Beeks line: William G Beeks 1786 (or earlier)-1864

 I've written before of Christopher Beeks, the first known ancestor in America, who fought in the Revolutionary War.  He is one of the brick walls in the family history, as I am still unable to document who his parents may have been.  This post is about son, William George Beeks, who was born by 1786 and some say as early as 1776.  There don't appear to be any written records giving a definite date.  There are similar mysteries surrounding his death, but in between we can see a faint imprint of the man, and we need to capture these so he doesn't get lost to the family.

William's parents were Christopher and Catherine Barnes Beeks, and he was born in the area around Harpers Ferry, in what is now West Virginia, in 1786 or possibly earlier.  (Harper's Ferry is very near the border with Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, in what is considered the Shenandoah Valley).  He was one of ten children, and indications are that this family had more love than money, if there was any love at all.  Christopher failed at more than one business, because times were hard and money was scarce. William would have worked at the family farm or business, as the case may be, until he married.  

The most thorough notes I've been able to find say that he first married a Miss Puckett, and there were no known children with her.  Then it's confusing because his next marriage may have been to a Margaret Baker, or it may have been to Mary Elizabeth Nimerick, daughter of Johann Gottfried and Elizabeth Nimerick.  Children are assigned to each couple, but the birth dates of the children don't make sense as assigned in the report I've found.  What seems to be certain is that the Beeks-Nimerick marriage is noted in Augusta County Marriages as occurring on October 27, 1808, solemnized by the Rev. William Wilson, V.D.M.  Their first child, John, was born about one year later, in October of 1809, and that is the line we are following.  

So with one or two children, in 1811 William and Mary (known as Polly) packed their household goods and their dreams and moved to Xenia, Greene County, Ohio.  Christopher and Catherine also moved at the same time, and there may well have been other family members also. 

 No sooner had the Beeks family gotten settled (if indeed they were settled) when the War of 1812 broke out, and William was called to duty.   He is credited with about 3 weeks service in August and September of 1812, under Captain Ammi Maltbie, who was of Sugarcreek Township, Greene County.  Earlier in August there had been two battles with native tribes in Ohio, and presumably this unit was on patrol, or at least in a local blockhouse, to keep the natives away from their homes and families.  It is possible that William served for a longer time than this, but these are the only records I've found.  At any rate, it's enough to earn him our respect as a private in the War of 1812.  Like father, like son!

Several more children were born to the couple in the next 10 years, or possibly some were born to the Miss Baker mentioned above.  We have no record of Polly's death, so it's hard to figure this out.  Equally puzzling is why there is a census record for William in 1820. with six children noted, and previous and subsequent census records have not been located.  

And then, there is the confusion about his death.  Every tree and source I've found lists his death as occurring in 1864, when he would have been at least 78 years old.  However, some say he died in Xenia, one says in Greene Township, Adams County, Ohio, and one says in Worth County, Missouri, where he was thrown by a horse.  The last is hearsay from the grandson of one of William's brothers, and could easily have been mistaken.  There was more than one William Beeks in this family, and what would our William have been doing at that age, in that location?  

I've not located a will, an inventory, or an obituary for William, and as mentioned earlier, he's not located on a recent census.  So at this point, this is the story I've been able to find for William.  It's not much, but it gives us a sense of a man who helped build and protect Ohio in its early years, and who raised a large family while dealing with grief.  We can honor William for those contributions.

The line of descent is:

William G Beeks-Mary Elizabeth Nimerick

John Beeks-Mary Polly Carter

William Beeks-Mary Wise

John Beeks-Elizabeth Wise

Wilbur Beeks-Cleo Aldridge

Mary Beeks-Cleveland Harshbarger

Their descendants