About Zacharias Michael Beard
(ca1720 – 1794-7)
The original German name was Barth (meaning “beard”) and was translated by English county clerks into Beard (and several variations). Zacharias Barth’s background before 1770 is a mystery, but he may have been in Fredrick County, Maryland before arriving in Virginia (see separate pages and the endnote). Wherever he came from, Zacharias Beard was clearly one of the many German Lutherans who settled in the Shenandoah valley of Virginia in the mid-eighteenth century. Though he may have been in the area earlier, the first certain record of him is dated 31 March 1770, when the newly-built Lutheran church in Strasburg paid him 16 shillings for some unspecified service.[1] Although the church is thought to have existed as a congregation as early as the mid-1740s, the first church building was probably built about the time the financial records begin in 1770.[2] Zacharias does not appear again in the limited records of this church, though most of his children do, and the question of whether he was a member of the church is unanswerable.
Zacharias Bard was probably already living on land adjoining Laurence Snapp, one of the elders of that church. On 23 December 1771 Matthias Funk assigned a land warrant to “Zacharias Bard” for 180 acres in Frederick County, Virginia.[3] The land was then granted to “Zacharias Bard of Frederick County” on 15 January 1772.[4] The tract was located on the south bank of Tumbling Run[5] about two hundred yards from its intersection with the north branch of the Shenandoah River, and about a mile southwest of the town of Strasburg. It was in the part of Frederick County which became Dunmore County later that year, and then Shenandoah County in 1777. The grant was adjacent to land owned by Mathias Funk, Lawrence Snapp, and Alexander Stockslager. Zacharias evidently remained on this land until his death in the late 1790s.
Zacharias may have been in the area several years earlier, though he does not appear in any records that I have found. His youngest son, Jacob Beard, stated in his 1833 Revolutionary War pension application that he had been born in "Shanadore" County on 29 August 1762 (which was still Frederick County then).[6] In another document in the same file, he stated “I was born and raised in Shanadore County Virginia”.
There are few records for Zacharias after the 1772 grant. He does appear at all in the deed records, and the only abstracted Shenandoah court records I’ve seen contain but a single entry on 25 June 1772 ordering a road to be built “from Peter Black's to Martin Rowlers from thence to Zacky. Barb's to Trusk run...along bank of river to Alexander Strutzligar's to Lawrence Snapp's mill...”[7]
There is also a 1775 militia list for Alexander Machir’s company in Dunmore County on which virtually all of Zacharias Bard’s neighbors appear.[8] His sons Martin and Christian Beard appear on that militia list, but not Zacharias. That is our only real clue to his age, as he may have been over 60 and thus exempt from militia service. His son Jacob was under 16 and also exempt.
He does, however, appear in the Shenandoah County personal property tax and land tax records. The personal property tax, which included the capitation (poll) tax, exists in Shenandoah for each year from 1783 onward. His name is consistently shown by the clerk on those lists as “Zachariah Beard”, and he is listed each year from 1783 through 1794. The land tax records begin in 1787, and he is shown on each annual land tax list through 1797.
A state census was taken in 1783, on which Zachariah Beard is shown with a household of eleven whites. His sons are not separately listed in the census, but the property tax lists taken the same year shows Zachariah and sons Christian and Martin Beard listed consecutively, each with one poll and taxable livestock. It appears that the entire family was counted as a single census household in 1783, suggesting that all three households were probably living on his grant.
Two years later, the 1785 state census has “Zechariah Baird”, with 4 whites, presumably himself, his wife, and unmarried children Jacob and Elizabeth. His sons Martin Baird (5 whites), and “Christle” Baird (3 whites) appear as separate heads of household. All three are listed consecutively on the list of Samuel Porter, which included the area south of Tumbling Run, and which includes only 75 names. The 1785 personal property tax for the same year, shows Zachariah and Jacob Beard in one household, and Martin and Christian Beard in separate ones. (The taxables that year were men over 21.)
There are no other censuses available until 1810. (The 1787 “census” is compiled from the personal property tax lists, and the 1790 and 1800 censuses were destroyed.)
