Elizabeth Mary McCall Beach, ca 1865-70

Mills/Beach Family Graphics Submitted by: Michael E. Woods Grandson, Arthur & Martha Beach Mills Page 2

Elizabeth Mary McCall Beach & Children

The front row is identified as Emma Beach Carlyle, Elizabeth Mary McCall Beach, Martha Gertrude Beach (Mills). The back row, left to right, is Alex & Will Beach (twins), and probably Mary Elizabeth Beach (Robinson).

In May of 1912, William & Elizabeth Wolfe Beach went to New York to meet with the Board of Foreign Missions and applied for service in China. They were assigned, instead, to Siam, where their daughter, Margurite, was born on 17Feb1913. So they left for Siam sometime mid-to-late 1912. William & Elizabeth returned to the U.S. from Siam on July 17, 1918 aboard the Empress of Japan.

It is possible this picture was taken on their return in 1918. Alex Beach was killed in a train wreck between September, 1918 when he registered for the draft, and January, 1920, when his wife, Mamie, was listed as a widow on the Omaha, Nebraska, census.

Several things make me think this was taken sometime around 1912 before Will & Elizabeth left for Siam:

• Martha doesn't look 28 years old, which she would have been in 1918. She had her first child, Nova Jane, in 1918.
• Dr. Will Beach had pure white hair in pictures we have of him taken about 1918-1919. In this picture his hair appears to have a little more color.

Is This Sam & Emma Carlyle's Home In Oregon?

We aren't sure where this picture was taken. It is identified as "Grandma Beach", "Mother", and "Aunt Emma". "Mother" would be Martha Gertrude Beach Mills. Originally we believed it was the Beach home in Nebraska, but that is not likely. Hugh Percy Beach died in 1900 when Martha was about 9 or 10.

Using the Who - When - Where logic process, we have GGrandmother Beach, Martha Gertrude Beach Mills, an unknown young woman, and Emma Beach Carlyle. Martha looks mid-20s, which would be about 1915 - 1916. Arthur & Martha Gertrude Beach married in Oregon, then moved back to Nebraska sometime between 1910 & 1918 where Nova Jane Mills was born in 1918.

Considering all of the above, I believe that this was taken at Sam & Emma Carlyle's place in Oregon. The unidenfied young woman may well be Sam & Emma's youngest daughter, Mildred Carlyle, who was 8 or 9 years younger than Martha.

Maybe someday we'll find out for sure.

The Beach Sisters Somewhere Out West

This is probably most of the Beach Sisters, although I cannot identify any of them for certain. It definitely was taken out west...probably at Sam & Emma's home in Oregon. Those trees in the background are definitely not Ohio trees.

The woman on the far right looks like she might be Emma Beach Carlyle. Emma had a rather distinctive nose, a feature she shared with Sarah Ann Beach Duffie. Pictures of both in their 60s and 70s look like twins.

The one standing tall, center, very well could be Mary Elizabeth Beach Robinson, and Martha Gertude could be sitting to the left of her. The woman right of Mary Elizabeth, just peeking around the arm holding Mary Elizabeth, may well be Ava Carlyle.

Beyond that, I haven't got a clue. I'm pretty sure, however, that Sarah Ann Beach Duffie is not in the picture. Blake & Sarah Ann Beach Duffie were living on the east coast in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, then Buffalo, N.Y., when most of these pictures were taken. I doubt that she traveled west to visit with her family that much.

Lucinda Stark Mills & Daughters

According to Michael E. Woods, these women are GGGrandmother Lucinda Stark Mills, GGrandmother Bertha Ida Needham Mills (wife of Ernest Grant Mills), and three of his granddad's (Arthur Mills) sisters. I suspect that Bertha Ida Needham Mills is far left in the first picture, and back row right in picture two.

Sam & Emma Beach Carlyle & Family

I feel certain this is the Sam & Emma Beach Carlyle family with Elizabeth McCall Beach sometime around the 1930s. Emma is standing next to Elizabeth, as usual, and I believe the gentleman to the right rear is her husband, Samuel Carlyle. He was born in 1859 and would be in his 70s when this picture was taken. Continuing on with my conjecture, Sam & Emma had three dauthers: Ava, Elizabeth, and Mildred. Elizabeth was probably still in China at the time this picture was taken. I've seen pictures of her, and she didn't resemble anyone I see here.

Based on pictures elsewhere, I believe Ava is to the left of Elizabeth McCall Beach, and that would probably be her husband George D. Garratt back row left. There is a strong resemblance between who I believe is Ava and the woman peering over Emma's left shoulder. Therefore, I suspect that is Mildred, accompanied by her husband left of her.

I don't have a clue about the two unidentified women, second row far left and far right, but the children are all probably Grandchildren of Emma's, and GGrandchildren to Elizabeth McCall Beach.

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