BIOGRAPHY - Fred W. Beardsley
FRED W. BEARDSLEY, Secretary of the Gibson Canning Company, was the
leading spirit in founding that institution and has been actively identified
with its successful management ever since. He is a native of Ohio, born in
Canfield, Mahoning County, on the Western Reserve, on the 27th of November,
1831. His parents were Philo and Lois Smith (Gun) Beardsley, both members of
old New England families. The father was born in Warren, Litchfield County,
Conn., August 14, 1794, and was of English descent. The Beardsley family, of
which our subject is a member, was founded in America by William Beardsley,
an English emigrant, who first settled in what is now Stratford, Conn., in
1635. The mother of Fred W. was born December 24, 1797, in New Preston,
Litchfield County, Conn., and was descended from Scotch ancestry, her family
dating its settlement in the New World prior to the Revolutionary War. The
parents of our subject were married at New Preston, Conn., March 3, 1816,
and the same year moved by ox-team to Ohio, settling on the Western Reserve,
which, at that time, was a wild and almost uninhabited region. Philo
Beardsley was a man of excellent business ability, and, in course of time,
became a well-to-do farmer. In politics, he was a Whig until the agitation
of the slavery question, when he became a strong Abolitionist. On the rise
of the Republican party, he espoused its principles and ever remained true
to them. Both he and wife were active workers in the Congregational Church.
In the days when each State required its citizens to spend some time each
year in military drill, Mr. Beardsley held the office of Captain, and was
ever afterward known as Capt. Beardsley. On the 27th of August, 1848, his
wife passed from among the living. She was the mother of twelve children,
six sons and six daughters, of whom eight are still living. Mr. Beardsley
died February 21, 1870.
Fred W. Beardsley is the eighth of the abovenamed family. After a
preparatory course in the public schools, he entered Mt. Union College,
taking a scientific course, but left during the senior year. For some six
winters he engaged successfully in teaching school, and at the same time
conducted writing-schools. It is doubtful whether there is a finer penman in
the county than Mr. Beardsley. In 1860, he was elected Clerk of the Court of
Common Pleas and ex-Officio Clerk of the District Court for Mahoning County,
and was re-elected by acclamation, serving in all six years. While thus
engaged, he spent his leisure hours in reading law, and in 1866 was admitted
to the Bar, in Cantfield, Ohio, where he practiced his profession until his
removal to the West.
In
October, 1860, our subject was married, in his native county, to Miss
Jaqueline Gee, a daughter of Peter and Almira Gee. Mrs. Beardsley was born
in Berlin Centre, Mahoning County, Ohio. Her father was a native of
Ellsworth, Mahoning County, and the mother of Deerfield, Portage County, of
the same State. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Beardsley, of
whom two are living: Almira Day, the eldest, is now the wife of Thomas
Finnegan, of Kankakee, Ill.; Lois G. died at the age of twenty-two years;
and Bertha E. resides with her father.
In 1872, Mr. Beardsley came to Illinois as business manager for an Ohio
capitalist, who had large sums of money loaned and invested in this State,
and in 1876 moved his family to Champaign County, where he resided three
years, and in 1879 removed to Gibson City, where he still makes his home. He
was in charge of the same business from 1872 until 1888, collecting and
re-loaning, until the capital was withdrawn from the State. Much of that
business covered investments in farming lands, which was conducted with
ability and fidelity and to the satisfaction of the proprietor. Besides
this, he was extensively interested in raising live stock. In 1885, Mr.
Beardsley interested himself in the organization of the Gibson Canning
Factory. He was chosen secretary, which position he has since filled. These
works are the second largest in capacity in the United States, and in round
numbers pack annually two million cans of corn, and in the summer of 1892
they expect to exceed that amount. In addition to his interest in the
canning business, Mr. Beardsley is the owner of four farms, lying in Ford
County, aggregating six hundred and seven acres. One of them, a farm of two
hundred and forty acres, is situated at what is known as Switch D, on the
Lake Erie & Western Railroad; another, of one hundred and sixty acres, is a
mile west of Gibson City; another, of fifty-two acres, joins the city on the
south; and the last, of one hundred and fifty-five acres, joins Gibson City
on the west. He keeps a herd of one hundred and fifty Short-horn and
high-grade cattle, a flock of Oxford Downs sheep, besides Berkshire and
Poland-China hogs and Morgan horses.
On the 21st of December, 1891, Mr. Beardsley was called upon to mourn the
death of his wife, who had been his faithful and devoted companion through
the joys and sorrows, the hopes and fears, the trials and successes of his
life for thirty-one years. She was an earnest Christian woman and for many
years was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. During all
these years, she was faithful to every duty, devoted to her husband and
children and always made her influence for good felt, not only within the
limits of her home, but in the social circles and the community where she
dwelt.
Just a few weeks prior to her death, Mr. and Mrs. Beardsley had moved into
their new home, which is one of the finest in Gibson City, and a model of
convenience. Every department of the house is furnished with both hot and
cold water, supplied from a reservoir above which is filled by a hot-air
pump; private gas apparatus lights the house, and the latest improved
hot-water system furnishes it with heat. In short, it would be difficult to
conceive of a home more complete in its appointments. How different this
edifice is from the pioneer cabin of twenty years ago!
Mr. Beardsley and his daughter are members of the same church to which the
wife and mother belonged. In politics, he is a Republican and has always
taken an active interest in the success of his party. In the days of slavery
agitation, Mr. Beardsley, true to the traditions of the "Old Western
Reserve," was an original Abolitionist, and during the war that grew out of
the slavery troubles, he gave the Government a hearty and patriotic support,
contributing more money to the cause than any other man in his native
township. During his residence in Mahoning County, Ohio, he was chosen and
served as Secretary and Treasurer of the County Fair Association, was
Secretary of his local School Board, and was otherwise prominently connected
with public affairs. Since his residence in Ford County, Ill., he has always
shown a laudable interest in local matters and has ever been found
public-spirited. A thoroughly' practical business man, he enjoys in a marked
degree the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens.
Extracted 04 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from Portrait and Biographical Record of Ford County, Illinois, published in 1892, pages 225-226.
