Surnames: Beazell, Fell, Rankin, Neel, Samson, Linden, Plumer, Mink, Darr.
BENJAMIN F. BEAZELL.Benjamin F. Beazell was born in Rostraver township, Westmoreland Co., Pa., Jan. 2, 1796, the seventh in a family of twelve children of William and Rebecca (Fell) Beazell. About the year 1760 his grandfather, Matthew Beazell, and his grandmother, Catherine, emigrated from the town of Basil, on the Rhine, Germany, meeting and becoming acquainted for the first time on shipboard during the passage to America. They settled in Berkeley County, Va., and were married soon after their arrival. Their children born in Virginia were William and Elizabeth (twins), Matthew, Christianna, John, and Luke. In 1773 he moved with his family and settled in the township of Rostraver, on the farm now owned by William Jones, and here the following children were born: Catharine, Barbara, and Joseph. All except Joseph, who died When a lad, were married and raised families. Elizabeth, after marriage, settled first in Kentucky, afterwards in Missouri; Barbara settled near Bucyrus, Ohio; John went to Trumbull County, Ohio; and Catharine settled in Fayette County, Pa. The rest remained in Westmoreland County. Matthew Beazell died in Rostraver, and was buried on the farm now owned by John Rankin. His wife survived him many years. She died at the residence of her daughter Catharine, in Fayette County, and is buried at Fell's Church.
William Beazell, his father, married Rebecca,daughter of Benjamin and Rebecca Fell. Her parents moved to Rostraver in 1783, from Bucks County, Pa. The first Methodist sermon in Rostraver township was preached in Benjamin Fell's house, which for a number of years was headquarters of that church. He gave the grounds upon which was built the "Fell" Methodist Episcopal Church, taking its name from the donor. Prior to his moving to Westem Pennsylvania, Mr. Fell was prominent in both Church and State. He took a decided stand in the cause of liberty; was a member of one of the first Conventions that assembled at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and was the intimate friend of Gen. Washington. Both he and his wife are buried at the church bearing his name.
After his marriage his father settled on a farm near Bellevernon, now owned by Levi Johnson, and here he lived about ten years. By purchase from the heirs he subsequently became the owner of the old Beazell homestead. This he eventually "old to Joshua Bud d, when he moved on to a farm in Mifflin township, Allegheny Co., one and a half miles above McKeesport, on the Monongahela
River. Finally, at the request of his father-in-law, Benjamin Fell, he purchased the old Fell homestead, the farm consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, and here he passed the remnant of his days. He lacked but a few days of being ninety-two years old at the time of his death, and his wife, who survived him about two years, was in her ninety-second year at the time of her death. They were both earnest and consistent members of the Fell Methodist Episcopal Church, and are "at rest" in the burial ground of that church. Twelve children were born to this worthy couple, viz.: Elizabeth, Rebecca, Catharine, Matthew, Hannah, Phebe, Benjamin F., Christianna, Jane, William, John, and Eliza. Elizabeth and Catherine died in childhood. All the rest, except Christianna, were married and raised families. Rebecca and Eliza moved to Ohio; the rest settled in Westmoreland County. All, except Benjamin F., are deceased. The latter, now (1882) in his eighty-seventh year, the eldest but one living in the township, with the exception of a slight impairment in his eyesight and hearing, is a man both mentally and physically well preserved. His memory of early times and events is simply remarkable. On this account, in all questions of local history, Father Beazell has been the leading and the most reliable authority. He was eight years of age when his father moved on to the farm near McKeesport. His education was in the main "picked up." As he quaintly expressed it, "I never went
to school enough to get out of the spelling-book." He has always been fond of reading, a love of which was inherited from his mother, who was a great reader. With the faculty of remembering what he read, his knowledge of men and things acquired in this way has been quite a substitute for a "good schooling." Especially does he treasure, now that his failing eyesight precludes his reading,
those Scripture passages which he may draw at will from the unfailing store-house of his memory.At the farm near McKeesport his father built a saw-mill and a yard for the construction of river boats, and here young Beazell received his first ideas of boat-building, which afterwards served him a good purpose. Nov. 16, 1820, he married Sally, daughter of William and Dorcas (Neel) Samson. Mrs. Beazell was born in Rostraver, April 13, 1801. Her father emigrated from Ireland, was a
soldier in the war of the Revolution, and served throughout the war; was an early settler and a large landholder in Rostraver. Her mother was a native of Lancaster County, Pa.Both were members of the Presbyterian Church. They died at their home in Rostraver, and are buried at "Round Hill."
The first five years after marriage Mr. Beazell lived on the Fell farm. In the spring of 1825 he rented the "Daily" farm, which he carried on two years; then moved to the "Black Horse" tavern, where he kept store seven years. In 1835 lie built at Webster the steamer "Moravian," nine hundred tons, the largest carrier for that at date on the Mississippi River. In the spring of 1836 he moved to Webster,
where he continued boat-building and merchandising, and where he remained until 1844, with the exception of two years (1840 and 1841), when he moved back to the "Black Horse" tavern. In the spring of 1844 he purchased of his brother, John Beazell, the old Fell homestead farm, where he moved and where he resides.In politics Mr. Beazell was first a Whig, and a Republican from the organization of that party. The Union cause had no stauncher friend. Has been a member of the Fell M. E. Church since 1828, is the only surviving member of the original nine trustees, and with one exception (Hannah Linden), the only one living of its members at the time he joined it. He was a class-leader over thirty years and its
Sunday-school superintendent many years. Except William Plumer, of West Newton, he is the only surviving member of John C. Plumer's troop.The old age of Father Beazell is indeed made bright by the loving attention of devoted children, by the conscious enjoyment of the best esteem of his fellow men, and above all, by his unwavering belief in immortality through Christ his Savior. Children are as follows: Dorcas, Rebecca, William S., Thomas C., James S., Samuel W., Mary, John S., Matthew B., Frank, and Emma S. Thomas and
Matthew are deceased. Samuel, a farmer, and John, a lawyer, live in Chillicothe, Mo. Emma, wife of Dr. J. A. Mink, lives in Topeka, Kan. Frank, clergyman in the M. E. Church, member of the East Ohio Conference. William and James, farmers in Rostraver. Dorcas, wife of John Darr, a farmer in Rostraver. Mary and Rebecca living at home, and James S., carrying on the home farm.