The name Beckwith is pure old English meaning "close to the stream" or "near the brook", and we are sure that the first Beckwith ever born lived near a stream where he could fish and hunt along its wooded shores.  We believe the Beckwiths were Anglos and Saxons back to the year one; some research has indicated that the name is Norman French in origin.

Somewhere along the line, the Beckwiths have inherited a passion for gambling that breaks out, in various forms, in almost every branch of them.  In fact, it has been noted that the Beckwith type, in looks and character, is extremely persistent and hard to down.  They are very blonde, with high-templed, square-jawed faces and rather small, regular features.  Good looking people and good feeling, too: we never knew any Beckwiths who suffered from a lack of self-esteem. And this is fortunate, we suppose, for while many of them were and are very good citizens, we venture to say that they and their descendants have furnished bigger and better scandals than any other family, as a whole, in the county.  No matter what happened, however, they all went calmly on with life, upheld by the knowledge that, after all, they were of the Beckwith blood - very puzzling and irritating to some of their neighbors.

Spouse: James Currey
Son of: Matthew Curry & Catherine Fleming
b: May 14, 1814 Huntingdon Co, PA
d: Mar 7-8, 1902 near LaHarpe,
Hancock Co, IL
burial: Webster Cemetery, Webster,
Hancock Co, IL

James used the spelling Currey, unlike most (if not all) of his extended family members.

The date of death inscribed on James' tombstone is March 8, 1902.  Two obituaries stated he died on March 7.  March 7 was also the date published in Foote's Fountain Green Almanac, a generally accurate source.

Marriage Documents  (71k, 91k)
Shared tombstone and obituaries
 

Spouse: Marinda Salome Hadley
Dau. of: Jesse Hadley & Lucinda Lawrence
b: Sep 22, 1829 Centreville, Allegany Co, NY
d: Dec 26, 1898
burial: Webster Cemetery, Webster,
Hancock Co, IL

*The Beckwith family Bible entry shows that Norman Eddy was born in McDonough, Chenango Co, NY; his obituary lists Pharsalia, Chenango Co, NY.
 

Spouse: George Alba
Son of:
b: abt 1828 Ohio
d: aft June 1880
burial:

From the Beckwith Family History:

Emily married a character whom we remember just by the name Old Alby.  He was older than Emily and his only claims to distinction were a huge pack of hunting hounds and an everlasting fondness for eggs, "Cook 'em just any way.  I can harden 'em with butter or soften 'em with butter".

They seemed to have had no home but a tent, and why pretty, pleasant, intelligent Emily ever married him is a family mystery.

They had one child, a boy, who died at an early age.

Marriage Documents  (67k, 60k)
Emily's tombstone
James (Alba) Currey's tombstone
 

In 1860 George Alba (32, born in Ohio) was living in Buchanan County, Iowa, with wife Mary A. (20, born in "C. East"), and a baby girl, Malissa (1, born in Illinois).  He was a basket maker, owned no real estate and his personal property was said to be worth $35.00.  George and Mary evidently soon had another baby, Jeremiah, because in 1870, Jeremiah Alba (10, born in Illinois) and was living with George.  We do not know what became of Mary and Malissa.

At the time of the 1870 census, George (42, born in Ohio) was still making baskets.  He and Jeremiah were enumerated in Hancock County, in the dwelling immediately following that of Emily and her mother, Elizabeth.

George and Emily first applied for a marriage license in 1872, but maybe Emily was hoping for a husband with better prospects, someone with more to offer than a pack of hunting dogs and a tent, because they did not marry at that time.

Whatever the reason for the delay, they applied again for a license and married in 1876.  Their son, James (called Jimmie), was born about Feb. 1, 1878, and Emily died on the 21st; she was just 39 years old.

According to research by Naomi Ericson, letters of administration for the estate of Emily C. Alba were issued March 13, 1878, with George Alba named as executor.  Then sometime during 1878, Betsy and James Currey (Emily's sister and brother-in-law) obtained guardianship of Emily and George's son.  On the 1880 Census, little James Alba is listed as a nephew in their household.  They subsequently adopted him.

By June of 1880 George and Jeremiah were in Mission Township, Neosho County, Kansas. George (53, widower, born in Ohio, illiterate) and Jeremiah (19, single, born in Illinois, illiterate) were both making baskets for a living.  George probably never saw Jimmie again.

On October 3, 1881, more letters of administration were issued, this time naming Norman Eddy Beckwith executor of Emily's estate.

It is curious that when Jimmie died from a fever in 1890, at the tender age of 12, Betsy and James chose to bury him in the Webster Cemetery, rather than with his mother and grandmother in the Willis Cemetery.  Moreover, his tombstone reads "James, Son of James & Betsy Currey". With that inscription, they seemingly wiped away the connection between Jimmie and his father and Emily, Betsy's own sister, the woman who probably died as a result of his birth.