THE BEAN SENTINEL A Newsletter For the Descendants of William Bean Sr. William Bean Jr. William Bean III, James Madison Bean Sr. James Madison Bean Jr. and William Henry Bean. Summer 1998 First Edition I have compiled enough information to present the families with a preliminary family tree, although this tree is very preliminary it will be a good guide for you to follow along with all of our Ancestor's. So use it for reference only. If your kids are interested, you may make copies for them as long as they agree to throw them away when the next revised Bean Family Tree comes out. I will be updating the tree from time to time and will send you revised copies of the tree. Pay particular attention to the date of each tree that I send out and by all means discard any older versions, always keep the most updated issue. As you can see with this 1st issue of the tree, I still have a lot of information to input. I believe I now have about 75% of all the information for the past 9-generations. As I get time to spend on the beans I will input more and more information. NOW ON TO SOME GOOD STUFF ABOUT THE BEANS. (This information is only a small piece of the details that I have found about the Beans in our family history. Once I complete the tree, I will give each family a copy of the completed tree and when the book is complete you may purchase a copy for cost plus shipping and any tax that might be required). The following story is from reference books and I found it far too important to keep it from you. THE FIRST FAMILY OF TENNESSEE It was a typical early summer's day in what is now Washington County, Tennessee, at a bend of what is now called BOONE CREEK, a tributary of The Watauga River, 5 miles from the 1974 city called Johnson City, Tennessee. The exact spot cannot now be seen for it lies beneath the waters of an artificial lake created by The Tennessee Valley Authority in damming The Tennessee River for electrical power generation in the 1930's. Up-shore from the spot today stands a monument, erected by The Daughters of The American Revolution, to Capt. William Bean Jr. and his wife Lydia Russell, who on that early May day of 1769 became the FIRST permanently settled family to make their home in that part of The United States of America, which was later called Tennessee. At the time Capt. Bean thought they were in Virginia territory but by the survey of 1771, establishing the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina, it was discovered that the spot was actually in North Carolina and became known as Washington District and later Washington County. However, North Carolina refused to take total jurisdiction for political reasons. This territory had been, for generations, recognized as the common hunting grounds of The Cherokee Indians, The Creeks, The Miamis and other Indian Tribes, tho it was claimed by the Iroquois until 1768 with the Treaty of Ft. Stanwix by right of conquest. In all of this vast and beautiful countryside not a soul lived but was used as a hunting ground by all tribes. One attempt had been made previously to Capt. William Bean Jr. to settle in Tennessee but it met with failure. In ca 1750 James Adair, a fur trader and explorer from South Carolina, is said to have been the first to come from an English Colony to Tennessee but no attempt was made to settle. Also, in 1750 The Thomas Walker Party crossed the river and mountains, which they named after the Royal Duke Cumberland (a hated name by all Scotsmen), and in 1756 Ft. Louden was built about 30 miles south of the present city of Knoxville, Tennessee as an outpost against the French, who were trying to establish territorial rights. In 1760 this Fort was captured and garrison and few settlers were all massacred, thus ending all attempts to settle in Tennessee until 1769, following the Treaty of Ft. Stanwix in 1768, when the Iroquois surrendered any claim they had previously held. In 1541, the first white man of record to see Tennessee, Hernando de Soto, the noted Spanish Explorer, climbed the bluffs known as Chickasaw Bluffs (now Memphis) to view The Mississippi River, but soon moved on and never returned. 228 years later, on an early summer's day of May, 169, our story of THE FIRST FAMILY OF TENNESSEE begins. The exact date is not know; it was not recorded in the middle of the hardships of travel through the rough and rugged sections of southern Virginia and North Carolina and the Cumberland Mountains. Boone Creek empties into the Watauga River, and The Watauga empties into the Tennessee. A short distance above the spot where the Boone empties into the Watauga there was a falls. From the Watauga passing Indians could see the falls but could not see the eight year old cabin which stood in a clearing, which had been built by Lt. John Bean, a brother of Capt. William Bean Jr. while on a hunting trip some years before, perhaps in 1762. The cabin was run down and overgrown with weeds and brush and small trees, causing it to be partially invisible even if the falls had not been in the line of view from the river. It was crude and uninviting to a lady of culture from Virginia but to the family of nine who saw it first on that early day of May 1769, it was a home and place of rest and comfort and protection after a month of the hardest kind of travel through a country with no roads and few ancient Indian trails. Their journey had taken them up mountains and down, and then up some more and down until it seemed there was no end of the up and down travel through brush and trees fallen in their path. Finding a place to pass through narrow defiles in the mountains was often next to impossible and much time was lost exploring a way through. As they traveled day after day they saw no other human being except for the occasional Indian hunter from whom it was necessary to hide their presence. There were no cabins in which they could find shelter at night with a host to minister to their comfort; (What! No Hyatt Regency Hotel or Motel Six, where they keep the light on