Peter B. Beckett was born in England, Oct. 18, 1821. He came to the United States in the fall of 1852, and resided in Medina County, Ohio, until 1853, when he removed to Chicago, Ill. From there he went to Decatur, and worked on the Illinois Central Railroad until the fall of 1853, then worked on the Beloit Branch of the Northwestern Railroad until the spring of 1854. He worked a short time on the railroad at Geneva, then went to Beloit, where he manufactured brick two years. He followed farming two years near Beloit, Wis., and one year in Boone County, Ill., coming to Clayton County soon after. He engaged in the butcher's business four years, and then purchased his present farm on section 34, Clayton Township. He now owns 295 acres of finely cultivated land. He was married in England to Charlotte Wayman who was born there in 1821, and came to America two years after her husband did. They have four children- Peter William born in England in 1951; Samuel, in Beloit, Wis., in 1856; Fred Albert, in Belvidere, Ill., in 1858, and John T., in Clayton, Ia. in 1859. Mr. Beckett is an active member of the Metnodist Episcopal Church, and in politics is a Democrat. source: History of Clayton
County, Iowa, 1882, p. 719 |