Trails of Our Past : Tom C. Bean
By: Dusty Williams

This year I will be teaching at Tom Bean ISD and it suddenly dawned on me that I have not written a history of this colorful little community. Furthermore, I had this topic on my “to-do” list for my new book, “9 Generations of Grayson County History,” so it would appear, my friends, that this unique story is ready to travel through my pen and into the minds of you as readers.

I referred to this community as “colorful” and when we examine the namesake, Thomas C. Bean, it is not a far stretch to label him as unique or possibly even unusual for his time. In fact, when referring to Mr. Bean, various histories use and reuse the word “eccentric.” In fact, there is very little known about Thomas C. Bean prior to his migration to Texas in the 1840s, he having arrived here as a surveyor. In exchange for his work for the state, or the Republic of Texas at the time, he gathered up portions of land and boasted eventually that he had so much land that he could ride from his home near Bonham all the way to Austin without ever leaving his property. A similar story exists from James P. Dumas of Sister Grove Farm near Cannon whereas he boasted that he could ride to Denison without ever leaving his land.

The biggest mystery of Thomas C. Bean was his journey to Texas. Some records suggest that he was wanted for murder and changed his name to avoid the law. Another story ensues that he was the groom in a shotgun wedding and decided to make a quick getaway to Texas. According to previously written histories, Bean left Sandwich, New Hampshire to escape this fate. Legend says that Bean’s own recollection of his early years consisted of the following line; “I woke up one morning and found myself in a bean patch so I named myself Tom Bean.” While many of these items may be true and are possibly factual, from hence forth we will look at evidence that I have uncovered.

According to the Fannin County census records that I have viewed, Thomas C. Bean was born in Washington D.C.  In fact, this is also proven by examining his tombstone in Willow Wild Cemetery at Bonham, the stone reading “Born in Washington City, D.C.” According to the census records, Bean was born about 1822. So private was Bean that on his tombstone there is no birth date, rather it simply states “Aged about 73 years.”

Bean died on July 24, 1887 and on July 26, The Galveston Daily News ran the following article. “An Eccentric Genius: A Millionaire Land-Owner Dies Surrounded by Negroes - A large Estate Without Known Owners. Bonham, Tex., July 25, - Tom Bean, the wealthiest, one of the oldest, and altogether the most eccentric of the residents of this county, died here surrounded by Negroes, with whom he had lived for many years. Mr. Bean came here in 1840 or 1842 as a surveyor, and while lands were cheap and surveyors scarce surveyed on shares thereby securing thousands of acres of the most valuable land in Fannin county and north Texas. He lived in poverty and seclusion, being an old bachelor, and never sold a foot of land except for the payment of taxes. It being generally known that he would not sell, parties were continually applying to him for leases, which he always refused, saying he wanted it to remain unfenced for poor people’s stock. His net estate is estimated at $1,000,000. He claimed to have no relatives. He was accustomed to tell those inquiring after his family that he found himself a good big boy in a bean patch and called himself Tom Bean. A young man came here from California several years ago, claiming to be a nephew, but Mr. Bean disowned him. W.W. Russell, Sim Wineller, John Sparks and Judge Evans, requested by the county judge to act as a committee to take charge of the papers belonging to the estate as yet have found no will. It is believed by many that he had a will, and that it is in the vaults of some bank away from here. Several who had been acquainted with him longest - everybody knew him - insisted that he should dispose of his property by will, but he would always decline. He is supposed to have been about 70 years old. An old musty Bible was found with the ages of his Negroes set down, but no record of his birth or family history has been found. People are curious to know what will become of his immense landed estate. Proving of heir ship will be in order. If a will is found it is believed that his property will all be left to Negroes.”

