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Beck book ‘wonderful history lesson’

The names of Paul and Guy Beck, father and son, resonate with most Fayette County history buffs. Recognized as the first white people to make a permanent settlement in Fayette County, their earliest neighbors were the Indians.

A recently discovered family history of the Beck family, written by George Washington Beck in the 1930s, tells that in 1805, Paul Beck settled near a gushing spring in what is now Section 9 of Carson Township, known locally as the William Lane Carson farm.
George was a former schoolteacher and could not resist making the book into a wonderful history lesson.
Along with the early history of his forbears, George included the history of Illinois, Indian tradition and lore and family reunion keepsakes. My thanks to Sharon Freestone of Tucson, Ariz., for making a copy available to me.
The book begins with Paul Beck, who was born in 1775 in Leesburg, Loudoun County, Va., the son of Edward Beck.
He married Naoma “Oma” Ogle in Montgomery County, Va., on Sept. 3, 1793. She was the daughter of Hercules and Mary Carson Ogle, and was said to be a full-blooded Indian.
Paul and Naoma were parents of at least six children: Guy, born July 1794; Hiram, born in 1796; James, born in 1799; Phlegmon, born 1804; Paul Ogle Beck and daughter, Mary Louisa “Eliza” Beck.
He moved his family to Kentucky in the early 1800s, settling around Bowling Green, and this is where son, Phlegmon, George Washington Beck’s grandfather, was born in 1804.
The next year saw the family moving to Illinois.
George places Paul in Bond County, near Old Ripley along Shoal Creek, an early as 1805, where he is said to have built a log cabin to shelter his family.
Within a year, Paul was on the move again, this time east.
This book also credits Paul Beck with the route known as the “Old National Trail Road: from Greenville to the present site of Vandalia.”
According to family history, “Beck started out with three yoke of oxen, one of which was hitched up to an old linchpin covered wagon, and the other two hooked up to an old wooden plow with a steel point.
"This plow was used to make a trail so they could return to this white settlement, in case it became necessary to do so.”
In 1805, the Beck clan camped near the site of what would be Vandalia, although there is a different of opinion as to how long he stayed here.
Samuel Beck, son of James, who would have been about 6 years old when this occurred, said they stayed only a few days before moving upriver.
Following the river north, Paul explored the stream that would bear his name. Here he “discovered” a gushing spring, and also at this place met his neighbors, the Kickapoo, who also became his friends.
Near the big spring, Paul built a double-hewed log cabin with a double brick chimney between the rooms, so that both rooms had a fireplace.
A porch on the south side ran the full length of the building in the plantation style.
Before Paul could build his log cabin or lay claim to any land, he entered into an agreement with the resident Indians to accept the Indian tribal government as his government, agreeing not to cut the old standing trees, and to protect and preserve game and fish.
George Beck also wrote in his history book that the family was compelled to prepare an annual feast for the Indians as part of their agreement, which allowed them to live in the area peacefully.
The feast consisted until all the food, which consisted of wild turkeys, three or four deer, corn pone, pumpkin, squash and other pioneer delicacies, was consumed.
Paul Beck died on Dec. 15, 1850, and, as was the custom, his eldest son, Guy inherited the home place. Guy was the first justice of the peace in the township and conducted business in the old cabin.
He survived his father by 21 years and was buried in the Guy Beck Cemetery, located about 300 yards north of the big spring.
The old burial ground, which contains only a few stones, stands as a mute reminder of the first white settlers of Fayette County and of their Indian friends.
 

Phlegmon Beck

2 Comments

  1. Harold Pugsley on July 28, 2021 at 11:42 pm

    Great article. I am one of the descendants of Paul Beck and are always looking for information on the Becks in Pana, Ramsey, Vandalia and so on.



  2. Diane Stokes on December 29, 2022 at 11:07 pm

    Hello,Are copies of the book available for sale or I’m an online archive? I am a former resident of Ramsey, Illinois. My parents, Howard and Mary Stokes owned the land where the Becks originally settled until we sold it a few years ago after my Mother died. I have visited the part of the land where the gravestones are located and I am interested in reading more information about the history of the Becks and the area.
    Thanks,
    Diane Stokes
    708-207-5580
    Distokchicago@comcast.net
    (This is intended as a private correspondence not a letter to be published)



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