NameMargaret Jane Edmundson Buchanan BEATTIE, GG Grandmother
Birth13 Dec 1814, Glade Spring, Washington, Virginia
Burial27 Oct 1896, Mount Hope Cemetery, Urbana, Champaign, Illinois
OccupationHousewife, Farmer
Cause of deathDied Suddenly After Feeling Ill For Several Days
Misc. Notes
Margaret's parents died while she was still small. She was raised by her Aunt Mary Middleton in Shelby county, KY
321Shelbyville County, Kentucky “Court” 1823 January: “Deceased Parent” Beata James; “Infant” Malinda, Henrietta and Margaret Beata; “Guardian” Adam Middleton; “Remarks” 1823 Aug act, 1826 act, Sept report 1826, Augt report 1829, Sept report 1830, Aug report 1831, May Settlement bal in favors of gn 1832, April receipt ? ____?, 1830 ____ ________ Margarett [hard to read].
324“Mrs. Margaret Smith is one of the oldest living settlers in the county, having been a resident of this immediate vicinity for near sixty years. She was born December 13, 1814, in Washington county, West Virginia, at Glades Springs. Her father’s name was James Beatty, of same county. Her mother’s name was Hester Fulton, of London county, Virginia. Her parents died when she was about seven years old. She was married January 31st, 1833, to Jacob Smith, in Shelby county, Kentucky. Mr. Smith was born in Shelby county, Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Smith came to this county October 16, 1833. They came in an old Virginia wagon, drawn by oxen, and settled on a part of the farm now owned by the family, about a mile east of Urbana, where they built a log cabin. Mrs. Smith says, “We first lived in this cabin with two rooms and a leanto with a lynn bark loft, puncheon floor, no windows. We were happy and thought we were fortunate in having such a good house. Monday after we came the first town lots in Urbana were sold at auction. The Brumley school house near us was the first school house in the neighborhood. Andrew Stephenson, John Gardner and Chancy Standish were among the first teachers. Mr. Smith built a new house in 1837, which was a good one for that day. The flooring was sawed by a whip saw, and the lath was made by hand, all by Mr. Smith.” Mr. Smith was school director, road overseer, etc., but did not care for offices, found enough to do to attend to his own business, which he did, and by industry and good management, in which he was ably assisted by his wife, had six hundred acres of well-improved land all paid for when he died, in March, 1854. The habits of economy and thrift have extended to the children who, to-day, are among the best and most successful farmers in the county. There were born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith the following childreen: Elizabeth, who is at home; Malinda J., died at the age of 3 years; James N., farmer, living near; Eliza A., married a Mr. Turner, and lives in Woodbury county, Iowa; Sarah Margaret, married Mr. Shroyer and lives in Oswego, Kans.; William H., a farmer, living in Kimball county, Texas; Armstrong B., a farmer, in Urbana township; John T., died in infancy; David M., a farmer, and Jacob Mervin, a farmer. Mrs. Smith has been a member of the Baptist church in Urbana for over 30 years and is an earnest, faithful christian. She lives quietly on the old farm which she has seen brought from a wilderness until it now is in a high state of cultivation. Her daughter, Elizabeth, and her son, Mervin, and family share the old home with her, and here, surrounded by grand-children, she enjoys the fruit of a well-spent life of industry and takes pleasure in looking back and talking of the privations as well as the joys of the early days.”
320, pg 136“1897 Old Settlers’ Gathering
Transcription of List of Deceased Members
The Champaign County Herald’s report on the 1897 Old Settlers’ Reunion included a list of old settlers who had died since the prior reunion. The following list is a transcription from the article in the Herald.
Mrs. Margaret Smith, came to Urbana in 1833, died 24 October 1896...”
