Mormons of Note
The above photo was taken at the Carson City, Nevada Cemetery on Memorial Day, 1898. It was shared with the PCGS by Scott Benton Wood of New Albany, Indiana, a descendant of Orrin. Along with the photo was a letter written by Orrin Beckstead, dated April 9, 1898, and information regarding our subject's heritage.
Scott reports, "The following is from a letter to me from my aunt, based on a letter from Annie Laura Beckstead, dated April, 1899."
"Orrin Beckstead married Jane Roberts (1849-1943) and had four (or five) children, including William, Frank, Emma, Joseph Mortimer and my great grandmother Annie Laura Beckstead. Annie Laura married John Hamilton Wood, Jr., and had a son, John Orrin Wood, my grandfather.
The listing of privates in Co. A., of the Mormon Battalion mentions a Gordon S. Beckstead. He was Orrin's cousin, whose father was Alexander Beckstead. Orrin Beckstead had a brother, Sydney, who died on the plains between Council Bluffs and Utah, leaving a family of girls."