Possibilities - The Parents of Abram Beebe

The parents of Abram Beebe have remained a mystery over the years. Multiple trees list Joel Beebe and Mary Hale as parents. Not a single tree had any proof of this, but I recently discovered possible evidence pointing to these parents.

Abram Beebe was probably born in December 1822, and probably in Tioga County, New York. Around 1840, he married a woman named Lovisa or Louisa. It is possible that her surname was Castline. Abram died on 12 April 1895 in Candor, Tioga County, New York. His grave site has not been located, but he may have been buried in Maple Grove Cemetery in Candor. Abram and Lovisa had at least seven children - the line I'm tracking goes through his son Clark.

Abram was a millwright and spent his life in and around Tioga County except for a short stay in nearby Tompkins County and a possible brief foray into nearby Broome County. There isn't any indication that he was born or lived anywhere other than New York. 

JOEL BEEBE, WHO SERVED IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

Joel Beebe was born about 1757, possibly in Connecticut. He may have married Mary Hale in Derby, Connecticut, in February of 1823, but was surely married for the first time before that. His death date is unknown, but it may have been 1839. 

Joel enlisted as a Private in the Revolutionary War in April 1777 and served for more than six years. He was in the Company commanded by Captain Charles Pond in Colonel Meigs Regiment of the Connecticut Line. He then transferred to the Second Connecticut Regiment, commanded by Colonel Swift, and served until the close of the war. He applied for a pension in March of 1818. 

In July of 1820, he stated that he was 63 years old, a resident of Derby, Connecticut, and had no property or securities. He listed his occupation as a farmer and basket maker. and stated that he had a wife who was "feeble and infirm, being troubled with dropsy" and an 18-year-old child. All his personal property was valued at $45.13. 

Another page of his pension application, which may have been added when his wife applied for a widow's pension, gave the following information.

• Joel Beebe was a resident of Milford, Connecticut
• He married (no date given) Mary Beebe, who was born 1783/4. 
• Mary died March 21, 1874, aged 90 years, 11 months, and 21 days in Iowa. 
• Children were listed as follows on an undated piece of paper. (A second similar listing is stamped 1923, so it was added to the file at a much later date.)
• David Beebe, born 1808-10, died 1891 in Iowa. Married Nancy Heaton.
• Fannie Beebe married Elijah Bills.
• Mary Beebe married Elliott Foster and lived in Tioga County, New York.
• Abram Beebe lived near Candor, New York. (The list that is stamped 1923 states that Abram was unmarried.)

The pension file appears to confirm that an Abram was the son of Joel. But there are several red flags.

• First, in his pension application, Joel makes it clear that his wife is "feeble and infirm." That wife's name is never mentioned in the file. This, and the fact that they have an 18-year-old child, implies that she is older.
• There is a marriage record on 1 February 1823 in Derby, Connecticut, for Joel Beebe and Mary Hale. Does this mean his first wife died and he remarried? Or is this a totally different Joel Beebe? The record is unclear, but this is the couple usually given as Abram's parents.
• Is Abram a product of this second marriage, or are there multiple Abrams? 
• If Joel married in February of 1823 in Derby, Connecticut, did he then move to Tioga County, New York? Abram's birth date is often given as 1 December 1822, but census records vary it from 1820 to 1827, so he may be a child of this marriage. 
• There is still a Joel Beebe in Derby, Connecticut, in the 1830 census. The family makeup is 1 white male, 70-79; 1 female, 60-69; and 1 female, 30-39. This does not seem to fit with Joel losing one wife and then remarrying Mary Hale, who would have been only about 47 at the time. But it does fit with having an older wife. It's unclear who the younger female is.

So, did everyone assume that the Abram referred to in this pension file was Abram who married Lovisa? The Candor residence certainly points to him. But the biographical information was written later, not by Joel himself, and its source is unclear.

And, on top of all that, there is a second Joel Beebe who looks interesting. He was a 70-year-old living in Covington, Tioga County, Pennsylvania, in 1850 (just over the border from New York). And he is a miller!! Oddly enough, this particular Joel Beebe and his wife, Elizabeth, ended up moving to Minnesota, and he is buried about 15 miles from my house. 

So that gives me a long list of things to look for. This list includes: 

1. Are there other Abram Beebe born in the period of about 1820-1827, particularly in Tioga County, New York? Or any born earlier that would fit in with the patriot Joel? 
2. Both Joel Beebes had children, and they need to be tracked and confirmed. 
3. More information about the Pennsylvania Beebe needs to be found. Because he was a miller -- and Abram was a miller --- there could be some connection. Often, these occupations were passed down from father to son. 
4. Are there other candidates for the father of Abram? Were there other Beebes living in Tioga County, New York? Check both the 1820 and the 1830 census. 
5. Make sure to learn everything about Abram Beebe, including land purchases, probate records, newspaper articles, etc. 

There is obviously a lot more work to be done before I can rule anyone in or out. 

NOTE: Most of the information above is sourced. Contact the author for more information regarding these sources and Abram Beebe.

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This week's #52Ancestors Prompt is POSSIBILITIES