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From:
Subject: Josiah Beard, Becket, MA, VT, NY
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 2000 11:57:47 EST

To Adale and other MA Beard researchers.

Josiah Beard, born 12 May 1763, Becket, Berkshire County, MA, married
Elizabeth Murdock, in MA, VT or NY, lived in Washington County, NY in 1790,
moved to Bristol, VT and then to Venice, Cayuga County in 1800, died there 30
July 1821. Josiah was a son of Aaron Beard and Elizabeth Streeter of Becket,
Berkshire County, MA.

Josiah Berad served in the Revolutionary War. Massachusetts Soldiers and
Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Volume 1, Page 870: “Beard, Josiah.
Private, Capt. Isaac Marsh’s co., Col. Sears’s (Berkshire Co.) regt.;
mustered July 21, 1781; discharged Nov. 2, 1781; service, 3 mos. 12 days, at
Fort Plains, Tryon Co., under Brig. Gen. Stark.”

The fact that this is the Josiah Beard who was a son of Aaron Beard (1733)
and was from Berkshire County, Massachusetts is substantiated by the
following: Moravia and Its Past by Leslie Leon Luther, Page 496,

“VENICE CENTER CEMETERY : JOSIAH BEARD. He came to Venice in 1800, and died
July 30, 1821, ae. 59 yrs.; He was a Pvt. in Capt. Isaac Marsh’s Co. , Col.
Spears’ Berkshire Co. Regt., July 21 to Nov. 2, 1781 at Ft. Plains under
Brig. Gen. Stark.”

Josiah Beard married Elizabeth Murdock, sister of Eunice Murdock (6) who
married Aaron Beard (6). Josiah Beard and his wife Elizabeth Murdock Beard
joined with her brother, Joshua Murdock in moving first to Washington County,
New York and then to Vermont and then to Venice, Cayuga County, New York in
1800.

My search for the family of Eunice Murdock (6) wife of Aaron Beard (6) lead
me to the whereabouts of Josiah Beard. From a query in the Western New York
Genealogical Society Journal, I am now in contact with Nancy Smith of New
York state, who has given me valuable information concerning the Murdock
Family, and it’s relationship to the Beard family. The following is from the
first e-mail Nancy sent: (21 Sept. 1998)

“I read your query in the Journal (Western New York Gen. Society) which came
today.

“My ancestor is Joshua Murdock b. 9 October 1763 in Windham, Connecticut, son
of Samuel Murdock, Jr. and Mary Wright. His cousin was Josiah Beard. I wonder
if this Josiah could be the son of Aaron Beard that is in your query. Not
sure if the dates jive.

“Could Aaron have had a brother Josiah also? (Yes, I believe this Josiah is a
brother of Aaron) Joshua Murdock’s family removed to Bennington, Vermont and
later to Granville (Washington Co.) New York where they ran a clothing store.


“In the 1790 census Joshua and Josiah Beard were neighbors in Granville. In
1790, Joshua had one dau. and Josiah and one son and two dau. [interpreted
from census]

“In 1800 that Joshua Murdock moved to Venice Center, New York and became a
farmer. About 1808 his eldest child, Permelia, married Samuel Porter Beeman
and removed to Clarence Center (Erie Co.) New York. (Note that Aaron Beard
and Eunice were living near Clarence Center at this time.)

“This is my line (Nancy Smith). Joshua married Eunice Moore in 1787 in
Massachusetts. The history of Venice says Josiah Beard also came to Venice
Center from Vermont in 1800. He died there 30 July 1821 aged 58. “His family
moved west at an early day. Two children are living, Aaron, in Ohio, and
Ann, wife of Lockwood Rundell in Genoa.” [bk published 1879]” Signed: Nancy
Smith.

Upon reading this e-mail, I realized there must be a connection between the
Beard families and the Murdock families, in addition to the union of Aaron
Beard and Eunice Murdock. After receiving that e-mail, I obtained a copy of
Murdock Genealogy-Robert Murdock of Roxbury, Massachusetts and some of his
Descendants by Joseph B. Murdock, published by C. E. Goodspeed & Co., Boston,
1925, and reprinted 1983, referred to as the Murdock Genealogy.

The Murdock Genealogy states the connection between the Murdock and Beard
families. Page 30 of that reference, lists the children of Samuel and Mary
Wight Murdock. Joshua Murdock, born 9 October 1763, is listed as the eighth
child and his sister, Elizabeth Murdock, born 15 June 1770, is the twelth
child. Eunice Murdock, born 26 February 1774 is the 13th child, and she was
the wife of Aaron Beard (1768). After Elizabeth’s name it is noted that she
married Josiah Beard, of Vermont. As Elizabeth is a sister of Eunice Murdock
(6) and Joshua Murdock, Joshua Murdock would a brother-in-law of both Josiah
Beard and Aaron Baird (6).

On page 56 of the Murdock Genealogy there is a description of the moves of
Joshua Murdock. As the Josiah Beard and Joshua Murdock families stayed
together, it is also possible to trace the moves of the Josiah Murdock family.

