From Biographical Memoirs of Huntington County, 1901, pages 659-663

  The Beard family have truly done its share in the development of Huntington county, several of
  its members having been prominently identified with every movement tending to advance the
  material and moral growth of the community, and to one branch of which we desire to briefly
  call the attention of the reader, namely, that branch which is to-day represented by the
  gentleman whose name stands at the head of the present article--John W. Beard, of Warren.
  Joshua Beard, the father of the above named gentleman, was born at Gettysburg, Preble
  county, Ohio, on the 21st of June in the year 1824, and died at the home of this son, east of
  Warren, November 30, 1898. His parents, George M. and Rhoda (Galener), were married in
  Preble county, Ohio, June 19, 1815, and were both born in the state of Pennsylvania, though
  he was the son of a citizen of that state whose father had come from Germany, as did the
  greater part of the pioneers of that central state.

  George M. Beard was a soldier of the war of 1812, making the removal to the western state
  not long after the close of that memorable struggle. Hearing of the wonderful country of the
  Salamonie, he decided to make his home in the new country, and in 1838 brought his little
  family to the banks of that stream, entering land four miles southeast of Warren, where he
  made a permanent home, devoting the remainder of an active and industrious life to the
  making of a new farm by the exercise of those qualities that have characterized the pioneer in
  every country. Having arrived at nearly fourscore years, he passed from among men, being
  survived a few years by her whose life had been his solace and comfort, her own age having
  surpassed that of her companion. They were the parents of seven sons, of whom Andrew was
  the eldest, and his life was passed almost entirely within the precincts of the township where
  he was reared, dying when about sixty-six years of age. Joseph died at fifty-five in Illinois,
  though the greater part of his life was also passed in Huntington county. George was a
  prosperous farmer of this community, and his life was ended when reaching about the same
  age as his father. He was a highly respected citizen, whose efforts tended to a better and more
  advanced civilization. Adam died in Salamonie when just past middle life. John, who resides in
  Jackson, Wells county, and Samuel, of Leavenworth, Kansas, are the only survivors. They
  were all well-to-do and respected men, not one of whom but added to the county's wealth and
  advancement, their lives displaying the truths of the home training that fidelity to purpose and
  persistency in one line of action which never fails in bringing its reward. None of them were
  consumed with that restless ambition that finds satisfaction only in the handling of other
  people's affairs, but were content to fill the humble niche nature had carved for them, making
  the most of their surroundings and doing by act and deed those many little unnoticed and
  unheralded transactions, the outcome of which is a more enlightened and educated civilization.

  The boyhood of Joshua was not unlike that of most of the companions of his youth, the
  arduous duties of the clearing of a new farm in the wilds demanding a large share of the
  surplus energy, much of his greatest enjoyment being found in the company of other
  interesting young people, among others being a young girl by the name of Susan Dalrymple,
  whose parents, John and Judith (Williams) Dalrymple, were also among those who had come
  from Preble county about the same time as her own family, and to whom, at the age of
  eighteen and he twenty-five, she was married. Like most of the other young people who were
  starting for themselves, they began their career in the woods on a tract of sixty acres, upon
  which he had erected a round-log house, the accessories being only such as were generally
  found in the primitive homes of that time, the necessities only being found and the luxuries not
  cared or sought for. In time the efforts of years resulted in the acquiring of a valuable farm and
  comfortable home where contentment reigned, the desire for variety and change having been
  overcome by the constant demands of the growing family, so that the limits of the small farm
  afforded ample scope for the exercise of the functions that had become toned down by the the
  advancing years. Having accumulated an easy competence, they retired to Warren, where his
  companion was called from him at the age of sixty-three, though he later returned to the farm,
  the evening of life being passed as a member of his son's family, where he enjoyed seeing
  others reaping some benefit from the results of his own years of toil, and, when past eighty
  years of age, gave answer to the summons to rejoin her who had gone before, and to whom he
  had often expressed a desire to be reunited. He was reared in and adhered to the faith of the
  Democratic party, believing that adherance to its teachings carried the greatest assurance of
  the perpetuity of those declarations of independence which had been so dear to the hearts of
  his forefathers. While he evinced the deepest interest in the institutions of our country, he
  never aspired to public recognition, being content to devote an earnest life to the demands of
  home and family, worshiping God according to the dictates of his own conscience, the training
  of youth and the reasoning of age, seconded by the ablest arguments ever supporting any
  religious belief, leading him into the folds of the Christian church.

