Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Henry Beamer (Cir 1730 - 1833) - a 4 x Great-grandfather

Henry Beamer (Cir 1730 - 1833)

Henry Beamer, one of my 4 x great-grandfathers was born cir 1730 in the Netherlands. Died 1833 in Upper Canada.

Henry Beamer married Lena Blenkenberg about 1752, Sussex County, New Jersey.

1. Edward Kipp
2. Lorne Bernice Kipp (b Sept. 3, 1901) - Gobles, Oxford Co. ON, Canada
3. William Henry Kipp (b Oct. 1, 1862) - Burford Twp, Brant Co., Canada West
4. Elizabeth Force (b Mar. 19, 1818) - Burford Twp, Brant Co., Upper Canada (m Benjamin Kipp)
5. Resiah Force (b Feb. 12, 1788) - Sussex County, New Jersey (m Elizabeth Schramm)
6. Mary Beamer (b cir 1770) - Sussex County, New Jersey (m Noah Force)
7. Henry Beamer (b cir 1730) - Netherlands (m Lena Blenkenberg)

The Beamer family probably travelled overland by wagon in New Jersey, to the Hudson River, and then New York, where they took shipping on a boat up the Hudson River to Albany. They probably went overland from Albany by wagon to Schenectady, where they would have taken shipping on a boat along the Mohawk River. They would have proceeded by boat to the Carrying Place near Fort Stanwix, crossed along Wood Creek to Oneida Lake and then across the lake to Oswego on Lake Ontario. Here they would have hired another boat to take them to the Niagara River or further west to where the Beamers were settled near 20 mile Creek, west of present day St. Catharines. This trip would have taken them about 6 weeks.

Additional research is still ongoing into the land records of Lots 11, 12 and 13 concessions 3 and 4 of Burford Township, Brant County, Ontario, around Forces Corners or Woodbury. The land records (copy books) for Burford Township are located in Brantford, Ontario.
I do know the following:
Henry Beamer had a Crown Patent on Burford, conc 3 lot 12 dated May 13, 1805;
Levi Lawrence had a Crown Patent on Burford, conc 4 lot 12 dated April 24, 1805.
Both of these lots are on the east side of the Burford Township middle town line right at Forces Corners.

Beamer Lore:
From the booklet "Beamer Lore" compiled in 1928 by Miss Nancy Beamer, historian for the Beamer family of Louth Township, Lincoln County, Ontario, Canada. The booklet was compiled to present to family members attending the Beamer family reunion which at that time was held annually in Niagara, Southern Ontario.
As the title indicates, this is "Lore". Much of it cannot be authenticated.
Pioneer settler in Louth Twp.,Lincoln County,Henry Beamer was born in Holland, about the year 1730. His father, Benjamin, a millwright by trade, and an officer in the army, resided on the river Rhine. He had a large family. In those days each son was obliged to serve seven years in the army.Tto escape this rigorous system many young men left their native land and came to America to seek their fortune.
Henry Beamer was one of them. It is said that he applied to his father for money to pay his passage, but his request was refused. Apart from any other consideration, it would have been a serious offense for any army officer to assist his own son to escape. Left to his own resources, Henry with seventeen other lads, made an agreement with the Captain of a vessel about to sail. They were about six months reaching New York, then called New Amsterdam, and on their arrival the Captain sold the boys for three years to pay for their passage. About 1752, Henry married and settled in Sussex, the most north-westerly county in New Jersey. It is not positively known what his wife's name was, but in the baptismal records of the old Dutch Reformed Church of Mahackamack, under date May 29, 1766, this entry appears: Sarah, daughter of Hendrick Beemer and Lena Blenkenberg, baptized. In all Canadian records Henry's name is spelled with "ea" not "ee" as in this entry; but the fact that Henry had a daughter Lena, that her second marriage is recorded in this same church, that the names "Sarah" and "Lena" appear frequently in succeeding generations, that the date fits into Henry's history, and that the spelling of his first name bespeaks recent arrival from the old land, and that no record this "Hendrick" having remained in USA has been found, all seem to point to him as being the "Henry" who came to Louth.
Henry Beamer had lived in America over thirty years, and was the father of sixteen children, eight sons and eight daughters, when he "pulled up stakes" and again "took the toilsome road of exile", as did so many other Loyalists after the American Revolution. For six weeks they plodded on Pennsylvania wagons. The year of his arrival in Canada is uncertain**, but his son Adam, born in 1774, was but a small boy when the journey was made, and the weary miles he trudged through the woods left a lasting impression on the little fellow. Evidently some of the older children, who were married, came later at intervals. History informs us that between the years 1783 and 1792 the influx of Loyalists by way of Niagara was so great that the surveyors could not lay out land fast enough to accommodate the exiles seeking new homes.

