Nathaniel Beckwith, son of Samuel Beckwith and Anna Ransom, was born on October 13, 1785, in East Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut. He was one of nineteen children born to his parents. Nathaniel’s siblings included George Beckwith, Ruth Beckwith (married to Reverend John R. Clark), and Ann Beckwith (married to Alexander McIntyre).
Nathaniel married Minerva Nye of Pittsford, New York. To their union were born six children. Nathaniel later married Sophia Beschard of Lima, New York, presumably between 1821 and 1827. They were the parents of three children.
Nathaniel was the senior warden of the Mount Moriah Masonic Lodge in Palmyra. Historian Thomas Cook noted, “Few of the early families to make a home or homes in this village were more closely connected with the commercial and social life here than that of the Beckwiths.”
Nathaniel was listed in the 1810 US Federal Census as having a household of three males under age 10, one male between the ages of 26-44, two females under age 10, one female age 10-15, and one female 26-44. There were eight people living in Nathaniel’s household in 1810.
In 1812, he moved to Palmyra with his brother George. They opened a carpet and mercantile business known as N. H. & G. Beckwith.[1] On September 7, 1814, Nathaniel received pay for his service as a lieutenant in the War of 1812.[2] Between 1815 and 1828, Nathaniel served the village of Palmyra as an overseer of highways (1823), commissioner of highways (1828), assessor (1819-1822, 1825-1826), sealer of weights and measures (1818), and overseer of the poor (1815).
In 1816, Nathaniel was granted a deed from William Cuyler.[3] He was granted two deeds in 1817—one from Hubbard Hall, and the other from John Russell. [4] He also paid a highway tax in 1817.[5] In 1818, Nathaniel was granted a deed from Margaret Smith,[6] and in 1819, a deed from George Beckwith.[7]
Nathaniel was listed in the 1820 US Federal Census of Palmyra as having a household of one male under age 10, one male age 18-26, one male age 26-45, one female under age 10, and one female age 16-26.
On March 17, 1821, Nathaniel was named a captain in the 39th Regiment of Infantry in Ontario County. Other officers included Thomas Rogers II (lieutenant colonel), George Beckwith (captain), Alexander McIntyre (surgeon’s mate), and Durfee Chase (ensign).[8] On April 6, 1821, Nathaniel’s first wife, Minerva Nye Beckwith, died at age twenty-four.
In 1822, Nathaniel was granted a deed from his brother George Beckwith.[9] On September 29, 1823, Nathaniel was appointed lieutenant colonel in the 39th Infantry Regiment in the 22nd Brigade in the 24th Division of the New York Militia.[10]
On February 4, 1828, Nathaniel was elected clerk and trustee of the Palmyra Village at the first village election. On June 18, 1830, he was elected a director of Wayne County Bank, along with Pliny Sexton and Thomas Rogers II.[11]
Lawsuit between Nathaniel Beckwith and E. B. Grandin
During the printing of the Book of Mormon, Luther Howard had a bindery on the second floor of the Grandin Building. After the Book of Mormon was printed, Howard was responsible for folding forms, sewing them into signatures, and binding them in hard-cover volumes. Luther dissolved his partnership with Grandin and moved his bindery to the third story of the Beckwith and Anderson’s Brick Block, located over what was later known as the Beckwith & Leech Store.
Howard filed for bankruptcy in the summer of 1831. In July 1831, Grandin purchased binding equipment along with stacks of Book of Mormon signatures from Luther Howard. This is where the Beckwiths come in, especially Nathaniel. On December 4, 1830, E. B. Grandin wrote, “Attended a suit between Beckwith N. H. and myself. B. Plaintiff was served me on a note signed by L. Howard for about $2.98. I had set off the Book of Mormon binding, a note I bought of Ed. L. Townsend and one I bought of Tucker and Lathrop—both amounting to about eighty-five dollars. Binding worth seventy dollars.”[12] Eleven days later, on December 15, 1831, the following was recorded: “Attended to business commenced yesterday . . . brought in a judgment for Nathaniel Beckwith of $180 allowed me.”[13]
On August 17, 1831, E. B. Grandin wrote in his diary:
In bookstore most the day. Made a tender in specie to Mr. Nat. Beckwith of $150 as the balance due him on a note given to him by L. Howard against him as collateral security for the payment of a note which said Beckwith endorsed for Howard. A suit has commenced against me for the amount of the note, and the tender was the balance due Beckwith adding [Hiram] Jerome’s (his lawyers) cost up to this date after dictating my legal offsets—he did not accept the tender.[14]
A month later, on October 3, 1831, the following was recorded: “Went to Lyons to attend a suit brought against me by N. H. Beckwith for a note given to L. Howard—had offsetting against note which Beckwith would not allow. Stayed in Lyons till Friday noon when suit came on and it was referred by the judge to three men—arrived at home Friday evening.”[15]
Nathaniel signed the “Testimony of 51 Neighbors,” on December 4, 1833, later printed in Mormonism Unvailed.[16] On April 25, 1834, Nathaniel Beckwith died in Palmyra at age forty-seven. He was buried in the Palmyra City Cemetery.
Nathaniel Beckwith’s Timeline
October 13, 1785: Born in East Haddam, Middlesex County, Connecticut, to Samuel Beckwith and Anna Ransom.
1810: Listed in the US Federal Census as residing in a household of eight people.
1812: Moves to Palmyra, New York, with his brother George. They open a carpet and mercantile business known as N. H. & G. Beckwith.
September 7, 1814: Receives pay for his service as a lieutenant in the War of 1812.
1815-1828: Holds various civic roles in Palmyra, including overseer of the poor (1815), sealer of weights and measures (1818), assessor (1819-1822, 1825-1826), and commissioner of highways (1828).
1816-1819: Acquires multiple land deeds in Palmyra.
March 17, 1821: Named a captain in the 39th Regiment of Infantry in Ontario County.
April 6, 1821: Nathaniel’s first wife, Minerva Nye Beckwith, passes away.
1822: Acquires a deed from his brother George Beckwith.
February 4, 1828: Elected clerk and trustee of the Palmyra Village at the first village election.
June 18, 1830: Elected a director of the Wayne County Bank.
December 4, 1833: Signs the “Testimony of 51 Neighbors” against Joseph Smith, later printed in Mormonism Unvailed.
April 25, 1834: Nathaniel Beckwith passes away in Palmyra, New York.
Post-1834: Buried in the Palmyra City Cemetery.
[1] Troskosky, Palmyra: A Bicentennial, p. 79.
[2] New York, War of 1812, Payroll Abstracts for New York State Militia.
[3] Ontario County, NY Grantee Deed Index, 1789–1845.
[4] Ontario County, NY Grantee Deed Index, 1789–1845.
[5] New York Highway Tax Record.
[6] Ontario County, NY Grantee Deed Index, 1789–1845.
[7] Ontario County, NY Grantee Deed Index, 1789–1845.
[8] Lewis H. Clark, Military History of Wayne County, New York: The County in the Civil War (Sodus, NY: Lewis H. Clark, Hulett & Gaylord), p. 165.
[9] Ontario County, NY Grantee Deed Index, 1789–1845.
[10] The New York Militia Services. State of New York.
[11] Geneva Gazette, and Mercantile Advertiser, June 23, 1830, p. 2.
[12] E. B. Grandin Diary, 1831–1841.
[13] E. B. Grandin Diary, 1831–1841.
[14] E. B. Grandin Diary, 1831–1841.
[15] E. B. Grandin Diary, 1831–1841.
[16] Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, pp. 366–367.