Alexander (Beauchamp) Beachum (abt. 1763)

Born about 1763 in Virginia

Ancestors

Descendants

Died [date unknown] in Anson County, North Carolina

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This profile is part of the Beacham Name Study.

Biography

Narrative by John Field Pankow from Findagrave.com:^[1]

Alexander Beachum was a son of Isaac Beachum (c.1720s-1776/7) and his wife Susannah Hill (1730s-1820s?). His paternal grandparents were Daniel Beachum (d. 1741/2) and his wife Rebecca (d. 1772) of St. Stephen's Parish, Northumberland Co., Va.; and his maternal grandparents were William Hill (d. 1741) and his wife Sarah Suggett, of N. Farnham Parish, Richmond Co., Va.

Alexander was probably the eighth of nine children, and was likely born in Littleton Parish, Cumberland Co., Va. At about the time of his birth, c. 1763/4, his parents moved to Edgecombe Co., NC. After his father's death in 1776 or 1777, his mother and the younger children apparently returned to Virginia, where her brother, Thomas Suggett Hill (c.1727-1782) was made guardian of the younger children. Sometime between 1785 and 1790, Susannah and some of her sons joined the oldest daughter in the family, Winifred Beachum (c.1753-1836, Mrs. John Lowry), who had remained in NC and moved from Edgecombe Co. to Anson Co. in 1778.

Alexander does not appear on the 1790 census, and was probably living either with his mother or his brother William. the first record so far found of Alexander in Anson Co. is in a 1791 deed of his brother William's where he is listed as chain carrier. Beginning in 1796, there are several records of Alexander selling lands in Anson Co., though there aren't records of his buying land. (The Anson Co. court house was burned, so some of the early records were lost.)

Sometime in the early 1790s, Alexander married Elizabeth Shelton (c. 1774-aft. 1820). She was a daughter of Beverley Shelton (d. 1814) and his wife, whose name is unknown to me, who had come from Virginia (probably Pittslyvania Co.) to Anson Co. NC probably in the late 1770s.

Per the 1800-1820 census records, Alexander and Elizabeth appear to have had ten sons and one daughter: 3 sons born between 1790 and 1800, 5 sons born between 1800 and 1810, and 2 sons and 1 daughter born between 1810 and 1820.

Some of Alexander and Elizabeth's sons went to Stewart and Henderson Counties in Tennessee in the 1820s & 1830s. It is thought by some that Alex. and Elizabeth went out there with them, but descendants of theirs in Anson County point to a small family cememtery on their land, with the graves marked only with broken rocks, as their final eartly resting place. They disappear from the census records after 1820.

Alexander and Elizabeth's children were:

• Isaac Beacham (c.1795-1826, m. Winifred Lowry, not proved to be their son, but probable, d. Henry Co., Tenn.)
• Beverley Beacham (c. 1798-1871, m. Jemia Rushing, d. Houston Co., Tenn.)
• Henry Beecham (c.1800-1840s, m. Martha, d. Henderson Co., Tenn.)
• William Beauchamp (1801-1866, m. Anna J. Rushing, sister to Beverley's wife, not proved a son but probable, d. Attala Co., Miss.)
• Hugh A. (probably Alexander) Beachum (1806-1861, m. Zillah "Zillie" O'Neal, d. Anson Co., NC)
• Elijah Beachum (c.1808-aft. 1880, m. Mary Utley, Henderson Co., Tenn.)
• Daniel Shelton Beachum (1810-1886, m. Levina Sheppard, later m. Charity Ann Pyle, d. Clarke Co., Miss.)
• Isaiah S. Beachum (1812-1894, m. Phereba O'Neal, sister to Hugh's wife, d. Anson Co., NC)
• Mahalia Beachum (c.1816-c.1848, m. Armstead Gatewood, d. Sumter Co., Ala.)
• And two other sons, unknown to me at present.

DNA

PATERNAL/MATERNAL BEACHAM/BEAUCHAMP & HILL LINES

ISAAC BEACHAM-1727 & SUSANNAH HILL-1735

Relationship is confirmed by a triangulation group on FamilyTreeDNA consisting of Shannon Trusty; JF, grandchild of Mattie Beauchamp Baugh; DL, grandchild of Colleen Johnson Bell; and RM, grandchild of Tencie Stanfill Montgomery, who share a 26 cM segment on Chromosome 4. Shannon and JF are 4C2R; Shannon and DL are 6C; Shannon and RM are 6C1R; JF and DL are 4C2R; JF and RM are 5C1R; and DL and RM are 6C1R. JJ, grandchild of Edgar Stanfill, also matches this triangulation group. JJ and RM are 2C, both descended from Lawrence Stanfill. JJ is descended from Lawrence's wife, Martha Beecham (daughter of Zachariah), and RM is descended from Lawrence's other wife, Vicy Creasy.

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/38431429/alexander-beachum