  Four children were the result of the marriage: John W.; Isaac F., of Huntington, and of whom
  further mention is found in this volume; Sarah Jane, wife of John Stevens, of Preble county,
  Ohio, but who is recalled by many who knew her here as a young girl; and Alfred H., who
  resides on the old homestead. John William Beard was born in the old log house, already
  mentioned, on the 10th of September, 1849. The schools of those days, while not held in
  buildings so convenient as those of to-day, were in many instances not inferior in the work
  done and sometimes superior to their modern successors in the quality and ability of the
  teachers, one of those who rendered John much help being Theodore Geutillias, who instilled
  into the youthful brain a sense of the responsibility of life, and gave the boys and girls
  something of a definite conception of the duties they would soon be called upon to assume. He
  aroused in this particular boy a desire for further learning, and it was largely through his efforts
  that he was enabled to take a course in the Huntington normal and prepared himself to teach,
  which he did for some five or six terms during the winter season, the summers being devoted
  to farming. He took an active part in the work of education in the county, the teachers'
  institutes especially affording him a field of extending not only his acquaintance among
  teachers, but gave him the opportunity to bring his own education up to a higher level, so that
  his efficiency was greatly enhanced as a teacher, and not only more valuable work resulted
  but greater satisfaction was derived to himself. Several of his pupils became teachers, his
  efforts being constantly exercised to arouse a new ambition in the minds of those who showed
  some desire to achieve something more than the average. During the time of his teaching the
  serrenity of the minds of several of the young men of the township was somewhat disturbed by
  the advent into their midst of another Preble county product,--a charming young lady,--Miss
  Lavina Coppock. Rivalry instantly developed, and for some time not only the surface but the
  depths beneath were considerably agitated, the commotion being quieted only when it was
  known that the prize was won by the young teacher, who secured her for his own on the 16th
  of September, 1875.

  Obtaining a run-down farm of eighty acres a mile or less distant from the homestead, he turned
  his attention more fully to agriculture, renovating the place by the installation of underground
  drainage, the adoption of a systematic and scientific method of procedure and strict attention
  to every detail. Getting this original farm into a desirable condition, he added more land until
  his farm contains two hundred and twenty-nine acres of well tilled and productive land in
  Jackson township, Wells county.

  He has recently erected a most desirable and convenient dwelling, which is a fitting climax to
  the many improvements already made, and proves to the traveler who passes that here is the
  result of the exercise of a reasonable amount of brains in the operation of an ordinary
  business. For several years he has made a specialty of breeding and growing thoroughbred
  short-horn cattle, strains of the famous Cruikshank families predominating, and a finely-bred
  Scotch bull standing at the head of the herd, which has attained a wide reputation for the
  excellence of the animals that go from it for breeding purposes. While he has made a success
  of the effort and has sold at good prices, he has not aspired to a record for fancy prices, rather
  taking greater satisfaction from the benefits derived to the community in general by the
  presence of the right line of stock to grade up the animals of the entire section of the county
  and state. He also deals in the established Shropshire sheep, and in addition to the breeding,
  usually feeds a couple of car-loads of stock for the market each year. The Wells county farm
  lies in the oil region, and now has some ten wells in operation. Removing to the village, he has
  recently erected a handsome residence, where the ordinary pleasure of life is enhanced by the
  frequent entertainment of their many friends.

  A Democrat in his affiliations, he has at times been selected to lead the local ticket, though the
  strength of the party is hardly such as to lead one to anticipate success at the polls, though
  vigor has ever been displayed in the contention and in the retention of the party organization,
  his own interest generally carrying him as a delegate to the various conventions of the party.
  Three daughters, Clara, Annie and Elise, the latter a high school student, are the product of
  the union above mentioned. The eldest is the wife of Lewis Colbert, an oil operator of Wells
  county, while Anna F. is the wife of David H. Weir, both being students of the State University
  and graduates of the normal school at Valparaiso; both are teachers, one teaching in
  Salamonie township, the other assistant principal in the Andrews high school.

  While Mr. Beard has adhered closely to his business interests, he has become identified with
  the Masonic fraternity, and with his estimable wife is a member of the Christian church.