California Biographies, San Joaquin Valley

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

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

Source:
History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin 
Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from 
its earliest settlement to the present time.
Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M.
The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905
Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176


  J. A. BEALL. Twenty-three years ago Mr. Beall came to California. During these years he has 
steadily worked his way upward from the very bottom until he is now the owner of one of the 
finest properties in Fresno county. His home, which is known as the "Grant House," is one of 
the best residences in the valley, and since it came into the possession of the present owner 
the ranch has been greatly improved and placed under a high state of cultivation. All this has 
been accomplished as the direct result of his own efforts, as Mr. Beall has made his own way in 
the world since leaving home. A native of Indiana, he was born in Ripley county, Ma)' 16, 1861, a 
son of John and Elizabeth H. (Hancock) Beall. The father was also a native of Ripley county, 
where he followed agricultural pursuits all his life. His wife is still living and makes her home in 
the county where she was born. By her marriage she became the mother of eleven children. 

J. A. Beall, on reaching manhood, engaged in farming in his native county until 1882, when he 
came to California. Locating near Fresno, he continued his farming operations for ten years, 
when he purchased land in the Laguna de Tache grant, where he resided until 1901. In that year 
he came into possession of the old Grant House and one hundred and forty acres of land. This 
is located two miles west of Laton, and is one of the most valuable ranches in the county. Mr. 
Beall makes a specialty of raising full-blooded Percheron and Norman horses, and has the finest 
stud in this section of the state. He is also extensively interested in cattle raising, having some 
two thousand head which he grazes in the Riverdale district, where he leases thirteen 
thousand acres of land. 

In Fresno county the marriage of Mr. Beall and Miss Jennie E. Parks was solemnized, November 
10, 1889, and this union has been blessed by the birth of one child. Zona May. Fraternally Mr. 
Beall is a member of the Woodmen of the World, and in politics votes for the candidates of the 
Democratic party. While he has never cared to take a leading part in public affairs, he is 
nevertheless public-spirited and is ever ready to support any movement deemed of value to 
the county. Mr. Beall has improved his opportunities, and although still a young man, has 
accumulated a handsome competence. Both' he and his wife are highly respected and have a 
host of friends.