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The incidents referred to and statements made in this "HISTORY" are real and true happenings, which were taken from the testimonies and recollections of the persons whose names, are listed below.
Joseph R. Beard
Donald Beard, Sr.
Richard Johnson
John H. Beard
Maggie Beard
Edward Nelson
Bertha Saunders
Additional research by William M Beard, Jr.
THE PIPING TREE INN
The Piping Tree Inn and Ferry, was located on the banks of the Pamunkey River, in the southwestern part of King William, Virginia. It was owned by Robert King as early as 1684. This was one of the crossing points into Hanover County.
Boats would haul freight and logs as well as rail road ties down to the West Point, tidewater area from Piping Tree, down the Pamumkey River.
The place got its name from the sound of the wind blowing through the trees, which sounded like bagpipes.
Before the Civil War, there was a hotel, which was called The Piping Tree Inn. The plantation owners in the area supported it. It was here that the owners would take the young, pretty virgin slave girls, and they would be forced to sleep with the wealthy men who visited there. Drinking and gambling played an important part of the evenings as well as their pleasure taking.
When the Civil War came to an end, the enthusiasm of Piping Tree soon ended as well, thus was no more.
MARRIAGE BETWEEN SLAVES
Before 1865 the slaves were not allowed to be legally married. The owners would have had to go through too much legalities in splitting slaves who were married, all though there were some who didn't care.
Another reason was that slaves were not considered to be humans, thus the social acceptance of slave marriages wasn't recognized.
However, the slaves themselves, performed a simple ceremony called "Jumping over the Broom", which would be officiated by the Plantation owners.
IN THE BEGINING ......
MARY ADAMS was born in the 1820's in King William, Virginia. She died in March 1916. Her body was laid to rest at Baptist Liberty Baptist Church, in King William County.
Mary was born the daughter of ___________Adams, (first name unknown). Her father was a Powhatan Indian, of the Mattaponi Indian tribe.
Mary's mother was a mulatto, a person of African and Caucasian blood. (Name unknown) Of all that is known, there were no other family members.
Mary was a slave servant to Dr. William V Croxton and his wife Nannie B. Croxton, who owned a large estate in the southwestern part of King William County, known as Blackwell Farm. Mary was segregated from the other servants because of her heritage and light complexion. Her quarters were in the main house with the family. Mary became the dressmaker and the cloth weaver for the whole farm.
At the age of seventeen Mary was taken to Piping Tree, where she was forced to entertain one of the wealthy travelers for the evening. The man's name was Mr. ________Lewis. (First name unknown)
The results of that night was Mary giving birth to a baby girl, whom she named HANNAH LEWIS, giving her, her fathers name.
Hannah Lewis was born August 13, 1842, in King William, Virginia. She died August 19, 1916.
Mary Adams later married a Mr. ______Page, (first name unknown) and to them two children was born, Benjamin and Sallie Page. Her husband died from circumstances unknown at this time.
Mary Adams also married a Mr. _______Saunders, (first name unknown) and to them three children was born, Thomas, Charles, and William Saunders.
Glaucus Baird, a wealthy man, traveled by horseback from Montreal Canada, to visit some friends in nearby Rumford, Virginia. Glaucus's arrival quickly spread and he was invited to the Piping Tree Inn. There he drank and chose to spend the night with a beautiful 16 year old virgin slave girl, by the name of (first name unknown) Miss Miles.
Miss Miles, gave birth to a boy, whom she named Glaucus Beard, changing the spelling of the last name from Baird to Beard, not knowing how to spell.
Glaucus Beard married Hannah Lewis and together they had 9 children:
Donald Beard
Evelyn Beard
Joseph R. Beard
John Hannibal Beard
Mary Beard
Roderick R. Beard
Walter Beard
Glaucus Beard, Jr.
Henry Beard
Walter, Henry and Glaucus, Jr., died at very young ages, reasons are unknown at this time.
Glaucus Beard, Hannah and their family lived on the Croxton estate in a four-room house, which stood on a hill northwest of the main house. Their home has long since gone, destroyed finally by fire, however some traces of it still remain, as to its' original location.
As in anyone's' life, there are good times and bad. Glaucus and Hannah had their share of them also.
