Beames family of Bamber

 

This family lived in Bamber in the 1880s. William Beames and his wife, Jane Wolcott of Eatontown, came to Bamber prior to 1870.  He was employed there by William Hurry.  Beames owned a store, the room above which was used as the schoolhouse for a time.  He was also station master and postmaster.

            Beames had six children, all born at Bamber, before leaving for Asbury Park in 1886.   One was William, born in 1870; another was Elizabeth Beames, who married a man named Walton in 1897.[i]

            An ad in the Courier from 1870 for the Toms River nursery on Grand Avenue carries the names of its proprietors, William J. Griffin and William Beames.

            The Dec 12, 1873 New Jersey Courier newspaper contains an ad for Beame’ store: “NOTICE: The subscriber having made arrangements with Myron S. Gould and William Beames, by which they take and manage the store at Bamber belonging to him, this is to give notice that the business will be conducted upon a cash basis, both as to sales and purchases. The subscriber further gives notice that no person is, or will be authorized to incur any liability or indebtedness for or on his account, without first obtaining from him authority to do in writing.  WILLIAM HURRY Bamber, Nov 10, 1873.”

            This family appears on the 1880 Census in Lacey Township, presumably at Bamber if his daughter is to be believed. At that time William was 39, his wife 38. In the home at that time was an 8 year old son, William; a 7 year old daughter, Elizabeth; a 5 year old daughter, Julia; a 4 year old son, Albert; and a 2 year old daughter, Clara A.[ii] The Beames were living in the same home as William Hurry, for whom Beames is said to have worked.

            In 1885, the family appears on the state census for Lacey Township.  William Beames was one of the men in the search party after the notorious Rockwell murder in 1884. It was he and Harvey Craft who stayed with the body after its discovery so Zebulon Britton could go to Toms River to notify the authorities, according to the Courier of 28 Jan 1885.

            The family appears on the 1895 state census in Ocean Township, Monmouth Co.  Children Clara and Jennie D. lived with him and his wife. According to that census, Williams was ‘foreign born’.  Two people, Edward Tedd and James McDowell, were also living with the family in 1895.

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[i] Letter from Elizabeth Beames Walton to Henry Charlton Beck, published in the Ocean County Sun, 12/8/1964.  Clipping of article on file at Ocean County Historical Society, Lacey Twp vertical file.

[ii] 1880 Federal Census, Lacey Township, Ocean County, New Jersey