320, pg 191“Much correspondence in this and subsequent issues concerning medical treatment and amputation of the leg of the late Wm. J. Powell. testimony taken from Mary E. Powell, the widow; Margaret J. Smith, Elizabeth Smith; A. F. Hays; George Shroyer; Harriet Truman; gideon Truman; Nancy S. Busey; Isaac Busey; Mary A. Nox; Wm. H. Webber; H. C. Howard, M.D.; S. W. Kincaid, M. D.; J. W. Scroggs, M.D.; and J. T. Miller, M.D., among others.”
322, August 15, 18571880 Census-Urbana Township, Champaign, Illinois
Mrs. M. Smith - age 65 - Farmer
Elizabeth - age 46, daughter - at home
William H. - age 36, son - farmer
Mervin - age 26, son - farmer
M. Shroyer - age 38, daughter
Maud Shroyer - age 11, granddaughter
Frederick Shroyer - age 4, grandson
Census
1860 Federal Census, Urbana Township, Champaign, Illinois
Margaret Smith - 46, Farmer
Elizabeth - 24
James - 22
Margaret - 18
William - 16
Armstrong - 12
David - 10
Mervin - 6
John R. Brigham - 41, welldigger
1870 Federal Census, Urbana Township, Champaign, Illinois
Smith, Margaret - 55
Elizabeth - 36
Bata - 32
David - 18
Marvin - 16
1880 Federal Census, Urbana Township, Champaign, Illinois
Smith, Mrs. M. - 65
Elizabeth - 46
William H. - 36
Mervin - 24
Family Stories
“While I (Phillip) of course, never knew my Great Gradmother Margaret Beattie Smith, I recall my father saying he remembered her from when he was a small boy. He recalled that she sat by her fireplace smoking a clay pipe. She was apparently a feisty widow woman and sort of had to be to raise five boys and three girls after her husband died. The railroad came in quite sometime after she and her husband homesteaded the farm. The railroad tracks wre located jus behind her house. The rail track workers wanted to move a siding track about three feet closer to her house. She sat outside every night with a shotgun to prevent the track moving. Finally, Uncle Merv (one of her sons) told the track crew to wait until late at night after she went to sleep and quietly move the track. They did and she apparently never realised that the move was made.”
314“There was an enclosed area of a few acres around the farmstead and pioneers in covered wagons stopped and camped inside the enclosure. Great Grandmother had quite a few hogs which resulted in 50 or 60 pigs. It was the job of my Grandfater Bate [Armstrong Beattie Smith] and his young brothers to feed the hogs. One of the pioneer men watched the feeding and told the boys that the pigs wouldn’t eat as much if the boys would cut the pig’s tails off. The boys proceeded in catching all the pigs and while one held a pig with tail on stump, another used the axe to amputate the tail. The story goes that their mother and older brother were not amused and warmed the culprit’s bottoms.”
314“We are related to the Beatties by virtue of Great Grandmother, Margaret Jane Edmundson Buchanan Beattie. I think she even added Fulton to her name. She was supposedly related to Robert Fulton who is credited with being an inventor of the steamboat. She also stated that she was a relative of James Buchanan who was the 15th President of our country. However, no one has been able to verify either of these claims. We seem to have more information on the Beattie clan than any other family group. It is long and complicated, but I will try to give an accurate summary.
314“First, Margaret was born 13 December 1814 in glade Springs, Virginia. Glade Springs is in the southwest corner of the state and appears to be in the Blue Ridge or Smoky Mountain ranges. Her parents moved to Missouri and died there when she was a small girl. Both her mother and father died in 1821 in Boone County, near Jefferson City, Missouri. She and her underaged siblings were taken to Shelbyville, Kentucky (in Shelby County) to live with their Aunt Mary (Fulton) and Uncle Adam Middleton. The home was called Cross Keys Inn. Adam had started a forge and blacksmith shop. The location was on the main stage coach roade from the East to Louisville and it became a stage stop. The Middletons decided to establish the Inn and Adam, being a blacksmith, made the symbol consisting of two large keys crossed at the center. This creation was hung to advertise the Inn. The building burned in 1941 after serving as a speakeasy and club under people who had purchased it from the Middleton heirs. Margaret married Jacob Smith on 31 January 1833 and shortly thereafter, they left for Illinois by covered wagon. Margaret had a brother, Armstrong Beattie who, presumably, is the one (along with his wife) listed in “Founding Families of the University of Missouri.” They had donated $100 to the successful bid to have the University located at columbia, Missouri.”