One cold, winters day in the year 1880, during a rain and sleet storm, Glaucus ventured out to get wood, for their fireplace. The fireplace served as their heating source and cooking stove. Glaucus slipped on a patch of ice, and broke his back. Due to the lack of money and proper care, he died. Hannah had to raise and care for her 6 children the best way she could. She would take in others washing, which paid very little. From the oldest to the youngest child, they all worked very hard, to just keep alive and well.
Joseph was taken out of school at the age of 9 and worked on other farms, to help out. The strain proved to be very great on him, for it was said, that he was stunted in growth as a result.
When the eldest daughter Evelyn died suddenly, the 4 children she and her husband, Miles Taylor, had were brought to Hannah, by Miles, with the understanding that he would return very soon. To this day, no one has heard from or what happened to him.
With Gods help, Hannah and her family made it through the rough times. Years later, Hannah met and fell in love with Edward Nelson, and to them another child was born. His name was Edward Nelson, Jr.
THE CHILDREN OF GLAUCUS AND HANNAH BEARD
DONALD BEARD:
Donald Beard, born October 10, 1862, King William, Va. Died in 1949. Donald was 18 years old, when his father, Glaucus died and being the oldest, was regarded as the father of the family. He worked very had and eventually purchased the Blackwell Farm from Dr. William V and Nannie B Croxton on December 21rst, 1891. The Acreage was about 62 acres. Donald never left King William County except for a couple of brief visits to Philadelphia, to visit his sister Mary.
Donald made a very good living off his farm. He raised turkeys for the market, and also thorough bred horses. One of the horses he bred, named "Uncle Donald" , ran on a race track in Chicago, during the 1930's, as well as all over the country.
Donald met and married Miss Henretta Oliver, daughter of Randall and Sally Oliver. Henretta passed away Aug 22nd 1943 at the age of 77 years and 6 months. Sally Oliver passed away December 16, 1912. Donald and Henretta had 5 children and 1 adopted daughter:
WILLIAM BEARD:
William Beard died at an early age, February 13, 1917.
EVELYN BEARD:
Evelyn Beard, known as Eva, with the middle name of Mcdonald Married Charkley Beverly. Eva passed away on June 8, l930 at the age of 37 years and 9 months. They had 6 children.
(See Family Tree)
MAGGIE BEARD:
Maggie Beard, born January 23, 1895. Died January 16,1971, at the age of 75 and 11 months. She married George Page on December 5, 1923. Purchased home and lived in Wilmington De.
JOSEPH S. BEARD:
Joseph S. Beard, married Mary Stewart of King William, Va. They had no children. Joseph lived most of his life in Philadelphia and and finally New Jersey. Joseph passed away on April 18, 1951 in the Mt Holly Hospital, Burlington County, NJ, at 7:30 a.m.
CORNELIUS ALEXANDER BEARD:
Cornelius Alexander Beard married Minnie L Pemberton (Pendleton). Daughter of William and Minnie Pemberton, both outstanding citizens of King William County. Current owners of Blackwell Farm. There are 2 children and 6 grand children.
(See Family Tree)
LUCILLE JONES:
Lucille Jones, adopted daughter. Married John Washington, though Lucille and John had no children, there were step and step-grandchildren.
(See Family Tree)
EVELYN BEARD:
Evelyn Beard married Miles Taylor. Shortly after giving birth to their fourth child, Evelyn became ill. She did not recover from it and passed away, leaving Miles to care for their children. Miles not able to raise them on his own, took the children to Hannah asking her to care for them until he returned. Miles never returned or was heard from again. Evelyn and Miles had 4 children.
(See Family Tree)
JOSEPH R. BEARD:
Joseph R. Beard was born January 5, 1873 in King William County. Died January 14, l958. Married Ida B Hill, daughter of Caroline Hill Smith of Rumford, VA. Ida Beard gave birth to 6 children, but one died at birth:
Lyna B. Beard:
Married Fred Jentons of Culpeper, VA. They resided in Washington DC, and had 1child.
(See Family Tree)
Glaucus H. Beard:
Glaucus H. Beard was born on April 4, 1895, at Rumford, Va. Died August 6, 1972. Never married, however lived most of his life in Philadelphia, Pa. Worked for about 50 years for the North Hills Country Club.
Donald R. Beard:
Donald R. Beard married Margaret C Toombs, of Richmond, VA. They had 2 children and 5
grand children:
(See Family Tree)
Charles H. Beard:
Charles H. Beard, born August 12, 1906, at Rumford, Va. Died January 24, 1965. Married Juanita Bell of Chicago, IL. Charles spent 3 years in the US service, overseas. No children.