for you. No Denny's or McDonalds Hamburger stand to stop and eat, and she's pregnant to boot.) they were alone to themselves in a vast wilderness, heading west to a land they had heard about from hunters and trappers. It was not entirely new country to this intrepid man, for he had also been in parts of what is now eastern Tennessee some years before with his friend Daniel Boone on hunting and exploring trip. It was all-new however, to his lovely beautiful wife, Lydia Russell, and her children who were all with them except their oldest son William Bean III. To them it was an adventure of danger and peril, tho fear was not their constant companion because of the man who led the way. He was almost a fearless man, at least his family thought so. He always knew which way to go and how to evade the dangers of hostile Indians. He always had the answers that gave Lydia and the children assurance and confidence. This was the FIRST FAMILY OF TENNESSEE traveling to what would be their permanent home as the first family in history to settle and live where no white man had ever been able to "make it stick" before. This man was Captain William Bean Jr. from Pittsylvania County, Virginia. It is not hard to imagine the excitement in his and Lydia's mind as they came on that May day of 1769, into the small clearing surround the cabin his brother had built, tho it was not much of a clearing now. To them it looked like a "castle" which needed only a little repairs and which William Jr. was fully capable of doing. One can almost see tears of gratitude come into Lydia's eyes for now she would have a place upon which to lay her weary head at night and place to care for her large family who ever pulled at her skirt when hungry or tired or in fear. Perhaps they stopped for a brief moment to look and to contemplate on what this meant to them and their family, and to tell the children that this was the place. If one knows Capt. William Bean Jr. tho, it was not a time to stop for long. He was a man of great energy and drive, of ambition and courage and will power to do and accomplish what he set out to do. There was never enough time, and to waste what he had was almost unforgivable. He was the kind of man to survey the surrounding area quickly, learn the lay of the land so as to provide protection for his family, quickly determine what had to be done first and second and third, and then get busy to do it. One can well imaging the Oxen, upon which was packed the bare essentials of making a home in the wilderness, being unpacked. One can "see" Lydia quickly surveying her "castle" and planning her home and then think of a fire in the hearth to provide food for a hungry family of children, and a place for each to sleep their first night in what History has now called THE WATAUGA SETTLEMENTS. It had been a particularly difficult wilderness journey for her. Already with a large family of eight, including the son who remained in Virginia for several more years, she was heavy with child and about to give birth to her last son, Russell. It took a courageous woman to hazard this wilderness journey so near to the tie of her deliverance, and it is very probable that her last son was born prematurely in this crude Tennessee cabin very shortly after arriving. Neither the date of arrival nor the exact date of Russell's birth are known; there were perhaps to many more pressing things to do than to think of history or genealogy being interested in these dates two hundred and five years later. It's even probable that they had lost track of time and did not know the actual dates themselves. What were the names of these first people to have the historic distinction of being the first to settle and live in this great state of what is now Tennessee? First was, of course, Captain William Bean Jr. born Dec. 9, 1721 in St. Stephen's Parish, Northunberland Co., Virginia, the son of William Bean. (His mother's name is unknown). He was one of a family of at least eight children, & very likely more, which included brothers, Lt. John Bean (who very soon also came to Watauga; Edmund, who was said to have been killed by the Indians; Jesse, who died in Watauga settlement in 1782; Robert, born in Northunberland, Co., Va. 1-13-1725; possibly George; Jane, b. ca 1722, m, Robert Bell; & Eliza, b. 11-25-1723. Lydia (Russell) Bean was b. in 1726, the daughter of William (?) Russell, married Capt. Wm. Bean Jr. 1759, Greensboro, N.C. Of the children, Robert was ca 20 years of age, George was 16, Jesse was 14, Sarah, born very early in 1768 was 1, John was 9, Edmund was 6, and Jane was 3 years old. Evidently Lydia was William's 2nd wife. There is a period in the life of Capt. William Bean Jr. of which we have very little knowledge. From the time of his birth in 1721 until 1742 we know nothing, but he was then living in Augusta Co., Virginia and serving as an officer in The Augusta County Militia under the command of Capt. George Robinson. (Lyman Draper MMS) (Lives of Ellis Peter Bean, Pg. 5). In 1746 he was living on The Dan River, near the present station of Wenonda, VA and a very influential leader in his community. It seems probable that he was at one time a member of the County Court. That he was one and the same William Bean Jr. who was in the Augusta Co., Militia in 1742 is proven by the account in VIRGINIA FRONTIERS by F. B. Kegley and shown in WILLIAM BEAN, TENNESSEE PIONEER by Jamie Ault Grady. It is so important a document that we quote in here in its entirety. Also from HISTORY OF PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, VA. By Maud Carter Clement, pub. 1929. "Only a few of the early adventurers appeared on the land records as early as 1742, but in determining the residence of the men enrolled in Capt. Robinson's Company, we find all of them lived south of the James River, a part of the branches of the James, and the rest on the "Roan Oak". Some of the men apparently with their families, established claims to the land they had already selected very early but did not secure