My Genealogy Hound

JOSHUA BEEMAN, one of the oldest settlers now living on Spring Brook, Harlan county, Nebr., was born in Erie county, N. Y., April 2, 1849, and is the son of Jesse and Esther (Root) Beeman, the former of whom is a native of New York, was born in 1807, and a farmer by occupation; the latter, also a native of New York, was born in the year 1810. There were ten children in the family — seven boys and three girls, of whom our subject was next to the youngest. Joshua lived at home in Erie county until twenty-one years of age, attending school during the winter and laboring on the farm in the summer. At this age he began doing for himself and moved to Dodge county, Nebr., settling twelve miles northwest of Fremont, where he purchased forty acres of railroad land and constructed a sixteen by twenty foot frame dwelling. Here he continued to live and cultivate his small farm for a period of five and a half years, when, on account of a desire to get more land, he moved in May, 1876, to Harlan county, Nebr., settling on Spring brook and filing claim on the northwest quarter of section 29. He erected a sod house twelve by sixteen feet, in which he lived for two years, after which he made an addition of sod, making it sixteen by twenty-four feet. The country at this early day was sparsely settled, and the few settlers who had come previous to his time were located south and east of his claim, along the creek and in the bottoms. The country teemed with wild antelope, deer and occasionally an elk would be seen, though by no means plentiful. He had brought with him from Dodge county a flock of three hundred and seven sheep, but as the winter of 1876 was a severe one and he could get no feed, they all starved and froze to death before spring opened. He also lost one of his horses about this time, which left him in rather poor circumstances, with but one horse and a feeble old cow with no teeth. He traded about and finally got another horse, making him a team, with which he freighted, off and on, for five years to and from Kearney, a distance of sixty-five miles, thus making a living for his family. The first year he broke eighteen acres of sod and put in corn and smaller vegetables, but lost all by the grasshoppers, which were so numerous that year. At one time, being out of food, he went to Long Island to mill for flour, and, on account of high water, was compelled to swim the stream, Prairie Dog creek, above the dam, where it was about one hundred feet wide and very deep. The first fall his wife traded a sheep and lamb for ten bushels of potatoes, and a settler living near Republican City gave them three squashes and two pumpkins; these, with a few fish Mr. Beeman was able to catch along the creek, furnished the bill of fare for the family that winter. Circumstances like the above show to some extent at least the disadvantages under which the early settlers of Harlan county had to labor in their efforts to settle and develop the country. Better times came, as they always do after a series of depressing years, crops began to thrive, and the settlers prospered in proportion, until Mr. Beeman has accumulated sufficient competency to enable him to live in comparatively comfortable circumstances the remainder of his life. He has a most romantic place for a residence, with the creek, lined on both sides by large and thrifty trees, wending its crooked way through his yard and between his spacious frame residence on the one side and his barn and stock yards on the other. Another attraction, and one that is rarely found in Nebraska, is a carp pond near his residence, which teems with the finny tribe and is continually supplied with fresh water from running springs on the west side.

Mr. Beeman was married August 9, 1876, to Rhoda Hufton, who was born in Lorain county, Ohio, February 7, 1856. Their union has been blessed with the birth of six children, namely - Esther E. (deceased), Earnest, Walter, Lizzie and Albert, and one that died in infancy. Politically, Mr. Beeman is a democrat, but in later years he has been more or less independent and is inclined to the views adopted by the Farmers’ Alliance. He is the present superintendent of Lewisburg township, elected in 1888. He joined the Farmers’ Alliance April 5, 1890, and has since been an active member of that body.