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.

George Washington Tingler 1844-1933

George Washington Tingler was born April 15, 1844 in Rich Patch, Alleghany County, Virgina and died on March 17, 1933 in the same vicinity.  He is buried in the Lone Star Cemetery off County Road 18 in Potts Creek, Virginia.  Because of the diligent research and talented writing of Lewis Medford "Med" Stone, we know more about him and his life than almost any of our ancestors of that generation.  I would refer anyone interested to the 1996 autograph, The Civil War Saga of George Washington Tingler, by Med Stone, for an colorful and information filled summary of his life.  I will provide the full text of the autograph by email to anyone requesting it.

GW married Elzenia C. King on January 8, 1966, after returning from a horrific experience as a soldier and prisoner in the Civil War.  Elzenia, or Ellen as she is reported to have been called in some sources, was born in Rich Patch also on November 30, 1847 and died December 12, 1910, many years before her husband.

GW and Ellen had ten children including Nancy Ann, Lucinda J., Charles W., Jacob Henry, Molly Mary Watts, Rachel E. (my great grandmother), Richard, Edna M., George McClennan, and Malinda Ellen.  GW's remains lie in a grave in the cemetery of the Lone Star Baptist Church on Potts Creek Road not far south of my grandpa Jamison's farm.  His funeral was conducted by Reverend J.B. Daughtery and Reverend H.W. Wriston.

The nutshell version:  he grew up on the farm, at 17 joined the Confederate Army, served through the bad times, went AWOL, came back, fought in the line at the Battle of Droop Mountain just months after Gettysburg, got captured, barely survived Yankee prison in Fort Delaware, returned home, farmed, married, had kids, hunted and fished, and grew old watching his kids make the mistakes he couldn't save them from.  He lost his loving wife long before he died, and spent his last years entertaining his kids with stories.  He was in short, a great old American man.

GW is reported to have been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, a church that became part of 'The Methodist Church' in 1939 after his death.

Edward Linville (Anderson) Bias 1843-1898

He was born in Cabell County, Virginia in November of 1843 or 1844.  At that time, Cabell County bordering the Ohio river, included the present day Lincoln County and was in West Virginia after that state's seccesion in 1863.  We know that he died on September 1, 1898 in Hamlin, Lincoln County, West Virginia so he probably never moved from where he was born.  He married Parmelia (Permelia?) Curry on May 24, 1870, reported to be his second wife, and had five children including Ira G., my great grandfather born in 1872, and Ezra M. born in 1874, Alva Garfield, 1882, Anna Belle, 1885, and Grace Lee, 1889.

WV Volunteer (not Linville)

Linville served in Company G, 3rd West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry (US) from October 17, 1862 through June 30, 1865, making him one of the few Yankee soldiers in our lineage.  He was likely in action as part of Averell's Union command against Echol's Confederate forces at the Battle of Droop Mountain, November 6, 1863, where another of our ancestors from the 22nd VA Infantry, CSA, was taken prisoner.

I can find little else about Linville at this time--not even a picture, but he is of great interest to me as a military man, not to mention as the grandfather of my grandfather, Arnold Bias, though he was born only three weeks before his grandfather's death.

Linville's father, Samuel, was a farmer, one of the second or third generation of white settlers to live and work the land in the Mud River valley.  However, by the time he returned from the Civil War, coal was being mined all over southwest West Virginia.  From 1870 on, many men and boys took jobs extracting the coal under horrific conditions.  I don't know if or that Linville or his sons ever worked in the mines, but I suspect so since I once heard my grandfather remark that he and his brothers left the area to get away from mining.

Linville and his wife Parmelia are buried in the Curry Chapel Cemetery, just north of Hamlin, West Virginia.

(Two years after Linville's death, in 1900, Parmelia married Samson Roberts who was 50 at the time.  She was 54 and lived until 1933 to the age of 88.  There is no record of other children from this marriage, which is unlikely due to their ages.)

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.