Surname Saturday : Beeson

The BEESON surname is in my maternal line.  The origins of the surname are English, and this particularly line was Quaker.

Stories and history :

Ahnentafel # 955 : Charity Beeson (c1715-1809).  Charity was born circa 1715, probably in Chester County, Pennsylvania.  She married Mordecai Mendenhall (c1713-1803).  Mordecai was born circa 1713 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and his death was recorded 11th month, 3rd day, 1803 at Springfield MM, North Carolina.  They were the parents of ten children.  Charity died September 20, 1809 in Guilford County, North Carolina.

Ahnentafel # 1910 : Richard Beeson (1684-1777).  Richard was born October 1684 in New Castle County, Delaware.  He married Charity Grubb (1687-1761) on 10th month, 24th day, 1706 at West Nottingham MM, Pennsylvania and her death was recorded 11th month, 22nd day, 1761 at Centre MM, North Carolina. Charity was born September 29, 1687 in New Castle County, Delaware.  They raised ten children in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Frederick County, Virginia and Guilford County, North Carolina.  Richard death was recorded 1st month, 1st day, 1777 at Centre MM, North Carolina.

Ahnentafel # 3820 : Edward Beeson (1660-1712).  Edward was born in 1660 in Thrussington, Leichestershire, England.  He married Rachel Pennington (1662-1710) on November 7, 1682 at St. Margaret's Church, London, England.  Rachel was born November 11, 1662 in Lancashire, England and died in 1710 in New Castle, Chester County, Pennsylvania.  They were the parents of at least five children.  Edward died on October 20, 1712 in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Surname Saturday – create a post in which you discuss a surname and mention its origins, its geographical location(s) and how it fits into your genealogy research. Surname Saturday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Newman Smith and Martha Lemaster, Shelby County, Ohio, 1861

Received an exciting email this week from a potential cousin on my LeMaster side who wrote:

my 2xggfather's brother Newman Smith wife was Martha J. Lemaster, they married in Shelby county Ohio on August 25, 1861. He was also known as Rev Smith a minister of the Methodist church of Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. I think she is the daughter of Luman Walker Lemasters (1808 - 1888) (also a minister of the Methodist church )and   Nancy Young Lemasters (1812 - 1904).  Can you please confirm this?

It is always exciting to make possible new connections, and I don't usually find them on my surname that are close.  Luman Walker Lemasters and Nancy Young Lemasters are my paternal 3rd great grandparents.  As they were married in Shelby County, Ohio and lived there until the mid-1850s, any other Lemaster in that vicinity has a good chance of being a close relative.

I was not aware of the marriage record of Newman Smith and Martha J. Lemaster in Shelby County, Ohio.  A quick search of Familysearch located the record:

"Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1997," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XDPP-FQJ : accessed 06 Nov 2014), Newman H Smith and Martha Lamaster, 25 Aug 1861; citing Shelby, Ohio, United States, reference volume 4 page 184; county courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 562859.

I quickly wrote him back and let him know that I did not think that the connection came through Luman Walker Lemasters and Nancy Young, as their daughter Martha was born too late to be the one who married in 1861.  Their Martha J. was born circa 1851 and married in 1872 in Jay County, Indiana to William Loofborrow.

That Newman was a Methodist minister is interesting, as that was the occupation of Luman Walker Lemasters and other members of the extended family.  They were closely associated with the Methodist church.

However, where I think there might be a connection is through Luman's brother, Lemuel Quin Lemasters (1811/2-1843) and Hannah Albright.  Lemuel died young, but he did have one son and three daughters.  One of those daughters was named Martha, who was born circa 1837.  She would be the right age to be the one who married Newman Smith in 1861.

I checked out Newman Smith's FindAGrave memorial and noticed that he had a son named Perry Quin Smith and that Perry named his son Lemuel.  Circumstantial evidence, I know, but the use of the uncommon names may indicate a connection.

I need to dig into the records in Shelby County, Ohio and see what I can find on Lemuel's family after his early death.  I believe at one time I requested his estate records, but I haven't sourced them into my database.

I'm waiting with fingers crossed to see if this potential cousin responds with more information and whether or not I'll be able to add more cousins to the tree.  I wonder if he has done any DNA testing?

DNA: Eileen's Lewis Match

Recently made a connection with one of Eileen's matches at 23andMe that turns out to be her 3rd cousin once removed on her maternal Lewis line.

23andMe predicted that Michael and Eileen were 3rd cousins and turns out they match on 5 segments. Michael listed Lewis as one of his family surnames, so that was where I concentrated on when corresponding began.  

Michael was able to name his 2nd-great grandfather and his wife, who I was able to find in my database and make the connection.  I quickly wrote back to him to share the connection and ask for more information on his line down from the common Lewis ancestors.

The common ancestors between Michael and Eileen are Jacob Lewis (1847-1898) and Marietta Cook (1855-1942).  Michael's 2nd-great grandfather and Eileen's great grandfather were brothers.  The line of descent goes like this:

Jacob Lewis & Marietta Cook

Wilfred Lewis - brothers - Lawrence Solomon Lewis

Glenn Lewis - 1st cousin - Leota Marie (Lewis) Pefley

Michael's grandfather - 2nd cousin - Eileen's mother

Michael's father - 3rd cousin - Eileen

Hopefully, this will spark some correspondence that will generate more family information on these Lewis relatives, as I don't have information on Wilfred's line right now in my database.