their Grants until 1746, some not until 1750. Among these first men we find George Robinson, the Captain of the Company. WILLIAM BEAN, James Burk, Stephen Renfro, Samuel and Henry Brown, and others. (See Chalkey's Abstracts, Vol. 2, pg. 509). "The making of roads has been a problem with which man has grappled from early times, and the Court at Lunnenburg was faced with the necessity of providing highways through the large and thinly populated County. Distance across -- 150 miles. At the Court held in March 1747, it was ordered: That the road be cleared the best and most convenient way from CAPT. WILLIAM BEAN Jr. s on Dan River to The Bannister River thence to North River at Cargil's Horse Ford, thence to the Court House. A second road leading from CAPT. WILLIAM BEAN Jr. s home on the Dan River was laid out 3 years later in July 1750. William (Bean) was appointed surveyor of road leading from the house to the head (mouth) of Sandy River. Capt. William Bean Jr. s house was est. on the north side of the river near the present Station of Wenonda, VA. In 1768, Bean sold his lands in the section to Col. John Payne of Goochland, Nicholas Perkins, Gideon Marr, and others and moved out to the new country of Tenn. Capt. William Bean Jr. of Pittsylvania Co., Va. advanced further into the wilderness than any one who had proceeded him, and his son Russell was the first white child born in Tenn. Bean was probably from Augusta Co. for his name is listed in 1742 in the County Militia of Capt. George Robinson of Augusta. Bean's home on the Dan River seems to have been a point of peculiar interest judging from the number of roads ordered to be built from this place. It was the center of numerous settlements along the Dan River. Neighbors were Peter Wilson, and Nicholas Perkins. Road from Courthouse to Bean's in July 1753." It appears that all of Capt. William's and Lydia's children, with the exception of William III, the oldest, and Russell, the youngest, were born at their home near Wenonda, Pittsylvania Co., Va. (Pittsylvania Co. was formed from Halifax Co.). William, Jr. was possibly born in Augusta Co., Va., tho there is serious doubt of this. The Regina Rudelius MMS shows his birth as 1748 rather than 1745. In 1748 Capt. William and Lydia were definitely in Pittsylvania Co., and remained there until 1768. On August 26, 1768 he sold part of his land (his home place) to Jeremiah Walker, and on July 25,1769 he sold 650 more acres on Mountain Creek to Nicholas Perkins. (See his. Of Halifax co. by Carringer and William Bean Pioneer, by Jamie Ault Grady, pg. 14). In studying the land grants and sales in both Pittsylvania Co., VA, and in Washington Co., Tenn., it is often difficult to determine which William Bean is referred to but in this case Lydia signed "relinquishment" so there is no doubt what-so-ever that we are talking about Capt. William Bean, Jr. It appears too that his brothers also lived in either Pittsylvania Co., or Halifax Co., VA, but we are not including the documentation of that here, but from Lyman Draper's MMS Notes, it is evident that they too moved within the following two years to THE WATAUGA SETTLEMENTS on Boone Creek. Capt. William Bean Jr., with his wife Lydia Russell, were the true pioneer type and character. They both symbolized the kind of people needed to build new communities in a wilderness. It is not known exactly when or where they met, nor the exact date of their marriage. The Molyneaux Report shows the marriage date as ca 1744 tho this was probably his lst marriage. Lydia was born ca 1726 and died, (the authors believe) in 1788, before the estate she received through her husband's will was sold for distribution to her children (See pg. 21, WILLIAM BEAN, PIONEER). Lydia was a dau. of William Russell, and a sister of George and John Russell of Pittsylvania co., Va. Her sister Sarah married Col. Lane. Her family settled at Watauga in 1773 and became neighbors of Capt. William Jr. and Lydia. She was a resourseful and courageous Pioneer lady. Perhaps the true worth and character of Lydia (Russell) Bean can be more fully understood in or from the story of her capture by the Indians in the uprising of 1776. On July 20, 1887, a warning came riders that the Indians were on the attack and coming toward Watauga. She quickly sent all of her children to the Fort for safety but lingered to do something that she thought was important, and then got on a horse to ride to safety herself. She was captured by the Cherokee Chiefs, Dragging Canoe, Abraham and Raven, and taken to Tuskeegee. Well, I don't want to bore you with all of the details of her capture, so I will save that for another time. I hope you have enjoyed what you read about our ancestors. They were definitely heroes in my mind. Just think of yourself as we live today compared to what these people had. We are all spoiled. These people truly had a simple life, the only thing they had to do was SURVIVE! I wonder how many of us could survive without TV, Stereo's, Air Conditioning, McDonalds Restaurants, and Automobiles. As you can see, we come from some very wonderful people. Oh well! If you really want to hear the rest of the story, here it is. Here we quote the story from HISTORY OF THE CHEROKEE INDIANS by Emmett Starr, pg. 468. "In June, 1776, Dragging Canoe, Abraham and Raven, war chiefs of the Cherokees, with about two hundred and fifty warriors each, at the istigation of the British, planned to attack the settlements. But the effect of these raids were greatly modified by the Ghi-ga-u's timely warning to the settlers. (Ghi-ga-u was the title of Nancy Ward, the "beloved woman" of the Cherokees who sat on the Council) On July 20, 1976, Abraham marching to attach Watauga, in East Tennessee, captured Mrs. Bean, wife of William Bean Jr. the mother of the first white child born in Tennessee. On the return of the war party to the Cherokee country, Mrs.. Bean was condemned by her captors to be burned a the stake. She was conducted to the top of the mouth that stood in the center