The Beckett Families of Butler County, Ohio

JAMES BECKETT, deceased, was for many years one of the most prominent agriculturists of Butler County, and at his death the community was deprived of one of its most worthy members. He spent his entire life in farm pursuits, and during his active years accumulated a handsome property, including two hundred and forty acres of as fine land as can be found in this vicinity.

Our subject was born in Pennsylvania in 1804, and was an infant of twelve months when brought by his parents, James and Sarah (Taylor) Beckett, to this county. They made a location on property situated two miles east of the farm now occupied by the widow of our subject, and there passed the remainder of their days.

The original of this sketch was trained to farm pursuits, which occupation he made his life work. His education was limited to the branches taught in the common schools, but throughout his life he kept himself well informed on all questions of public import. His farm, which at his decease numbered two hundred and forty acres, was kept above par by a wise rotation of crops and the use of the best fertilizing agents. A first-class set of buildings had been erected on it, and other improvements made, which stamped it as the home of one who believed in progress and enterprise.

In public affairs Mr. Beckett always felt a deep interest, and supported the old Whig party until the formation of the Republican, after which he was a stanch supporter of its candidates and measures. He was for many years a faithful and consistent member of the Presbyterian Church, contributed liberally of his means to its support, and did all he could to promote religious influences in the community. He was held in the highest esteem as an honest, upright citizen.

In the month of November, 1877, Mr. Beckett’s great heart was stilled forever, and his body found rest in death. He was mourned by many far beyond his sorrowing circle, as his friends in this county were legion. Our subject had been three times married. His first union was with Miss Mary Thompson, who left at her decease four children. Only one member of that household is now living, Sarah. Mr. Beckett was afterwards married to Miss Elizabeth Hill, and to them were granted a family of eight children, all of whom are living at this writing (1894) and have families of their own. Mrs. Elizabeth Beckett died in October, 1852, and the following year our subject married Miss Mary A. Weaver, who was born in this county in 1820. The three children resulting from this union are Joseph S., a resident of Hamilton, this state; Taylor, who farms a portion of the old homestead; and Mary Elizabeth, the wife of Jesse Petree, a farmer of Milford Township, this county.

Mrs. Mary A. Beckett is the daughter of John and Mary (Smallwood) Weaver, who removed to this state from Philadelphia, Pa. She enjoyed good educational advantages when young, and for the greater part of twelve years was engaged in teaching school. She is a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church, with which her husband’s name is indissolubly connected.

Taylor Beckett, the youngest son of our subject, was born on the farm where he is at present residing, February 19, 1856. He received careful training in farm work, and was thus eminently fitted to undertake the management of the home farm on the decease of his honored father. He was married, on the 4th of September, 1878, to Miss Ida H., daughter of Moses and Cynthia Ann (Wilson) Pearson. The children born of this marriage are Glenn R. and Cynthia Merle. Taylor Beckett is a stanch supporter of the Republican party. Both himself and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are highly esteemed by those who know them for their consistent and useful lives.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

WILLIAM BECKETT. In the days when Butler County was almost in its infancy and every day witnessed some new incident of importance to the infant state, there came either and settled herein a family that from the days of pioneer settlement until the present has been prominent in the development of the resources of the community and has worthily represented its interests. One of the honored members of this family is the subject of our sketch, who has long been identified with the business interests of Hamilton and is widely known as the President of the Beckett Paper Company.

Born in Hanover Township, Butler County, Ohio, March 17, 1821, William Beckett is one of nine children (five sons and four daughters) born to the union of Robert and Mary (Crawford) Beckett, natives of Pennsylvania. Three of the sons are deceased, one of them, May. David Beckett, a man of superior ability and a graduate of Miami University, having been killed in the late war, at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain. The children who survive are William, of this sketch; Eleanor, wife of John Y. Scouller, D. D., who has officiated as a minister at Fair Haven, Preble County, Ohio, for a half-century; Sarah, widow of Capt. John McKee, who enlisted in the Civil War and died from the effects of a wound l’received at Murfreesboro; Mary, wife of William E. Brown, of Hamilton; Martha, who married Rev. John Aten, of Madison, Ind.; and Robert, now living at Fair Haven, Ohio, but in feeble health as the result of the hardships of army life during the war. Besides the above-named children there were two other sons: John, who died in boyhood; and James, who passed away in Hamilton a number of years ago.

