Laura Gertrude Gainer Beam 1880-1959

She was born on January 9, or 13, or 21 (depending which records you believe) in 1880, in Tanners Fork, Gilmer County, West Virginia.  She died on October 10, 1959, in Akron, Ohio, and was buried in West Virginia, though I don't yet have information on exactly where.  On August 11, 1897, she married William Henderson Beam (middle name shown as Hector in census records) in a ceremony presided over by M. B. Stump.  They had six children, including Clyde Rudward, Buna Vista, Parker, Guy C., Freda (my grandmother), and Lloyd.

I was 11 years old when my Great Grandma Beam died.  My memories of her are of a old woman perenially in a rocking chair in the corner, her silver gray hair in a tight bun, a shawl around her shoulders and a blanket over her legs.  Her hands were always busy though, shucking peas or stringing beans I think, but I wasn't all that attentive back then.  I know she could be cross with us noisy obnoxious children, but I remember her as mostly quiet.

My sister recalls her making 'the best brown sugar and butter sandwiches' for us as children.

I recall being surprised when I came across these two pictures, the only ones I think I've ever seen of her.  She was young in the first--I think it was from around the time of her wedding, and a bit older in the second, in the prime of her life.

I am reminded by my Aunt Mildred that she was a committed Christian and a regular church goer, though she was unable to attend services in her old age as her health declined, though she remained a faithful reader of the Bible her whole life.

Central West Virginia was largely agricultural in the late 19th to early 20th centuries so I suspect she was born and grew up on a farm in her early days.  The fact that my grandmother's birthplace is listed as Middle Run, in Braxton County, the next county south of Gilmer County, seems to indicate she was raising her family there.  I don't know much about her education or work but expect that she was mostly occupied by raising her family.

Her husband William Henderson Beam was reported to be a skilled carpenter.  He left Laura sometime in the 1930s or so and she moved to Ohio to live with or near her children.  She may have lived in a house on Marcy Street in Akron with her children, taking care of the house and property there for the owner.