Daniel Beem
1754 - 1 Sep 1819
Father: Unknown
Mother: Unknown
Spouse: Mary Neely
Marriage: 1 Oct 1784, Rowan, North Carolina, USA
Biography
"According to my Great-Grandfather, Levi Amasa Beem, in his book My Indiana Heritage, Daniel was born in 1754, to Peter Beem and Elizabeth Hauser Beem in Rowan County, North Carolina. His Father, Peter Beem, born in 1730, immigrated with his parents from Hamburg, in the Ebersburg district of Germany, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1738. Peter and his parents lived in Pennsylvania before migrating along a settlers’ route to North Carolina. Peter married Miss Hauser on May 10th, 1751 in Rowan County, North Carolina. They had three sons, Daniel, Thomas and Jacob, and two daughters, Ana Maria (who died in infancy) and Barbara. Daniel and his siblings lived with their parents in Rowan County, North Carolina, where both of their parents died. In 1784, Daniel married Mary Neely, who was born in North Carolina in1762 to Richard Neely, born in 1731 in County Tyrone, Ireland, and Mary Duncan Neely, born in Perth, Scotland, in 1732 and who immigrated to America with her mother and siblings. Richard Neely having served inthe American Revolution, the Neelys became a prominent pioneering family in Rowan County, NC and were neighbors to the Beems. Mary Neely joined the Methodist Church in Rowan County and remained a member of that denomination throughout her lifetime. Daniel and Mary had three children in Rowan County, NC and then migrated to Henry County, Kentucky, where they lived from 1795 to 1810, having 6 more children while living in Henry County. The Beems were pioneers in Kentucky prior to moving to Indiana Territory in 1810. Jacob Beem had been killed by Indians on the way to Boonesboro, while Thomas forged westward, dying a bachelor in the southwestern frontier. The Beems were the first white settlers, who were not trappers or traders, to settle on the north bank of the White River. In November of 1810, the Beems hastily built a six-foot high clapboard shelter to survive the winter not far from Fort Vallonia in what is now Jackson County, Indiana. It was an exceedingly bitter winter and they lost all their cattle that season, except for 2 milk cows. Michael Beem, the eldest Son of Daniel and Mary, fought in the battle of Tipton’s Island, a small land mound between a split in the White River, during the French and Indian Wars. It is recorded by Levi Amasa Beem that Michael was despondent after the war and he never recovered from the horrors of it. Neely Beem, the second child of Daniel and Mary, also fought as a Captain in the French and Indian wars, including the battle of Tipton’s Island. Mary Neely Beem was given the option to go back to Kentucky when the battles became more intense but, having the finaldecision, she decided the family would stay. In 1813, the Beems again moved west to what is now Spencer, Indiana, in Owen County. Both Spencer and Owen are the surnames of soldiers whowere killed in the battle of Tippecanoe. The names were suggested by an officer under William Henry Harrison, who was a fellow soldier and friend of the two men. Daniel Beem and his family built a small cabin on a hill that is now the site of the military memorial in Riverside Cemetery in Spencer. Daniel platted the land, 130 acres, in the name ofhis son Richard in 1816. The Owen County Courthouse and much of downtown Spencer are situated on land that was donated by Daniel Beem. In those years, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana were little but unbroken forest. Daniel was attracted to this part of Indiana through his love of family, nature and the abundant game that the woods contained, from whichto draw their sustenance. He was entirely dedicated as a husband, father, hunter and farmer and to his strong faith.With a stout heart and spirit, Daniel built a legacy of courage and perseverance for his children and grandchildren to follow. Two of Daniel Beem’s grandsons fought in the civil war. Daniel Beem, his namesake, was a Private and a Flag Bearer for the Union Army and the other, David Enoch Beem, was a Union Army Page 51 of 146 Captain. David Beem was the first to sign up in Owen County and was instrumental in gettingothers to volunteer. The Historic Beem House was built in 1874 by Captain David Enoch Beem, one year before the birth of his son, my Great-Grandfather, Levi Amasa Beem (Baba, as I called him). As I recall Baba always smelled of pipe smoke. In a book by Levi A. Beem recounting events of significance in our family’s history, he tells a story that an elder Beem had related. He said one day an Indian came to the door and said, “Shoot meWhite Man.†The elder Beem got his rifle and shot him. Levi said that the request was not so unusual taken in the context of all that hadhappened. Levi Amasa Beem wrote in the book Daniel Beem and His Descendants that the Indians had been stripped of their homes and traditional way of life and that the man was suffering from the losses he had endured. He had probably lost his family as well. I cried when I read the story. I wonder how many tears were shed by pioneers when they realized the suffering they had caused as well as the suffering they had endured themselves. What the story did not express was the fact that Daniel Beem was not just in search of “cheap land†as was suggested, but a peaceful home for his family, something that was denied the Bohemian people and those of his faith in Germany, something that was denied his wife’s father, Richard Neely, in Tyrone, Ireland. Land is more than dirt; it is hope...it is home. Many Indian tribes endured in Indiana after the wars and in the woods just outside Spencer, one group had ceremonies ina circle around a fire. The Beems were part of a greater legacy of the struggle for peace in a world plagued by war. They lived through theirony and the contradictions of life as we still do today, to reach that hope of which we all dream." Contributor— Keuthan, Aliyah, The Society of Indiana Pioneers, Pioneer Founders of Indiana 2014.--http://www.indianapioneers.com/ftp/2014%20Pioneers%20Founders%20Booklet.pdf
