#4522 George Washington Beers

Born: 1849, Kings Co., New York

Died: August 12, 1892, Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey

father: John Dewin Beers

mother: Abigail Stow Potter

married: Caroline E Stults March 7, 1872, Somerset, New Jersey

children:

#4525 Emma Augusta Beers b: March 1874, New Jersey; d: March 4, 1936, Rahway, New Jersey

#4526 William Henry Beers b: July 10, 1875, Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey; d: June 20, 1942, Tottenville, Richmond, New York

#4527 Eva Mary Beers b: April 10, 1878, Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey

#4528 Ella May Beers b: April 10, 1879, Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey

#4529 Walter Edgar Beers b: July 7, 1881, New Jersey; d: May 1967

#4530 Frances E Beers b: April 20, 1883, Elizabeth, Union, New Jersey  

BEERS, George Washington & Caroline E. “Carrie” (Stults)

George Washington Beers was born in New York state to John Edwin and Abigail Beers. Although he used 16 August 1851 as his birthdate, court documents and the U.S. Censuses of 1850 indicate George W. was born about 1848.  This runs counter to the dates provided in his obituary, on his death certificate, and on his gravestone.

George grew up in various neighborhoods in Brooklyn, New York.  Court documents from 1864 show George W. and his sister Abby, ages 15 and 13 respectively, needing a guardian in New Haven, Connecticut to sell a parcel of land there, which they had probably inherited from their grandmother Eunice Gilbert.  Alfred Daggett, an attorney who was a relative by marriage to the Gilbert family, acted on their behalf. The proceeds from the sale were to go into a savings account for each of them.

By 1870, George’s father had moved the family from Brooklyn to near Kingston, South Brunswick Township in New Jersey. The census for that year shows the Beers living a few doors away from several Stults families. Neighbors John H. Stults and James S. Stults were the uncles of one Caroline E. “Carrie” Stults, born on May 17, 1855, near Kingston. Her father was Henry C. Stults, farmer, and her mother was Frances Reed, both natives of New Jersey. George and Carrie were married on March 7, 1872 in Somerset Co., New Jersey. At the time, George was recorded as being “of Elizabeth, NJ” and Carrie was “of Rocky Hill, NJ.”

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Carrie Beers with her son Harry Beers

Beginning in 1873, George W. and his father are both listed in the city directories of Elizabeth, New Jersey. During the 1870s, George and Carrie’s residence changed frequently: Pearl St., Washington Ave., South St., Broad St.  George’s occupation is listed variously from year to year as an “oysterman” or a limeworker, but most frequently as an “oysterman,” as he was in the 1880 census and on Ella’s birth certificate. At the time, oystering was a major industry.

There was a connection between the oystering industry and the use of “shell lime” in the manufacture of building materials.  George’s father, John Edwin Beers, was a mason and was involved in the shell lime industry, as was George, at times.  Oyster shells were a source of lime which was used in the manufacture of many building materials.  As further evidence of this, both George and John Edwin worked at times, for Freeman T. Winans, a mason and a wholesale and retail dealer in oysters.  In 1875, Winans’ business was listed as “Winans and Beers,” with John E. Beers operating at lime kiln at the same address.  The kiln was used to burn off the impurities and to extract the lime from the shells.

WinansGeorge and Carrie had six children between 1874 and 1883, but apparently only four survived to adulthood. After 1881, George’s occupations changed. He was listed variously as a “cleaner,” a clerk, a railroad worker, and a driver. The family lived in different locations on Union Street during this time.

Notes: Caroline E Stults b: May 17, 1855, Kingston, South Brunswick, Middlesex, New Jersey; d: September 28, 1927, Richmond Co., New York; dau.  of  Henry C and Frances (Reed) Stults

George died at age 40 on August 12, 1892, of diarrhea and debility resulting from pneumonia. He was buried in the cemetery in Rocky Hill.  The brief death notice and obituary in the Elizabeth Daily Journal read as follows:

Death

George W. Beers, died yesterday at his home, 212 Union street. He had been confined to his home with illness for a long time. He was formerly in the employ of Mr. Shotwell, the oysterman, and F. T. Winans, the mason, but more recently for Col. C. A. Harris. He leaves a wife and four children. The funeral will take place from the bereaved home at 2 o’clock tomorrow afternoon.

BEERS — In this city, Aug. 12, 1892 George Beers, son of the late John and Abigail Beers, aged 40 years. Relatives and friends of the family are respectfully invited to attend funeral services, on SUNDAY, Aug. 14th at 2 o’clock from his late residence, No. 212 Union Street. Interment at Rocky Hill, on Monday morning.

Shortly thereafter, Carrie moved the family to Rocky Hill, New Jersey.  Daughters Emma and Ella married, followed by son, William Henry, in 1901.  Carrie, who had worked at keeping house until George’s death, was employed as a “dressmaker” in Rocky Hill in 1900 and as a “nurse” in 1910. She never re-married and would live 35 more years in Rocky Hill.

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Duplex on Crescent St., where Carrie Beers once lived, 1979

By 1910, Carrie was living on Crescent Avenue with her daughter Emma; her son-in-law, Howard Volk; and four grandchildren.  All joined the First Reformed Church of Rocky Hill in 1911, when the Methodist Church failed.  Her son, Walter, married to neighbor Margaret Stewart, had joined that church a year earlier.

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Carrie Beers & her brother William N. Beers

Carrie’s brother, William, who lived next door, was a teamster and the first firechief of the Rocky Hill Hook and Ladder Company #1, organized in 1902.  A trumpet with his name inscribed and the date “1902” was in the possession of the fire company as of 1964.

The Rocky Hill Public Library has a copy of a letter written by Jane Cornell Gagnon in 1992 to her friends at the Rocky Hill Gazette. In the letter, Mrs. Gagnon, obviously advanced in age, reminisces about her childhood in Rocky Hill. She doesn’t give dates, but we can surmise that she refers to a period between 1915-1920, of which she writes:

“I lived in the house with Mrs. Volk. She had two girls and my sister and I used to go follow the brook up, take a dip in the brook go on up to about Seafartha [farm]. We always took baskets and brought home grapes, apples etc. Mom would make jelly, can some for winter. There was an Italian fellow that lived across the field from our house. He was great with electric things. He had a radio. He rigged up with batter[ie]s and wired it across the field to our house and we listened to that. On that same road there was an Italian man that lived up that same street we used to call “Happy Jack.” He was such a cross person. One day I was coming home from school, I heard a child just screaming, I looked over across the field just as his little girl’s hair went up in flames. Her mother pulled up water from the well and threw it on the child. I ran as fast as I could screaming to my mother to get help. Mrs. Bears (don’t know how to spell it) was at home and also lived in the other side of the home. They ran as fast as they could to help but the little girl died.”

Carrie died of a heart attack on September 28, 1927, while visiting relatives on Staten Island, New York.