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Date
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Stephen & Nancy Beals - Fact or Comment
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c.1814
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Stephen and Nancy married [11];
all told, they had 10 children over the period 1815-32. |
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5/24/1816
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Second son George Fletcher Beals
born [20] [39b] in Inglisville [10], Annapolis Co, Nova Scotia. |
1816-1817
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Stephen, Nancy and their two sons moved from Inglisville, Annapolis Twp, to Clements Twp, based on previous and next items.
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5/14/1817
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Stephen, 26,
bought 200 acres from George and Hannah Kniffen for 300 Pounds, on the
Waldeck
Line Road, Clements Twp, Annapolis Co. (about midway between
Clementsport and Bear River), which was composed of the northerly half
of original grant Lots 26 and 27. [208a] Based on
subsequent transactions, this property had 1056 feet (16 chains) of
road frontage and was 1-9/16
miles (125 chains) deep.
[BWB: 300 Pounds = US$1380 in 1817, equivalent in buying power to about US$18,600 in 2002, or about $62/acre.]
The two lots are shown on Land Grant Map #21. [209a]
The land can be identified by features on a present-day 1:10,000 topographic maps of the area, using
a road frontage of 1056' (= 16 chains = 6 chains of Edward's 75 acres, plus,
proportionately, 10 chains of Elijah's 125 acres), buildings noted on the
map, and tree lines noted on the map.
Note there's also a tree line at about the right location for the dividing line
between the 75 acre and 125 acre sales to Edward and Elijah. [210d]
Pictures of the land c.6/2003. [211]
Don Beals writes: 'Although Abel says in his will that "my six sons"
(including Stephen) "have already received from me in lands what I intended
to give them", there is no record of Stephen having received any land from
his father. ... His
wife was from that area.' [11]
[BWB: There's an implication here that Abel funded
all/part
of Stephen's land purchase. Shortly before the purchase, Abel
received 500 Pounds for 100 acres of rich bottom land, part of his farm
in Lawrencetown/Inglisville area. Perhaps Stephen had earned his
300 Pounds by clearing the land for his father, which greatly increased
its value.
It is also
possible that Stephen's father-in-law, Samuel Henshaw, who owned property a mile or so
West on the same road, contributed towards the purchase price.]
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4/1/1820
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Stephen's mother Abigail died in Lawrencetown. [195a] [219] [11] |
| 10/1/1822 |
Stephen gained a step-mother when his father married Mary (Molley?)
(nee Miller) Clark, b.1770[10], d.Aft.1842. [11] |
4/1827
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1827 Census (heads only) for Clements Twp, Annapolis Co, NS lists Stephen Beals. [184b]
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3/6/1828
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Nancy's father Samuel Henshaw, Sr. died in Clements Twp.
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8/23/1830
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Stephen's father Abel died in Lawrencetown, Annapolis Co, NS [195a] [11]. |
2/15/1831
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Nancy's mother Sarah Elizabeth Henshaw died.
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5/14/1831
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Stephen mortgaged his land for 35 Pounds to the widow of Lawrence
Sneden, as part of the settlement of Sneden's estate. [208b]
[BWB: This implies to me that Stephen had a personal debt to
Sneden, and the executor and/or widow demanded collateral to back it
up. But, the disparity in the original cost of the land vs. the
mortgage is surprizing.]
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4/1838
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Stephen and his family were listed in the 1838 Census for Clements Twp, Annapolis Co. [213]
[BWB: Of particular note is that son Samuel is listed as a
separate head of household, and one of the other older boys is missing
from Stephen's household, based on headcount. No other Beals are listed
as head of household in the area. Could George Fletcher or
Stephen have already departed for Ontario?]
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c.1837-1845
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Don Beals writes: "...Four of the sons and one daughter migrated to
Erin Township, Ontario, north west of Toronto and were among the early
settlers of that area. Later two sons moved on to Peck, Michigan,
north of Detroit. One son, Edward, was a sea captain who lived near
the mouth of Bear River. Another son, Elijah, also lived in that
area and fought (...for the northern forces...) in the American Civil War
(...suffering serious wounds and...) eventually dying of wounds received
in that conflict." [11]
Son Samuel was a witness to the marriage of Richard Boomer
and Mary McCune in Erin in 1843 [129], so he must have lived there by
then. Samuel is also on the tax rolls of 1853 [131].
Son George was living in Erin, Wellington Co. by 1840,
when he
married Ann Bulmer/Boomer. His obituary in 1905 said he moved to Ontario when he was
21 (c.1837-1838).
Son Stephen married Charlotte Boomer in Erin in 1848 [128],
and was also on the tax rolls of 1853. By 1855 he was listed as a
land-owner/resident of East Luther [139a&b]. However, a
recollection by one Rev. Hilts [139g] suggests Stephen may have been in
Ontario c.1838.
Apparently, son Isaac and daughter Pricilla migrated to Ontario later than their 3 brothers.