of Tuskeegee, which was located just above the mouth of Tellico or Little Tennessee River, where she as bound to the stake, the fagots were piled around her, but just before the torch was about to be applied, the Ghigau appeared, cut the thongs that bound her and took the captive to her home, where the grateful Mrs. Bean taught her how to keep house and make butter. As soon as it was safe to do so, the Ghigau sent Mrs. Bean under the escort of her brother, Tuskeegeeteehee or Longfellow of Chistatoa and her son Hyshyteehee, or Fivekiller, sometimes known as Little Fellow, to her husband and family." For any pioneer, the matter of food is of paramont consideration and must be attended to first, so immediately the captain set to work preparing the ground for a crop. Other important things had to take second place. The forest needed to be cut down, brush piled, the ground plowed and planted. Probably there was no time to grub out stumps, it was late in the planting season and the crop must be planted immediately if the family was to eat the following winter. Washington District had an abundance of wildlife to hunt for meat and it did not take William Jr. long to supply his table. Developing a farm from wilderness was a great deal different from life in their home county in Virginia. There were no neighbors, no source of the necessary supplies, no strengthening community life, no church, no school for the children, no way of knowing when danger was eminent except the skill and sharp eye and ear of this intrepid man who had made the terrible decision of taking his beloved wife and family to a new land he had seen in part but knew little about, comparatively speaking. It takes little imagination to know of the long days and even nights at work that taxed the strength of even a man like Capt. William Bean Jr. to provide a home and shelter and food for this family he had brought from civilization to a wilderness. It takes even less imagination to know of the fears that gripped the heart of his good wife when one knows that they were on enemy ground. It was known that Indians had massacred another family who had attempted to settle in the general area some years before. But, the same Indians were going to have to deal with a very different kind of man this time. Here was a man to match and, in some ways, outstrip the famous Daniel Boone in his cunning anticipation of the ways and habits of the red man who was sworn to destroy every white man who came here to live. To the Red Man, this was almost sacred ground; a place where all Indian tribes could come on hunting expeditions without fear from other tribes with whom they were at war, for this was a place where all fighting stopped, for Indians, while they provided themselves with food. But woe to the white man who attempted to settle in their Hunting Grounds. Nor did it take the Indians long to discover the presence of this FIRST FAMILY OF TENNESSEE. Tho the cabin was hidden from view from the river their presence could not long be hidden. True, there had been a Peace Treaty by the Iroquois in 1768 but this did not effect nor bind other Tribes too tightly, and William Bean had to be continually on the alert. It wasn't too long however, until others came to join Capt. William Bean Jr. along Boon's Creek and the Watauga River to begin the Watauga Settlements. There were three locations the settlers chose, the lst being in the vicinity of Bean's settlement, the 2nd being Carter's Valley, near the present Rogersville, and the 3rd being Jacob Brown's settlement on the Nalochuncky. The Carter's first settled near Capt. Bean. Among those first to come after him was William Stone, Thomas Hardiman, Capt. George Russell, kin of Lydia (Russell) Bean, Gilbert Christian, William Anderson, Col. John Sawyers, and of course William's son, William Bean III, (after 1775), a Captain in Capt. Peter Perkins Pittsylvania Co. Militia before coming to Watauga. A few of these did not stay but rather went on to further explorations. By 1772 more of Lydia's family were there as well as William's brothers Capt. Robert, Lt. John (Some think he was a cousin) Jesse, Edmund, and possibly a sister, Jane, who married Robert Bell of Maryland. It was Lt. John Bean who had built the cabin William Jr. and Lydia moved into in 1762 while he was on a hunting and exploration trip. Both Capt. William Jr. and Lt. John Bean soon became involved in the organization of a local form of government for the Watauga Settlements, their names both being shown as Commissioners to govern the Watauga Settlements Association in 1772. Capt. William Bean Jr. was a member of the first court of Washington County on Feb. 23rd 1778. He was Capt. of a company that year that drove the Torries from Watauga and The Brown Settlement on the Chickamauga tribes in the Spring of 1779, and he and five of his sons took part in the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. Both Capt. William Jr. and his brother Capt. Robert Bean were noted Indian fighters during the period when they caused so much trouble to the settlers until some time after the Revolutionary War. Of course, Capt. William Jr. died in 1782 as shown by his Will, which is found in Jonesboro, Washington Co., Tenn. Perhaps something of the courage and cunning of these two men can be illustrated by experience of Robert in 1790. In 1789 he settled in the neighborhood of BEAN STATION where the unfortunate English family (or the Ingles family) had met disaster at the hands of the Indians when they tried to settle there. The Indians made periodic raids, killing anyone they could find an advantage over, and stealing anything they could drive away or carry off. In 1790 they came again and raided. Capt. Robert Bean took after them single-handed & took his two dogs along. He traced them to Cumberland Mountain through the pea vines and followed the trail until he located eight or nine Indians camped on the mountain. Holding his dogs close to himself, he crawled down close enough to get a fair