Person:Esther Beard (2)

Watchers
m. Abt 1718
  1. Hugh BeardAbt 1718 - 1807
  2. Esther Beard1724 - 1769
  3. William Beard, of Cub Run, Augusta County, VAEst 1725 - Bef 1817
  4. Mary BeardAbt 1726 - 1796
  5. Margaret BeardBef 1728 - Bet 1750 & 1756
  6. Thomas BeardEst 1730 - 1814
  7. John Beard1733 - 1808
  8. Elizabeth Beard1742 - 1830
  9. Rosanna BeardAbt 1744 -
  10. Jane BeardAbt 1746 - 1841
  11. Anne BeardAbt 1749 - Bef 1769
  1. Eleanor Alexander1743 - 1805
  2. Thomas AlexanderBet 1743 & 1752 -
  3. William AlexanderEst 1744 - 1829
  4. Capt. Robert Alexander1746 - 1820
  5. Hugh AlexanderAbt 1750 -
  6. Ann Alexander1753 - 1801
  7. Esther AlexanderAbt 1754 - 1815
  8. Archibald Alexander, M.D.1755 - 1822
  9. Peter Alexander1758 - 1842
  10. Sarah AlexanderAbt 1759 -
  11. James Alexander1766 - 1849
Facts and Events
Name Esther Beard
Gender Female
Birth? 1724 Ireland/pennsylvania
Marriage to Robert Alexander
Death? 1769 Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia

http://www.wvbeard.com/bios/EstherBeardAlexander.htm

Esther Beard Alexander

Born Abt. 1724 Died 1769, Staunton, Augusta, VA Married Robert Alexander, born in Donegal Northern Ireland, Abt. 17

Children Born William Alexander 1744, Chester County, PA Ann Alexander Abt. 1750 Robert Alexander Nov 1746, Rockbridge, VA Esther Alexander Abt. 1754 Thomas Beard Alexander Bet. 1743-1752, Endy, near Rapahoe County Donegal or County Kildare, Ireland Peter Alexander Apr 1758, Beverly Manor Augusta VA James Alexander 1766, Rockbridge, VA Hugh Alexander Abt. 1750 Sarah Alexander Abt. 1755 Eleanor Alexander Abt. 1765 Archibald Alexander Abt. 1750


References

From the Pocahontas Times, Thursday June 4, 1931 by Calvin W. Price

Esther and her husband, Robert Alexander, lived at Beverly Manor, Augusta County, VA. Robert Alexander was a graduate of the Universities of Dublin and Edinburgh. he was born at Manor Cunningham, Londonderry, Ireland in 1719,. a direct descendent of Robert Bruce through nineteen generations. He came to VA in 1736, and married Esther Beard about 1739. They had eleven well known children.

(portion unreadable).

Esther Beard died in 1769. The Rockbridge County History says that Robert Alexander died in 1787.

http://www.roanetnhistory.org/bookread.php?loc=WaddellsAnnals&pgid=135 ROBERT ALEXANDER,

the founder of the first classical school in the Valley, was a brother of Captain Archibald Alexander, and preceded the latter to America and to the Valley. He married, in Pennsylvania, Esther Beard. His children were—

1. William, who died in Rockbridge, in 1829, leaving children; 2; Robert, who lived in Campbell county, and was clerk of the county court for many years, being succeeded in office by his son, and he by his son, both called Jack Alexander; 3. Peter, who, it is believed, went to the West; 4. Hugh, who died unmarried; 5. James, who married Peggy Lyle, of Rockbridge, and removed to Greenbrier; and daughters, Ann, Esther, Ellen and Sally. The last-named was the second wife of Colonel John Wilson, of Bath county.

