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| Thomas Beard 1814 - 1881 |
Thomas Beard (My Grandpa
Beard’s Great Grandfather) was born on the 3rd of October, 1814, at Cauler, near
Chap-en-le-frith, Derbyshire.
In his younger days he was reported to be very
wild and random. He learned early to play the fiddle and to sing comic songs,
and in the consequence of his being able to do such things he was often drawn
to the public houses along with the rest of the coal miners. The Beard family is still known for musical ability and Grandpa Beard inherited his Great Grandfather's talent and love for the fiddle.
When he was 21
years of age he married Ellen Elizabeth Clark, at Taxal Church, Whaley Bridge,
on the 12th day of May 1836. To this union were born nine children.
Unfortunately,
history reports that he did not alter much in his morals at the early part of
his marriage, but continued to bring much sorrow through his foolish conduct.
A
great turnout (unemployment) of workmen throughout England
happened during this period. The family had very little food and was thankful when their
mother could get even a little meal to make porridge. After a time without the necessities of life,
Thomas obtained work on the Woodhead Railway, helping to construct a tunnel
through a hill three miles long, in a wild desolate country, a distance from
any village or town. Very few houses were available, with the majority of
families residing in huts made of stone, dirt, heath and rushes. Most of these
huts had only one room in which to house as many as six to eighteen people. The
“fancier” huts provided beds close together with a board between them; others
slept on the hard ground. Thankfully there was plenty of meat and drink, for the contractors provided a "tommy shop", where the
workmen could obtain plenty of the necessities of life. The men were paid in
money once in six or eight weeks, but two or three times a week were issued
tickets to be used as tender at the "tommy shop", and at the
alehouses. For the two or three days following payday, work came to standstill,
for the men and women were occupied in drinking, falling out with one another,
and fighting, with as many as twelve battles reported in one day, involving both
men and women.
Such was the state of society in which the Beard family lived
for about six or seven years. The majority of the workmen were outlaws and
reprobates that had fled from nearly every county of England.
Thomas and his
wife, having been taught better things in the days of their youth at the Sunday
Schools, and looking at the condition of their children, at length became
disgusted with the immoral condition of the people, and resolved to remove to
another place where their children could be sent to the Sunday School. When
they made known their intention of leaving the place to their neighbors, they were
called fools, because money and food were consistently available. Nevertheless,
they removed their family to Whaley Bridge in about 1849.
Thomas found work in
the coal mines, but then became quite ill and was once again off work for sixteen weeks,
leading to deprivation for the family.
One Sunday night, they happened
upon a Latter-day Saint Elder preaching, and stopped to listen to him. They
became very much in favor of the doctrines he advocated, although there were many
present opposing the man. As it was in the latter-end of autumn, it was getting
too cold to preach outdoors, so the Mormon Elder asked if anyone would open
their house for him to preach in. Nobody came forth, until Thomas offered his
house. The missionaries always had a bed and shared the best foods that the
Beards had to offer.
Thomas and his wife were baptized on February 10, 1852, by
Elder Henry Piccup. They stopped a small brook which ran through the end of their
garden to pool the water and create a font. On the following day they were
confirmed at Chapel-en-le frith.
Two sons, Thomas Jr. and Stephen, emigrated in
1861-1862. Thomas and Ellen, with three more children, set sail from Liverpool
on June 20, 1868 on the vessel “Emerald Isle”. Owing to the fact that the
vessel had just returned from a trip to Australia, it did not take on fresh
water. The water had been in the tanks since leaving Australia, and a terrible
sickness came upon them after three days journey; many
passengers became ill and 37 of them died in the trip, including Thomas's
wife, Ellen Elizabeth, who was buried at sea.
The vessel was 58 days in
crossing, arriving at Castle Gardens on August 11, 1868. After three days
held in quarantine, they boarded a train for Omaha on which they were
compelled to ride in box or freight cars as there were no passenger trains
running at the time, arriving twelve days later in Omaha. They camped in the
swamps until the wagon train was ready, although since the wagons were heavily
loaded with supplies, they were compelled to walk through knee deep dust.
It is said that Mormonism
made great improvement in Thomas’s life, both in regards to his moral conduct
and his spiritual condition. While he lived the life of a Latter-day Saint he conducted
family prayer night and morning. He was also said to be tidier and cleaner in
his habits than what he had been before. Unfortunately, after he had been a faithful
Latter-day Saint for about three years, he began to drink a little ale, and then
more and more, until he was often overcome with it. Then he began to neglect
his prayers and finally fell away from the Church through his disobedience.
Thomas
passed away December, 1881, in Coalville, Utah.