shot. leveling his rifle, he was about ready to pull the trigger when one of the Indians discovered him and gave the alarm and darted off raising an alarm for the others, who apparently thought Robert Bean was only the advance of a larger party, and well they might have thought so from his daring gallantry. The Indians scattered leaving their packs of plunder among the rocks and in the great haste ran down the mountain, With Robert Bean and his dogs in pursuit. After he had trailed them several miles he gave up the chase and returned to Cumberland Mountain and retrieved the plunder. This party of Indians returned to the Nation, doing no further mischief and probably learned a lesson in cunning. This account comes from an interview of Lyman C. Station. (MMS Draper 32 S 245 246) (s302) NOTE: One of the oldest landmarks in Grainger Co., Tenn. is the old JOSEPH COBB HOME. Mrs. Cobb was a niece of William Bean (s249) it was built by William Bean and was a large log-built structure with two stories and a chimney at each end. Upon purchasing it, Cobb installed weatherboard and built a porch. A large cedar tree close by the house is one from which William Bean Jr. shot an Indian who was in ambush there. BEAN STATION, Tennessee was originally built in 1787 (s247) by five sons of Capt. William Bean Jr. on land which had been granted to the captain by North Carolina for his services in the Revolutionary War. He himself did not participate in its construction, and perhaps more credit should go to his son George for the work, though William III, Jesse, Robert, and Edmund were also involved. Bean Station is located about 45 miles west of the spot where Capt. William Bean Jr. settled in 1769, and is present Grainger Co., then a part of Washington County (or District). It is located at the junction of two of the South's most famous trails. One was the southern section of "THE OLD WILDERNESS TRAIL" which started at Charleston, S.C. and ran through BEAN STATION to Kentucky and the Northwest. This route is now known as Hwy 25E. The other was the New Orleans and Baltimore StageCoach Route, now called U.S. 11. BEAN STATION TAVERN was not built until 1811, using slave labor to make hand made brick 15 inches thick. It was used by the travel public for 125 years until it was partially burned in 1885. The main part of the building was saved, however, and stood until 1941 when it was dismantled by the Tennessee Valley Authority to make way for Cherokee Lake, a part of the great Tennessee Valley Hydroelectric Project. Since it was such a famous landmark in Tennessee efforts were made to preserve it piece by piece for future rebuilding. The parts were stored in a special building and efforts were made to find a group or Association to restore it, but as of 1974 it is still stored and a great deal of the building has been vandalized. During the Civil War, in 1863, one of the fiercest battles was fought around this old BEAN TAVERN, when General J. M. Shakleford with 5,000 union troops caught up with General Longstreet and his 23,000 Confederate troops, who were retreating from the unsuccessful siege of Knoxville. At one time, part of the tavern was occupied by Union men and another part by Confederate men. After the battle, the old tavern was well marked by shot & shell, but it's 15-inch masonry wall stood. Near Bean Station, Tenn., on Lee Hwy, on land previously granted to Capt. William Bean for Revolutionary War service, is the Bean Graveyard. It is about 1/4 mile from the old Fort est. in 1778. Probably no burials have been made here for 100 years, and only one gravestone has an inscription on it. It is made of field stone and carved rudely, "J. Bean, Nov. 24, 1798." It is the grave of Jane Bean, dau. of Capt. William and Lydia (Russell) Bean. She was killed by Indians. At one time it was thought "J. Bean" was for Jesse Bean but during the construction of the T.V.A., the bones were exhumed and it was found to be the bones of a female. According to family tradition, Capt. William Bean, Jr. is buried here, & records at Rutlege verify this. (s249) Before going further in this story of the FIRST FAMILY OF TENNESSEE, we wish to confirm as far as we can, through documentation, that the brothers and sisters of Capt. William Bean, Sr., which we list in this genealogical history, are correct. First we quote from a letter dated Aug. 19, 1839 written by James Sevier to Lyman C. Draper, Tennessee historian. "DURING THE INDIAN WARS WE HAD FEW OFFICERS HIGHER IN COMMISSION THAN CAPTAINS-----ROBERT BEAN AND WILLIAM BEAN ----THERE MAY HAVE BEEN OTHERS THAT I HAVE FORGOTTEN. THOSE MENTIONED WERE VALUABLE MEN AND FOUGHT THROUGH THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION. (341) (The above letter was reprinted in THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL MAGAZINE, Vol. 6, pp 40-45) Next, a letter written by C. R. Bean of Indian Creek, Unicoi County, Tenn., Sept. 21, 1883. (S341) "---- JOHN BEAN, ROBERT BEAN, EDMUND BEAN AND WILLIAM BEAN Jr. WERE BROTHERS. THEY EMIGRATED FROM VIRGINIA IN 1767 OR NEAR THAT DATE. SOMETIME AFTER SEVERAL OTHER FAMILIES OF THE CONNECTION CAME TO WATAUGA SETTLEMENT.