My Genealogy Hound

Woodford Beckett, one of the prominent citizens of Clark County, was born in Kentucky in 1809, and is a son of Nelson W. Beckett, a native of Virginia, and of English descent. The Beckett family are descendants of Thomas, a Becket, who was assassinated at Canterbury, England, under the reign of King Henry II. January 29, 1832, our subject was married to Duranda Taylor, daughter of John Taylor, a Baptist minister, and a native of Virginia. Her mother, Polly (Williams) Taylor, was a native of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Beckett was born in Kentucky in 1811, and remained with her parents until her marriage with our subject. She is now a well-preserved woman of seventy-six, and can read without the aid of glasses. Mr. and Mrs. Beckett have had five children, of whom four are dead. The one living is Selina, wife of Patrick Dunlavy. After their marriage our subject and his wife remained in Kentucky until 1837, when they moved to Hannibal, Mo., where they resided one year, after which they came to Clark County, and settled on their present farm, which was at that time a vast wilderness. Mr. Beckett has been a resident of Clark County for forty-eight years, and is perhaps the oldest settler in the county. He has made the study of geology one of his chief amusements, and his conversations on that subject are very interesting and instructive. He is a Democrat, has been elected surveyor three times, and has also assisted in that office for two terms of four years each, and is very familiar with all the duties pertaining to that position. He is a member of the Masonic order, and he and his wife belong to the Baptist Church. Our subject is also a wood mechanic of the first order, having learned the cabinet business in Kentucky, and has since been able to compete with the best workmen he ever met.