Greenbrier County, West Virginia Biography of SAMUEL CHRISTOPHER BEARD, M.D. This biography was submitted by Sandy Spradling, E-mail address: This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 196-198 SAMUEL CHRISTOPHER BEARD, M.D. In these days of automobile progression, physicians easily make their rounds, being able to see many patients daily, but in pioneer times it was different. It is said that Dr. S. C. Beard would sometimes in one day ride sixty miles on horseback in his professional work. His sympathies were large and his field of labor was, too, and in order to meet the demands of so extensive a practice long journeys necessarily at times had to be taken. When the war broke out, and whenever possible, his services were joyfully given to the needs of the boys in the Confederate camps, the doctor being regarded as one of the most valued physicians in the army. In the meantime, his private practice kept him busily engaged with the sick in his home surroundings, and until his death, in 1905, which closed a long and honorable career. Dr. Beard was thoroughly educated for his professional work. He completed his medical course in 1853, taking his degree, Doctor of Medicine, from the University of Virginia. A post-graduate course taken in Jefferson College, Philadelphia, subsequently, more fully equipped him for his life's work. Dr. S. C. Beard was born October 3, 1831, on a farm near Lewisburg, where his early boyhood days were spent. There were only two children, Dr. Beard and a brother, John A. Beard, who died in service the first year of the Civil war. He was a lieutenant in the cavalry and was with the Governor's Guards at the time of his death. He was a son of Christopher and Miriam (McNeel) Beard, both natives of Virginia, and a grandson of Samuel Beard, of Scotch-Irish parentage, whose father, John, emigrated to America and settled in Pennsylvania, then later moved to Augusta county, Virginia, where he lived with his parents while a young man. John Beard was a bold, venturesome man, and his courage was frequently needed in contests with the Indians. He married Janet Wallace and became the pioneer of Renick's Valley, Greenbrier county. This was about the year 1770. The young couple took up their abode in a cabin John had erected before his marriage on lands afterwards occupied by Abram Beard, his grandson. Here they reared a large family of sons and daughters, Samuel being the grandfather of the doctor. Samuel Beard married Margaret Walkup, and their children were: Tommie, Jesse, William R., Josiah, Margaret, Jane, Nancy, Siby and Mary. Margaret became the second wife of Thomas Price. Josiah was the first clerk of Greenbrier after its organization. His wife was Rachael Cam-eron Poage, daughter of Mayor William Poage, of Marlin's Bottom. William R. married Margaret McNeel. Christopher Beard, the father of Dr. Beard, was born April 1, 1798, and died August 2, 1840. He was a large farmer, led a quiet and unobtrusive life, and became a useful citizen. His widow, who survived him until 1888, died at the age of nearly eighty eight years. She was the daughter of Abraham McNeel, of Scotch descent. Her grandfather, John McNeel, married Martha Davis, a zealous convert of John Wesley, and through her influence her husband erected the first log cabin for religious worship west of the Allegheny Mountains. Their home in Pocahontas county was near this church, where Bishop Asbury, the noted Methodist divine, often stopped over night. John McNeel appears to have been the first to occupy the Littie Levels coming there about the year 1765. On October 10, 1784, we hear of him in camp at Lewisburg, joining the expedition to Point Pleasant. Children horn to John and Martha (Davis) McNeel were: Abraham, whose second wife was Miss Bridger; Betsy, John, Abe, Patsy, and Margaret, who married William Beard; and Miriam, who married Christopher Beard. She was horn in 1808, on the seventh of December, in Pocahontas county. She was married when sixteen years of age and lived on the farm three miles above Lewisburg to the age of eighty-three. Jacob and Delilah (Jarrett) Hamilton were the parents of Estaline Montgomery, wife of Dr. Beard. Estaline Montgomery Hamilton was born at Blue Sulphur Springs, December 7, 1834. Her mother was born at that place in 1810. Her father was born on Muddy creek in 1795. She was united in marriage to Dr. Beard, December 12, 1855, and the children born to this union were Walter C., Lillian H., Delia Miriam, Margaret E., Phil J. A., Samuel C. and Emma W. Delia M., Margaret E. and Phil J. A. died several years prior to this sketch. The homestead, three miles north of Lewisburg, originally consisted of 1,200 acres of land.