Springfield-Greene
County LibraryEarly and Recent History and Genealogical Records
of Many of the Representative Citizens
EDWARD L. BEAL, M. D. For a period of a quarter of a century the name of Dr. Edward L. Beal has been a household word in the western part of Greene county, where he has engaged in the general practice of medicine, maintaining his home in Republic. His marked success in the world's affairs has been achieved by close attention to business, and by an honorable and consistent course he has risen to a worthy position among the enterprising men of the locality of which he is a native and where his life has been spent. It is plain record, rendered remarkable by no strange or mysterious adventure, no wonderful or lucky accident and tragic situation, no epic breadth of expedients. For Doctor Beal is one of those estimable character whose integrity and strong personality necessarily force them into an admirable notoriety, which their modesty never seeks, who command the respect of their contemporaries and their posterity and leave the impress of their individuality upon the age in which they live.
Doctor Beal was born in Greene county, Missouri, on a farm, January 16, 1864, and is a scion of one of the oldest families of the county, where Daniel Beal, the paternal grandfather settled among the early pioneers, coming here from Kentucky, and entered land from the government which he cleared and improved and on which he established the future home of the family, and on this farm occurred the birth of our subject's father, George T. Beal, in 1832, and here he grew to manhood, and in early life purchased a farm near Springfield where he engaged in farming until 1855 when he made the long overland journey to California, and prospected for gold for two years after which he returned home and spent the rest of his life in general farming and stock raising in this county. During the Civil war he was a soldier in the Union army, a member of the Home Guards, rose to the rank of captain, commanding a company in the Marmaduke raid upon Springfield. After the war he resumed farming which he continued with gratifying results until 1896 when he retired from active life and moved to Republic where he resided until his death in 1910. He married Ann Eliza Rountree, who was born in Greene county, Missouri on February 19, 1841, and grew to womanhood and has always resided. She is a daughter of Junius and Martha J. (Miller) Rountree. She still lives in Republic, and has attained the advanced age of seventy-three years. To these parents six children were born, four sons and two daughters, namely: Dr. Edward L., of this sketch; Marshall F. died at the age of forty-one years, in 1908, after a successful career as contractor and builder; J. Solon, born in 1870, who is a contractor at Seattle, Washington, is married and has two children; Carrie M. died in 1896 at the age of eighteen years; Nettie married George Decker, an electrical engineer; they reside in Kellogg, Idaho, and have one son. Thomas M. died in infancy.
Doctor Beal grew to manhood on the old homestead and there he found plenty of hard work to do when a boy, being the oldest child. He received his early education in the public schools of his home district in Ozark College at Greenfield, and Morrisville College, in Polk county. He began his preparation for a physician when but a boy, and he received his medical education in the Missouri Medical College at St. Louis, and in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he made a brilliant record, taking the highest honors of a class of one hundred and eighty-eight graduates, an honor which has never been attained by a student from the state of Missouri in that college, before or since, and was graduated from that historic institution on April 8, 1888. Soon thereafter he returned to Greene county and began the practice of his profession and since March 16, 1889 he has maintained his office at Republic, and has built up a very large and lucrative practice, and has long ranked among the leading medical men of the county. He was associated with the late Dr. J. E. Tefft, the eminent surgeon of Springfield, for about five years.
Doctor Beal has been very successful in a financial way, and he is owner of a finely improved and valuable apple orchard of eighty-two acres, which is one of the best orchards in this section of the country, and he also owns thirty acres which are set in strawberries, and which also bring in a handsome annual income.
Doctor Beal is a Democrat politically, and while he has always been ready with his support in all measures looking to the general good of his community in any way, he has never sought public office. He attends the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a member of the county, state and national medical Societies, and fraternally belongs to the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Republic, also No. 471 Republic Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Maccabees and Woodmen of the World.
Doctor Beal was married March 30, 1889, to Mary E. Landers, who was born July 24, 1867, in Dade county, Missouri. She received a good education in the public schools. She is a daughter of John N. and Ellen J. (Wilson) Landers. Mr. Landers was a native of Missouri and he devoted his active life to farming and was a banker and merchant at Dadesville, where he died June, 1909. The mother died August 29, 1908.
The union of Doctor Beal and wife has been without issue but they have an adopted son, Luther Beal, who was born on January 30, 1894. He has been given good educational advantages, and he has a decided taste for horticulture. The Doctor is a gentleman whom everybody respects and trusts, his long record in his home community being above all idle cavil and his success in life is well deserved.
[764-766]
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y
Table of Contents | Keyword Search | Greene County History Home | Local History Home