Husband Benjamin F. Beazell 1
AKA: Benjamin Fell Beasell 2
Born: 2 Jan 1796 - Rostraver Twp, Westmoreland Co, PA 1
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Died: 1886 2
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Father: William Beazell ( - ) 1
Mother: Rebecca Fell (1763-1853) 1 2 3
Marriage: 16 Nov 1820 4
Wife Sally Samson 4
Born: 13 Apr 1801 - Rostraver Twp, Westmoreland Co, PA 4
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Father: William Samson ( - ) 4
Mother: Dorcas Neel ( - ) 4
Children
1 F Dorcas Beazell 4
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Spouse: John Darr ( - ) 4
2 F Rebecca Beazell 4
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3 M William S. Beazell 4
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4 M Thomas C. Beazell 4
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Died: Bef 1882
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5 M James S. Beazell 4
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6 M Samuel W. Beazell 4
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7 F Mary Beazell 4
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8 M John S. Beazell 4
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9 M Matthew B. Beazell 4
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Died: Bef 1882
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10 M Rev. Frank Beazell 4
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11 F Emma S. Beazell 4
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Spouse: Dr. J. A. Mink ( - ) 4
General Notes: Husband - Benjamin F. Beazell
In his eighty-seventh year he was the eldest but one living in Rostraver township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. With the exception of a slight impairment in his eyesight and hearing, he was both mentally and physically well preserved. His memory of early times and events was simply remarkable; in all questions of local history, Father Beazell was the leading and the most reliable authority. He was eight years of age when his father moved on to the farm near McKeesport. His education was in the main "picked up." As he quaintly expressed it, "I never went to school enough to get out of the spelling-book." He was always fond of reading, however, a love of which was inherited from his mother, who was a great reader. With the faculty of remembering what he read, his knowledge of men and things acquired in this way was quite a substitute for a "good schooling." Especially did he treasure, once his failing eyesight precluded his reading, those Scripture passages which he could draw at will from the unfailing store-house of his memory.
At the farm near McKeesport his father built a saw-mill and a yard for the construction of river boats, and there young Beazell received his first ideas of boat-building, which afterwards served him a good purpose.
The first five years after marriage Mr. Beazell lived on the Fell farm. In the spring of 1825 he rented the "Daily" farm, which he carried on two years; then moved to the "Black Horse" tavern, where he kept store seven years. In 1835 he built at Webster the steamer "Moravian," nine hundred tons, the largest carrier at that date on the Mississippi River. In the spring of 1836 he moved to Webster, where he continued boat-building and merchandising, and where he remained until 1844, with the exception of two years (1840 and 1841), when he moved back to the "Black Horse" tavern. In the spring of 1844 he purchased of his brother, John Beazell, the old Fell homestead farm, where he then resided.
In politics Mr. Beazell was first a Whig, and a Republican from the organization of that party. The Union cause had no stancher friend. He was a member of the Fell M. E. Church beginning in 1828, and late in life was the only surviving member of its original nine trustees, and with one exception, the only one living of its members at the time he joined it. He was a class-leader for over thirty years and its Sunday-school superintendent many years.