Uriah (Beal) Beals (1756 - 1842)

Born 25 Dec 1756 in Abington, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Trufant) Beals — married 15 Nov 1777 in Weymouth, Massachusetts

Husband of Ruth (Pool) Richardson — married 13 Jul 1795 in Weymouth, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 4 Feb 1842 at age 85 in East Leverett, Franklin, Massachusetts, United States

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Biography

Private Uriah (Beal) Beals served with Continental Army during the American Revolution.

Uriah (Beal) Beals is a Military Veteran.
Served in the United States Continental Army 1776-unknown
Private

Birth and Baptism

Uriah Beal, later known as Beals, was born on 25 December 1756 in Abington, Massachusetts, recorded as the son of Abijah and Anne Beal. ^[1] Uriah, child of Abijah Beal, was baptized in the Second Church of Christ in Weymouth, Massachusetts, on 13 March 1757.^[2][3][4] His parents were Abijah Beal and Ann Canterbury Beal. Some sources refer to him with the title of Lieutenant.

Revolutionary War

Uriah served on the American side in the Revolutionary War.

In January 1776, he enlisted in the Continental Army as a private in the Massachusetts Line, in the company commanded by Captain Stephen Bedlam in the regiment of Continental Artillery commanded by Colonel Knox. In November of that year he was discharged due to sickness, at Fort Independence (near Boston).^[5]

The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) membership application of his great-grandson James Frederick Hamilton claims additional service that does not appear on the archived copies of Uriah's Revolutionary War pension application. These additional episodes of service are:^[4]

• Enlistment on 8 May 1775 in Major Thomas Pierce's company, Col. Gridley's regiment; recorded on muster roll of 1 August 1775; total service of 3 months and 3 days. Also recorded as a gunner in Captain Pierce's company, Col. Gridley's artillery regiment; company return at Roxbury, 29 September 1775.
• Sergeant in Capt. Thomas Wilder's company, Col. Ebenezer Thayer's regiment; 3 months' enlistment on July 22, 1780, in company raised to reinforce Continental Army; served in Rhode Island 3 months and 11 days before discharge on October 29, 1780.^[6]
• First lieutenant in Capt. Daniel Fisher's company, Major Job Cushing's regiment; marched Sept. 18, 1782; discharged Oct. 24, 1782; service at Hull; roll sworn to at Dedham.

Marriages and Family in Weymouth

In 1777, he married Mary Trufant in Weymouth, Massachusetts. They entered their purpose of marriage in Weymouth on 15 November 1777.^[7][8] There are no recorded children from this marriage, which apparently ended in Mary's death. At the 1790 United States census, Uriah Beals was listed in Weymouth, Suffolk County, Massachusetts as head of a household consisting of one free white male age 16 and above (himself) and one female.^[9]

On 13 July 1795, Uriah married his second wife, Ruth Pool, also in the Second Church in Weymouth. Their intentions to marry had been recorded in Weymouth on 30 May 1795.^[10][11]

At least three children were born to them in Weymouth. The 1800 U.S. Census recorded Uriah Beales in Weymouth, with a household consisting of six free white persons, including one male and one female age 26 to 44 (presumably the male was Uriah), one female over age 45, one female age 16 to 25 (Ruth was in this age range in 1800), and one boy and one girl under 10 (presumably son Abijah and daughter Clarissa).^[12]

Life and Death in Leverett

The family moved to Leverett, Franklin County, Massachusetts, some time between 1802 (when son Thomas was born in Weymouth) and 1805 (when son Alanson was born in Leverett). More children were born in Leverett; two young daughters (Catherine, age 15, and Harriet, age 8) were living in the family home as of 1828 with Uriah and his 50-year-old wife Ruth.^[5]

In 1828, Uriah Beals, a resident of Franklin County, was awarded a pension as a Revolutionary War veteran on account of his service in 1776. At the time, he described himself as a farmer by occupation who was no longer able to labor.^[5] As of 1835, at age 77, he was receiving an annual pension of $96 for his service as a private for Massachusetts.^[13] At his death in 1842, he was identified as a cordwainer (i.e., a shoemaker).^[14]

Uriah Beals died in Leverett. There is conflicting information regarding his date of death. His gravestone gives the date of death as 4 February 1841,^[15] but this date is contradicted by documentary records created close to the time of his death. His widow's 7 March 1842 petition to draw his Revolutionary War pension includes affidavits of witnesses attesting to his death on 4 February 1842 and his burial on "Sabbath day, February 6, 1842."^[16] The town death record gives the date of death as 10 February 1842.^[14] He was 86 years old. Consumption was recorded as the cause of his death.^[14] He was buried in East Leverett Cemetery in Leverett.^[15]

Children

Children with Ruth Pool:

