Andrew Beatty and Sarah “Sally” Unknown

Moving back a generation from Rebecca Beatty to her parents Andrew and Sarah “Sally” (Unknown) Beatty.

Andrew Beatty was born about 1774 in Ireland. Some have widely reported his birth location as County Tyrone, but I have seen no smoking gun documentation of that location. The family bible of his son Robert Beatty documents his own birthplace as Northern Ireland, and Tyrone is one of the six counties that make up Northern Ireland.¹

His arrival remains open for discussion. I have found no Naturalization record for Andrew; however, I did find the following information in the Beatty 2000 project:²

History Of Pioneer Family Chronicled At Rural Gravesite Article published in “THE LAND” Friday, Dec. 5, 1986, Gaylord, Minn., This article is about Andrew’s oldest son Robert Beatty.

“Robert Beatty, Sr. and his wife Sarah came to Minnesota in the spring of 1857 from Illinois. Beatty and four of his sons, Andrew, Hamilton, Robert, Jr., and Joseph W. each made claims of 160 acres, each in Dryden Township. Beatty, the son of Irish immigrants first settled with his parents in Quebec and later in Pennsylvania. There he married Nancy Wilson in 1824, the couple had 12 children. After the death of his first wife, Beatty married Sarah and the family resided in Illinois briefly before coming to Minnesota.”

Andrew’s daughter Rebecca consistently reported her place of birth as Ireland, but son John James Beatty, born about 1827, consistently listed his place of birth as Pennsylvania.

Andrew appears on the 1830 and 1840 censuses in Armstrong Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania.^3,4 In both cases, he is residing next to his son Robert. There are multiple other Beatty families on these pages; however, while it is believed they are related, the exact relationship is not yet known.

The 1850 and 1860 census finds Andrew and family relocated to Washington Township, Indiana County.^5,6 In 1850, Andrew is living beside his married son William and married daughter Rebecca. In 1860, Andrew is living beside his married son John J. and near married son William.

The next time I locate Andrew is on the 1870 Mortality Schedule.⁷ The schedule was conducted in June of 1870 and details the people who died within the twelve months prior to that date. This census states that Andrew died in October at age 95 of paralysis. This clearly dates his death as October 1869. He is buried in Plumcreek Presbyterian Church Cemetery with his son William and daughter Margaret. His tombstone states his date of death as 12 Oct 1871; however, this stone was not place until 1893 when his daughter Nancy J. Beatty provided for the stone in her will.⁸

The Andrew Beatty Family:
Andrew (abt 1774 – 12 Oct 1869)
Sarah (Sally) Unknown (abt 1779 – 15 Mar 1874) Sally is buried beside daughter Nancy J. Beatty with a stone that matches Nancy’s and Andrew’s.

Andrew and Sarah’s children:
Robert (25 Apr 1803 – 10 Mar 1890) Robert first married Nancy Wilson (15 Jul 1803 – 22 Apr 1850) with whom he had 10 children. He next married Sarah Robinson (11 Mar 1812 – 4 Feb 1875) on 2 Dec 1851 in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, with whom he had two children. Robert migrated with his family to Dryden, Sibley, Minnesota. His family bible is available on GenWeb.⁹
Letitia (27 Feb 1806 – 4 Jul 1895) m. Andrew Kimmel (11 May 1803 – 24 Aug 1879) Letitia and Andrew had no children. She and Andrew are buried in the Elderton United Methodist Church Cemetery.
Margaret (abt 1810 – 24 Feb 1878) Some trees note a marriage to John Moore; however, I found no evidence that Margaret married. She is found on each of the named censuses 1850, 60, and 70, under her maiden name and her tombstone is also with the name Beatty. There is also a 1 Jul 1850 christening record at the Plumcreek Presbyterian Church for a child named Charlotte, daughter of Margarette [sic] Beatty.¹⁰ No other record for the child is found. The only Beattys recorded in this church are the Beattys of this family group.
Nancy J. (abt 1816 – 6 May 1893) never married. Her will names her sister Rebecca and her brother Robert along with several of her nieces and nephews. A scan of the original and a transcript is provided.
William Beatty (abt 1818 – 1 Jul 1865) m. Sarah Lewis (abt 1831 – 19 Apr 1904) no children.
Rebecca – addressed in previous posts
John James (Sep 1826 – 2 Apr 1906) m. Letitia H. Smith (16 Jan 1831 – 6 Jan 1896) John and family removed to Clay County, Kansas, after the Civil War, where he remained for the rest of his life. John and Letitia are buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Clay Center, Clay, Kansas.

I have provided family group sheets for Robert and John James. Brothers William and John James both served in the Civil War.

A note about the Beatty line. There is an excellent source of information on Rootsweb (and now on Ancestry) called the Beatty 2000 project. This follows the lines of multiple Beatty families and attempts to connect them by documentation and now by DNA. This particular line is Lineage #84. The other Beatty line in Indiana and Armstrong counties is Lineage #82. It is believed that Andrew is the son of the John Beatty (#82) which leads that line, but no documentation has been found. DNA research is now being conducted.

My next post will be Beatty tombstone photos and then I will move on to the Shaffer line. Peter Shaffer was the husband of Nancy M.J. Beatty.

1. Family pages only; photocopy held by, n.d; Rootsweb.ancestry (http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com : accessed 20 Feb 2010), Robert Beatty Family Bible.
2. The Land (Gaylord, Minnesota: n.p., Dec 1986), Beatty Cemetery, Sibley County, Minn. History Of Pioneer Family Chronicled At Rural Gravesite.
3. 1830 U.S. census, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Armstrong Twp., p. 197, line 4, Andrew Beatty; digital images, Ancesty (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Dec 2011); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M19, roll 152.
4. 1840 U.S. census, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Armstrong Twp., p. 104, line 1, Andrew Beatty; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Dec 2011); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M704, roll 463.
5. 1850 U.S. census, Indiana, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Washington Twp., p. 220B, dwelling 140, family 140, Andrew Baty; digital images, Ancestry (http//www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 Dec 2011); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll 785.
6. 1860 U.S. census, Indiana, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Washington Twp., p. 353, dwelling 2038, family 2010, Andrew Beatty; digital images, Ancestry (htt://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Dec 2011); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll 1117.
7. 1870 U.S. Census Mortality Schedule of Pennsylvania, Armstrong County, Plumcreek Twp., p. 1, line 5, Andrew Beatty, age 95, Oct, paralysis; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Dec 2011); citing National Archives and Records Administration Archive Collection M1838; Archive Roll Number 5.
8. Armstrong, Pennsylvania, 5: 144, Estate 5250, Nancy Beatty, 1 Jun 1893.
9. Family pages only; photocopy held by, n.d; Rootsweb.ancestry (http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com : accessed 20 Feb 2010), Robert Beatty Family Bible.
10. Treasures of the Past, “Plumcreek Presbyterian Church Baptism Records,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 6 Jun 2011), Beatty, Charlotte, baptized 1 Jul 1850.