Robert Alexander : more on Robert from The Pocahontas Times June 4, 1931 by Calvin W. Price (Editor), Entered at the Post Office of Marlinton, W. Va. as a second class matter, For President Owen D. Young of New York. -> Esther and her husband Robert Alexander lived at Beverly Manor Augusta County, Virginia. Robert Alexander was a graduate of the Universities of Dublin and Edinboro. he was born at Manor Cunningham, Londonberry, Ireland in 1719, a direct descendent of Robert Bruce through nineteen generations. he came to Virginia in 1736, and married Esther Beard about 1739. They had eleven well known children. Robert Alexander was made vestry man in 1749. This office constituted all local authority in the early colonies. It was considered a place of honor.  ??? storms arose at sea and he was obliged to throw his books overboard. This necessitated some shift to replace the classics. it is said he wrote many of these out in long hand from memory and taught from these until he could obtain others. he started a private school of higher education at what is now Lexington, Va. in 1749. It was afterwards called Liberty Hall and is now Washington and Lee University. Robert Alexander was compelled to resign from Vestry on March 17, 1760. He says "I have been unable to go abroad fro some time on account of a lingering illness." Sampson Mathews was elected in his stead, but he was made vice vestryman. Sampson Archer and John Mathews were the churches wardens. Robert Alexander and his wife.. from the daughters of Robert and Esther Beard Alexander's family. James and Margaret Lyle Alexander are my great grandparents through their daughter Martha Pauline who married Charles Alexander Dunlap of the Calf Pasture near Deerfield Va. This old Beard ancestor came down to me through a a double line my grandmother Sabina Janett Beard McNeel born Feb 8, 1844 and yet living (ed. deceased 1933) at Ponca City, Oklahoma is a great granddaughter of Thomas and Jean Beard through their son John who married January 16, 1769. Janett, daughter of Peter and Martha Woods Wallace and in turn through their son, Josiah Beard who lived at Locust Creek on the plantation give him by his father, in his will in 1808 and called it "Locust Plantation". Josiah Beard married Rachel Cameron, daughter of Major William an Nancy Agnes Dunlap, grandmother Sabina McNeel says "was her real name". Warwick Gatewood widow of William Gatewood and daughter of Captain Jacob Warwick. Esther Beard Alexander died in 1769. The Rockbridge County livery says and Robert Alexander died in 178 WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY: A HISTORY Washington and Lee is a small, private, liberal arts university nestled between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains in Lexington, Va. It is the ninth oldest institution of higher learning in the nation.

In 1749, Scotch-Irish pioneers who had migrated deep into the Valley of Virginia founded a small classical school called Augusta Academy, some 20 miles north of what is now Lexington. In 1776, the trustees, fired by patriotism, changed the name of the school to Liberty Hall. Four years later the school was moved to the vicinity of Lexington, where in 1782 it was chartered as Liberty Hall Academy by the Virginia legislature and empowered to grant degrees. A limestone building, erected in 1793 on the crest of a ridge overlooking Lexington, burned in 1803, though its ruins are preserved today as a symbol of the institution's honored past.

In 1796, George Washington saved the struggling Liberty Hall Academy when he gave the school its first major endowment--$20,000 worth of James River Canal stock. The trustees promptly changed the name of the school to Washington Academy as an expression of their gratitude. In a letter to the trustees, Washington responded, "To promote the Literature in this rising Empire, and to encourage the Arts, have ever been amongst the warmest wishes of my heart." The donation--one of the largest to any educational institution at that time--continues to contribute to the University's operating budget today.

General Robert E. Lee reluctantly accepted the position of president of the College in 1865. Because of his leadership of the Confederate army, Lee worried he "might draw upon the College a feeling of hostility," but also added that "I think it the duty of every citizen in the present condition of the Country, to do all in his power to aid in the restoration of peace and harmony." During his brief presidency, Lee invited Judge John White Brockenbrough to bring to the College his Lexington Law School, which he had established in 1849, encouraged development of the sciences and instituted programs in business instruction that led to the founding of the School of Commerce in 1906. He also inaugurated courses in journalism, which developed by 1925 into The School of Journalism--now the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications. These courses in business and journalism were the first offered in colleges in the United States. After Lee's death in 1870, the trustees voted to change the name from Washington College to Washington and Lee University.

Once an all-male institution, Washington and Lee first admitted women to its law school in 1972. The first undergraduate women matriculated in 1985. Since then, Washington and Lee has flourished. The University now boasts a new science building, a performing arts center and an indoor tennis facility, and it continues to climb the ranking charts of U.S. News and World Report and other rating agencies. Washington and Lee is ranked 12th among the top national liberal arts colleges by U.S. News.

Washington and Lee University observed its 250th Anniversary with a year-long, national celebration during the 1998-99 academic year.

http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.virginia.counties.campbell/755/mb.ashx Brookneal Union Star (VA): "Rock Castle Was Built When Indians Were Here" (Friday, January 17, 1947)

William A. Roper, Jr. (View posts) Posted: 12 Aug 2002 4:16PM GMT

Classification: Query Surnames: Alexander, Withers, Payne, Roper, Manson, Pendleton During a visit to the Campbell County Public Library main branch in Rustburg several years ago, I found amongst the library's local history files a copy of an article clipped from the Union Star (Brookneal, VA) entitled "Rock Castle Was Built When Indians Were Here: Only Fortified House in County Was Burned in 1945. Was Home of First County Clerk".

This article explains the history of "Rock Castle", the home of Capt. Robert Alexander (b Nov 1746 - VA; d 20 Nov 1820 - Campbell, VA), a Revolutionary War veteran who served as the first County Clerk of Campbell County, Virginia. The article includes a number of annecdotes about this man and his family. I have transcribed the full text of the original article below for the benefit of all descendents of Capt. Robert Alexander as well as those in Campbell County with an interest in county history.