The Galveston Daily News reported the following article on September 23, 1887: “Bonham’s Great Sensation; Everybody Looking for the Heir; The Mystery About the Hermit Bean about to be Cleared Up - His True Name Discovered - Disappointed Beans. Bonham, Tex., September 22 - For some time past the principal topic in Fannin county has been Colonel Tom Bean, his death, his property and his heirs. From coast to coast and from the lakes to the gulf it was heralded that Tom Bean of Texas, a many-times millionaire, had died heirless and without a will. Immediately Beans and relatives of Beans, claiming a relationship with the deceased Colonel Bean, became as thick as the traditional hops. Claims were filed and the lawyers smiled sweetly and, like vultures watching their victims from their aerie, looked on and awaited developments, and now that the denouement is about to be made the clouds of doubt are drifting to the horizon, and ere many suns rise and set the light of fact and truth will stream in an illuminate what has heretofore been a mystery. Before imparting the substance of the coming events it will be well to make a brief review of Colonel Bean’s life.
The first and only authentic history that his friends ever obtained of him was his debut in Texas, from Fayetteville, Arkansas, before the war, he then being a young man in his twenties, settling in this vast country at that early day almost penniless, but with a fair knowledge of surveying he commenced locating land for himself and others. Little attention was paid then to the hermit-like young stranger, who possessed the noble but rare trait of attending to business. But the immigration which soon commenced to flow into this country brought him into notice by developing the fact of his possession of tracts of fine land, and that he was destined to be one of the future land kings of the Empire state.  He was frugal, economizing and very eccentric, living alone in a little, one-room hut surrounded by Negroes, one of whom - a young buck - he educated and dressed elegantly. He never had what might be termed an intimate acquaintance, though he was a familiar character to everybody. One of his notable eccentricities was his tendency to misogyny, which was always a matter of comment and wonder in society circles. Another was his decided opposition to disposing of his real estate even at fabulous prices, leaving it unfenced.
From the day of his settlement in Bonham to the day of his death he evaded all questions as to his birthplace and precious life and stoutly averred that he had no relatives.
His ending came, and death will doubtless establish his identity.
Thaddeus Bean, an architect of Washington, claims to be an heir; likewise a Mr. Howard of San Antonio. Howard claims to have a family tree with which to establish his claims, while Thaddeus Bean, it is said, is almost a perfect image of Colonel Bean. However, their claims now bid fair to be scattered to the four winds, as it will soon develop that instead of the rich landowner’s name being Bean it was Saunders. A short while since a letter came to a prominent citizen of Bonham, bearing a Mississippi postmark, and making the following inquiry: “Is Colonel T. C. Bean dead, and did he leave a will?” The tone of the letter interested the prominent citizen, who replied to the inquiry and shortly received another letter stating in substance as follows: “Colonel Bean should have left a will. It must have been stolen. He was my brother and his name was Saunders. While on a surveying expedition in Mississippi before the war he struck a co-laborer with a Jacob staff, killing him. He then fled to Texas and you know the rest of his history. If his will is found it will also be found that some colored friends are partial legatees of his estate.”
The letter was signed by Saunders, whose initials have been lost. In a subsequent letter Mr. Saunders talked very familiarly of Colonel Bean’s affairs as though he was perfectly acquainted with his business. He also stated that he (Saunders) had a daughter in Lamar County. The lady mentioned has since visited Bonham, taking a picture of her father to compare with one of Colonel Bean, and the resemblance was so striking that anyone could perceive it at the first glance. But the chain does not end here.
A prominent citizen of Bonham, who requests that his name be withheld for the present, states that Colonel Bean years ago told him the same story that Saunders asserts to be true. Then, as further corroboration of the story, a prominent physician of Gainesville and a lifelong friend of Colonel Bean, writes the identical facts stated by Saunders and the citizen of Bonham. It is also recollected by many that Saunders had frequently been seen with Colonel Bean in Bonham, Austin and San Antonio.
On investigating Colonel Bean’s papers it was discovered that there was no will. Prominent citizens averred that he had one and that it had been stolen, and further hinted that $1600 in cash was missing. It was not only a matter of surprise, but a wild conjecture. Some asserted boldly that his Negro servants had stolen the will and the money, while others supplemented this conjecture with the whispered belief that the Negroes had acted upon the advice of a certain white man, who is to be remunerated when everything is adjusted and the Negroes receive their legacy. This conjecture seems to have been especially well founded, as a former slave of Bean’s now comes to the front averring that he can produce the lost will, and states that it recites the substance of Saunders’ letter. It is generally believed the Negroes stole the document for fear the whites would destroy it and deprive them of their heritage. Mr. Saunders is expected here Friday, and it is conceded that there will soon be “rendered unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” It is still a ghost in the path of the incredulous. Colonel Bean’s father was buried here in the English cemetery under the name of Bean, though it is asserted that no one knew his full surname. Future developments will have to settle that point. Some assert that the father assumed an alias to protect his son, while others profess to believe that the professed father was an uncle on the side of Colonel Bean’s mother and also believe that the resemblance of Thaddeus Bean comes from the same source. These startling developments in an estate of 25,000 acres of fine Texas land are beginning to leak out and create great surprise. The knowing ones, numbering a score or more, smile with complaisance, while those who have just caught a breath of it are on the tiptoe of excitement.
It is now quite apparent why Colonel Bean was such a recluse and a supposed misogynist. Fear of apprehension by the law was doubtless the skeleton of his closet. A few more hours of waiting and a mystery that has created national comment will have burst and right will have received its own.”

