Thomas Beard father of John Beard, was he?
It has been a while since I posted, a lot of the holidays, getting back to work, traveling, etc. all take their toll.
One very curious development is I am starting to doubt that John Beard (who settled Renick's Valley before the Revolutionary War) was really the son of Thomas Beard and Jean McNutt.
The original research (unsourced) from Paul Franklin Beard identified Thomas Beard and Jean McNutt as the parents of John Beard. There are some reasons why I believe this may not be so (or there may be two Thomas Beard's in Augusta County at the same time):
1. The will of Thomas Beard from Oct 18, 1769 (the year Thomas died) mentions all of Thomas's children, with the exception of John Beard. It is possible that John fell out of favor with his father, perhaps that is the reason John moved to Renick's Valley in the first place; but it is curious that John is not mentioned whereas ALL of the other children are mentioned, and many grandchildren (none of them John's) is mentioned. Also in that will, unfortunately, Thomas did not mention his wife by name so we cannot be certain who his wife was before she died.
2. Various online sources from ancestry.com state that Thomas Beard married Esther, not Jean McNutt. Some sources link this back to Pennsylvania.
3. One source states that Thomas Beard married Jean McNutt (McNought) in 1728. This is AFTER the birth of many of the children (Hugh, William, Mary, Esther).
4. The John Beard will does mention his children's "Aunt Elizabeth" (and Elizabeth only, John's sister). Thomas Beard did have a daugther Elizabeth Beard (Mitchell), who is mentioned in his will, but this was a common name at the time.
5. The "History of Pocahontas County, WV, 1981" Published by the Pocahontas C0unty Historical Society mentions that Thomas Beard came with his brother Edwin (Edwin moved on to Georgia) and settled in Augusta County, new New Hope. His family consisted of two sons (John and Thomas) and 5 other daugthers. Note that I do not list a Thomas as a son of Thomas Beard (where is he?).
My conclusions are there either were two Thomas Beard's in Augusta County at the time, one married to Esther (this is the one related to the will and was assumed to be John's father), and one married to Jean McNutt, who had children John and possibly Esther; OR Esther was the first wife of Thomas and then he married Jean later.
If he married Jean as a 2nd marriage, then he would have done so in 1728, given that John and Esther were both born AFTER that date, that would make sense. However, this still does not answer why John is not mentioned in Thomas Beard's will.
One very curious development is I am starting to doubt that John Beard (who settled Renick's Valley before the Revolutionary War) was really the son of Thomas Beard and Jean McNutt.
The original research (unsourced) from Paul Franklin Beard identified Thomas Beard and Jean McNutt as the parents of John Beard. There are some reasons why I believe this may not be so (or there may be two Thomas Beard's in Augusta County at the same time):
1. The will of Thomas Beard from Oct 18, 1769 (the year Thomas died) mentions all of Thomas's children, with the exception of John Beard. It is possible that John fell out of favor with his father, perhaps that is the reason John moved to Renick's Valley in the first place; but it is curious that John is not mentioned whereas ALL of the other children are mentioned, and many grandchildren (none of them John's) is mentioned. Also in that will, unfortunately, Thomas did not mention his wife by name so we cannot be certain who his wife was before she died.
2. Various online sources from ancestry.com state that Thomas Beard married Esther, not Jean McNutt. Some sources link this back to Pennsylvania.
3. One source states that Thomas Beard married Jean McNutt (McNought) in 1728. This is AFTER the birth of many of the children (Hugh, William, Mary, Esther).
4. The John Beard will does mention his children's "Aunt Elizabeth" (and Elizabeth only, John's sister). Thomas Beard did have a daugther Elizabeth Beard (Mitchell), who is mentioned in his will, but this was a common name at the time.
5. The "History of Pocahontas County, WV, 1981" Published by the Pocahontas C0unty Historical Society mentions that Thomas Beard came with his brother Edwin (Edwin moved on to Georgia) and settled in Augusta County, new New Hope. His family consisted of two sons (John and Thomas) and 5 other daugthers. Note that I do not list a Thomas as a son of Thomas Beard (where is he?).
My conclusions are there either were two Thomas Beard's in Augusta County at the time, one married to Esther (this is the one related to the will and was assumed to be John's father), and one married to Jean McNutt, who had children John and possibly Esther; OR Esther was the first wife of Thomas and then he married Jean later.
If he married Jean as a 2nd marriage, then he would have done so in 1728, given that John and Esther were both born AFTER that date, that would make sense. However, this still does not answer why John is not mentioned in Thomas Beard's will.
posted by Alan Beard at 9:12 PM
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