Santa Clara County
Biographies
GORHAM PIERSON BEAL
Conspicuous among the more influential and prominent of the early settlers of San Jose was the late Gorham Pierson Beal, who located here in 1864, and from that time until his death was identified with the best interests of the town and county. He materially assisted in the establishment of beneficial enterprises, and in all intellectual and moral activities, was liberal with his means and his personal encouragement. Of honored and patriotic New England ancestry, he was born November 25, 1829, in Evans, Erie county, N.Y., a son of Nicholas Beal. His grandfather, John Beal, was born and bred in Massachusetts, and when quite young enlisted in the Revolutionary army, and served seven years, taking part in many of the important engagements of that war. He subsequently removed to New York state and spent his last years in Yates county.
A leather manufacturer by trade, Nicholas Beal carried on an extensive business in Evans, N.Y., for many years. He married Mary Low Ayer, who was born in Massachusetts, but who spent her active life in New York state. Her parents, James and Sarah (Bradley) Ayer, were both natives of Haverhill, Mass. One of her brothers, Ira Ayer, served in the Patriot war of 1838 as a colonel of the Forty-eighth New York Militia, and during the Civil war, when in his sixtieth year, he recruited Company A, of the One Hundred and Sixteenth Yew York Volunteer Infantry, and was commissioned captain of the company. Another brother, James Ayer, served as captain of Company K, in the same regiment, and died in camp at Baton Rouge.
Brought up and educated in Evans, N.Y., Gorham Pierson Beal was there engaged in agricultural pursuits during his earlier life. In 1854, accompanied by his brother James, he came by way of the Isthmus of Panama to California. He first worked in the mines of Nevada county, but soon changed his location to Dutch Flat, Placer county, where he operated many years, and which is still owned by his heirs. He also acquired other valuable mining property, including several placer mines, and accumulated a modest fortune in the mines and in San Francisco. In 1864, having spent the previous year in the east, Mr. Beal returned with his family to this state, and settled in San Jose. Two years later, in 1866, he built a handsome residence on the corner of Sunol and San Fernando streets, and there resided until his death, April 26, 1887. He lived practically retired from active pursuits, although he was interested to some extent in horticulture. Taking a genuine interest in local affairs, he was identified with the Republican party, and supported its principles by voice and vote. He was a Mason, and belonged to the Baptist Church.
On September 19, 1859, in Evans, N.Y., Mr. Beal married Helen L. Hawks, who was born in the town of Brant, Erie county, N.Y., a daughter of Zadock Hawks the third. She is the descendant of one of the early Puritan families of New England, the emigrant ancestor of the Hawks family having come from England to Massachusetts in 1630, at a later time settling in North Adams. Her great-grandfather, Zadock Hawks the first, was a lifelong resident of Massachusetts, as was his son, Zadock Hawks the second, who married a Miss Parker, and was the grandfather of Mrs. Beal. A native of Deerfield, Mass., Zadock Hawks the third settled in Evans, Erie county, N.Y. He married Louisa Hubbard, who was born in Moreau, N.Y., a daughter of Oliver Hubbard. Oliver Hubbard, the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Beal, was born in Connecticut, but subsequently settled as a farmer in New York state. He married Leonora Hawley, a native of Connecticut and a daughter of Ichabod Hawley, who with his brother, Amos Hawley, served in the Revolutionary war, both enlisting in Farmington, Conn. One of Mrs. Beal's ancestors, several generations removed, Joseph Hawley, served as an officer in the Indian wars under the colonial government. Of the union of Zadock and Louisa (Hubbard) Hawks, four children were born, namely: Helen L., widow of the late Gorham P. Beal; George H., a soldier during the Civil war, serving in Company A, One Hundred and Sixteenth Volunteer Infantry, died at Camp Baton Rouge, in 1863; Carrie, wife of Capt. Albert Carr, of Seattle, Wash.; and Selina died, in 1863, in New York.
Brought up in New York state, Helen L. Hawks finished her education at the Fredonia Academy. Soon after her graduation, she married Mr. Beal, and with him came by way of Panama to California, arriving in San Francisco in December, 1859. Until 1863 they resided at Dutch Flat, and then went to New York and other eastern states, on a pleasure trip, being away a year. Returning to California, they settled permanently in San Jose. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Beal has occupied the beautiful home which they erected in 1866, and which, with its shaded lawns, magnificent trees and ever-blooming roses, is one of the most attractive estates of the neighborhood. She has also other valuable property, owning an orchard of ten acres on the Los Gatos road.
Four children were born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Beal, namely: Flora F., a graduate of the University of California and also of the Leland Stanford Jr. University, is a member of the faculty of the San Jose State Normal School; Edward Hawks, superintendent of the home orchard; Irving Pierson, of Tulare county, a ranchman; and Mrs. Etta Leonora Miner, of Los Angeles. Mrs. Beal is well known and prominent in social, religious and political circles, and is highly esteemed as a woman of superior ability and character. She is a stanch Republican, and a Suffragist, and is a member of the First Presbyterian Church, and of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.
Transcribed
11-3-15 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
ญญญญSource:
History of the State of California &
Biographical Record of Coast Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A.
M., Pages 856-859. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2015 Marilyn R.
Pankey.