Harrison B. Boehm 1820-1870

Harrison B. Boehm was born in 1820 in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, in either Shenandoah or Page County, and died before 1870 in Gilmer County, West Virginia. 

The general illiteracy of the era--even official records are rife with spelling and grammar errors--and the common practice of using alternative and spellings of proper names, even by the named themselves, creates confusion.  'Boehm' was the spelling he inherited from his great grandfather who immigrated from the Palatine, 'Beem' was found on more than a few official documents, and 'Beam' is the form the name has taken today and is in the most common use and is the name used in our genealogy for all persons born after Harrison.  He was the last to use the Swiss spelling as far as we can tell.

Harrison was born into a farming family in the vicinity of Strasburg, the site of his great-grandfather, Samuel's, farm and no doubt spent his first years working on his fathers farm in the so-called "breadbasket" of the country, the Shenandoah Valley.  All indications are that he was a farmer.

Harrison, 25, married Mary Ann Peer, 20, also of Shenandoah County, on September 19, 1843, and had several children, including Ann E. Boehm (1845), William H. Boehm (1847), Samuel Wesley Beam (August, 1849), my great-great grandfather, George Harrison Beam (August 1849), Harrison J. Boehm (July 27, 1855, died 1856), Virginia C. Boehm (October 21, 1857, died 1875 at 18 years), and Sarah M. Beam (1860).  Records show that Hirman Myers "of the Methodist Church," married Harrison and Mary Ann.

So by the onset of the Civil War, Harrison had a sizeable family he was supporting by farming, according to census records.  His son Samuel (my great, great, great grandfather) was born in 1849 in Shenandoah County, and his next child, George Harrison, was born in 1852 in Barbour County.  This seems to indicate that Harrison had moved his family to the west out of the Valley as much as 10 years before the war broke out.  The needs of large families common in the era frequently resulted in movements like this as even farms in the rich Shenandoah Valley could support only so many people.  Harrison likely moved as soon as his family started to grow, seeking independence from his father's farm and his own land to work.  Records show that Harrison's children Harrison J. and Virginia C. were both born in Barbour County, leaving only Sarah, the last, who was born in Gilmer County.

The Appalachian region, which includes Barbour and Gilmer Counties, lived without much civil government during the war as there were many with Unionist sentiment but with a strong population of secessionists as well.  Phillipi, the Barbour County seat, was strongly pro-secessionist at the beginning of the war, but was occupied by troops of both sides at various times, becoming largely deserted during the war as the Southern sympathizers were driven out by Unionists and Federal troops.  But because of his age and family situation, I think it unlikely that Harrison fought in uniform for either side in the war, and probably stayed near home to try to protect the homestead from competing para-military forces of the two sides moving about the area, and trying to farm in a very hostile environment. 

Harrison is a transitional figure in our family's history.  He came from the secessionist South, but might well have sympathized more with the Unionists, which would help explain his consistent movement to the west of his birthplace.  His children likely continued farming and labor work in their new West Virginia homes, though eventually his grand-children and great-grand children would move into Ohio and from there to points around the world.

Harrison was born into the 3rd or 4th generation of a Mennonite community that was formed and moved into the Valley in the 18th century seeking religious freedom.  I know his granddaughter-in-law, Laura Gertrude Gainer, was a regular attender of a church of a fundamentalist evangelical character.  I surmise that he and his family lived within the Christian influenced life patterns widely practiced in America at the time, but have no information on his specific religious identification or practice.

I'd like to find a picture of him some day, daguerreotype, drawing, sketch, or whatever, though I realize the chances of such an image even existing are minimal.  I'd also like to know what his middle name was.  The "B" is intriguing, but unhelpful.  I hope to visit his resting place some day as well and get a photo of his grave, which might answer the previous question for me.