The father of this family came to Ohio with his parents in 1803, when Hamilton was a mere fort and trading-post, and about the time of the admission of Ohio into the Union. He was then a lad of eleven years, and from that time until his death, in 1863. at the age of sixty-nine years, remained a resident of Butler County. A man of energy and excellent judgment, he accumulated through his unaided exertions about twelve hundred acres of good land. He purchased the interest of the other heirs of the estate, and after the death of his father settled on the old homestead, where our subject was born, and where his own death occurred. His wife survived him about ten years, when she died, at the age of seventy-eight. In religious belief they were members of the United Presbyterian Church. Politically, he affiliated with the Whigs until the organization of the Republican party, to which he afterward gave his support. In this community he was a man of influence and considerable prominence, and greatly respected on account of his high standard of character and sympathy with every’ project that promised to advance the interests of the county. In him the poor ever found a friend, and from him the needy received practical assistance.

The paternal grandfather of our subject, James Beckett, a native of Ireland, emigrated to America about the period of the Revolutionary War. For a time he occupied a farm in Washington County, Pa., but this he sold, and in 1803, with his family, moved west to Ohio, and settled in Butler County. Purchasing one hundred and sixty acres of land, he cleared and improved a farm, where he remained until his death, at an advanced age. In religious connections he was a Presbyterian. His wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Taylor, was a member of an influential family of western Pennsylvania; she survived him fourteen years and died at the age of seventy-seven years. In their family there were six children.

Our subject’s maternal grandfather, John Crawford, was a native of Pennsylvania, born in Westmoreland County. He was a relative of the Colonel Crawford who was burned at the state. In 1812 he came to Ohio and settled near Middletown, in Butler County, where for many years he was engaged in agricultural pursuits. On retiring from active business cares he moved to Hamilton, where his death occurred some time during the ’40s, at the age of about seventy years. He inherited from his Scotch ancestors the traits of industry, sociability and thrift characteristic of that nationality. His religious connections were with the Presbyterian Church, to which his wife also belonged.

We now come to the narration of facts immediately connected with the life of our subject. His youthful years were uneventfully passed in Butler County, and he was the recipient of the best educational advantages the state afforded. He is a graduate of Miami University of Oxford, from which institution at different times have been graduated five men afterward prominent as Governors of Ohio. After completing his course in the university he read law with his father-in-law, John Woods, an attorney of Hamilton, and, completing his studies, was then admitted to the Bar in this city in 1846. At once forming a partnership with his father-in-law, he continued for a time in this connection. He did not, however, possess a love for the profession, his tastes running in the line of trade and speculation, in which way he accumulated considerable property early in life.

It is with the Beckett Paper Company that the name of Mr. Beckett is most closely associated. In 1848 he built a paper mill, of which he has since been President. He is probably the oldest paper manufacturer in the United States, and the industry of which he is the head is a large concern, with a capacity of twelve thousand pounds of paper per day, and furnishing employment to sixty hands. In real estate, also, Mr. Beckett has been deeply interested, and has laid out eighteen additions to the city of Hamilton, having been one of the largest property owners of the place. He was one of the prime factors in the building of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Indianapolis Railroad, and also aided in building the various turnpikes of the county. In the development of the city, and in every matter calculated to increase its prosperity and develop its commercial resources, he has been warmly interested, and Hamilton owes as much to him as to any other resident.

While Mr. Beckett is well-to-do, he has met with many reverses and has not found the path to fortune an unchequered one. When the panic of 1873 fell upon the country he lost about $600,000, of which about one-half was security indebtedness; but in spite of this heavy loss he persevered until he has paid dollar for dollar upon a great portion of his debt, and the remainder he expects to pay. In all his business transactions he is strictly honest and reliable, and has therefore gained the confidence of business men throughout the state.

