Professor E. J. H. Beard

The men most influential in promoting the advancement of society and in giving character to the times in which they live are two classes—the men of study and the men of action.  Whether we are more indebted for the improvement of the age to the one class or the other is a question of honest difference of opinion; neither can be spared and both should be encouraged to occupy their several spheres of labor and influence zealously and without mutual distrust.  In the following paragraphs are briefly outlined the leading facts and characteristics in the career of a gentleman who combines in his makeup the elements of the scholar and the energy of the public-spirited man of affairs. Devoted to the noble and humane work of teaching, Prof. E. J. H. Beard, the efficient and popular superintendent of the Newton city schools, Jasper county, Iowa, has made his influence felt in a most potent manner in the locality of which this history treats, and he is not unknown to the wider educational circles of the state, occupying as he does a prominent place in his profession and standing high in the esteem of educators in other than his own particular field of endeavor.   All who come within range of his influence are profuse in their praise of his admirable qualities and the high regard in which he is held, not only professionally but socially, and as a gallant veteran of the grand army that saved the national Union, indicates the possession Of attributes and characteristics that fully entitle him to the respect and consideration of his fellow men.

Professor Beard, like many of our leading citizens, is a native of the great Empire State, his birth having occurred at Jefferson, Schoharie County, New York, February 23, 1842. He is the son of Ezra G. and Ruth G. (Gaylord) Beard, both natives of New York, in which state they grew up, were educated and married and became well established and influential.  The father devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and he lived and died in his native state.   Professor Beard traces his genealogy back several centuries through a long line of distinguished ancestry.  The family has been notably conspicuous as soldiers, it being fully authenticated that members of the family, participated in the early Indian wars, the Revolutionary war, the war of 1812, Civil and Spanish-American wars.   In all the relations of life they have made their influence felt wherever they have dispersed, being leaders in the public and social life of their communities.

Professor Beard spent his early boyhood on the home farm and there, in the free outdoor life and sylvan beauty, he laid the foundation for the development of a sound body and a strong mind.  He never attended the public schools, but his early textbook training was received at Delaware Institute, Franklin, New York.  He then entered Hamilton College, at Clinton, New York, and was making a brilliant record in that institution when the tocsin of war sounded which lured him from the primrose paths of a student life to the sanguinary "field of Mars," so he went to defend the flag with as much alacrity as ever Roman youth hastened to the legions of Titus or Caesar, enlisting in the Fifty-first New York Volunteer Infantry, in which he served faithfully. He participated in the trying Virginia campaigns in the latter part of 1864 and the early months of l86g, engaging in many of the hard fought battles of the war.  He was at Appomattox at Lee's surrender.  The war over, he was honorably discharged and returned home.  In the spring of 1866 he went to Colorado on government survey work and assisted in surveying the ground south arid east of Denver, also in the vicinity of Colorado Springs and Pueblo.  In the autumn of 1866 he went to Nebraska City, Nebraska, and that county, which position he held but a short time, however, having resigned to become superintendent of the schools at Hamburg, Iowa, where he remained for a period of fourteen years.  From there he went to Maryville, Missouri, as superintendent of schools, which position he held for a period of eight years.  In 1802 .he came to Newton, Iowa, as superintendent of schools and here he has continued to reside, having thus been in charge of the schools here for a period of twenty years.  In this time he has brought the high school of Newton up to a standard of efficiency and equipment that ranks with any high school in the state.  He has taken great interest in his teachers, all of whom are selected with especial reference to their ability to fill acceptably the positions to which assigned.  He encourages many of the high school graduates to enter the teacher's profession and to this end devotes considerable time to pedagogic lectures and instruction on this important and far-reaching subject, which are greatly prized by those contemplating making the school-room their chosen arena of endeavor.  That the advantage of a liberal education may be generally disseminated he has encouraged young people of the county to attend high school by giving them every possible consideration.  His great force of character and ripe scholarship, together with his ability as an organizer, has enabled Professor Beard to bring to his work in this city the results of his professional experience with marked effect, and it was not long until the schools under his supervision advanced to the high standard of efficiency for which they are now noted.  The teaching force during his incumbency has been increased and the enrollment of pupils has constantly grown, while many things tending to lessen the teacher's -labors and at the same time make them effective have been introduced; the course of study throughout has been modified and improved, the latest and most approved appliances installed and everything in keeping with modern educational progress tested, and where practical, retained.   He has shown himself to be a man of progressive ideas, broad-minded, and he has kept fully abreast of the times in all matters pertaining to his profession.  His work in every department of education is characteristically practical and in teaching, in superintending and in devising and modifying the course of study, he possesses to a remarkable degree the sense of proportion and fitness.  Continuous application through a period of forty-five years has given him a clear and comprehensive insight into the philosophy of education and the largest wisdom as to method and means of attainment of ends, while his steady growth in public favor wherever he has labored and his popularity with teachers and pupils have won for him educational standing in several states in the Middle West. 

Although a school man in the broadest sense of the term, and as such making every other consideration secondary to his official duties. Prof. Beard has never become narrow or pedantic, as have so many whose lives have been spent in intimate association with the immature minds within the four walls of the schoolroom.  He is a well-rounded, symmetrically developed man, fully alive to the demands of the times, thoroughly informed on the leading questions before the public and takes broad views of men and things. He believes in progress in other than the profession to which he belongs and to attain the end manifests an abiding interest in what ever makes for the material advancement of the community, encouraging all worthy enterprises and lending his influence to means whereby his fellowmen may be benefited and made better. A reader and thinker, he very naturally gives considerable thought to politics, his studies and investigations along this line leading him to espouse the Republican party.   Fraternally, he holds membership with the Masons, in which he has attained the Knight Templar degree, and the Knights of Pythias, and he belongs to Garrett Post, Grand Army of the Republic.  He and his family are members of the Congregational church.

 In addition to the duties of the superintendency, Professor Beard is deeply interested in educational matters throughout the state and from time to time he has been honored with important official positions in various societies and associations which make for the good of the work and the advancement of the teacher's profession.  He is active and influential in the State Teachers' Association, having been president of the same, discharging the duties of that important position with an ability and fidelity that reflected much credit upon himself and elicited the hearty approval of all concerned. Besides taking an active part in the discussions and general deliberations of the organization, advocating certain measures with masterly force and skill and opposing whatever he deems dangerous to the progress of educational thought, his influence has always been felt, while his suggestions have commanded respect and carried weight.  As a lecturer on educational topics he is an easy, forceful and not infrequently a truly eloquent speaker, his familiarity with the subject under consideration, with his full command of strong, vigorous English and his pleasing, direct style, making him popular with his audiences and to no small degree a master of public assemblages.

 The domestic life of Professor Beard began on November 30, 1868, when he led to the hymeneal altar Lura Alexander, a lady of culture, talent and refinement, the daughter of Major Samuel P. Alexander and wife, a prominent family of Beloit, Wisconsin, and this union has been graced by the birth' of four children, namely: Lura Vesta is one of the popular teachers of Newton, having been engaged with her father in high school work for the past twenty-three years; Grace L. is the wife of J. B. Baumer, of Independence, Kansas; Ezra G, who went to the Spanish-American war arid died of typhoid-malarial fever, was a bright, promising and finely educated young man; Gertrude, the youngest child, is the possessor of rare musical talent and she is engaged in teaching music in Newton.  This family has long been prominent in the social life of the city and county.