Richard Beardsley is a descendant of the immigrants William Beardsley and Mary Harvie.

Richard Beardsley served in the United States Civil War.
Enlisted: 12/17/1861
Mustered out: 6/17/1864
Side: Union
Regiment(s): Paymaster on ship USS Owasco

Biography

Richard was born in 1838. He was the son of Havilah Beardsley and Rachel Calhoun. He passed away in 1876.^[1]

Richard Beardsley (1838-1876) laid out the first Beardsley Addition (similar to a subdivision) in Elkhart, the first of many Beardsley real estate projects. Richard Beardsley appointed on 17 Dec 1861 acting assistant paymaster, US Navy resigned 27 June 1864. ^[2] The USS Owasco was a Unadilla-class gunboat built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War, commissioned 23 January 1862 during the Civil War and participated in the captures of New Orleans and Vicksburg. President Lincoln appointed him US Consul to Jerusalem, and he was promoted to Consul General for the US to Cairo. ^[3] Richard Beardsley died and was buried in Egypt in 1876. [Ruthmere.org]^[4]

Richard Beardsley appointed on 17 Dec 1861 acting assistant paymaster, US Navy resigned 27 June 1864 ^[5] as paymaster on the gunboat Owasco during the US Civil War and participated in the capture of New Orleans and the siege of Vicksburg, and for bravery was recommended for promotion by Commodore Porter, was appointed by President Lincoln United States Consul to Jerusalem and subsequently was promoted to consul general for the United States at Cairo, Egypt. Secretary Seward, in his book of travel around the world, says he found Mr. Beardsley one of the brightest diplomats in the service. He died on 23 Jan 1876 at Cairo, and by request of the people of that city was buried there and in evidence of their esteem they erected a fine monument to his memory. [History of Elkhart County]^[6]

Richard married on 9 October 1867, Isabella Smith, daughter of Rev. Philip Smith, A.M., of Moynalty, County Meath, Ireland. The marriage took place at Naples, Italy, at the British Consulate and the English Church. Children of Richard and Isabella Smith: ^[7]

1. Isabella Sophia Rachel born 9 Oct 1869, baptized 5 Nov 1868 in Naples, Italy,
2. Charles Elystan Montague baptized 28 Feb 1871 in Jerusalem, Palestine,
3. Frederick George Prout Beardsley baptized 18 Feb 1875 in Cairo, Egypt

There may have been a fourth child born before Isabella that died in infancy.

From Catalogue of the Sigma Phi: E.P.V.:

Chiefs of Mission for Egypt^[8]

From Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute:^[9]

This profile is a collaborative work-in-progress. Can you contribute information or sources?

Sources

1. ↑ Information from Beardsley family researcher Nick Dann, 13 Aug 2015.
2. ↑ Veteran: Beardsley, Richard; Pensioner: Evans, Isabella (Former Widow) - Application No. 7816 https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40691447
3. ↑ Official Register of the United States
4. ↑ Ruthmere.org, Havilah Beardsley Family: http://www.ruthmere.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27&Itemid=76
5. ↑ Veteran: Beardsley, Richard; Pensioner: Evans, Isabella (Former Widow) - Application No. 7816 https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40691447
6. ↑ A Standard History of Elkhart County, Indiana: An Authentic Narrative of the Past, With Particular Attention to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial, Educational, Civic and Social Development, page 215: The American Historical Society, Chicago, 1916
7. ↑ Veteran: Beardsley, Richard; Pensioner: Evans, Isabella (Former Widow) - Application No. 7816 https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40691447
8. ↑ Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute, United States Department of State
9. ↑ Office of the Historian; Richard H. Beardsley

See also:

• Beardsley Genealogy: The Family of William Beardsley, One of the First Settlers of Connecticut. Compiled and edited by Nellie Beardsley Holt and Charles Eleazer Holt. Published at West Hartford, Connecticut, 1951. Richard Beardsley is Holt Record #1110, Pg. 415.^[10]
• 1850 US Census: Concord, Elkhart County, IN, 9 Aug 1850^[11]
• 1860 US Census: Concord, Elkhart County, IN, 7 Jul 1860, Pg. 145^[12]
• To See A Promised Land: Americans and the Holy Land in the Nineteenth Century: by Lester I. Vogel, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993
• American Consuls in the Holy Land, 1832-1914: by Ruth Kark, The Magnus Press, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1994: North American Edition by Wayne State University Press, Detroit
• US Department of State: Office of the Historian; Richard Beardsley (1838-1876)^[13]
• Find A Grave: Memorial #93742165; American Cemetery, Cairo, Al Qahirah, Egypt (no g.s. photo)
• The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant: June 1, 1871-January 31, 1872, by Ulysses Simpson Grant. Suspenion of Consul George Butler and appointment of Richard H. Beardsley, 23 Jul 1872. Pg. 192,^[14]