My Genealogy Hound

STEPHEN R. BEASLEY, farmer and stock-raiser, post-office Sarcoxie, was born in Pike county, Mo., Nov. 9, 1824. His father, Ephraim Beasley, was a native of North Carolina. His mother was a native of the Bluegrass State. When nine years of age subject came with his parents to what is now Jasper county, locating two and one-half miles west of the present site of Sarcoxie, on Center Creek. There he grew to manhood, receiving a limited education in the common schools, for in those days school advantages were hardly worthy of the name. The father died when young Beasley was about sixteen years of age, thus leaving him in charge of the farm. The family was large and our subject necessarily labored very hard for their maintenance. To add a double misfortune then came the ravages of war. Since, he has engaged in agricultural pursuits until the fall of 1881, when he retired from active work and moved to Sarcoxie, and has since made this his home. Mr. Beasley was married in this county, Dec. 11, 1851, to Miss Mary, daughter of Alexander and Elizabeth Perry, formerly of Tennessee. From this union there have been eight children: Theron A,, born April 21, 1853, died Nov. 3, 1856; George W., born July 6, 1856; Genoa, born Sept 18, 1858, died, April 18, 1877; Claudius A., born Sept 2, 1860; Florence L., born Oct. 20, 1862; Amanda G., born March 21, 1864, died in October, 1868; Wm. E. T., born May 12, 1866, and an infant born June 1, 1869, died June 11, 1869. Mrs. B. is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and has been for thirty-three years. Subject is a man of good habits; has passed the meridian of life, having from his boyhood to the present time, been buffeted by storms of adversity, yet with unflinching nerve he has braved discouragements, surmounted obstacles, and achieved a remarkable degree of success. And now as the evening of life is fast approaching and its shades gathering around them, it is our earnest hope that he and his goodly wife may yet have many pleasures during their declining years.