Shortly after this, Mr. James W. Saunders of Oxford, Mississippi arrived in Bonham with his son-in-, Dr. A.W. Short of Glory, Lamar County, Texas. Another witness also appeared in the midst of all of this speculation and that was Dr. J.J. McBride of Montague County, Texas, his wife having been a sister to James W. Saunders and a supposed sister to Tom Bean. Saunders stated that “The person known as Colonel T. C. Bean was my brother whose name was T. L. Saunders. He was aged seventy-six at his death, being two years my senior. He was a Tennessean by birth, our family consisting of three brothers and a sister. My other brother Claiborne died in Georgia, my sister dying in Texas. While engaged in surveying out in Obion County, Tennessee, now Lake County, in 1836, my brother Thomas, then aged 24 or 25 years, committed a murder which caused him to become a refugee. One of the chain carriers, named Crutchfield, became enraged when my brother reprimanded him for not having accomplished a certain amount of work and struck at Tom, who knocked him down with a Jacob staff, striking him twice after he was down, fracturing his skull, from the effect of which he died. The next morning my brother fled, taking with him a Negro boy name Alex, who witnessed the killing. My brother took refuge on Bean Island, in the Mississippi river, sending Alex to me for money and aid in making his escape. I was then an engineer on a steamboat, which I left, taking a skiff in which I rowed Tom to Gains Landing, Arkansas. When on the island in the presence of Alex I advised him to take the name of Thomas Lawson but he persisted in taking his first name, the name of the island (Bean). Leaving my brother in the bottoms near Gaines Landing I returned to Old Commerce and sold a Negro girl for $900, and returning gave Tom $700, he giving me Alex and a younger Negro he owned, stating that $770 was sufficient for his purpose. A reward is now offered for information of Alex’s whereabouts. He is supposed to be in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. Leaving Gaines’ landing my brother fled to Camden, Arkansas, thence to Fayetteville, the same state and thence to his future home in Fannin County. Our first meeting was in St. Louis in 1854 or 1855, then again in Austin, Texas in 1860, when I gave Tom $1100 with which to perfect some land titles. We met again in Bonham in 1884 as is remembered by some citizens of this town. In 1872 I sent Alex to Bonham for $500, I being in straightened circumstances, which Tom sent me sewing it in the waistband of Alex’s breeches. After my meeting with my brother in Bonham in 1886 I visited West Texas and met my brother again at Gainesville, Texas in the La Clede hotel I believe. While in Gainesville, my brother stated that if he died first he would will me half of his estate which he then estimated at about $700,000 and the other half to his Negroes and favored white friends; but if I died first he proposed to will my part to my children. I then told him of my daughter’s residence in Lamar County, which greatly excited him, he fearing his identity might be discovered through that source. I have no knowledge of my father since 1832, four years before Tom killed Crutchfield. My father started to North Carolina to collect some money, and was never again heard of by me. I suppose he was murdered. If the man buried in Bonham under the name of Bean was my brother’s father he was our father. My brother failed ever to mention the fact to me. As to the man Howard of San Antonio, I know nothing. He is in no way related to us. I have no letters from my brother, as his constant fear of detection brought a request to destroy them, with which I complied. These are about all the circumstances, Mr. Reporter, that I believe I care to state at present without advising with my counsel.” The previous was taken from the Fort Worth Daily Gazette on September 24, 1887. The reporter also interviewed James Gass, a former slave of Tom Bean. He stated that he did remember Mr. Saunders visiting and that the former slaves were afraid that they would not get their portion of the estate, however, they were confident that the will would be produced at trial.

