More Kelsey-Beale history

Hello Ernie,
Just ran across your blog while googling for genealogical or historical references to my 4G-grandfather Charles Beale. In doing so I found a reference to him in the article entitled “The Kelsey's, "Bad Guys". “This charge of attempting to secure the rights of preemption from their neighbors resulting in an 1841 lawsuit in Henry County against Andrew Kelsey and Charles Beale. Two years later both men headed for Oregon in Jesse Applegate's Cow Column.”

I know that the claim is made in The History of Henry and St. Clair Counties, Missouri, 1883, that “Beal and his sons subsequently went to Oregon.” Several of his sons did in fact make the long trek west to Oregon, but not the patriarch Charles Beale himself. He apparently returned to his former home in Virginia in 1842 and died there on 10 Jul 1842. So states The Genealogy of the Beale Family 1399-1956 by Frances Beal Smith Hodges, 1956.

I also have some Alleghany Co. VA settlement of estate documents dated in late 1842 which indicate that Charles Beale was living there when he died earlier that year. The exact, or even approximate, date of when he left Missouri for Virginia is a bit of a mystery. So, I intend to try to track down the 1841 lawsuit your mentioned in your article to see if it might shed some light on when he left (or hopefully a specific date in 1841 when he still was residing in Missouri).

Charles Beale’s grandson wrote his Byogopy of C. W. Beale in 1923. You can find this family history online at Oregon Pioneers Keep in mind that this was written many years after the events depicted and that the author was not born until 1842. So, he was much too young to have been a direct witness to events described about his grandfather or some of the other family members.

For instance, he says that my ancestor, my 3G-grandfather James Beale died in 1868. In point of fact he died in Feb 1854. However, the final settlement of his estate in St. Clair Co. MO did not take place until 1868. So, the nephew’s family may not have been notified of his death until then, when they were contacted about the settlement.

In any case, this “biogopy” is a very interesting read about this family’s migration from Missouri to Oregon.

Sorry for rambling, but my primary intent in contacting you was to express my appreciation for posting the detail about the 1841 lawsuit on your blog. Without that I might never have known that there might be a court record in Henry Co. MO relating to my ancestor Charles Beale.

Thank you very much!
Respectfully, Kevin (West)