1. Clarissa Beals, born 9 Jun 1797 in Weymouth, recorded as the daughter of Uriah (Lt. Uriah in one record) and Ruth; name spelled Clarisca in one record)^[17][18]
2. Abijah Beals, born 12 Oct 1799 in Weymouth, recorded as the son of Uriah and Ruth.^[17][18]
3. Thomas Beals, born 18 Feb 1802 in Weymouth^[19][18]
4. Alanson C. Beals, born 1805 in Leverett
5. Mary A. (Beals) Crossman, born about 1808 in Amherst^[20]
6. Catharine Beals, born 1813 in Leverett
7. Harriet Beals, born about 1820 in Leverett, married Roderick Noble as his second wife, on 5 November 1839.^[21]

Sources

1. ↑ Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). Abington, Vol. 1, page 25.
2. ↑ Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). Weymouth, Vol. 1, page 38.
3. ↑ The Genealogical Advertiser. Cambridge, MA: Lucy Hall Greenlaw, 1896-1901. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2020.) Vol. 2, page 214
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Hamilton, James Frederick. Volume: 87; SAR Membership Number: 17372. Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls, Vol. 87, no. 076. Application accepted 19 December 1906. Accessed on Ancestry.com at https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2204/images/32596_242104-00449
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (NARA microfilm publication M804, 2,670 rolls). Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Survivor's Pension Application File, Archive Publication Number: M804, Archive Roll Number: 187. Total Pages in Packet: 21. Revolutionary War pension application of Uriah Beals, April 22, 1828. Accessed on Ancestry.com.
6. ↑ The inconsistent date arithmetic is from the SAR application.
7. ↑ Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, vol. 2, page 27.
8. ↑ Weymouth marriages. Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook). Accessed on Ancestry.com at https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2495/images/40143_270984__0015-00099 : A purpose of marriage between Uriah Beals and Mary Trufant both of Weymouth November 15th 1777.
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YYG-T6V?cc=1803959&wc=3XTM-1VQ%3A1584070703%2C1584070716%2C1584071420 : 14 May 2015), Massachusetts > Suffolk > Weymouth > image 2 of 4; citing NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). Roll: 4 Page: 670.
10. ↑ The Genealogical Advertiser. Cambridge, MA: Lucy Hall Greenlaw, 1896-1901. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2020.) Vol. 4, page 38.
11. ↑ Weymouth Marriages, Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook). Accessed on Ancestry.com at https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2495/images/40143_270982__0006-00007
12. ↑ United States Census, 1800. Enumeration sheet for Weymouth, Norfolk, Massachusetts; Series: M32; Roll: 18; Page: 79; Image: 89; Family History Library Film: 205616. Accessed on Ancestry.com at https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7590/images/4440849_00089
13. ↑ The Pension Roll of 1835 for Franklin County, Massachusetts
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1 14.2} "Deaths in the Town of Leverett for the Year Ending May 1, 1842," Massachusetts, Deaths, 1841-1915," index and images, FamilySearch, image 212 of 437; State Archives, Boston.
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} Gravestone photographed by Smith-62120 in East Leverett Cemetery, Leverett, Massachusetts, 16 Jul 2016, and documented in his Find-A-Grave Memorial.
16. ↑ Franklin County Probate Files, Ca. 1812-1915. Probate Court, Franklin County, Massachusetts. Probate file of Uriah Beals, case number 375. Petition of Widow Ruth Beals, accessed on Ancestry.com. Also in Franklin County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1812-1910 Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2019. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized images provided by FamilySearch.org) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB2764/i/55190/375-co5/72844212
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1} Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1910), Vol. 1, page 38
18. ↑ ^{18.0 18.1 18.2} Beal Genealogy, Record for Lieut. Uriah Beal
19. ↑ Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1910), Vol. 1, page 39
20. ↑ "Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915, 1921-1924," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NWQS-K5K : 2 March 2021), Uriah Beals in entry for Mary A. Crossman, 24 Feb 1899; citing Chicopee, Massachusetts, v 493 p 82 no 76, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 961,529.
21. ↑ History and Genealogy of the Family of Thomas Noble, of Westfield, Massachusetts. Page 443. Accessed at https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61157/images/46155_b290525-00450 . Need more source information.

See also:

• Beals, Donald W., and Barry W. Beals. Beals Genealogy website.
• Chamberlain, George Walter. History of Weymouth, Massachusetts, volume 3. Weymouth Historical Society, Weymouth, Mass. 1923. vol. 3, pages 69-70.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/94274741/uriah-beals : accessed 11 September 2021), memorial page for Uriah Beals (unknown–4 Feb 1841), Find a Grave Memorial ID 94274741, citing East Leverett Cemetery, Leverett, Franklin County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Philip Johnson (contributor 47388584).
• Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850. New England Historical Genealogical Society, 1910.