| Samuel Bellamy Beach [W. Stewart Wallace, A Dictionary of North American Authors Deceased Before 1950 33 (Toronto: The Ryerson Press, 1951)] [For a biographical sketch of Samuel Bellamy Beach, see, Franklin Bowditch Dexter, Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of the College History 737-739 (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1911)] "Samuel Bellamy Beach, the only son of Ashbel Beach, of Litchfield, Connecticut, and grandson of Samuel and Rachel (Strong) Beach, of Litchfield, was born (probably) in 1784. . . . In his infancy the family removed to Whitestown, in Oneida County, New York, where they cleared a farm. He entered College after the opening of the Sophomore year, and his scholarship is shown by the fact that he gave the Salutatory Oration at graduation. In March, 1809, he appears in Easton, on the eastern shore of Maryland, as the editor and ostensible owner of a weekly paper, called The People's Monitor. . . . Mr. Beach's connection with the enterprise lasted for only little over a year. . . . Either before or after his maryland experience, he engaged in business as a merchant in Oswego. He also studied law, and settled in practice in Oswego as early as 1817. In February, 1821, he was appointed District Attorney of Oswego County, but did not long continue in office. He is next heard of in Mount Clemens, Michigan Territory, where he was a successful school-teacher. In 1828 he was settled in Albany as one of the publishers of the (daily) Morning Chronicle and (semi-weekly) Albany Chronicle. After this date he was long a resident of Oneonta, in Otsego County, and was identified with many public improvements there. He abandoned the profession of law, and in December, 1838, in company with Cyrenus Noble, he began the manufacture of shaving and fancy soaps in Oneonta; but the partnership was soon dissolved. During VanBuren's presidency (1837-41) he was appointed to a clerkship in the United States Post Office Department, which he held until 1862. His residence continued in Oneonta, and he was one of the projectors of the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad, as a connecting link between the Erie Railroad at Binghamton and Albany. He died in Oneonta on July 31, 1866, aged 82 years, having been confined to the house for more than a year previously." [Franklin Bowditch Dexter, Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College with Annals of the College History 737-739 (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1911)(vol. 5)] Poetry Samuel Bellamy Beach, Escalala: An American Tale (Utica: Published and Printed by William Williams, 1824) [online text] |
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