314She always said her full name was Margaret Jane Edmundson Buchanan Beattie and she also said we were relatives of James Buchanan, the President, and Robert Fulton of steamboat fame but I have not been able to prove either!
326Obituary
“Death in our Midst - An Aged Lady - Mrs. Margaret Smith, one of our oldest settlers of the county, died at the home of her daughter, Margaret Shroyer, Oswego, Kansas, Saturday morning. She had been in fair health and her death was a sad surprise to her family in this county. She was born December 13, 1814, in Washington county, West Virginia, at Glades Springs. Her parents died when she was seven years old. January 31, 1833, she was united in marriage to jacob Smith in Shelby county, Kentucky. October 17, 1833, the removed to Urbana and built a log cabin a short distance east of this city. The family was industrious and economical and soon owned many acres of the best land in the state, and in after years built a substantial brick house which is still occupied by the family. Mrs. Smith was one of the oldest members of the Baptist church and has always been faithful in the support of her Master. She contributed liberally to the building of the new Baptist Church and took much pride in its erection. She was of the class of old settlers which are rapidly passing away, and who were representatives of that old fashioned hospitality which distinguished the days gone by, and which is more noticeable by comparison with habits and manner of living of the present generation. Mrs. Smith was the mother of the following children: Elizabeth, who died a few months since; Malinda J., who died at the age of three years; James N., a farmer of this township; Eliza A. Turner, who lives in Iowa; Sarah Margaret Shroyer, of Oswego, Kansas; William H., a farmer of Kimball county, Texas; a. B. and David M., both farmers of this township, and Mervin, who lives on the home farm. After the death of the daughter Elizabeth, Mrs. Smith accompanied her daughter, Mrs. Shroyer to her home in Kansas. She was so robust in health that the family here hoped that she would be spared for several years. She had been comparatively well until a few days before her death. The funeral took place from the Baptist church yesterday afternoon at 2 o’clock and was largely attended by the old settlers. Rev. J. F. Mills preached a very appropriate sermon. Mrs. Shroyer and son, of Oswego, Kansas, and Mrs. Turner, of Iowa were in attendance at the funeral.”
Spouses
Birth20 Mar 1805, ?, Shelby, Kentucky
Death MemoThere was a cholera outbreak in Champaign Co in 1854. Some records indicate his death may have been from typhoid fever.
Burial14 Mar 1854, Mount Hope Cemetery, Urbana, Champaign, Illinois
OccupationFarmer
Misc. Notes
"Indians Told to Git
In the summer of 1832, before the organization of the County and the fixing of its county seat - when the site of Urbana was perhaps only what it had been for generations before, an Indian camping ground - a large number of Indians came and camped around the spring above alluded to as situated near the stone bridge (on Main Street). It happened to be at the time of the excitement caused by the Black Hawk War, and caused not a little apprehension among the few inhabitants around the Big Grove, although the presence in the company of many women and children of the Indians should have been an assurance of no hostile errand. A meeting of the white settlers was had, and the removal of the strange visitors determined upon as a measure of safety. A committee consisting of Stephen Boyd, Jacob Smith, Cabe Rice and Elias Stamey was appointed by the white settlers charged with the duty of having a talk with the red men. The committee went to the camp and, mustering their little knowledge of their language, announced to the Indians that they must 'puck-a-chee,' which they understood to be a command to them to leave the country. The order was at once obeyed. The Indians gathered up their ponies, pappooses and squaws and left, greatly to the relief of the settlers."
