Sacramento County
Biographies
JOSEPH BEEBE
JOSEPH BEEBE.--A long popular musician who is now enjoying, in a well-earned retirement, both the leisure most men long for, and the good-will of his fellows, is Joseph Beebe, of 1521 P Street, Sacramento. He was born at Columbus, N. Y., on March 5, 1836, the son of Ezra and Betsy (Wilcox) Beebe, good old-timers of the Empire State, who did their duty by the society of their day, and then passed to their eternal reward.
Joe Beebe remained on the home farm where he was born until he was twenty-one years of age, the while he attended the local schools; and in odd moments between farm chores and work, he learned to play the violin. He attained to such proficiency that he was able to take a position with a circus, with which he traveled for four years; and in 1862 he came out to San Francisco. Here he made a second circus engagement, and traveled for another four years, playing this time the cornet.
In the autumn of 1867, Mr. Beebe accepted an engagement to play in a theater in Sacramento, and then, for twenty-five years, he was with the Church & Jones orchestra; and for the past fifteen years he has been retired. For twenty years he has served as treasurer of the Musicians’ Union, and he has just enjoyed the distinction of again being reelected. He is one of the oldest musicians in Sacramento, and never fails to receive, when in public or in private cultured circles, the honors due him. He has long been deeply interested in Sacramento, town and county, and finds here the fulfillment of that which is desirable in both climate and scenery.
Mr. Beebe was married to Mrs. Julia Moody, in 1864, and she died in 1915. He has been an Odd Fellow since 1869, and he belongs to the Musicians’ Union.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With
Biographical Sketches, Page 952.
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2007 Jeanne Taylor.