Zacharias was probably born around 1720, give or take a few years. His children appear to have been born between roughly 1748 and 1762 and, with the exception of Jacob, had apparently left home by the late 1780s. It appears that Zacharias and Jacob made an arrangement to keep Jacob at home to care for his parents. Through 1787, Zacharias paid the tax for his son Jacob. Beginning in 1788, Jacob was the head of household for both himself and his father. Elizabeth Beard married Henry Bittenhelser in 1788, and her husband was also taxable in the household in 1788 and 1789, with Jacob listed as the head of household for both his father and brother-in-law. Zachariah and Jacob continued to be listed as a single household through 1794, though Jacob himself was married by then. Thereafter, Zachariah is not found in the property tax lists though he continued to be listed as the taxpayer for the 180 acres through 1797.
Zacharias died sometime between mid-1794, when he last appeared on the property tax lists, and mid-1797. His continued appearance on the land tax records argues that he was still alive as late as the spring of 1797, although the fact that his death was never reported to the authorities may account for this.[9] He is not listed on the personal property tax lists after 1794, so it seems likely he died sometime between mid-1794 and mid-1795. We know (see below) that his wife was alive in 1795, so it could be that the heirs waited until her death to dispose of his land. Or perhaps it took a few years for Jacob Beard to raise the money to buy out the other heirs.
There is no form of probate for him mentioned in either the court or probate records. This was not unusual for intestates who died with very small estates and no debts, and there was no legal requirement to report such a death. The family could avoid both the fees and the involvement of the court by simply agreeing among themselves over a distribution of the personal property. The land was a different story – the law gave equal ownership to all his children, so that a buyer required a deed from all the heirs to obtain a clear title to the land.
On 25 July 1797 his heirs conveyed their interests in the 1772 patent to the son Jacob Beard. The deed says “Zacharias Bard died intestate leaving no will” and identifies the children: “...Zacharias Bard at the time of his decease leaving issue of his body Martin Bard, Christian Bard, and Jacob Bard, Eve Harr the wife of Simon Harr late deceased who leaving issue David Harr, Margaret the wife of Christopher Hemp and Catherine the wife of Frederick Bosserman...Martin Bard and Elizabeth of Shenandoah...Christian Bard and Magdalene of Augusta County, Christopher Hemp and Margaret of Augusta County...Frederick Bosserman and Catherine of Shenandoah...” all of whom conveyed their interests in the 180 acres to Jacob Bard and his wife Mary for a total of 100 pounds.[10]
Jacob and Mary Beard sold the land two years later, on 4 April 1799, to Mary’s mother, Esther Keller Stockslager Reese.[11] This deed repeats the list of heirs.
Zacharias Beard must have had a trade of some kind, for his land could not have provided an income. The land he had patented was not particularly attractive as a farm, being quite hilly and filled with gullies – and even today remains unused. In later years, in fact, it was rented out by Esther Reese at a small fraction of the rent charged for her smaller farm next door on better land. As a farm, the land could barely have supported the large family that lived on it. The only clue we have to his occupation, and a fragile one at that, is that we know his son Jacob was a tanner.
His wife is also a mystery, but her name was almost certainly “Christina”. The records of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church mention a “Christina Bard” three times. On 4 June 1770 she was witness to the baptism of a child of James Murdock, who obtained a warrant for land adjoining Zacharias Bard in 1771. More significantly, she was godmother for the baptism of Sarah, Christian Beard’s daughter, on 25 September 1784.[12] She was also a communicant in 1795, listed next to Martin Beard in one of the few surviving records of the annual communions. However, the most compelling evidence is what appears to be a permission note attached to the marriage bond for the marriage of Elizabeth Beard to Henry Bittenhelser. The note is signed (by their marks) by “Zacha. Beard”, Christina Beard, and Elizabeth Beard. The communion record indicates that Christina was alive as late as 1795, but she was surely dead by the time of the 1797 deed since her dower interest is not mentioned.
https://www.geni.com/people/Zacharias-Beard/6000000006350739389