318, pgs. 92-3“...Soon after 1828, permanent settlers began to come in. Thomas Rolland, in 1828, Matthew Busey in 1829. Isham Cook, in 1830, and soon thereafter, and in some cases before, came James T. Roe, John Brownfield, T. R. Webber, W. T. Webber, Jacob Smith, Jacob Heater, John G. Robertson, Isaac G. Beckley, Sample Cole and James Clements...”
320, pg 112“...Of those known as old settlers who have since removed or died, I knew and can name many: James and Asa Gere, Aarcha Campbell, Edward Ater, M. P. Snelling, Robert Logan, T. R. Webber, james Porter, J. w. Jaquity, Penrose Stidham, Jacob Smith, Mathew Busey, Bartlett Elrodd, Joshua Taylor, John Shepherd, D. O. Brumley, T. L. Truman, James T. Roe, John Gilliland, John, Robert, Benjamin, Jseph, Samuel, and Joseph F. Brownfield, Jacob Heater, James and Waitman T. Somers, Leewis Adkins, Mathhias and Martin Rhineheart, James C. Young, William Adams, James Dean, John Cantner, Dr. Winston Somers, A. G. Carle, J. D. Wilson, Stephen Boyd, Elisha Harkness, Wilson Lewis, Asahel Bruer, C. M. Vanderveer, William and Z. E. Gill, John Crabb, James Myers, James Clements, John Shepherd, John Campbell and Benjamin Childers.”
320, pg 115“In the summer of 1832, before the organization of the county and the fixing of its county-seat, when the site of Urbana was, perhaps, only what it had been for generations before—an Indian camping ground—a large number of Indians came and camped around the spring, above alluded to as situated near the stone bridge. It happened to be at the time of the excitement caused by the Black Hawk War, and caused not a little apprehension among the few inhabitants around the Big Grove, although the presence in the company of many women and children of the Indians should have been an assurance of no hostile errand. A meeting of the white settlers was had and the removal of the strange visitors determined upon as a measure of safety. A committee, consisting of Stephen Boyd, Jacob Smith, Gabe Rice and Elias Stamey, was appointed by the white settlers, charged with the duty of having a “talk” with the red men. The committee went to the camp, and mustering their little knowledge of their language, announced to the Indians that they must “puck-a-chee,” which they understood to be a command to them to leave the country. The order was at once obeyed. The Indians gathered up their ponies, papooses and squaws and left, greatly to the relief of the settlers.” [“During the spring and autumn, the Indians (Delawares, Kickapoos and Pottawatomies), occupied themselves in hunting through the country, killing squirrels and wild turkeys in the groves, deer and grouse on the prairies and bear on the Little Wabash River. About the first of March they usually returned toward the Kankakee for the purpose of making maple sugar.”—Urbana (Ill.) Democrat, December 21, 1867.]
321, pg 643The controversy [citing of the county seat] narrowed down to the two points—north of the grove and south of the grove. The former was championed by Stanford, Heater, Brownfield, Rinehart, Light and many other dwellers along the Fort Clark road, who could claim for their settlement age, numbers, the postoffice and only public road through the county, and as being at the front; while the south side was without any of these advantages, and was an out of the way place with no advantages whatever. In fact the south side had nothing to recommend it as a county-seat. It had no roads but bridlepaths and Indian trails. It had no population except the families of Isaac Busey, Jacob Smith, and the Webbers, and it is still told by those who then noted the controversy, that it had no vegetation but the hazel brush, which grew in great abundance and to a wondrous height.
321, pg 725“To the east, and not far away [from the county seat] were Jacob Smith, father of Merv. Smith, living on the same place, Gabriel Rice, Matthew Busey...”
321, g 726“E. Ater Adm. est. Jacb Smih, dec’d”
322, 1857Research
Land Grant Certificate No. 914, dated 16 September 1835
Land Grant Certificate No. 2316, dated 6 June 1831