Grand Father of Olan E. Beck

Thomas was born in Fulton, Itawamba Co., Miss. in July of 1843. He married Mary Ella Beene of Fulton in 1865 after the War between the States.  Thomas served in the Confederacy during the War. (see the Civil War Section).  Thomas, and Ella lived Northwest of Fulton and just north of Mantachie.  Their land had belonged to the Chickasaw Indians only 30 years earlier.  Thomas was a Farmer and Methodist Episcopal Minister as was his father William and his brother, William Isaac. Included in the following pages are copies of some of the Deeds belonging to Thomas, including one in which Thomas sold all his land and all his possessions to his wife Ella.  The only explanation for this, is that he may have been in financial trouble and this would prevent the bank from taking away his farm. Thomas was an extensive land owner, had share croppers and paid help. It was said he would threaten lazy farm hands with a pitchfork.  He would ring a large cast iron bell to signal lunch time and quitting time.

 Thomas was continually buying and selling land so I could imagine how he could get into financial difficulty.  Some other land dealings found were the following:

Mar 5, 1880 -  T.M. Beck to W.A. Tyner
Feb 28,1882 -  T.M. Beck to Leonidas C. Prather
Dec 30,1881 -  T.M. Beck to B. Fortner
Dec 22,1885 -  Fannie E. Bryan to T.M. Beck

 There are many records of dealings between Thomas Beck and Leonidas Prather which is a possibility for naming one of his sons, Lee Prather. They were obviously friends and possibly some relation to the family.

 Thomas and Ella Beck later moved to Ben Lomond in Sevier County, Ark.  William Isaac,(Tom's brother) had already moved there in 1880 along with a lot of other Itawamba County residents who evidently had received word from their friends in Arkansas of Greener pastures.

 All their Children were born in Mississippi and moved with them to Arkansas.  Russell 0. Beck was named after Mary Ella's father,  Russell 0. Beene.   Lee Prather Beck was named after Leonidas C. Prather, good friend and neighbor of Tom & Ella. Tom and Ella had another son, Sugar Augustus (Gus) Beck who was in charge of relay station horses.  He would take them to the Cossatott River just east of Ben Lomond, Ar. to water them and wash them down.

 In 1910/1911, Tom’s wife, Mary Ella became ill with Consumption and was later determined to move to New Mexico for a drier climate in hopes it would help with her illness.  They moved in the summer of 1911 along with five of their children and grand children including Lee Prather Beck and his wife Kate with their two children, Joyce (age 3) and Olan (age 6 months). On January 13, 1912, Mary Ella Passed away.

 Thomas and Mary Ella had a two other children but they died young or at birth