“Joshua Murdock was born in Windham, Connecticut, October 9, 1763. He went
with his father to Vermont, and is on the Revolutionary rolls of that state
in 1780. He married Eunice Moore of Athol, Massachusetts, in 1787. He settled
first in Granville, Washington County, New York, where he is registered in
the census of 1790, and moved thence to Bristol, Vermont, where his brother
Hezekiah was settled. He bought land in Venice, Cayuga County, New York, in
1800, and settled there in 1800. He built a sawmill in 1802, and continued a
resident of Venice until his death there, December 13, 1845. His wife died
August 21, 1839.” It is also noted that Hezekiah Murdock moved to Venice, New
York in 1800.

From Cayuga County written by Elliot G. Storke in 1879, page 434 to page
436, Town of Venice, referred to below: “Josiah Beard was a cousin of Joshua
Murdock (as noted above the relationship was brother-in-law) and came with
the latter from Vermont in 1800.” As Josiah Beard moved with Joshua Murdock,
from Vermont, he must gave left New York and moved to Bristol, Vermont after
1790.

Josiah Beard, and perhaps his brother Aaron (6), may have made the move to
the Rutland area of Vermont as young men and met and married into the Murdock
family. There were several Beard families in Vermont, however a connection to
the Beard family of Berkshire County, Massachusetts with any of these Vermont
Beard families has not been established.

Josiah Beard and Joshua Murdock, with their families, were in Granville New
York when the 1790 federal census was taken. As Joshua Murdock and Eunice
Moore were married in 1787, they moved to New York shortly after that date.

From the Granville, New York GenWeb site we learn of “Registered Ear Marks.
In the early days, before fences were built and the land cleared, a certain
mark was put in the ears of cattle belonging to a person, in order to
distinguish his cattle from that of his neighbor. These marks were registered
to identify cattle belonging to different individuals, and to avoid a
duplication of marks. The marks also act as an unofficial census, placing an
individual in the town of Granville in a specific year.

“Marks were similar to this: 1787, Isaac McWethy—Swallow tail in the right
ear and a hole in the left ear. The first owners of cattle in Granville to
record ear marks were: 1787—John Crary, Timothy Baker, Thomas Searles,
Ebenezer Ferry, Gordon Johnson, Justin Fairchild, Silas McWethy, David Doane,
Joshua Murdock, Samuel and Eli Murdock, John Spring, Mark Crowfoot, Josiah
Beard, Jonathan Wright, Charles Crofoot, Eleazer Hill, James Austin, Peter
Parker, Gideon Barber.”

This places both the Joshua Murdock family and the Josiah Beard families in
Granville, New York as early as 1787 and includes Samuel and Eli Murdock,
brothers of Elizabeth Murdock. Jonathan Wright may be related to the Murdock
families.

The move of the Joshua Murdock family and the Josiah Beard family to
Granville, Washington County, New York is interesting because Granville, New
York is where Amos Beard, a son of Thomas and Susannah Walker Beard lived for
a number of years, starting about 1777. Amos is an uncle of Josiah Beard and
Aaron Beard (6).
Granville is in Washington County, New York which borders on Vermont, and
prior to 1791, the border between New York and Vermont was in question.
Rutland, Vermont and Granville, New York, are close together. Often younger
families would move to be near older family members as they started life on
their own.

The reference, Cayuga County written by Elliot G. Storke in 1879, page 434
to page 436, Town of Venice, discusses early settlers in Venice, Cayuga
County New York. “Joshua Murdock, who was born in Windham, Connecticut,
October 9, 1763, removed with his father’s family to Bennington, Vermont,
where he spent two years in the clothing business. He afterwards followed the
vocation of a farmer. In 1787, he married Eunice Moore, of Athol,
Massachusetts, and settled at Granville, Washington County, and thence in the
fall of 1800, he removed to Venice Center, and built a log house on the
north-east corner of lot 62...”

“Josiah Beard was a cousin of Joshua Murdock (as noted above the relationship
was brother-in-law) and came with the latter from Vermont in 1800. He settled
on lot 62, a half mile south of Venice Center, on a farm now owned by Lyman
T. Murdock, from which the cemetery at Venice Center was taken. He died there
July 30, 1821, aged fifty-eight. His family moved west at an early day. Two
children are living, Aaron, in Ohio, and Ann, wife of Lockwood Rundell, in
Genoa.”

Josiah Beard died 30 July 1821 at age 58. This date would place his birth
year as 1763. Josiah is a son of Aaron Beard (1733) (7), and Elizabeth
Streeter Beard (7). Their children, all born in Becket, Massachusetts,
include, Josiah who was born 12 May 1763. The birth year of this Josiah Beard
(1763) is the same as for the Josiah who died in Venice, New York in 1821.

My search is for Aaron Beard (1768), I believe to be a brother of Josiah
Beard. I found the following in the 1800, census index:

1800 BEARD ---ON Cayuga County NY 664 00010-30010-00 Federal
Population Schedule NY 1800 Federal Census Index NYS1a234664

1800 BEARD JOSIAH Cayuga County NY 664 10010-42010-00 Federal
Population Schedule NY 1800 Federal Census Index NYS1a235549

I have sent for the census record and find what the "----on " is. Anyone who
has that census let me know.

Louis Fackler
Scotts Valley, CA

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