Edward Beard (1716-1806)
It is believed that Edward Beard was one of the many Scotch-Irish
immigrants who came to settle in what is now known as Augusta County,
Virginia. It is unkown if he came with other Beard relatives, but
he did come to settle on land adjoining James Beard's land. This
has led to some speculation of James Beard being Edward's father, uncle
or brother.
This raises another question about whether all of the Beards of Augusta
county were from the same family and whether they came all at once or
did they come in waves.
He married Mary Bell (1730-1805) Daughter of William Bell of Augusta County
Delemo L. Beard Sr. reported to Pauline Beard for her book, The
Descendants of Edward Beard, that his Aunt Netie (Nettie Blanch
Beard b.1867 to William Beard II) told him that Edward came to America
in 1740 and had married Mary Bell in Scotland or Ireland. Pauline
Beard said that this information was contradicted by their Augusta
County marriage record of 1751.
It is my belief that there is no contradiction. Something that Pauline
may not have been aware of is that part of the persecution of
Presbyterians in Ireland and Scotland involved the prohibition of
Presbyterian marriages. A marriage conducted by a Presbyterian
minister was viewed only as a license to sin. The children of
Presbyterians were treated as bastards and in 1704 many people were
prosecuted in the bishop's courts as fornicators for cohabiting with
their own wives. I see no contradiction with Mary and Edward
being married in Ireland or Scotland and then marrying again for legal
reasons in 1751. The first marriage was most likely not a "public
ceremony" given that such marriages were illegal, but it was a
commitment to each other under God.
However, assuming the D. L. Beard's Aunt Nettie is right and they came
over to America in 1740, it is probably unlikely that Edward married
Mary while she was only 10 years old. I believe that in the oral
transmission of this information, it was not remembered what year of the
1740's that they immigrated, but that is was 1740-something. If
this is the case, then Mary would have been at a marriageable age in
order to have been married to Edward Beard by a Presbyterian minister
before the two of them moved to America.
Regardless of when they married, Edward Beard married Mary Bell and
they had the following children together:
William (b. 1754)
Elizabeth (b. 1756)
David (b. 1758)
Charles (b. 1760)
Samuel (b. 1762)
Mary (b. 1764)
John (b. 1766)
Other Family Accounts of Edward
Beard's Origins
In Pauline's book, she also quotes another family source on the origins
of Edward Beard who states "William, father of Edward, came from
Aryshire, Scotland to north Ireland, then to America, - entrance
Philadelphia." I have no information confirming that Edward
Beard's father was William Beard, but it is quite likely as this ties in
with historical records for the Scotch-Irish.
Belmont
He lived in his home which looks out on the mountains surrounding the
Shenandoah Valley. The home's name, "Belmont" (believed to mean
"beautiful mountain") about a mile north of the town fittingly called
New Hope for a group of immigrants for their previous harsh life under
the King of England.
Edward Beard died on April 27, 1806 almost 90 years of age. His
wife, Mary Beard departed this life on October 19, 1805 at age 75.
I do not know where they were buried.