For our friends and relatives from afar, Oro-Medonte is a Township between Orillia and Barrie, Ontario.
Oro and Medonte were joined in 1994, into one Township.
About an hour's drive north of Toronto, it is a nice area to live in.
The history of the Beard family in the Jarratt area is well known and documented. What is not known quite so well is the earlier history, and some branches of the family.
Research on the Beard history is being continued by several of us, building on work done by Uncle Hilt, among others.
We know that they were Huguenots who came from France, probably in the 16th century.There is a small town in France called Beard (with an accent over the e).
They settled in England at Colchester. In some searching on the internet, I have found that there were Beards still in Colchester prior to WW1. There is a memorial to soldiers with an E. C. Beard on it.
In 1832, on the 5th of March, the they sailed for Canada. The Beards and the Cooks were on the same vessel. There may have been other associated families on board.
The story about the Cook boy rescuing the Beard girl when she fell overboard during the passage to Canada may in fact be true. They did come on the same ship, and did get married in Canada.
If it is not true, it should be.
When the Beards arrived they camped under a large Oak tree where St. James church in Orilla now stands.
A local history book states that Shire and Beard arrived at Prices Corners on June 1st 1832
On June 5th 1832 they arrived at the property in Medonte.It was exactly three months from leaving England.
John Cook and Sarah Beard owned the other 50 acres of Lot 2 Conc. 10.
The stories passed down could be construed as folklore. However, in reading some newspaper articles and hearing the same stories from others, one wonders.
Dad used to state that his grandfather was a Sheriff, and involved in some famous case.
Did grandmother Beard kill a bear that was trying to eat the small piglets? With an axe? I heard that one, and I believe it may have some truth in it. The version from a local historian is slightly different, but essentialy the same. It is probably based in fact.
There are relatives in Washington, Ohio, New York, Oregon, Missouri, California, and the western provinces.
In the a book about the history of Oro it says that the Beards left Medonte. This is not true as the land or portions thereof that the Beards settled on is still in, and has never left, the Beard name.
In the context of history, the Beards were one of the first settlers in the area, and were contemporaries of Elmes Steele, father of the rather well known Sir Sam Steele. Many of the Beards are buried in the cemetery at St. Georges Fairvalley, a church which was founded by the Steele family.
Indeed, the first person buried in this cemetary after consecration is Elizabeth(Whelan) Beard.
James 1st and Mary, John 1st and the two Elizabeths, (the above and John’s second wife) as well as many others are buried here.
Many of the Cooks are buried here as well.
As there are several repeated name in the Beards, I have attempted to number them to distinguish them.
As this is a work in progress, there may be errors.
In that vein, while using the Internet, I found a message from a person asking about the Beards in Medonte. It turns out this was a great great grand-daughter of John Beard 1st.
Another branch of the family has also been located in the same manner.
The person who is responsible for most of the information on this site is Mary Garbutt, of Oro-Medonte.
If you have additional info or corrections, please advise us at "ibeard@csolve.net"
The men went to Jarratt to clear the land to plant a garden, and built a cabin.
They first settled on the "wet fifty" acre parcel at lot 2 concession 10.
They had purchased this land sight unseen in Toronto. As they had owned 30 acres in England, they felt that 50 acres was all they would ever need.
Finding that the "wet 50" was indeed that, James Beard purchased from the Crown the 200 acres across the 10th line, this being Lot 2, Conc. 11.
They also purchased from the Crown, Lot 1 and Lot 2 Concession 11 in Oro, being 400 acres.
This is borne out in John Beard’s obituary.
Should anyone have any information that can be added or corrected, please contact me.
Her name is Laurel. She had been looking for her Canadian relatives. Her help in putting together information about the Auburn Beards has been invaluable.
A great grandaughter of James 2nd was found while researching on the net, and provided a lot of information on the Luck branch of the family.
Indeed, when I ask for information about local history, I can bet that someone will say, "I got it from Mary," or "I don't know, but ask Mary."
She is related to the Beards and for many years, she has been researching the history of the Beards and associated families.
Indeed, some important information would have been lost had she not made copies.
While I have found information that adds to her work, most of the basic research and verification has been done by Mary.