Person:Peter Beamer (1)

Biography

Peter Beamer11 Carroll 1765-1815: The Settlements, By John Perry Alderman; Published by Alderman Books, 1985, p. 210-211. Peter was the first of the family to come to this part of the state. The earliest record of him found by the writer is 1780 when he was listed for tax in Henry County. Since he is carried on the Patrick County tax rolls from 1791 to 1795, it is assumed that he lived in that part of Henry from which Patrick was formed in 1791. Although his residence was in Henry/Patrick he acquired a land claim in Carroll (then Montgomery), and there is some reason to believe he lived on it for a time. The claim was for 400 acres on the West Fork (he called it the south fork) of Little Reed Island and he sold it before 1782 to Daniel Carlan (Kegley, Adventurers, II, p. 114). By 1797 Peter had moved to Grayson and he appears on the tax rolls in Grayson until 1799 which suggests that he died about that time. There is a traditional genealogy which calls him Richard Beamer and recites that Henry and Philip were his sons and that Mary Dean and Charity Dean were his daughters. It is evident from the tax lists that Henry and Philip were indeed his sons, and the old Grayson marriage records do prove that Mary Dean, wife of Howell, was a Beamer. The traditions is that Peter’s wife was also named Charity.