The father of the subject of this biography came to this county as early as 1827, and was located for a short time upon the present site of Galena, when the now flourishing city was a hamlet of a few houses. He next took up 160 acres of Government land in Derinda Township, where he lived several years, and, as may be supposed, was among the first who took up their abode in that section. About 1836 he located on what is now known as the Robert Steele farm in Hanover Township, but which was then a tract of wild land, over which the foot of a white man had scarcely ever passed. That part of the country was named “Beaty’s Hollow,” in honor of Mr. Beaty, and he sojourned there a number of years. Upon his removal he settled upon the land now owned and occupied by his son, John, and which was purchased by the latter in 1854. The father then removed to Clayton County, Iowa, where he died in 1864, some years prior to the decease of his wife, which also occurred in Iowa.

The subject of this sketch was born in Indiana, Jan. 1, 1825, and is the son of James and Frances (Hale) Beaty, the former a native of Kentucky, and the latter of Tennessee. The paternal ancestors were from Ireland, and James Beaty, during his early manhood, served as a soldier in the War of 1812. In 1826 he removed from Indiana to Southern Illinois, and thence a year later to this county. The parental household comprised a number of sons and daughters, of whom the following survive, namely: Sarah, Mrs. Graham, a widow, and a resident of San Francisco, Cal.; Martin is living in Nebraska; John, our subject; James, who is supposed to be yet living.

The father of our subject was considerably interested in mining, but later turned his attention to farming, and in this was fairly successful. John received his education in the primitive school, and was trained to those habits of industry and economy which have formed the basis of a strong and reliable character. He assisted his father in the development of the farm, and, with the exception of three years spent in the gold mines of California, has been a life-long resident of this county. He went to the Pacific Slope in 1850, and returned in 1853. On the 22d of August, 1855, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Black. This lady was born in County Antrim, Ireland, Feb. 10, 1835, and is the daughter of John and Mary A. (McCoy) Black, both of whom were natives of that country. Her father preceded his family to America in 1843, and about 1846 the mother came with her children. They settled at Irish Hollow, in Elizabeth Township, where they resided a number of years, then removed to Rice Township, and spent the remainder of their lives there. Mr. Black departed this life in 1870, and the mother in 1868. Of their large family of children, the following survive, namely: Ellen, the wife of Hugh Young, of Rice Township; Sarah, Mrs. Beaty; Elizabeth, Mrs. John Penney, of Minnesota, and Catherine, the wife of James Greene, of Quincy, this State.

Two children only came to the fireside of Mr. and Mrs. Beaty, a son and daughter – James H. and Mary E., the latter the wife of Casper Lehner, of Galena. The Beaty homestead embraces about 323 acres of land, improved with good buildings, and quite fertile. Mr. Beaty has until the present given his close attention to farming, and has operated considerably in live-stock, buying and selling. He is at present (March, 1889) investing a portion of his capital in a store-building at Blanding Station, near his home. Politically, he votes the Republican ticket. During the Black Hawk War his father’s family took refuge in the stockade near Galena, at a small place called Ottawa, where they remained until peace was declared, and the savages returned to the place assigned them. In 1845, when a sheriff’s posse was sent to arrest Brown and his gang of horse-thieves and counterfeiters at Bellevue, Iowa, Father Beaty and his two brothers repaired thither and participated in the fight. Four of the sheriff’s men were killed, together with a similar number of the outlaws. The balance of the latter were captured, and the next day tied to a tree, where they each received forty-nine lashes. One of the Beaty boys received a bullet wound across the cheek, and the other had his coat pierced by a ball. They were men of more than ordinary courage and daring, and were fearless in defending the right, whatever might be the consequences to themselves.

Transcribed & Contributed by Carol Parrish Portrait and Biographical Album of Jo Daviess and Carroll Counties, Illinois (1889), p. 725