From here I set out on a mission to prove some of the circumstances that were produced from Mr. Saunders and his claims. Oxford, Mississippi is in Lafayette County and I began there by looking at the 1880 census. James W. Saunders is listed as being aged 62 and born in Virginia. While he states that he was born in Virginia, his children and wife all state that they were born in Tennessee. This indicates that his parents were from Virginia, but migrated to Tennessee, thus collaborating to his claim that his family were Tennesseans. I will also provide this information: 1880 Fannin County, Texas, Thomas C. Bean does not list a place for his birth. 1870 Fannin County, Census he states that he is a lawyer and a county surveyor and was born in the District of Columbia. The 1869 voter registration list also states that he was born in Washington D. C. However, on the 1850 Fannin County, Census, Thomas C. Bean states that he was born in Virginia. This collaborates with the time and birthplace of James W. Saunders and warrants a suspicion that Tom Bean fabricated the story that he was from Washington D. C. in later years.

W. W. Russell of Bonham was a good friend of Tom Bean and was appointed as the temporary administrator of his estate. Speculation continued from residents who insisted that Thomas Bean was always a Bean. The Bean family proclaimed that they had proof of this and would provide the evidence at the right time. By the end of September it was reported that the Bean case would be extended into the November term. In the meantime, there were several other individuals who stepped forward and proclaimed to be Tom Bean’s heir. Colonel M. Leeper of Sherman stated that Tom Bean’s name was in fact Tom Bean, he was from Fayetteville Arkansas and had a brother Oscar who lived in California. Dr. H. P. Howard was granted administrator of the will in mid-October, thus insinuating that he had proven his relationship to Tom Bean. Howard was a postmaster for San Antonio. Howard claimed that his mother was a cousin of Tom Bean and in fact on his death certificate in 1913, it stated that he was born in Washington D. C. and that his mother was Nancy Bean.

In late November, Robert English who was supposed to be the oldest citizen in Fannin County testified that he had known Tom Bean since 1843. He also stated that he knew Tom Bean’s father and knew that he was buried in Bonham as was stated in the earlier claims. English stated that he had heard Bean say that he was born in Washington D. C. and that he was satisfied that Tom Bean’s father’s name was Colmer Bean. He also said that he had heard Tom Bean state that he had lived in Palmyra, Missouri where he moved from Washington D. C. and then on to Fayetteville Arkansas.

I’ve mentioned this because I was actually able to find some information on Colmore Bean. On November 28, 1812 Colmore Bean married Winefred Murray in the District of Columbia. In 1820, Calmore Bean is living in Northumberland, Virginia which might account for why Tom Bean listed Virginia and Washington D. C. as his birthplace on census records. In 1840, 1850, 1860 and 1870 a Colmore Bean is living in Maryland stating that he was born about 1796 in Maryland which would make this Colmore too young to have married Winefred Murray in 1812. I will also mention this, which is probably the most important piece of evidence. 1844 Fannin County Tax records list a Colmore Bean. This would possibly mean that the Colmore Bean on Maryland census records was a relative of Colmore Bean of Fannin County. It would further be surmised that Colmore Bean in Fannin County is the same Colmore Bean that married in Washington D. C. and was living in Virginia in 1820 before migrating west.

During the trial, residents of Missouri claimed that they personally knew Col. Moore Bean (Colmore) and his three sons, John, Thomas C. and Oscar from 1836 to 1839 at which point the family moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas. Also introduced at trial was the oath of allegiance of Col. Moore Bean to the Republic of Texas. There were also affidavits from Arkansas which confirmed the existence of the Bean family.

