Three Generations of the Beasley family

Civil War Families Certificate Program

The Johnson County Arkansas Historical Society has launched a project in commemoration of the Civil War of The War Between the States Sesquicentennial. Membership is open to anyone who can document their descent from an ancestor who resided in Johnson County, Arkansas prior to the opening of hostilities between the Southern States and the Union. On Feb.8, 1861, Arkansas State Troops seized the Federal Arsenal in Little Rock. Although this is before the official date of seession and before shots were fired at Fort Sumter, SC., this was the first official at of rebellion in Arkansas. (from Johnson County Historical Society Quarterly Vol. 37 No. 1.)

I have been doing genealogy since I was in highschool and thought, no sweat, I have all this info.
There is a catch, family stories don't count...it has to be documented. So I start going thru folders in my Beasley box, Ancestory.com and Arkansas Archives on the computer. I knew that the Beasley family came to Johnson Co. following Anderson Beasley and Eveline Nicks' marriage in 1835 in Ill. They had three children, two sons and a daughter before he died in 1853. The two sons married and settled on Little Piney Creek. One, Alexander, died in service (USA) at Dardanelle and the other Quinton Dillard Beasley, my great grandfather, also served in the Union Army. Quinton's youngest son was my grandfather, Arthur "Bum" Beasley and my father
was his son , also named Quinton Dillard Beasley. So I gathered up my proof, made copies, filled out the needed forms and mailed it. Now I anxiously await the results, do I get a certificate or do I have to have more or different docmentation.

Want to get you a certificate, contact the Johnson County Historial Society, 131 West Main Street, Clarksville, Ar. 72830

When grandma and grandpa Bill went to Colorado one of her brothers and his family went too and settled in the Springfield area south of the Two Buttes area were Grandpa and Grandma lived in the dugout. As times got harder, the brother decided he would take his family and go to Kansas where another brother was. They packed up the car, said their goodbyes but there was a problem. No money meant no gas. The horse was hooked up to the car and it pulled the car to Kansas while the family walked. Funny today but then it was very serious circumstances which was happening all over the country.

Another story of the 1920's

With the weather preventing crops to grow I find myself remembering stories of the great depression in the 1920's. My mother, her sister, and parents Lile and Bill went to the SE corner of Colorado which was known as the badlands where they lived in a dugout. They dug out a big room in the ground, covered the top the best they could as there were no trees to cut down, and attempted to farm. During the winter Bill went to Lamar for supplies. He was caught in a blizzard on the way home and happened onto a dugout. He found a lady and two children with no heat and very little food. They had cow paddies for fuel but they were froze solid and the lady couldn't break them apart. Her husband was somewhere out in the storm. Bill broke the paddies loose and build a fire. He stayed the night, leaving her a pile of fuel in the house and sharing his supplies with her before he left. The drought made it impossible to raise a crop or have a garden and winds blew away the topsoil so the little family moved into Lamar where he worked in a garage. Bill lived to be 91 and each winter when the snow fell he thought of the little family and wondered if they made it thru the winter.

Hester, one of my favorite relations

Skull Valley, Arizona. 2005


In 1876 a family of five, William and Hester Ann Skaggs Rudy and their children,
Georgia, Kate and six month old Albert arrived in Ferguson Valley Arizona from  Franklin County,
Arkansas.  Hester, to me, has always been a favorite part of the family history.  Hester was born on Valentines Day, 1839 in Kty.  By the time she was fifteen the Skaggs family had 'wagoned' to Johnson
County, Ar., to  Williamson Co., Tx. where at the age of fifteen she was married.  She
was divorced and back in Arkansas by 1870 when she and William Rudy were married.
They came with a wagon train.  Their wagons were pulled by oxen and Rudy  worked as a freighter and ran a freight route from Prescott to Yuma.  In 1879 he traded 10 to 12 work oxen (value about $1000) for land in Skull Valley using the brand "22" and added cattle and horses to the number they had brought from Arkansas. Rudy's were industrious, adding more land which included some they purchased from Virgil
Earp.   They built the original store in Kirkland which thru the years also served as a
hotel, cafe and bar.  They also ran a stage station with horse stable and feed as well as
room and board for travelers before the trains arrived. 

When statehood came to Arizona in 1912  on her 73rd birthday,the Rudy's had lived in Arizona Territory for thirty years.  In those years Hester had served as nurse, doctor, midwife,  Indian fighter,, in addition
to the daily work of being a ranchers wife, mother and neighbor. I would love to of heard
the stories she had to relate.
.
Visiting Skull Valley and Kirkland is one of the highlights of my quest as I look for the history
of my family.

Garber postmaster 1907-1951

Postmaster Appointment dates through October 9, 1951

Merrel K. Griffith March 2, 1907
Alex Broughton May 12, 1912
Ethel M. Broughton September 13, 1913
Edward Grffith November 27, 1917
Mrs. Susie Beasley October 27, 1927
Howard Troyer December 18, 1947 (assumed charge)
March 5, 1948 (confirmed)
Mrs. Lulu G. Brand March 20, 1951
April 3, 1951 (acting)
April 5, 1951 (confirmed)

(above names/dates from General Services Administration)

Mail Carriers (mail delivered by horseback, list not complete)

Fred Swartz
A.C. Beasley
Sid Beasley
Oliver Boen
Ben Moore
Bill Phillips

The last mail carrier was Hazel Baxter Tavener who continued to carry mail down the creek from Ozone after the Garber post office was closed.
DeMona Beasley Reeves 1982