MOSES S. BEECHER. Among the reputable business men of Peoria none have a better standing for their use of honorable business methods, their knowledge of that in which they deal, and their high principles, than the subject of this notice, who has a number of years been engaged ni the lumber trade, and whose portrait appears in our Album. He comes of the old Pilgrim stock, the paternal line being traced back to the days of the Puritan Fathers, and can proudly point to ancestors who have done the country good service in her times of peril, as well as in the quiet years when an honorable life was her chief need. 

Our subject is a native of New Haven, Conn., born December 1, 1813, to Alexander H. and Phebe (Weed) Beecher. The parental family included six children, four of whom are now living, he of whom we write being the eldest of these. His parents were natives of the same State as himself, his father being originally a comb-maker, but afterward a merchant. He died in 1886, and his good wife is still living. The son of whom we write was apprenticed to the carriage-making trade, which he followed altogether twenty-nine years. Of the union of our subject and his wife, which was celebrated June 13, 1865, three children have been born, namely: Mary F., Cornelius R. and Edith J. 

In the year 1860 Mr. Beecher came to Peoria, where he continued to work at his trade until 1877, becoming well known for thorough and reliable workmanship. During the year mentioned he removed to Harvey County, Kan., where he opened up a farm of three hundred and twenty acres, residing there nine years, after which he returned to Peoria and embarked in his present occupation. He is still now of the prominent stockholders in the Newton National Bank, at Newton, Kan. He is a member of the Masonic order, having attained the Thirty-second degree in Masonry. Politically, he is a Republican, and religiously, is a consistent member of the Congregational Church. 

The paternal grandfather of our subject, Moses Beecher, a native of Connecticut, became a sailor in early life, and during the Revolution did his country good services as Captain of a privateer. He was taken prisoner by Commodore Hardy, and after spending six months in captivity, was released on the coast near Halifax, placed on a barge and taken out to where the water was up to his neck, when he was told to make his way to land as best as he could. He was unable to swim, but he managed to get ashore, where he was fired at by the enemy, but escaped fatal injury and finally reached friends. 

On another occasion while pursuing his seafaring life he was taken prisoner, when the Island of Cuba was under an embargo, and spent several months in the notorious Moro Castle prison. He performed ninety-nine long voyages, braving the perils of the deep for more than half a century, sailing on nearly every sear under the sun, visiting many a foreign land, and establishing an enviable reputation as a sea captain and practical navigator. He entered into rest in 1857, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years, leaving a large family of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to cherish his memory. 

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