Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2013, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Biographical History of Cherokee County, Iowa W. S. Dunbar & Co., Chigago - 1889 [page 387-389] COLONEL LUCIUS W. BEAL, who now so ably fills the office of auditor of Cherokee County, was elected to that responsible position at the general election of 1885, by a vote of 2,173 of his fellow-citizens. The total number of votes cast at that election was a little greater than the number cast for this most worthy gentleman; he had no opposition. Having served his first term he received the nomination the second time by the Republican party, of which he is an ardent supporter in deed and thought. But political ambition placed another candidate in the field, in the person of JOHN DONOVAN, who was de- feated, however, by a majority of 659 in favor of Colonel BEAL. To one accustomed to go from one county seat to another to do business with county officials, it is indeed a pleasure to meet the class of men found at Cherokee, including our subject. To the reflective mind the officials of a city or county are a true index of the people who have placed them in office. This is quite natural when we come to consider that in this land of freedom the public sentiment is measured by popular vote and majorities, and not by caste or royal rank. But to speak personally of Mr. BEAL; he is a native of Rock Island County, Illinois, born January 20, 1838, and is the oldest child of DANIEL and BETSEY (SPENCER) BEAL, natives of Peacham, Caledonia county, Vermont. The father was born February 5, 18**, and is the son of SAUL and RACHEL (WELLS) BEAL, who were of Puritan ancestry. When DANIEL BEAL was yet a child his father died and he went to live with one LEONARD JOHNSON, where he passed his youth at farm labor. At the age of nineteen years he received a colt as compensation for ten years of hard work. He sold the colt for 450, and with that money started West in search of his fortune. From the old home in Vermont he walked most of the way to the wild, unsettled prairies of Rock Island, County, Illinois, arriving there in the autumn of 1834. He then worked at anything that would pay for two years, when he returned to the old Green Mountain home in September, 1836. He was married September 18, 1836, to Miss BETSEY SPENCER, a daughter of SAUL SPENCER, Esq. Mr. and Mrs BEAL at once came West in quest of home and fortune. They journeyed by all sorts of conveyances, including the canal, the Great Lakes, the river and the stage coach. Upon reaching Illinois Mr. BEAL pre-empted land then unsurveyed, now situate in what is known as section 18, Lama township, where he began the task of im- proving a farm in a land not made cheerful and glad by numerous inhabi- tants, but thickly settled by wild beasts that roamed at will, free as air. The Indians still lingered around that section, it having been their beloved hunting ground. However, with all these struggles Colo- nel BEAL'S father improved his farm which he has owned fifty-three years. There on the homestead, about which man a hallowed memory clings, were born five children: One died in infancy; LUCIUS W., SAMUEL S. ALBERT M., professor of natural science at Western College, Toledo, Iowa; and EUNICE C., wife of FRED COOPER. The parents still reside upon the old homestead at an advanced age. They belong to the United Brethren Church. Politically DANIEL BEAL was an old-line Whig, but was one of the first to fall in line with the Republican party. Colonel BEAL was reared on his parents farm in Illinois, and began his education in the subscription schools, held within the primitive log school-house of the early pioneer days. He finished his schooling at Lombard College, Galesburg, Illinois. He commenced teaching school at the age of seventeen years, and afterward studied law with G. W. SMITH one year. He resided with his parents until the breaking out of the Civil War, when duty and patriotism called young men of his stamp to the field of conflict. He enlisted August 2, 1861, in Graham's Inde- pendent Company of Cavalry, which was attached to the Fourteenth Missouri Infantry, but was never mustered. He enlisted for three years, but on September 20 he was captured at Lexington, Missouri; he was soon paroled, returned home, and again enlisted August 2, 1862, in Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as a private; upon organization of the regiment he was commissioned Cap- tain. He spent the following winter in Tennessee, and took an active part in the following engagements: Siege of Vicksburg, Little Rock, Claridon and Arkansas Post, after which he served in the Western Army until the close of the war. He was commissioned Colonel of the regiment November 1, 1864, was honorably discharged at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, at the end of the struggle, and was mustered out at Springfield, Illinois, August 1, 1865. Mr. BEAL was married to Miss LIZZIE S. DRUM, December 10, 1863. She was the daughter of THOMAS and MARTHA (MCLAUGHLIN) DRUM, and a native of Pennsylvania, her parents having removed to Rock Island County, Illinois, when she was yet a child. Her father had charge of the Government works at that point, from which Rock Island derives its name, until his death. After his marriage Mr. BEAL settled on a farm in his native county, and for a time engaged in the mercantile business at Port Byron; after selling out he was appointed deputy circuit clerk, and served a few months, when he was appointed deputy sheriff, serving a year and a half. He then returned to the old homestead and continued to farm on his father's place for seven years. In April, 1882, he came to Cherokee County and purchased 220 acres of partially improved land, homesteaded by WILLIAM H. MICHAEL. It is located on section 10, Sheridan Township, and there he resided until elected to his present position. The life of Colonel BEAL has been somewhat eventful, and at times a sad one. On December 9, 1883, he was bereaved by the death of his wife, aged one month less than forty years. March 30, 1887, he married Mrs. CORELIA A. BIDDLE, of Dixon, Illinois, a daughter of DAVID and EFFIE (HOKE) HOLLY. She had one daughter by her former husband named EVA. Mr. BEAL and his first wife were the parents of five children, three of whom survive. DANIEL N. died in childhood, and EDNA died August 31, 1889. She was a lovely girl, much admired for unusual sweetness of disposition, and her death was a severe blow to the fond father, and deeply regretted by a wide circle of friends. The re- maining children are: ALBERT R., who holds a trusty position in the First National Bank at Cherokee; LUCY M., wife of A. L. FUNK, and MAY. Mr. and Mrs BEAL are consistent members of the First Presbyterian Church. He is member of the Xenophon Lodge, No. 158, Knights of Pythias, and Vice Chancellor and a member of Custer Post, No. 25, G.A.R. ===========================================================================