Elias B. Beighle

CALVIN SPENCE BEIGHLE

With the development of Ward county Calvin Spence Beighle, now a retired farmer living in Sawyer, has been closely associated. He was born in Ford county, Illinois, December 5. 1871, a son of Elias B. and Catherine (Wallace) Beighle. The father's birth occurred in Butler county, Pennsylvania, in 1836 and there he was reared and educated, removing to Adams county, Ohio, in 1851, making the trip westward by boat on the Ohio river. He engaged in farming near the town of Tranquility for eleven years, or until 1862, when, in response to the country's call for troops, he enlisted as a member of Company D, Second Ohio Heavy Artillery, with which be served for two and a half years. He was promoted successively to the rank of corporal, sergeant and first sergeant and he was on active duty in Tennessee, guarding the mountain passes until honorably discharged in 1865. He then returned to Adams county, Ohio, and in 1869 removed to Ford county, Illinois, where he continuously engaged in farming until 1904, when he retired from business life and took up his abode in Roberts, where he passed away in 1909. At different times he held local offices in his township, was also connected with the school board and was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. His wife was born in Adams county, Ohio, near Tranquility, in 1842, was reared and educated there and passed away on the old homestead farm in Illinois in 1883.
Calvin S. Beighle spent bis youthful days under the parental roof and supplemented his district school training by study in Grand Prairie Seminary at Onarga, Illinois. In early manhood he taught school in his native county for five years and in 1900 he arrived in Ward county, North Dakota, taking up a homestead on section 27. Willis township, near Sawyer. He was accompanied by his two brothers and a sister, Miss Turie Beighle, and all took up homesteads. They were the first settlers in their part of Ward county who were actual farmers, their neighbors all being ranchmen. Calvin S. Beighle proved up on his property in 1901 and returned to Roberts, Illinois, where he engaged in the farm implement business until 1906. He then again located on his homestead, which he further cultivated and improved until 1912, when he retired and went to Sawyer, renting his farms, comprising four hundred eighty acres. He is now secretory, treasurer and manager of the Farmers Elevator Company at Sawyer.
On the 2d of April, 1902, at Roberts, Illinois, Mr. Beighle was married to Miss Irene B. Bunker, who was born at that place and there obtained her education. She is a daughter of J. E. and Hannah M. (Bigelow) Bunker, natives of Maine. Her father was a sailor and served in the United States Navy during the Civil war. After the close of hostilities he went upon a whaling vessel and in that connection twice sailed around the world, but eventually established his home in Ford county, Illinois, where be engaged in farming. To Mr. and Mrs. Beighle has been born a daughter, Grace Louella, whose birth occurred in Roberts, Illinois, in 1912.
With community affairs Mr. Beighle has been closely associated. He was the organizer of Willis township, Ward county, and was the first chairman of the township board. He also served on the school board as long as he remained upon the farm and at the present time he is a member of the town and village boards and also of the school board of Sawyer. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and in 1914 he was its candidate for representative in the state legislature. He belongs to the Congregational church and is a member of its choir, possessing an excellent voice. He is rated as one of Sawyer's progressive citizens, enterprising and alert, and what he has accomplished entitles him to rank with the leading men of the town.

--NORTH DAKOTA HISTORY AND PEOPLE. OUTLINES OF AMERICAN HISTORY. VOLUME 2. 1917