Reasin Beall

Biographical Sketches

General Reasin Beall

Born in Montgomery County, Maryland on December 3, 1769. At the age of fourteen Mr. Beall entered the office of Hon. Thos. Scott, at one time a member of Congress, a gentleman of considerable note in the public affairs of Pennsylvania; he remained there until he was 21 years of age. In 1790 an expedition was fitted out and marched against the Indians at the heads of the two Miami rivers. The command of this corps was given to Gen. Harmar. Mr. Beall served in this expedition as an officer in the Quartermaster's Department and was with the army when a severe action was fought between a detachment under Col. Hardin and the Indians near Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1791.

On General Wayne's being appointed to the command of the Northwestern Army, Mr. Beall received a commission as Ensign and after some time spent in the recruiting service, went to headquarters at Legionville on the Ohio River, near the present site of Enconomy in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. It was in this campaign which succeeded that Mr. Beall became acquainted with General William Henry Harrison who later was President of the United States. Mr. Beall remained with the army until 1793 when he resigned and again returned to his friends in Pennsylvania. In 1801 he moved to Steubenville, Ohio then in 1803 to Lisbon where he lived until he came to Wooster, Ohio in 1815. While residing at New Lisbon he received the appointment of Clerk of the Supreme Court also the Common Pleas Court. Soon after this he was chosen Colonel of a regiment and a few years later was made a Brigadier General. The war of 1812 found him in that capacity. On the surrender of General Hull at Detroit, Michigan a general panic seized the people, many of them fleeing from their homes and seeking places of safety. He immediately organized a detachment and in a few days put himself at the head of several hundred men and marched to the support of the frontier inhabitants of Wayne and Richland counties. After the war. General Beall returned home. In the spring of 1813 President Madison issued his proclamation for a special session of Congress and the seat for the northern district being vacant, General Beall was chosen to fill the vacancy. He serviced in Congress during that the succeeding session. The Office of Register of the land office for the Wooster Land District becoming vacant in 1814, General Beall was appointed and resigned his seat in Congress. It was then that he moved to Wooster. He retired from public office in 1824. At the great Whig Mass Convention at Columbus, Ohio on the 22nd of February, 1840 he was chosen to preside over its deliberations and was afterward chosen one of the electors of President and Vice-President and had the honor of casting his vote for his old friend and military associate, General Harrison. His death occurred on February 20, 1842. General Beall was for many years a member of the First Presbyterian Church.

Family

• Wife: Nancy
• Children:
  • Maria E. Beall Cunningham
  • Nancy Beall Spink
  • Harriet Beall Christmas
  • Mary Jane Beall Culbertson
  • Margaret Ann Beall Cox

Property

• Owned property in Wooster Township, Section 3

Court

• His will is recorded in Wayne County, Ohio Will Book 3 beginning on page 59