September 22, 1846, Mr. Beckett was united in marriage to Miss Martha, daughter of John and Sarah (Lynch) Woods, and there have been born to them eight sons and three daughters, namely:

Robert, Sarah, Frank, Eleanor, John, William, Thomas, Cyrus, Howard, David and May. Of these, Robert, Howard and David are deceased. Sarah, wife of Horace Woodruff, has three children, Howard, William and Frederick. Eleanor, wife of Robert McKinney, has one child, Dorothy. William first married Marion Beck, and this union resulted in the birth of two children, Alma and Henry. After her death he was united with Miss Ella Bonner, and they have two children, Margery and Guy Hamilton. Thomas, who is interested in the paper mill, being Secretary and Treasurer of the company, was married in October, 1894, to Miss Matie Millikin, daughter of Dr. Daniel Millikin, and a very accomplished and highly educated lady, who spent several years in Europe completing her education. May is the wife of Dr. Mark Millikin, and they have one child, Frances. The family is connected with the United Presbyterian Church, of which Mr. Beckett is a Deacon.

In political matters our subject thinks deeply and feels strongly, but has never cared for official position. He was one of the delegates to the convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency in 1860 in the Chicago Wigwam. In public affairs it has been his aim, not to attain prominence as a partisan, but to vote for men of principle and power, men who will hold the office given them as a sacred trust from the people, to be used only in their behalf and for their trust and highest interests.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

JAMES C. BECKETT.

Butler county is remarkable for its many distinguished pioneers. Prominent among the names of such is that of James C. Beckett, of Union township, a brief sketch of whose life we present here. Mr. Beckett was born December 24, 1799, on Mill creek, Hamilton county, Ohio. The father of James C. was John Beckett, who was an American officer in the Revolutionary war, and after the close of the war was engaged in the transporting of goods, etc., between Cincinnati and old Fort Hamilton. In 1810 John Beckett settled in what is now known as Union township, and from which time dates the residence of James C. Beckett in this county.

May 18, 1842, Mr. Beckett married Eliza Jane Baxter, who died December 16, 1871. Mr. Beckett was the parent of four sons, viz.: James M., William F., Charles K. and John B. He was one of the wealthy landowners of the county, and at the time of his death owned about thirteen hundred acres of land, of which eight hundred acres were in Macon county, Illinois. His homestead, near West Chester, Butler county, containing about five hundred acres, now owned by his son, James M. Beckett, is well situated and the buildings and surroundings are an ornament to the locality. Mr. Beckett lived to an honored old age, and died universally respected.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

JAMES M. BECKETT is a native of Union Township, and was born October 24, 1844. He is a son of James C. and EJiza Jane (Baxter) Beckett. There were four children born to them, all sons: James M., William F., Canet K. and John B. The father of our subject was a farmer and erected a still-house near his old home in Union Township. He had a farm of four hundred and seventy-five acres. The paternal grandfather of our subject was John Beckett, a native of Ireland, who came to this country and settled in Hamilton County, where he followed farming. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary War, and died at the age of ninety-one years. He had a family of three children, two sons and one daughter. The maternal grandfather of our subject was Andrew Baxter, who died at Foster’s Crossing. James M., our subject, was born and brought up on the farm where he now lives, and remained at home until a young man, receiving his education in the district schools. He afterward memorial record.

attended Heron Seminary at Cincinnati. When his education was completed he commenced farming for himself on the old home place. lie was united in marriage with Mary Wakefield, who bore him four children: William, Cora, Mary E. and one other. His wife was a useful member of society and was connected with the Presbyterian Church. She died, and he married Cora Jackson.

Politically Mr. Beckett votes the Republican ticket, and believes in the policy of protection to American industry. He farms five hundred and fifty acres of land and deals in stock quite extensively, having on hand at the present time one hundred and fifteen mules. He has been a resident of the county for half a century, and is familiar with the many changes wrought in that time.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.