Jesse Bean (1756 - 1829)

Born 1756 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Mitchell) Bean — married about 1778 in Hawkins County, Tennessee

Descendants

Died 10 Sep 1829 at about age 73 in Mulberry Township, Franklin, Arkansas, United States

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Biography

Jesse Bean is a member of Clan MacBean.

Captain Jesse Bean served with Washington County Regiment, North Carolina Militia during the American Revolution.

Captain Jesse Bean served in the West Tennessee in the War of 1812
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In 1769, Jesse was with his parents when they moved from Pittsylvania County, Virginia and settled on Boone Creek in Eastern Tennessee. Very early, he learned the life of a pioneer and to protect themselves [sic] from hostile Indians. He was one of Colonel Sevier's Riflemen in The Battle of King's Mountain in the Revolutionary War, along with his father and four brothers.

In 1778, Jesse owned 254 acres of land in Washington County, Tennessee. Around this time, in Hawkins County, Tennessee, Jesse married Elizabeth Mitchell, born March 14, 1758, in Rogersville, Tennessee, the third of twelve children of Joab Mitchell and Mary (Henderson) Mitchell.

In 1788, they owned a 2,000 acre land grant in Greene County, Tennessee, along German Creek. Because of his military duties, it appears that Jesse traveled extensively. Until late in life he held his Captain's commission and trained recruits for the Militia.

In the year 1800, Jesse and Elizabeth moved to and became the very first settlers in Franklin County. (This was south of Old Salem) At first they settled on Bean Creek, where he found a cave that was very suitable for his gun shop. Jesse became a noted gun smith in central Tennessee. Old Salem was at first known as Bean's Creek Settlement, and their permanent home was located at the crossroads of the settlement. Today, a historical marker shows the spot where the home was.

In 1817, Jesse discovered a silver mine in Missouri Territory and made application to the U.S. Government to operate it. It is not believed that he ever received the permission and he never revealed the location, though he said it was along the bank of a river, there.

At the crossroads, Jesse also established a huge mill, which operated until close to the turn of the century (1900), though he himself moved away from Old Salem by 1812, to what is known as Mulberry, Arkansas. Jesse organized the first Sunday School in Mulberry, in 1818.

Jesse and his family then lived for a time in Batesville, Independence County, Arkansas, where he was Coroner for many years. The street where he lived was named Bean Street, after him.

Notes

Some sources list Jesse Bean as having also lived in Batesville, Independence Co., AR during this time period. Based on land and tax records, there was definitely a Revolutionary War veteran Jesse E. Bean awarded land in Batesville around 1820-1830. It is said that many people purchased land there during this period without actually settling, due to the low prices so this may have been our Jesse. Regardless, I do not think the Jesse that actually lived in Batesville is the same Jesse as ours who lived in Pleasant Hill, AR. For one thing, our Jesse is supposed to have died by 1829, whereas Batesville Jesse died in 1844. For another, our Jesse was supposed to have been in Pleasant Hill from 1818-1828, during the Cherokee occupation.^[1] Additionally, the Batesville Jesse was supposed to have been a coroner rather than a blacksmith and had part ownership in a steamboat operation.^[2] Most importantly, he was made Captain of a new Calvary company (Bean's Rangers) in 1832, at which point our Jesse would have been 76 years old!^[3] Jesse's son Robert settled in Batesville eventually and also had a son named Jesse (b.1822), but this Jesse would have been too young. On the other hand, Jesse's brother Robert had a son named Jesse (b. 1784), so perhaps this is really his son?

Sources

1. ↑ Goodspeed. "History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford, Franklin and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas : from the earliest time to the present, including a department devoted to the preservation of sundry personal, business, professional and private records; besides a valuable fund of notes, original observations, etc., etc.". Chicago, IL.: Goodspeed Publishing, 1889. https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/581394-history-of-benton-washington-carroll-madison-crawford-franklin-and-sebastian-counties-arkansas-from-the-earliest-time-to-the-present-including-a-department-devoted-to-the-preservation-of-sundry-personal-business-professional-and-private-records-besides-a-valuable-fund-of-notes-original-observations-etc-etc?offset= : 2023.
2. ↑ Worley, Ted R. “Glimpses of an Old Southwestern Town.” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, vol. 8, no. 2, 1949, pp. 133–59. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/40030606. Accessed 15 Mar. 2023.
3. ↑ https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/independence-county-776/

• Goodspeed. "History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Giles, Lincoln, Franklin and Moore counties", pp.785-796. Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing, 1886. https://archive.org/details/historyoftenness00good/page/n11/mode/2up : 2023.

• Clan MacBean in North America, Volume II, Fifth Edition, Revised 1993, by Joseph S. Bean, pages 349-350

• https://ourfamilyhistory123.blogspot.com/2023/03/the-macbeans-our-link-to-daniel-boone.html