History of Texas, Together with a Biographical History of Milam, Williamson, Bastrop, Travis, Lee and Burleson Counties. Page: 491

HiSTORY OF TRXAS.491

several generations into the early settled
families of that historic locality his ancestry
runs. The McBeaus, from which he descended
on his father's side, were originally from
Scotland; the Resleys from England. Both
were strong religionists, the McBeans being
stanch Presbyterians. the Resleys Episcopalians.
Both were large land and slave owners,
and lived in the splendid style that characterized
the living of the well-to-do people of
their class in ante-bellum days.
The death of his parents, the father in
1849 and the mother in 1855, together with
reverses in private fortune, brought Elwood
M. Bean in 1856 to Texas, then a youth just
turning into his eighteenth year. His previous
training had not been such as to fit hlim
in the best possible manner for the rugged
experiences that awaited him, but lie was
prepared in purpose for this and he took
up the new life with readiness. Locating
in Milam county, he went to work on a
farm, where he was steadily and profitably
employed until the opening of the late war.
He entered the Confederate service in August,
1861, enlisting in Company G, Fifth Texas.,
He served with the Army of Northern Virginia,
taking part in the peninsular campaign,
the seven days' fight around Richmond, second
Manassas, Boonesboro Mountains, - Sharpsburg
and on to Gettysburg, where he lost
his right arm and was captured July 3, 1863.
He lay in prison ten months in Baltimore,
Fort McElenry and Point Lookout, when he
was exchanged, placed in the reserve corps
and sent West to report to General E. Kirby
Smith, then commanding the Trans-Mississippi
Department. Here, under authority
from General J. B. Robinson, commanding
the reserve corps of Texas, he raised a
battalion from the counties of Washington,
Burleson, Milam, Falls, Bell and McLennan,

of which he was commtnissioned Major. With
this force, made up mostly of old iene' and
boys to the number of about 400, M[ajor
Bean was rendezvousing at Moseley's Ferry
on the Brazos, making active prel)aration to
go to the front, when he received news of Lee's
surrender, in April, 1865.
The war over, he took up his resilience
again in AMilam county, where, in 186S, lie
married a daughter of one of the old citizens
of the county, and for a number of years
engaged in farming. In 1886 he became a
candidate for County Assessor. A sharply
contested race resulted in almost a tie vote,
and the County Commissioners' Court, after
two days' canvassing and deliberating, tendered
the certificate of election to Major Bean,
wfhicl he declined, with the request that it
be given to his opponent, which was done.
I-e then went into the County Clerk's office
as Deputy under W. M. Baines, where he remained
for two years, when he again became
a candidate for the office of County Treasurer,
to which he was elected by a safe majority.
This was in 1888. In 1890 lie was re-elected
by a practically unanimous vote, and in 1892,
in one of the most hotly contested races ever
witnessed in the county, he received the
largest vote polled in the county and beat his
opponent something over 900 votes. Major
Bean is a most efficient officer and a deservedly
popular citizen. No man in Milam
county has, or perhaps ever had, as firm a
hold upon the people of the county as lie has.
His unaffected ways, his hearty manner and
generous, impulsive nature have made him
admired and beloved of all classes and conditions
of men. Never a fellow-man, whatever
his politics, color or condition in life, that
asked a favor of him but it was granted, if
it was in his power to grant it. While a
Democrat in political faith, lie is broad and

HISTORY OF TEXAS.

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