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1/29/1840
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Son George Fletcher of Erin Ontario married Ann Boomer of Esqusing Ontario. [113,114] |
3/15/1851
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Grandson Robert born in Trafalgar, Halton Co., Ontario. [20] [61] |
2/4/1852
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Stephen & wife Nancy sold the western 75 acres to Edward
Beals for 150 Pounds, described as 6 chains (396') wide and 125 chains (1.56
miles) deep, with the Thomas Berry farm to the West. [208c] This is son Edward,
the sea captain, who would have been about 30 at the time -- as confirmed
by the sale, below. Witnessed by John Beals and Priscilla Oaks Beals (this
might be d/o Stephen who we have as just Priscilla, 24, but it's a wild guess).
On 3/14/1867, Edward and wife Sarah sold 1/4 acres to the East Waldec School
Board for $6, described as a square 6-1/2 rods on a side (6-1/2 rods = 1-5/8 chains = 107'3")
[at the north-west corner of his lot]. Witnessed by Stephen Beals and John
Beals. [208e]
[BWB: in a visit 6/2003, an old school house still stands on this land, though in ruins.]
On
10/21/1867, Edward & Sarah sold the remaining 74-3/4 acres to
Benjamin S [aka P] Brooks for $500, described as bounded on the West by
lands of Simon D. Berry, on the east by lands of John Beals, 125 chains
deep and 6 chains wide but of course excepting the 1/4 acre school lot
previously sold
(curiously, this is described herein as 6 rods x 6 rods, not 6-1/2 x
6-1/2). [208f]
[BWB: While Stephen actually owned the land to the East,
information from Dolina
Beals Smith indicates that John Beals and Lucy Bent Beals, d/o Stephen,
also lived
in Stephen's house during their birthing years. However, it is
curious that the land was popularly known as John Beals' land, rather
than as Stephen Beals' land. Had Stephen and Nancy gone
elsewhere?]
On 10/31/1867, Benjamin S. Brooks mortgaged the land just bought 10
days earlier, to Edward for the sum of $400 -- in essence, Edward only
netted $100 in immediate cash. [208g] The mortgage was paid off c.1871.
[BWB: I did not investigate/copy these transactions.]
[BWB: this land was subsequently sold
to Elias Eisenhaur in 1871, to Charles Eisenhaur in 1921, to Charles Eisenhaur
(a son?) in 1923, to E.F.Rampton in 1947, to Norris Mitchell in 1948, and
70 acres (not 74-3/4) to F. Boudreau in 1953. I did
not trace the land sales further, or try to rationalize the 70 acre purchase
vs the 74-1/2 that Edward sold.]
[BWB: In a visit 6/2003, Mr. Gerry (Gerald) Boudreau of Clementsport
said the Boudreau's owned 93 acres and a house (said to be at least 150 years
old, and occupied by his son, with whom I also spoke) on the land immediately
to the West of Edward's land. He also said the land had been in his family since 1890.]
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9/18/1860
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Stephen paid off the mortgage, the release being witnessed
by John Beals. [208d]
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2/21/1873
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Daughter Lucy Bent Beals, wife of John Beals, died at age
40. She was buried in the East Waldeck Cemetery, now badly overgrown, and has a fine headstone. [212]
John married his second wife Rebecca in September of that same year. They are shown in the 1881 Census as living
in the Hessian Line district
(I believe on the Clementsvale Road), which is South of the old homestead. The A.F.Church map of 1876
does not show a John Beals in this area, so John and Rebecca probably moved
there sometime between 1876 and 1881.
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5/2/1876
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Stephen & Nancy sold
the remaining 125 acres of their land to Elijah Beals, grandson via
Lucy, for $500. [208h] (Note that both Nancy and Stephen died later that
same year.) To the West
lived Elias Isinor [aka Eisenhaur]; to the East, James. H. Berry.
[This is Elijah, Stephen's grandson via Lucy, and not Elijah the son, based
on 1881 Census (see below), and that Elijah sold this land in 1885 (see below),
whereas Elijah the son d. circa 1880 per our information.].
From the A.F.Church map c.1876, the names listed in this area are (in
order, West to East): S.Berry, T. Berry, School House,
E.Eisenhaur, E.Beals, J.H.Berry; this information is consistent with
that contained in the sale to Elijah in 1876. [206]
[BWB: It would have been instructive to trace the land sales of T.Berry next
door to the West, just to verify that this land went to the Boudreau's c.1890.]
From the 1881 Census for Clementsport, Elijah Beals [s/o John and Lucy
Bent Beals, d/o Stephen], wife Sarah and family lived next to Elias Eisenhaur
who is next to Simon D. Berry... supporting the fact that Stephen sold
to the grandson.
On 4/28/1885, grandson Elijah sold his 125 acres to Joseph Edgar Robbins. [208i]
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8/5/1876
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Nancy died at 86 in Clements Twp, Annapolis Co, Nova Scotia of old age [160a].
Surviving her were 7 of
their 10 children, and as many as 53 of their 60 grandchildren [11].
[BWB: Since Stephen owned a plot in the Waldeck East Cemetery [212a] about a mile from their home, it is probable that Nancy is buried there.]
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