JOHN JOSEPH BEIRD

John Joseph Beird was born August 7, 1856 in Canada to David and Margaret Owens Beird. John came to Michigan from Canada in 1878 with his parents. John married Ella J. Wilmer in 1884. Ella's father was Fredrick Wilmer.

John and Ella had the following child:

1. Roy Frederick Beird was born December 11, 1892 in Saginaw, Saginaw County, Michigan.

John married for a second time to Laura Westcott on May 3, 1905. Laura was born 1870 in England and her parents were John and Mary Burgess Westcott.

John and Laura had the following child:

2. Owen E. Beird was born October 9, 1906. Owen married Donella Henry. In 1944, Owen started his own insurance company known as O.E. Beird and Associates in Saginaw, Michigan. Owen served on the Hemmeter School Board, Saginaw Township Zoning Board, State Street Methodist Church Board and its choir. He died on August 28, 1977.

In 1896, John J. owned and operated a 40 acre farm on the SW corner of Section 13 in Lakefield Township at the intersection of Lakefield and Chapin Roads. His farm had plenty of good gravel on it, which, was used for the roads of Lakefield Township. His neighbors were: Thomas Beird, Robert Beird, Joseph Webb, H.P. Smith, William House, Fred Cody, John Fillepeck and Frank Levi.

John served on the following Lakefield Township offices:

1. Elected to the Board of Review for two years on April 3, 1893.

2 Elected as Justice of the Peace on April 4, 1898.

Laura died of cancer on July 26, 1909 in Lakefield Township.

John lived in Lakefield Township until 1943 when he moved to Saginaw with his son, Owen Beird.

John died April 26, 1944 in Saginaw, Saginaw County, Michigan. John and Laura Beird are both buried in Lakefield Township Cemetery.

SOURCES: Lakefield Township Records; 1896 Lakefield Township Plat Maps; 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 United States Census; Roy Beird birth record; Owen E. Beird birth and death record; John J. Beird death record and obituary; Della Miller McKay's obituary collection; Owen Beird obituary and Laura Westcott Beird death record; Myron Gulick's Book “Lest We Forget”.