| Other People | Frank J. Bradley | Olive Rambo Cook | Jerry Litton | | |||
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Past and Present of Livingston County Volume 2. Biographies by Major A. J. Roof. 1913 |
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Page 127-128
J. W. Beauchamp, a descendant of a family of distinguished French origin, owns a valuable farm of one hundred and sixty acres on sections 16 and 22, Fairview township, Livingston county. Coming here from Indiana in 1873, Mr. Beauchamp was born in Vermilion county, that state, October 16, 1870, and is a son of G. W. and Mary (Piper) Beauchamp, the father upon his arrival here purchasing land which was partly improved. At an earlier date he offered his services as volunteer soldier to his country and fought with distinction practically throughout the whole of the Civil war. Prominent and well known, he subsequently was honored with election to the position of judge of the county court of the eastern district of Livingston county, serving in that office with such fairness and impartiality that he earned but the highest commendation. He now resides with his wife and family at Longbeach, California, after a long and successful career.
J. W. Beauchamp, being brought to Livingston county as a boy of three years, received his education in the neighboring schools of the father's farm and subsequently attended Avalon College, laying aside his text-books definitely when twenty-six years of age, although he had assisted his father in the farm work during a great part of that time. He then moved westward to California and there worked for a time at a hop ranch, making his home in that state for about two years. For several years subsequently he engaged in farming on rented land and also worked by the month and, having by thrift and industry acquired the means, then leased the home farm from his father, purchasing the property three years later. He has since been successful in the cultivation of the place, having brought the same to a high state of productivity, engaging in mixed farming and paying considerable attention to stock-raising. He has instituted all such equipment as he considered necessary to modern
agriculture and made a number of improvements that have largely enhanced the value of the property. He also is to some extent engaged in dealing in live stock.
On April 20, 1900, Mr. Beauchamp was married to Miss Mary Barnhart, a daughter of Nicholas and Catherine Barnhart, the former a prominent farmer of Fairview township, but the latter deceased, having passed away October 13, 1910, and finding her last resting place in Avalon. Mr. and Mrs. Beauchamp are the parents of two children: Vera, attending school; and Buel.
Progressive and modern as Mr. Beauchamp is in his farming methods, he has also embraced the standards of the progressive party as his tenet, as he believes that the realization of its ideals will bring about such changes in government as will prove most beneficial to the majority. In his religious affiliations he is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, giving his active cooperation thereto and to the allied societies of the organization. Individually success he has become a factor of importance in this agricultural community and, while he has attained his own success, has been a force in the general development of Livingston county.