Civil War diary of James Francis Beall

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diary - 1859

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Civil War diary of James Francis Beall

James Francis Beall

James Francis Beall (1833-1900) was a farmer both in Frederick and later Montgomery counties, Maryland during the Civil War. In addition he was a teacher at Locust Grove School in Urbana District. In later life he managed a store at Greenfield Mills along the Monocacy River. His diary during the war covers family matters, weather reports, crop conditions and occasionally Civil War news.

James was exempted from the draft in 1862, presumably because he was a teacher. His political affiliation during the war was pro south and he complained about the Federal troops who stole from the farmers on their way to Antietam - They certainly are the most wicked & meanest set of men in the civilised world. One of his brothers, L. Thomas Beall, and a brother-in-law, John Maxwell, joined the Confederate army. While he personally experienced the march across his land by troops crossing the Potomac into Maryland and toward Antietam and their return after the battles, he also followed the news of John Brown and the battles from Sumter to Richmond. The final note about the war is Apr. 14th 1865 President Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theater Washington D. C. Lee had surrendered to Grant on the 9th of April 1865.

James Francis Beall was the great grandson of James Beall (1728-1804), a sergeant in Colonel Thomas Hartley’s Regiment during the War of Independence (Records of Maryland troops during the Revolution). He was the eldest son of Emory Montgomery Beall and Margaret Piles Beall who farmed in Urbana District, Frederick County, Maryland. He had eight siblings, he married four times and had eleven children. His first wife Mollie is mentioned throughout the Civil War years of his diary.

Western Maryland Regional Library is most grateful to Janice Beall of Cumberland for sharing her great grandfather's diary with us.

Western Maryland Regional Library
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Hagerstown, Maryland 21740

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