The Union Star Brookneal, Virginia Friday, January 17, 1947

Rock Castle Was Built When Indians Were Here Only Fortified House in County Was Burned in 1945. Was Home of First County Clerk

In a field near the "Cross Roads", about a mile or so east of Gladys, three gaunt, ghostlike chimneys rising above a rock foundation are all that is left of Rock Castle, the house that was pointed to as an outstanding exception to Thomas Jefferson's observation that houses built in the latter part of the 18th century only lasted fifty years. Rock Castle, one of Campbell County's oldest houses, was destroyed by fire in 1845 after standing for close to a hundred and seventy years.

Built about 1774 by Robert Alexander, who became the first clerk of the court of Campbell County, this old house was said to be the only fortified house still standing in the county within recent years. One can see narrow slits or loopholes in the rock foundation, built for defense against indian attacks, which were not infrequent in early days when the county was thinly settled. The house before it burned was of wood with dormer windows and a wide front porch. The stone basement with its dungeon-like appearance is said to have been used as a fortress. The house got its name from its massive rock chimneys and basement foundation, half of which was above ground.

Col. Withers Tells About Rock Castle In his Autobiography, a copy of which is in the Patrick Henry Memorial Library, Brookneal, Col. R. E. Withers devoted several chapters to Rock Castle, where he was born and spent an eventful boyhood. Col. WIthers was a grandson of Robert Alexander, the first owner of Rock Castle. His father, Robert W. Withers, narried Susan Dabney Alexander, youngest daughter of Rock Castle's founder, and thus came into possession of the old place when Alexander died. Robert Alexander, father of Robert of Rock Castle, established the first classical school west of the Blue Ridge, which became "Liberty Hall Academy", and afterwards Washington College and Washington and Lee University.

Robert Alexander, so Col. Withers says, was a man of abrupt manners and many peculiarities, and at the same time highly respected throughout the county (in fact there were few who would dared disrespect him, as he was as handy with his old muzzle loading gun as he was with his language, his wit and his pen). When he was a boy his mother sent him to a neighbor's whom she had contracted to weave some cloth to make clothing for the family, and who had been very slow in getting the work done. She told Robert to tell the woman that the cloth was urgently needed; that her children were naked. On his way to the weaver's Robert considered that since he was clothed the woman might not believe his mother's statement that her children were naked, so to make it impressive he took off all his cloths, hid them in the woods and went to the neighbor's "in the raw". Needless to say he won his point and the cloth was delivered soon thereafter.

The old clerk kept his office in a house near a spring on the Rock Castle place, and when court was in session would drive to Rustburg in his coach-and-four with his books and records and his faithful servant Luke. As soon as court was adjourned he would hire himself to one of the local taverns and often returned home "in his cups," as the use of spirits was a universal custom in those days. On such occasions he would have Luke whip up the horses and go home at full gallop, with deed books, records and wills, and "Uncle Alec" Austin, his deputy, bouncing from front seat to back seat and back again, singing lusty songs and running everybody else out of the road. Robert Alexander thought so much of his servant Luke that he promised him his freedom when he died and while it was never put in writing, Luke reminded the family of the old man's promise after he died, and his word was never questioned. Luke was given his freedom and worked in his later years as an overseer to a planter on Falling River, coming back to Rock Castle once a year to see his "old mistress".

Old "Molly's Creek Church" On Place In later years, Rock Castle was owned by the Clay family. Mrs. P. F. Hughes of Gladys was a Withers and is descended from the Withers who lived at Rock Castle. Down the road a few hundred yards from the ruins of the old house is a little cemetery enclosed by an iron fence, in which can be seen the gravestones of Dr. Robert Walter Withers, born February 22, 1795, died October 23, 1881, and his wife, Susan Dabney Alexander, born January 23, 1799, died February 14, 1882. Dr. Withers was one of three practicing physicians in the neighborhood, and when he wasn't practicing medicine he was hunting, for game was plentiful in the neighborhood in those days. The little burying ground was the churchyard of old Molly's Creek Church, the first church in the neighborhood.

This old colonial church, which was originally the Church of England, was later used by both Baptists and Methodists, as it was the only church building in the neighborhood at that time, and there were not many Episcopalians in the neighborhood. Capt. Alexander claimed the church, which is said to have been blown down in a storm about 1830, as his property because it was located on his land. He permitted any sect to hold services there who wanted to, but he was rabidly opposed to shouting and similar demonstrations. When meetings would get into full swing and the congregation would get warmed up to a shouting pitch, the old captain would fly into a rage and blast away out his window at the side of his church with his old muzzle loader; whereupon the "shouters" would leave the church through windows, doors, and any available exit. Col. Withers related that when he was a boy he used to pick the shot out of the weatherboarding of the church with his pocket knife to use for sinkers on his fishing line. HG.