-----" JANE BEAN. (S1549a) From the MANUSCRIPT DIVISION, Nashville, Tenn., A.C. #1624, and from EARLY RECORDS OF ROBERT BEAN By Zella Armstrong, and from SUMNER COUNTY COURT RECORDS, and from THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES IN WASHINGTON D.C., researched by Mrs. R. W. Miller of Ft. Worth, Texas. "JANE BEAN, WHO WAS BORN CA 1722, m. CA 1748, ROBERT BELL OF MARYLAND AND HAD ONE KNOWN SON, WILLIAM, WHO SERVED IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION IN MARYLAND. ROBERT AND JANE MOVED TO NORTH CAROLINA AND THEN TO TENNESSEE WHERE HE HAD THREE LARGE TRACTS OF LAND, IN SUMNER COUNTY, FOR HIS SERVICE AS A SOLDIER. THEY BUILT THEIR HOME OF BRICK MADE BY SLAVES LONG BEFORE TENNESSEE WAS A STATE. ROBERT AND JANE DIED AND ARE BURIED IN A FAMILY LOT ABOUT 1760. THEIR GRAVES HAVE LONG SINCE BEEN PLOWED UNDER. IT IS ASSUMED THAT THIS JANE BEAN IS A SISTER OF CAPT. BEAN, THE FATHER OF WILLIAM, ROBERT, GEORGE, SARAH, JANE AND RUSSELL. For the family of Jane Bean 2, see pg. 15. Because of the word "assumed", above, we have placed a question mark after her name in the genealogy section, tho she was very probably a sister of Capt., William Bean, Sr. and a dau. of William Bean of Northumberland Co., VA. JESSE BEAN (S330). Letter dated July 23, 1776, by Col. Wm. Russell to Col. Wm. Fleming states, 'CAPT WILLIAM BEAN JR. AND HIS SONS ARE AWAY IN BATTLE------". And from The Estelee Rankin File we find (S330) "----CAPT. ROBERT BEAN, BROTHER to Capt. William Bean Jr., St settler. Also, "---- FIVE BROTHERS TO TENN. FROM PITTSYLVANIA CO,, VIRGINIA: JOHN, WILLIAM, ROBERT, EDMUND, JESSE. EDMUND BEAN (S334) Unpublished letter from C. R. Bean (Charles Robertson Bean) dated Feb 6, 1884 from Indian Creek, Unicoi Co., Tenn., to Lyman C. Draper, Tennessee Historian: RUSSELL BEAN WAS A SON OF OLD WILLIAM BEAN JR. OF WATAUGA AND BEAN'S STATION, WILLIAM Jr. BEAN, SR. HAD A BROTHER JOHN AND A BROTHER EDMUND WHO WAS KILLED BY INDIANS SHORTLY AFTER THEY CAME FROM PITTSYLVANIA CO., VIRGINIA. ROBERT BEAN WAS ALSO A BROTHER, AN UNCLE OF RUSSELL BEAN. HE HELPED HIS BROTHER WILLIAM JR. BUILD BEANS STATION IN 1779. MY GRANDFATHER WAS RUSSELL BEAN WHO MARRIED ROSAMOND ROBERTSON. MY FATHER WAS CHARLES BEAN, B. 1795. I WAS NAMED FOR MY FATHER AND THE ROBERTSON FAMILY. ELIZA BEAN (S1970) Virginia Colonial Abstracts shows her birth date and place of birth, along with her bro. William Jr. and Brother. Robert. GEORGE BEAN (S224) From Eppie Edsal Barrier, but without clearly showing the source says, 'THERE WERE SEVERAL BEAN BROTHERS WHO PRESSED THEIR WAY INTO THE WILDERNESS THAT LATER BECAME THE STATE OF TENNESSEE. AT LEAST TWO OF THEM WERE BROTHERS WILLIAM AND GEORGE BEAN. THEY WERE BORN IN PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY VIRGINIA (Location ?) WHERE THE NAME APPEARS ON THE RECORDS. BOTH WILL AND GEORGE WERE SONS OF A STILL OLDER WILLIAM BEAN JR.. WHO LIVED ON DAN RIVER AS EARLY AS 174? -------- This is born out in the History of Pittsylvania County also where it indicated an older William Bean Sr. than Capt. William Bean, Jr. of Watauga fame. WILLIAM BEAN III. This was the oldest son of Capt. William Bean who married Lydia Russell, tho he was probably not a son of Lydia, but a stepson. William III was also a Capt. of militia and many have confused existing records, when the military title is used in determining which is which. The authors do not question the integrity of others who disagree with us in solving this problem, but according to our SOURCE FILE, Capt. William Bean III came to Watauga long after his father, Capt. William Bean, Jr. William, III was commissioned a Capt. of Militia in Pittsylvania Co., VA on Sept. 17, 1775 and it is not certain that he was in Watauga or any part of Tennessee until 1778 when he appears on the Washington Co., tax list, the same year his son Ahab was born. In 1791, he was in Hawkins Co, Tenn. for in that year he sold land to James Cox. Therefore, any record in Watauga or Washington Co., Tenn. referring to Capt. William Bean before 1778 (or some time after 1775) must be considered as referring to Capt. William Bean Jr. It is unthinkable to believe that military authorities in Virginia would Commission a man who was a resident of Tennessee as an officer in the Virginia militia, living a month's journey away from the area of his military responsibility. (William Bean III and Margaret McCracken were the parents of James Madison Bean Sr.). We have accounted for the listing of eight children born to William Bean of Northumberland Co., Virginia, of which Capt. William Bean, Sr. was one, tho to be fully accurate we should list the father of Capt. William as: William Bean the first, and Capt. Wm. Bean Jr. as William Bean the 2nd and the latter's son as William Bean the 3rd. In this book William Bean of Northumberland Co., Va. will be shown thusly: William Bean 1, his son, Capt. William Bean, will be shown as William Bean 2 and the latter's son William will be shown as William Bean 3. In other words this genealogy will begin in generations from William Bean of Northumberland Co., VA. Of William Bean Sr. We have no information at this time. We do not know his wife's name nor his father's. From birth records in Northumberland Co., he could have been the son of a still older William Bean who in 1675 became the father of Eliza Bean in 1682 he had a son, John as shown by the birth records in what later became St. Stephen's parish. (S1970). There is little doubt that he or his father came to America from Scotland. In Zella Armstrong's MMS (S1541) it states that "Capt. William Bean Jr. of Watauga is believed to have been descended from John Bean who came from Ireland in 1660 and settled at Exeter, Massachusetts". This is almost impossible, actually, since John Bean of Exeter had no sons nor grandsons who went to Virginia. It is possible, tho, that this family in Northumberland Co., VA and in Pittsylvania Co., Va., and in Eastern Tennessee descends from the same family as John Bean of Exeter. John Bean of Exeter came to America in 1651 on the ship 'THE SARAH AND JOHN" captained by Capt. John Greene. He landed in Boston on the morning of Feb. 24th 1652, the ship leaving The Downs on Nov. 11, 161. In the lists of men who came on that ship compiled by Libby, and found in the Massachusetts Historical Society, it shows that there were three "Beans" who came as Prisoners of the Battle of Worcester which was fought in Sept. 3, 1651. This list shows John Bean (misspelled in the list), James Bean and William Bean (Bane). Of course John Bean stayed in New England and became the noted JOHN BEAN OF EXETER. Judge Josiah Drummond, perhaps the first genealogist who started extensive research on the Bean Clan said in his writings that these three were brothers; and that one of them went to Virginia. (See his address given at Exeter, N. H. In August, 1896). It is possible that