{Donna Cole, year 2000}
No grants of land were made in Louth Twp. previous to 1795. Those who came before the land was surveyed settled where they chose.
Henry's first location was somewhere in the "Smoky Hollow" section of Louth, which proved an undesirable locality. In 1804 he obtained a grant of one hundred acres on the top of the "mountain", and in 1808 another hundred acre grant lying between the properties already granted to, or bought by his sons (Christopher and Adam).



The following sources are in more or less chronological order and tell a story.


Sources:
1) Library and Archives Canada, RG4, A1, Vol 34 from Civil and Provincial Secretary Lower Canada "S Series"
Heritage.Canadiana.ca  mf C-3002. Pages 636-638 or 11012-11014.  The following regarding a convoy of 48 families mostly from Sussex County, New Jersey, who starting in the winter of 1786-87, arrived at Niagara in the summer of 1787.
"Return of Families who have this season come into the Settlement of Niagara & who have not taken the oaths".  Date: Sept. 17, 1787. R Hamilton.

Name -Henry Beamer; From -Jersey; Age -55; Women -1; Sons -5; Daughters -3; Servants -0; Horses -4; Cows -2
Character -Well recommended for Loyalty & Morality - personally known to several old settlers.

2) Land Board District of Home, Province of Quebec. Brock University Special Collections, St. Catharines, Ontario.
MF.  May 3, 1794. Henry Beamer granted the North half of the lots No. 11 & 12,  8 Concession in the Township of No. four in the District of Home containing one hundred and forty acres. D W Smith, Acting Surveyor.

3) Atlas of Early Pioneers of Niagara Peninsula. Corlene D Taylor. 2002. P. 27, 28, 29, 30..
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources: Map No. A14. Original by Augustus Jones, October 25, 1791. Henry Beamer located on Con. 8 lot 14 and Con. 4 lot 3 & 4.

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources: Map No. A15. Belonged to the Land Board of Lincoln. Undated D W Smith [1795?] Henry Beamer located on Con. 8 lot 11 & 14 and Con 4 lots 3, 4 & 5

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources: Map No. A16. [Dated] 25 January 1812 - Thos Ridout. Henry Beamer located on Co. 8 lots 11, 12 & 14.

Library and Archives Canada, National Map Collection. No. 14700/H3/340/...1814. Plan of the Townships of Grantham and Louth Dec. 24, 1814. R. Hamm.
Henry Beamer located on Con. 7 Lot 14. Photostat of map in the Brock University map library.

4) Lincoln County Abstract Index Louth Township. Brock University Special Collections, St. Catharines, Ontario.
MF. Con. 8 lot 14 Feby 12, 1816 Henry Beamer. Sold to Abner DeCow March 6, 1816; Con. 7 lot 14 May 16, 1815 Henry Beamer. Sold to Samuel Heaslip et ux April 11 1820.

5) War of 1812: Board of Claims for Losses, 1813-1848, RG 19 E5A. Library and Archives Canada. mf T-1122. p. 175. Claim # 475. Henry Beamer Sr (Burford Township, London District) was claiming the loss of 1 horse Amount of Claim pds 25 0 0 Written documents: An Affidavite of Christopher and Philip Beamer (4 May 1815) that the claim is true and the charge reasinable. 2. An certificate of Wm Robertson (20 April 1815) that claimaint horse was propriated? by Government and never returned. Allowed pds 15 0 0.

