Henry Beard, One of First Blacks (and Union Veteran) in Sycamore-- Part 2

Continued from April 10, 2018.

Henry Beard was a member of the 105th Illinois Infantry Regiment.

He settled north of Sycamore, Illinois, in an area called the "North Woods" where he purchased five acres from local abolitionist David West. Later, he married Julia (Judy) Jones.  They built a 2-room home and raised 14 children.

Unable to read or write, he wanted his children to get an education so he sent their sons to the only school in the area, a one-room North Grove School where the boys learned to speak Swedish because most of the people in the area were Swedish and had built the school.

The children had to learn to speak Swedish in order to understand the teacher who only spoke Swedish.

--Old Secesh

North Grove School in Sycamore and Fairview Cemetery in DeKalb

From the NORTH GROVE SCHOOL site.

Built in 1878 by Swedish immigrants for $230.  They will be having a School Days Open House in June 2018, which  we hope to attend.

This is where the children of Henry and Judy Beard attended school.

FAIRVIEW PARK CEMETERY

1600 S. First Street

This is where Henry and Judy Beard are buried.

Other notables in DeKalb history buried there are Jacob and Sarah Haisch, Ben Gordon, Joseph Glidden (invented barb wire), Annie Glidden and there is a mausoleum for the Elwood family.  10,000 buried there, including a Civil War veteran and the very first Boy Scout in America who died at age 12.

--Old Secesh

North Grove School in Sycamore-- Part 5: Descendants Visit

Henry and Judy beard's children and grandchildren eventually moved out of the area.  Judy outlived Henry by 22 years and eventually moved to town and lived on North Avenue where there is still a tight-knit community where many Blacks live and attend church.

Recently descendants of the Beard family came from Detroit to see the schoolhouse.  Four generations of Henry and Judy beard's son Raymond were at the North Grove School Association's fourth annual North Grove School Days.

They also visited the original five-acre farm and then Fairview Cemetery in DeKalb where Judy eas buried in 1942.

Next year, another branch of the Beard family living in Aurora, Illinois, will visit the annual North Grove School Days.

--Old Secesh

North Grove School in Sycamore-- Part 4: There Is a New North Grove Elementary School

There is also a North Grove Elementary School in Sycamore at 850 Republic Road with 466 students.

North Grove School, the one-room school house is located at 26745 Brickville Road.

It closed in 1952.  They have an open house every June

There is a picture on the Facebook page showing some black children, most likely descendants of Henry and Judy Beard.

--Old Secesh

North Grove School in Sycamore-- Part 3: Certificate From Pres. Obama to Henry Beard in School

There is also a certificate hanging in the school from President Barack Obama which reads:

"The United States of America honors the memory of Henry Beard.

This certificate awarded by a grateful nation in recognition of devoted and selfless consecration to the service of our country in the Armed Forces of the United States,

"Barack Obama
President of the United States"

--Old Secesh

North Grove School in Sycamore-- Part 2: Descendants of Henry Beard Come Back

About 25 descendants of Henry Beard, first black resident of Sycamore, came from the Detroit area to see the school where their ancestors attended.  Beard was a member of the 105th Illinois Infantry regiment from the DeKalb County area.

One of them was Eddie Beard, whose grandfather, Richard Beard, appears in an 1889 class photograph that is hanging in the school.

The North Grove School Association has an open house in June and November as well as on the Saturday of Sycamore's Pumpkin Festival.

--Old Secesh

North Grove School in Sycamore, Illinois-- Part 1: Where Henry Beard's Children Attended

I have been writing about Henry Beard, the escaped slave who joined the 105th Illinois Infantry Regiment out of DeKalb County, campaigned with them and after the war relocated to Sycamore.

From the June 28, 2011, MidWeek  "School visitors take a trip through time."

There will be an open house and fun fair at North grove School (a one-room schoolhouse) hosted by the North Grove School Associates who keep the place going.  The school was built in 1878 by Swedish immigrants.

It is one of only two preserved one-room schoolhouses in DeKalb County.  At one time there were 130 of them.

--Old SeceshSchool

There Is Still a Brickville Road in Sycamore, Illinois

I looked it up and found that there was still a Brickville Road in Sycamore.  From DeKalb, you take Illinois Highway 23 north to Peace Road in Sycamore, turn left and then take that a ways north until you get to Brickville Road which goes in both directions.

You turn left again and go several miles and you will get to North Grove School, a one-room schoolhouse, where many, if not all of the Beard children attended school.  It still stands and is a museum.

Once a year in June, they have an open house.

--Old Secesh

Henry Beard, Former Slave, Co. A 105th Illinois-- Part 1

Henry Beard was a former slave who mustered into Company A of the 105th Illinois Infantry Regiment in Tennessee in 1863.   He served as a cook for D Company.

After the war, he settled in Sycamore, Illinois,  with his wife, Judy Jones, also a former slave.

His daughter, Georgiana Beard, and her siblings attended the one-room North Grove School with neighboring Swedish children and learned to speak the language when it was the official language of the school.

--Old Secesh