Joseph Carroll Beard:
Joseph Carroll Beard, known as Carroll to his family and friends. Married Mabel Matney of Richmond, VA. Was considered a wonderful and thoughtful person by all that knew him, especially the family. Carroll was always there. A faithful and dedicated family man. Carroll and Mabel had one daughter and grand daughter.
(See Family Tree)
JOHN HANNIBAL BEARD:
John Hannibal Beard was born in King William County, and was married to Julia Miles. Daughter of Jefferson Miles of Richmond, VA. John left home at a young age and went to New Jersey. However, he came back to Richmond and got married. He was employed with a wealthy family by the name of Stewart. The Stewarts lived on a very large estate called Brook Hill. John was their Coachman until 1910. When the Stewarts bought a twin six, pacard with 12 cylinders, they trained John to drive it. John chauffeured the Stewarts for about 35 years, until all of the family passed but one. John and Julia had 5 children:
(See Family Tree)
MARY BEARD:
Mary Beard was the youngest daughter of Glaucas and Hannah Beard. After Mary grew up, she moved to Philadelphia, Pa and found work. There she met and married Mr. _________Wallace. Mary divorced and then remarried, this time to Mr________Anderson. There were no children from either marriage, but did have a very nice home with her second husband Mr. Anderson, in Philadelphia.
RODERICK R. BEARD:
Roderick R. Beard was born in King William, VA. Married Eva Randolph, from Richmond, VA. Roderick moved to Richmond, Va., where he gained employment with the Stewart family, as their butler. Also he was the purchasing clerk for the household. After working there many years, he decided to go into the grocery business himself. He was very successful. Roderick also was into the Real Estate business. He accumulated a very large estate, to which he left to his family. Roderick and Eva together had 6 children and 9 grand children:
(See Family Tree)
EDWARD NELSON JR.:
Edward Nelson, Jr. was born January 28th 1888, in King William, VA. Died, October 10th, 1973. He was the last child Hannah Beard had, from her second marriage. Edward moved to Philadelphia, Pa. to look for employment. He was drafted into the army during the First World War, and served overseas for one year. He came back from the war and remained in Philadelphia. Edward started his own moving business, which he was very successful at. He had accumulated quite a large sum of cash in the bank, only to be lost, along with two of his trucks, due to the great depression. The amount of money was about $25,000. After suffering this loss, he moved to Richmond, Va., where he started a chicken business. Edward was a natural businessman and ventured into many propositions. He later retired and sought the ministry, Reverend Edward Nelson, Jr. Edward first married Lillian ________ while he lived in Philadelphia. After her death, he then married Mary Kate Allen of Gloucester, VA. This marriage was Kate's' second also. Edward and Kate had no children other than a child Kate had from her previous marriage. They lived in Gloucester, VA. Until his death. He is laid to rest in the family cemetery.
WALTER BEARD
GLAUCUS BEARD JR
HENRY BEARD
MORE FAMILY HISTORY
Joseph R., John Hannibal and Roderick R. purchased the adjoining acres, northwest of Blackwell Farm from Dr. William V Croxton in 1897. The land was to be divided equally between the three brothers. Joseph took the remote part of the land, which was in the rear, and meets with the Pamptike Farm line.
John and Roderick, were to take the front acreage, however there was quite a controversy of who would take the absolute front acres next to the road, known as Route 600, now East River Road. This led to a battle between the two. It wasn't until Joseph stepped in and settled the dispute. John and Roderick both ended up selling their interest to their brother Donald in 1906.
Joseph R. sold his land to his nephew, Joseph S. Beard in the 1940's. Since then Joseph S. Beard, willed the land to Cornelius A. Beard his brother.
Joseph R. Beard was still in his teens when he left home and moved to Sparrows Point Md., where he worked in the steel mill. He saved up all of his money and moved back to King William County, where he got married at the age of 21. He then purchased an eight acre piece of land, and built a home on it, not too far from his mother in-laws' home. He paid cash for everything.
Joseph R. Beard raised all of his family there. After the First World War, things didn't look to good for him, life on the farm was very poor. He then moved to Richmond, Va., where he found city life distasteful. He then decided to move back. Joseph R. accumulated quite an estate during his lifetime. He once owned five separate pieces of property.
The Beard family as of 1999 still owns well over 100 acres of the original Blackwell farm, first purchased back in 1891.