this William Bean is the one shown in Northumberland Co. Virginia in 1675. However, we must correct an error in Zella Armstrong's MMs, where it says that John Bean of Exeter lived in Exeter, Massachusetts and that he came from Ireland. Exeter is not in Massachusetts, and John Bean never lived in Ireland. He was born in Strathdearn, Inverness Shire Scotland, and served in the Scottish Army at Dunbar in 1650 and at Worcester in 1651, where he was taken captive by Oliver Cromwell. (See THE LIFE AND FAMILY OF JOHN BEAN OF EXETER AND HIS COUSINS, published in 1970) Now to continue the story of Capt. William Bean Jr. and his wife Lydia Russell in Watauga Settlement in the spring of 1769. With not a soul of her race within a month's travel, Lydia gave birth to her youngest son only a few days after arriving at the clearing in the forest beside Boone's Creek. They named him Russell Bean using her maiden name. This was the first white child ever born in the territory that was later named TENNESSEE, the greatest Volunteer State of the Union. Within a year, other families began to trickle into the vicinity and both William Jr. and Lydia gave comfort to the weary travelers and helped them to get their own cabins built. Capt. Bean Jr. had to assume the position of leadership in many matters of the community life and by the 2nd year, 1771, it became apparent that some form of government was needed. By 1772, it was mandatory and a movement was started to ask the Colony of Northern Carolina to extend the protection of its laws to the Watauga Settlements. This was not accomplished until 1777, and in the meantime, protection was a necessity from the influx of outlaws, thieves and Torries. Capt. William Bean Jr. immediately became the leader to exterminate all three, but some form of organized law was required so the settlers set up their own law. True, it was a sort of "homespun" governmental effort but sufficient for the moment. North Carolina did not act in taking the territory under its laws until 1777. Both Capt. William Bean Jr. and his brother John Bean were leaders in the Petition to North Carolina for their protection. In the meantime, THE WATAUGA ASSOCIATION became government. The people elected thirteen "COMMISIONERS", with Capt. Wm. Bean Jr. and Jacob Womack as the Chief Magistrates. It did not take them long to clear out the nest of outlaws, and thieves and Torries, for the law Capt. Bean Jr. administered was quick and sure and often deadly. He was not a man to trifle with and those who were outside the law soon knew it. On the wild and uncivilized frontier there was little time luxuries as delay in administering the law in cases of felony. Due to ambiguities in the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, in 1768, in which the Iroquois Indians retreated from the territory, the Cherokee tribe made full claim. Immediately after Capt. Wm. Bean Jr. & others began settling, it became necessary to settle this problem. Since North Carolina would not annex the Territory, the Wataugans had to settle the matters themselves. They succeeded in negotiating a lease with the Cherokee on the land for ten years, and in 1775, this lease was turned into a purchase, when Col. Richard Henderson and the Transylvania Co. of Virginia bought an extensive tract of land in the Middle Tennessee, Kentucky and parts of the area in which the Wataugans had settled. (s192) The Watauga Association ceased to exist in 1777 when North Carolina annexed the Territory, and in 1784 North Carolina ceded it's claim to the United States of America, but for political reasons this cession was quickly repealed and the Wataugans found themselves without government again. This time Capt. Wm. Bean Jr. and his brother John Bean, with all the leaders of the OLD WATAUGA ASSOCIATION, organized THE STATE OF FRANKLIN, which lasted only four years. All during these years, North Carolina again claimed possession, but in 1789 their 2nd session to the United States was made and Congress est. the Territory South of the Ohio River in 1790 with admitted as a State in the United States of America. Through the turmoil of the Revolutionary War, with no fully est. government, except their own homespun kind, one can imagine the uncertainties in the minds of these heroic men and women who were trying to build a civilization in the wilderness, and permanent homes for their prosperity. No wonder they became Stalwart men; no wonder they found the kind of fortitude of character to guide them and sustain them, and caused them to build well. With men like Capt. William Bean Jr. Lt. John Bean, Jacob Womack, John Carter, Col. John Sevier, Charles Robertson, George Russell, James Smith, Zachariah Isabel, Jacob Brown, John Jones and Robert Lucas, and Capt. Robert Bean, and so many others we cannot mention, it is no wonder that the Great State of TENNESSEE in the years since has been strong and something for other states to emulate. It has an Heritage of strength which is "catching" and even today in 1974 The Sons of Tennessee are keeping that Heritage alive. Capt. Wm. Bean Jr. and his good wife, Lydia (Russell) Bean created and left a Heritage to both the state of Tennessee and to its prosperity that should make both proud. The name he bore should be remembered well by students of history and by those who write history. Why does he not have the place in written history that he deserves? Unfortunately Historians usually center their research around names that are famous, such as Generals, Governors or others who have achieved fame as heads of State, passing by those men and women who have not sought the public eye, but rather have gone about their community responsibilities quietly and without fanfare. Also the novelist and "yellow page" writer has sought for the story of people that had peculiar "quirts" upon which they could "play" in order to sell papers and soft back novels. They sought the sensational, the odd, the grotesque, and that which had a lot of publicity, for this sold the product of their