[Photo of three giant chimneys standing in a field with caption below "RUINS OF ROCK CASTLE -- One of Campbell County's oldest and most historic houses stood near Gladys until just over a year ago."]

  • * *

ADDITIONAL NOTES: Capt. Robert Alexander (b Nov 1746 - VA; d 20 Nov 1820 - Campbell, VA) was, as mentioned in the above article, the son of Robert Alexander (b ca 1710 - Ireland; d 18 Nov 1783 - Augusta, VA), the founder of Washington and Lee University, and his wife, Esther Beard, daughter of Thomas Beard. The younger Robert Alexander on 10 Mar 1774 married Ann Austin (b 10 Mar 1758 - VA; d ca 1815 - VA).

Robert and Ann Austin Alexander had at least five children:

i. Robert Alexander (b 1782 - Rock Castle, Campbell, VA), who served as Campbell County Clerk from 1819 to 1838. ii. Sallie Alexander (b Rock Castle, Campbell, VA), who married Nathaniel J. Manson iii. Mary Glenn Alexander (b 3 Oct 1793 - Rock Castle, Campbell, VA; d 19 Jan 1871) m William Garland Pendleton iv. Catherine Wilson Alexander (b 17 Jan 1796 - Rock Castle, Campbell, VA; d 2 Aug 1838), who on 5 Dec 1812 married Nathaniel West Payne (b 11 Apr 1790) v. Susan Dabney Alexander (b 22 Jan 1799 - Rock Castle, Campbell, VA; d 14 Feb 1882 - Buckingham, VA), who on 26 Feb 1819 married Dr. Robert Walter Withers (b 22 Feb 1795 - Fauquier, VA;d 23 Oct 1881)

I am NOT certain that this is a complete list of Robert and Ann Austin Alexander's children. I suspect that there were others.

  • * *

The Col. Robert Withers identified in the article above was Robert Enoch Withers (b 18 Sept 1821 - Campbell, VA; d 21 Sep 1907 - Ingleside, Wytheville, VA), a physician who graduated from the University of Virginia. Col. Withers served in the 18th VA Infantry, C.S.A.. After the Civil War, he established the Lynchburg News in 1866. He served as Lt. Governor of Virginia from 1873-1875, United States Senator from Virginia from 1875-1881, and United States Consul to Hong Kong from 1885 to 1889. For more information about Col. Withers, see his biography in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress at http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000659 .

  • * *

I am descended from Capt. Robert Alexander through his daughter Catherine Wilson Alexander (b 17 Jan 1796 - Rock Castle, Campbell, VA; d 2 Aug 1838). Catherine Withers Payne (b 1826), a daughter of Nathaniel West Payne (b 11 Apr 1790) and Catherine Wilson Alexander, on 17 May 1843 married Benjamin Eliscus Roper (b 8 Nov 1816 - Richmond, Henrico, VA; d 11 Apr 1871 - Lynchburg, Harris, TX). Benjamin Eliscus Roper was the son of Rev. David Roper, of Richmond.

For more information about Rev. David Roper and his family, see my Post on the RootsWeb Roper Message Board "Biography of Rev. David Roper, of Richmond, VA" at:

http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=message&r=rw&p=surnames.roper&m=461

I Posted a copy of Rev. David Roper's Will in my message "Will of Rev. David Roper (b 27 Sep 1792 - Charles City County, VA; d 28 Feb 1827 - Richmond, VA)":

http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=message&r=rw&p=surnames.roper&m=465

Some additional information about Benjamin Eliscus Roper also appears in my Post "Obituary of Mary Wither Roper (d 1941) of Houston, TX" at:

http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=message&r=rw&p=surnames.roper&m=460

More information about the ROPER family generally may be found at the Roper Family History web site of Dr. L. David Roper at:

http://www.roperld.com

  • * *

For additional information concerning Capt. Robert Alexander, see also F. Johnson's "Memorials of Old Virginia Clerks, Arranged Alphabetically By Counties, With Complete Index of Names and Dates of Service from 1634 To the Present Time, (Lynchburg, VA: J. J. Bell Company, 1888), pp. 66-79, 117-119.

Also mentioned in the article is Col. Robert Enoch Withers' book, "Autobiography of an Octogenarian", (Roanoke, VA: Stone Printing & Mfg. Co. Press, 1907, 550 pages). A copy of that book may be found in the University of Virginia Library.

  • * *

I would also like to express my thanks to the staff of the Campbell County Public Library in Rustburg (and particularly Ms. Patrice Owen) for their help in locating the article transcribed above.