6) War of 1812: Board of Claims for Losses, 1813-1848, RG 19 E5A. Library and Archives Canada. mf T-1123. p. 113. Board Minutes. Claim # 475. Henry Beamer Snr 15 0 0.

7) War of 1812: Board of Claims for Losses, 1813-1848, RG 19 E5A. Library and Archives Canada. mf T-1126. p. 48. Claim # 475. Henry Beamer Snr. Amount Claimed 25 0 0  Amount allowed 15 0 0.

8) Canada, Loyalist Claims, 1776-1835. Ancestry.com
The National Archives of the UK; Kew, England; American Loyalist Claims, Series II, Claims. Miscellaneous. 1801-1835; Class: AO 13; Piece: 140. P. 17. No of Claim 475.
Henry Beamer Sr. Residence year 1801-1835. Correspondence Date May 7, 1824. Account of Losses.
                              Amount Claimed    Amount Allowed    Twenty-Five Per cent
Beamer, Henry Sr         20  10   3              15  10  6                  3  15  6

9) Canada, Loyalist Claims, 1776-1835. Ancestry.com
The National Archives of the UK; Kew, England; American Loyalist Claims, Series II, Claims. Miscellaneous. 1801-1835; Class: AO 13; Piece: 140. P. 57.
Henry Beamer Sr  Date of payment July 5, 1824. Amount Calcd by Commissioners  15 0 0. 25 percent 3  15. No of Account 475. No of Claim 78.

10) Canada, Loyalist Claims, 1776-1835. Ancestry.com
The National Archives of the UK; Kew, England; American Loyalist Claims, Series II, Claims. Miscellaneous. 1801-1835; Class: AO 13; Piece: 140. P. 86.
Henry Beamer snr   Date when paid April 8, 1825   Commissioners Assessm Prov Cury 15 0 0   Ten Per Cent Prov Cury  1 10 0   Signature Henry Beamer Snr  Attys Signature  G Clark.

11) Canada, Loyalist Claims, 1776-1835. Ancestry.com
The National Archives of the UK; Kew, England; American Loyalist Claims, Series II, Claims. Miscellaneous. 1801-1835; Class: AO 13; Piece: 140. P. 123.
Henry Beamer snr   Date when paid [Blank]   Commissioners Award Currency 15 0 0   33 1/3 Per Cent Currency  5 0 0   Signature [Blank]  Attorneys Signature  [Blank].

12) 1824 Voters List Burford Township
Beamer, Henry           Burford  Farmer  Lot 12 Con 3  Acres 200  Voted for Horner, Racey
Beamer, George         Burford  Farmer  Lot 20 Con 1  Acres 200  Voted for Horner, Racey
Beamer, Christopher  Burford  Farmer  Lot 9 Con 1   Acres 200  Voted for Horner, Racey
Beamer, Jacob           Burford  Farmer  Lot 9 Con 1   Acres 1      Voted for Horner, Racey
Force Noah               Burford  Farmer  Lot 13 Con 4  Acres 20   Voted for Ingersoll
Force Henry              Burford  Farmer  Lot 12 Con 4  Acres 50   Voted for Ingersoll
Kipp, James              Burford  Farmer  Lot 13 Con 1  Acres 98   Voted for Racey
Kipp, Isaac Jr            Burford  Farmer  Lot 24 Con 1  Acres 50   Voted for Horner, Racey
Kipp, Isaac Sr           Burford  Farmer  Lot 23 Con 2  Acres 50   Voted for Horner, Racey
Lawrence, Levi          Burford  Farmer  Lot 13 Con 4  Acres 120  Voted for Horner, Ingersoll

13) Rockway, Louth Twp., Con 8 lot 1/2. Beamer/Beemer. Cemetery where many early settlers were buried. Rockway, Louth Twp., Con 8 lot 1/2. Beamer/Beemer. No headstone.

14) Knights of Owasco N.Y. and beyond:Information about Henry Beamer
http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/k/n/i/Brian-J-Knight/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0673.html

15) Stray McKissen Shelter: Information about Henry Beamer
http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/m/c/k/Paul-E-Mckissen/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0145.html

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