pen. Also, unfortunately any people who have filled a great place in history have shunned the public eye, preferring to go about their work quietly, and thus their names and much of their work have gone unnoticed by the historian and the writers. Such was the case of Capt. Wm. Bean, Sr., and of James Bean of Brentwood, NH during the Indian Wars that left so much sorrow and death in both New Hampshire and Tennessee. There would never be a famous General, or Governor or President had he not had working for him or with him, such men as William Bean Jr. and James Bean Jr. to do the work. Capt. William Bean Jr. came to Watauga, built communities, made a place for others of less courage to come later to make homes, developed government, made laws and administered those laws, opened a wilderness to civilization, when only a few men would venture west from their comfortable and protected communities for fear of the uncivilized Indian or of the unknown. In history, what names do school children know or hear about? In Tennessee they hear the name of Daniel Boone. Indeed, he was a great explorer and deserves great credit for his wonderings through the vase wilderness of the Ohio Valley and the Tennessee Valley, but in Washington District of Eastern Tennessee he came, looked and passed on. Capt. Wm. Bean Jr. remained and BUILT the beginnings of a state in the Union. Yet only as recently as the fall of 1973, the National Geographic produced and broadcast a widely herald Historical Documentary on Tennessee history and not once was the name Capt. Wm. Bean Jr. mentioned. This seems odd to a great many people, including these authors, who have found in research that he was a shining star in Tennessee history, and we are proud to be his prosperity and his kin. We are proud that a man such as he, and who accomplished so much for his Country, is a part of THE CLAN MCBEAN. We are sure that his kin in the land of Scotland will be proud of his accomplishments as a great Pioneer, and whose family is coming to be known, after two hundred years, as THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE. STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA COUNTY OF WASHINGTON Surveyed for William Bean, Jr. A Tract or parcel of land containing four hundred Acres of beginning at apple tree on the north side of Boone's Creek thence on George Engles line north nineteen east one hundred and fifty nine poles to post oak thence north and sixty one west two hundred and sixty poles to white oak thence on Henry Long's line south twenty eight west three hundred poles to white oak in William Bean's*_____ line thence on the *____ line south fifty seven east one hundred twenty poles crasing *_____ Boone's Creek to red oak in William Stones line thence on the Wm. Stones line north forty-three east ninety poles to post oak thence on the Wm. Stones line north thirty-three west fifty-four poles to a *_____ on Boone Creek *_____ _____ _____ _____of the creek to a place of beginning. Surveyed June the 18th 1783 *_____ My scale of one hundred equal parts in an inch Robert Stone Chain Bearers James Stuart Edmund Bean ** Plot and survey of William Bean Jr. s homestead on Boone's Creek, Washington Co., Tenn. for which the state grant from N.C. was issued in 1788. Capt. Bean Jr. settled here in 1769. Bean's Mountain in the Cherokee National Forest in Polk Co., Tenn., which extends from the Hiwassee to the Oceoss River, takes it's name from John Bean, a grandson of Capt. Wm. Bean Jr. who married Ruth Starr, who descends from Nancy Ward, the noted Indian girl who saved Capt. William Bean Jr. s wife, Lydia Russell, from being burned at the stake by the Indians when she was captured by them and carried away. John Bean and Ruth Starr lived in Hiwassee Old Town, in what is now Polk Co. (See Fam. 8167) * Words that are not clear ** Not in the original document A true copy of the original as reproduced By Penelope Johnson Allen in "LEAVES FROM THE FAMILY TREE" OF THE D.A.R., Chairman of Tenn. Society. I have just recently discovered some more interesting information on James Madison Bean Jr. and his six brothers all of whom fought in the Civil War. This was found in the book entitled "The Stevenson Story" by Eliza Bean Woodall. The story was given to Eliza by Miss Martha Bean of Chattanooga, Tennessee. "All seven of the boys fought in the Confederate army and all returned; the eldest with one arm and the fifth son with one leg. It goes on to say that after the death of his mother (Remember: She died when her son came walking in from federal prison, the family thought he had been killed in the war), John Bender Bean was affected by all of this for the rest of his life. Hollie Virginia Jane Swearingen was a descendant of Gerritt Van Swearingen of the old Dutch Colony of New Amsterdam (now New York). Garritt Van Swearingen at age 48 married the Spanish Princess, Barbara De Barrett. They had 3 sons and one daughter. Thomas the second son, anglicized the Name, retaining the "a" in Van and putting it in the last name. One descendant, Samuel, moved to North Carolina and was Jane's grandfather. One son "Md. Vann," he was called, formerly cared for General Braddock's horses and finally moved to Watauga Settlement in Tennessee. He lived to be 108 years old and married the sister of Rev. Walker in Tennessee. I just received some old "Morning Reports of the Sick and Wounded from the Civil War Era. They are about James Bean 1869-1870, A.K. "Poss" Bean 1867-1870, Henry Bean 1873-1880, H.K. Bean 1876-1881. They were sent to me from Mrs. Dot Bean of Scottsboro, Alabama. Her husband is descendant of James Madison Bean Jr. I will elaborate on these at a later date. Well, I hope this 1st Edition of the "Bean Sentinel" has been informative and helps you realize what this family came through, to get us where we are today. You may refer all questions or comments to: Ed Sweeny-8112 Walnut Fair Circle Fair Oaks, CA 95628 Phone (916) 863-5628 Fax (916) 944-1788 Email Address: familyresearcher98@yahoo.com 1 1