Content Note: This post contains references to suicide, which may be distressing for some readers. If you or someone you know is struggling, support is available. For free and confidential help 24/7, you can contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 (U.S.).
For our first in-depth look at the founders of the Historical Society of Montgomery County, PA, we are keeping it in the family. There are three distinct family groupings within the founders: the Bean family, the Corson family, and the Holsteins. This brief overview highlights the common bonds held within these three families.
The Bean Family
Colonel Theodore Weber Bean
Born: May 14, 1833, in Norristown
Died: January 20, 1891, took own life in Norristown
Major William Heebner Bean
Born: July 25, 1861, in Norristown
Died: March 17, 1904, took own life in Omaha, Nebraska
Mary Bean Jones
Born: November 6, 1863, in Jeffersonville
Died: October 22, 1957, in Virginia due to complications following a broken hip
Colonel Theodore Weber Bean holds the distinction of serving as the first president of the Historical Society of Montgomery County, PA (HSMC). In honor of the Montgomery County Centennial, Colonel Bean published a two-volume history of the county in 1884. Within his acknowledgments, Colonel Bean thanked his daughter, Mary Bean Jones, for her notes and revisions. It is no surprise that she would later take on the titles of Board President and Director of HSMC. She also contributed a handful of articles to the society’s publications. Upon her death, The Bulletin published a note signifying the great loss to HSMC.
On January 20, 1891, just one month before Mary’s scheduled wedding date, Colonel Bean was found dead in his office, having taken his own life. Thirteen years later, on March 17, 1904, Major William Bean (Colonel Bean’s son and Mary’s brother) also committed suicide. Six months after the Spanish-American veterans’ death, his daughter, Emily Stinson Bean, was born. She did not live past infancy. There was a rumor that Major Bean was the one who gave his father the idea to establish a society focused on preserving the history of the county.
The Corson Family
Doctor Hiram Corson
Born: October 8, 1804, in Hickorytown
Died: March 4, 1896, in Conshohocken
Samuel Maulsby Corson
Born: 1838
Died: August 7, 1881, by attack of gastritis near Plymouth Meeting
The Corson family of the Plymouth Meeting/Whitemarsh area were well-known Quakers and abolitionists. After marrying Ann Jones, Doctor Hiram Corson settled near the rest of his family who all lived close to the Plymouth Friends Meeting. His brother, George Corson, owned what is now referred to as Abolition Hall. He used his home as a haven for enslaved Africans seeking freedom on the Underground Railroad. He passed down his abolitionist beliefs to his son, Samuel Maulsby Corson. Samuel served as the first secretary of the Historical Society of Montgomery County until his premature death in August 1881.
The Holsteins
Anna Morris Ellis Holstein
Born: April 9, 1824, in Muncy, Pennsylvania
Died: December 31, 1900, in Red Hill
Major William Hayman Holstein
Born: February 17, 1816, in Upper Merion
Died: August 9, 1894, near Bridgeport
Major William Hayman Holstein was a descendant of Matts Holstein, the patriarch of the Swedish Holsteins, who settled in and around Upper Merion. His wife, Anna Morris Ellis Holstein, wrote a book on the Holstein family genealogy. Most of the accomplishments achieved by either of the two Holsteins could be contributed to the other. Whether it was tending to the sick and wounded on Civil War battlefields or working towards saving Washington’s Headquarters at Valley Forge, the two worked together. Just as they did with the mission of preservation and education at the Historical Society of Montgomery County, PA.
caption to William H. Bean’s weddng might add something.
“Major William Heebner Bean on his wedding day, from the archives at HSMC”
The soldier at the upper left is Jack Pershing, Bean’s classmate at West Point.
In the last comment Pershing is in the upper right (sorry)
(Brev’t) “Colonel Bean published a two-volume history of the county in 1884.”
The History of Montgomery County was originally published in one volume by Everts & Peck of Philadelphia.
I have a copy: 1,197 pages plus Appendix and an Index, leather bound.