August 7, 2011

John F. Beum - Sunday's Obituary

JOHN F. BEUM
WELL KNOWN BUSINESS
MAN CALLED BY DEATH
Was Director of Westerville Board of Trade
Sketch of His Life

    Funeral services over the remains of John F. Beum, director of the board of trade and well known business man, were held at his late residence Sunday at 2 p.m.
    His death occurred Friday morning after an illness covering more than a year, during which he made a brave fight for his life.
    Dr. R. R. Bishop, pastor of the Methodist church, officiated at the funeral, appropriate music being rendered by a quartet composed of Dr. Mayhugh, B T Davis, Bronson Durrant and Fred Hanawalt.
    Interment took place in Otterbein cemetery the pallbearers being J. F. Sked, Frank Culver, Frank Bookman, E P Beck, B. N. Gorsuch and W D Stock.
    John Franklin Beum was born July 20, 1856, on a farm near Danville, and remained there until eight years old, his parents then moved to Coshocton county near Riverton Center, on a farm and remained there nine years. His parents then sold out and returned to Danville where he spent the next four years in school.
    After having finished his education he was united in marriage with Miss Lillian Tuttle and moved to Sunbury where he lived several years. Of this union two children were born, Carrie Beum and Thomas Beum, Carried Beum now deceased and Thomas Beum surviving the death of his father. Mrs. Lillian Tuttle Beum departed this life in 1887.
    In September of 1890, Mr. Beum was united in marriage with Miss Emma Williams, of Westerville, where they have resided since, Mrs. Beum surviving the death of her husband. Mr. Beum was at this death 53 years, 4 months and 28 days of age.
    He is survived by 3 brothers and 2 sisters: William R. Beum, of Nebraska, R.T. Beum, of Danville, Mrs. Jennie Clark, of Troy, Mrs. Ena Neal, of Mt. Vernon, S. D. Beum, of Cleveland.

        This obituary appeared in the Public Opinion in Westerville, Ohio, on December 23, 1909. I just love the amount and variety of information here—occupation, birth, childhood homes, marriages, children, and siblings, not to mention a list of friends who served as pallbearers. Over and over again, I find that small weekly papers like the Public Opinion can be a gold mine of information, and well worth the time to seek out. I viewed this issue at the Westerville Public Library. They offer an online obituary index as a finding aid (note: enter as last name, first name in the search box).

       John’s obituary proved to be an important missing link in solving a family mystery—finding the birth mother of Leatha Evans, my husband’s grandmother. From this and other clues, I’ve determined that her mother was Carrie Beum, daughter of John Beum. This was one of my 2011 genealogy goals. It feels great to make progress!

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