceased wife of Ezra Hermon, of Scott township; Lemuel, who is a resident of Winterset; Luzetta, who died at the age of thirteen years; John W., of this review; Sarah, who gave her hand in marriage to Ed Mendenhall, of Kansas City, Kansas; Rose, who was the wife of Walter Young and passed away four years ago; Walter, living in Winterset, Iowa; Oilie, who married George Peel, of Omaha, Nebraska; Newton, a resident of Winterset; and Maude, who is the wife of Milo Smith, and resides in Indiana.

John W. Beem remained under the parental roof until twenty-five years of age and then started out as an agriculturist on his own account, purchasing forty acres of land near Macksburg, this county, which he cultivated for ten years. On the expiration of that period he bought his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 8, Scott township, and has been engaged in its operation continuously since, annually gathering good harvests which find a ready sale on the market. His property is well improved and he has long been numbered among the enterprising and substantial citizens of the community.

In 1889 Mr. Beem was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Viola Hircock, who was born in Madison county, Iowa, on the 25th of November, 1867. Her father, William Hircock, a native of England, was but nine years of age when he emigrated to the United States with his parents, Peter and Elizabeth Hircock, who settled first in Ohio and subsequently took up their abode in Scott township, this county, here spending the remainder of their lives. William Hircock followed general agricultural pursuits and owned a good farm in Scott township. His demise, however, occurred in Nebraska. He was twice married, his first wife being in her maidenhood Miss Elizabeth Armstrong, a native of Ohio, while his second wife was Miss Hannah Maxwell. The record of his children, three ofwhom were born by his first wife and five by his second, is as follows: Julia Etta, the wife of Edgar Harrell, a resident of Scott township, this county; Mrs. Mary Viola Beem; John Omer, of Winterset; Flora, who gave her hand in marriage to John Kennedy, of Merna, Nebraska; Charles Wesley, a resident of Arizona; Dora, the deceased wife of Carl Whitney, a resident of Merna, Nebraska; Fred J., also a resident of Merna, Nebraska; and William, of Merna, Nebraska.

To Mr. and Mrs. Beem have been born seven children, namely: Bertha, who is the wife of Robert Clopton, of Winterset, Iowa; Percy, Eunice and Mary, all at home; Lenore and Lorraine, twins; and Dorothy. The family is well known and highly esteemed throughout the community and it is with pleasure that we present this record to our readers.

Taken from the book, “The History of Madison County, Iowa, 1915”