Brooks County GaArchives Biographies.....Beasley, David A. 1858 - living in 1913
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 October 19, 2004, 7:51 pm

Author: William Harden
p. 801-803

   DAVID A. BEASLEY. A native-born citizen of Brooks county, and one of the
foremost agriculturists of Grooverville district, David A. Beasley, whose birth
occurred June 8, 1858, has spent the larger part of his life in this county, and
since attaining manhood has been conspicuously identified with its farming
interests, being an extensive landholder and a skillful and successful tiller of
the soil.

   His grandfather, Thomas Beasley, was twice married, the maiden name of his
second wife, Mr. Beasley's grandmother, having been Polly Brinson. Nothing
whatever is known as to the birthplace of him, or of his wives, but they all
spent their last years in Bulloch county. Five of his children by his second
marriage, James, the father of David A., Moses, Annie, Rebecca, and Hannah,
migrated from Bulloch county to South Georgia, coining in their own conveyance,
which was a horse and cart, bringing their household goods and provisions with
them and camping by the way. They located in that part of Thomas county now
included within the boundaries of Brooks county, being among the earliest
settlers of that place. South Georgia was then one vast wilderness, with here
and there an opening in which the log cabin of the brave pioneer might be seen,
and the land roundabout was for sale at a very low price. Wild game of all kinds
was plentiful, and fish abounded in the streams, the skilful hunter and angler
being thus enabled to furnish his table with plenty of fish, flesh and fowl.

   James Beasley, the father of David A., was born in Bulloch county, Georgia,
January 14, 1804. Coming with his brother and sisters to Brooks county, he
bought a timbered tract on Piscola creek, and erected the customary log house of
the pioneer. There were no railroads here for many years after he became a
resident of the county, and when he began raising produce to sell he had to team
it to either Tallahassee or Newport, Florida, being usually accompanied on such
trips by some of his neighbors, many of whom, perhaps, lived a dozen miles away,
these farmers taking along provisions and camping on the way, traveling together
both as a matter of safety and of pleasure. In the meantime the women were
equally as busy with pioneer tasks as the men, spending their leisure minutes in
carding, spinning, weaving, and making the garments worn by the entire family,
and doing all of their cooking by the open fireplace. In those days there was
but little money in circulation, and they needed but little, their wants being
but few. After clearing a part of his land, James Beasley sold out, and for five
years resided in Thomas county. Returning then to Brooks county, he was here a
resident until his death in the eighty-first year of his age.

   James Beasley married Sarah A. Ramsey, who was born in North Carolina, a
daughter of William Ramsey, and granddaughter of Matthew Ramsey, who emigrated
from England to America in colonial times and fought in the Revolutionary war.
William Ramsey was three times married. He married for his second wife Nancy
Strahan, a sister of his first wife, and she was the mother of his daughter,
Sarah A. Ramsey. Mrs. Sarah A. Ramsey survived her husband, passing away at the
age of eighty-two years. Fifteen children blessed their union, namely: William
T.; Marzell, deceased; Eli, deceased; James, deceased; Elizabeth, deceased;
Eliza; Rebecca, deceased; Adam; Frank; Laura; Lovina; Thomas; Leonora; Julia;
and David A. Four of the sons, William T., Eli, James and Adam served in the
Confederate army, James being killed in battle, and Eli dying while in service.

   David A. Beasley was reared and educated in Brooks county, and the days of
his childhood and youth were not days of idleness. He began when young to assist
on the farm, and has since continued in his early occupation, his long and
varied experience in this industry making him an authority on agricultural
matters. Mr. Beasley is now the owner of one thousand acres of land in the
Grooverville district, where he is carrying on a remunerative business in
general farming, including the raising of cattle and hogs.

   Mr. Beasley has never married, but he is fortunate in having three of his
sisters, Laura, Lovina, and Leonora, to preside over his household. He and his
sisters are all members of the Missionary Baptist church, while their parents
were both members of the Primitive Baptist church.


Additional Comments:
From:

A HISTORY OF SAVANNAH AND SOUTH GEORGIA
BY
WILLIAM HARDEN

VOLUME II
ILLUSTRATED
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1913

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