Alameda County Biographies

HON. JAMES BEAZELL

Transcribed by Peggy Allen, April 24 2006

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 

	This well-known gentleman of Alameda County is a native of Pennsylvania.  Born in 
Westmoreland County, October 30, 1830, where he resided until he attained the age of twenty-one 
years.  He then came, via the Mississippi River, Gulf of Mexico, across Texas and Mexico, to 
California, arriving in San Francisco July 19, 1852; coming immediately to Mission San Jose, 
where he found employment for a short time at his trade of blacksmithing, and then went to 
Alvarado; and finally, in 1853, located in Centreville, where he carried on business until 
1862, when he moved to Washington Corners, and in August, 1868, transferred his business to 
the thriving town of Livermore; and in 1878, in connection with his brother, erected their 
present shop on Lizzie Street, where they transact a general blacksmithing business, under the 
firm name of Beazell Brothers.  In the fall of 1875 Mr. Beazell was called from his anvil by the 
voters of Alameda County to represent them in the State Senate, a position he was re-elected to 
in 1876, filling all the functions of that high office to the satisfaction of his constituents 
and honor to himself.  In January, 1871, our subject was united in marriage, in San Francisco, 
to Miss C. W. Veirs, a native of Ohio, by which union they have two children, Ella B. and 
Jessie M.

History of Alameda County, California�, Oakland, M.W. Wood Publ., 1883, p. 846-847

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

Hon. James Beazell, Joint Senator and hold-over for Alameda County, is a native of Pennsylvania 
and 46 years of age.  He came to California in July, 1852, and settled in Washington  Township, 
where he started the first blacksmith shop in Centreville.  He subsequently removed to Washington 
Corners, where he carried on business as a member of the manufacturing firm of Beazell, Crowell & 
Rix.  A few years since he established a branch of the business in the new town of Livermore, 
where he has since resided, gaining success in his business and the esteem of his neighbors. On 
the retirement of Mr. Neal from the Board of Supervisors, in 1874, Mr. Beazell was elected in his 
stead for Murray Township.  Having been elected State Senator in 1875, he resigned the position of 
Supervisor.  He is a married man and a Democrat in politics. 

Centennial Yearbook of Alameda County, California - Oakland, Calif., 1876 Page 565