Claims of heir ship continued to swarm into Fannin County. The Galveston Daily News reported the following claim on May 25, 1888: “Whitewright, Texas, May 24 - N. S. Scott, an intelligent mulatto, about 30 years old, who recently came to this city, claims to be a son of the late Colonel Tom Bean, the millionaire of Fannin County. Scott has a pretty fair education and says that Colonel Bean gave him money at different times to educate himself with. He will go to Bonham soon to put in a claim for his part of the vast estate.”

There was also a report of a Mr. Bean coming from Kentucky to lay claim to Tom Bean’s estate. He stated that he was kin to Tom Bean, although he did not know to what degree.

On September 19^th, a deed was read at the trial from John B. White and O. Dickinson to Colmore, John and Tom Bean, having been dated January 30, 1836. There was also introduced into evidence a copy of a contract made with the building committee of the Episcopal Church at Palmyra and Colmore, John and Thomas Bean. There were also letters introduced that were written from Thomas C. Bean from Fayetteville to his father, Colmore Bean at Bonham. Other letters introduced into evidence were letters from Oscar Bean at Fayetteville to Thomas C. Bean and his father Colmore. There were also letters from John Bean to Thomas and Colmore Bean of Bonham. Affidavits from citizens in Washington D. C. claim that Colmore left there in 1820.

Another strong piece of evidence entered into trial on this day was an affidavit of George W. Headley, of Headleyville, Virginia. It read “I have been in North Cumberland County, Virginia (Northumberland), all my life. I knew a Colmore Bean and his family. Bean was a carpenter. I knew two of his sons, John and Thomas; went to school with them about the year 1828. Don’t recollect Colmore Bean’s wife, but have heard the boys speak of their mother.” Remember, we have previous established Colmore Bean in Northumberland County, Virginia in 1820 after the marriage record in Washington D. C. Based on the affidavits from Washington, it appears that the Bean family moved to Virginia in 1820.

At the trial on September 21^st 1888, J. W. Saunders took the stand and gave his account, claiming that Tom Bean was his brother. He also stated that the two were born in Pittsylvania County, Virginia and from there, they moved to Tennessee.

On the evening of September 25^th 1888, arguments concluded and the case went to the jury. The trial was for administrator ship and after 24 hours, the jury rule in favor of W. W. Russell, a personal friend of Tom Bean. The jury was interviewed and revealed that very few of them believed the romantic story of Saunders, but many of them did believe that Mr. Howard was a relative and that Tom Bean’s name had always been Bean. Since there was some doubt, however, the jury decided to rule in favor of an uninterested party, W. W. Russell.

While I find the Saunders story very interesting and certainly find portions of it compelling, I would have to side with Mr. Howard and his claim that Tom Bean had always been a Bean. First, everyone agreed that a Mr. Bean was buried in Bonham and that he was Tom Bean’s father. They gave personal accounts of having knowledge of this. According to research and testimonies, Colmore Bean was supposed to be his father. Eye witness accounts from Bonham remember Colmore and remember him as being the father of Thomas C. Bean. Other witnesses also remember a Colmore Bean and he having had a son named Thomas. These witnesses were from Virginia, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas, thus laying out a migration pattern for the Bean family.

Now looking at the actual factual evidence, I find that more of it aligns with this claim rather than the claim of Saunders. Tom Bean states on census records and tax records that he was born in Washington D. C. Records prove that there was in fact a Colmore Bean in Washington D. C. and that he was married there in 1812. Records also prove that Colmore Bean lived in Northumberland County, Virginia in 1820 and that he did in fact have sons. On one census, Tom Bean states that he was born in Virginia and this could be factual as Colmore and his family lived in Washington D. C. and Virginia. It is most probable that Tom Bean was born very close to the time the family relocated and he honestly could not recall whether he was born in Virginia or Washington D. C.

And in the concluding evidence, we see Colmore Bean as a resident of Fannin County in the 1840s at the same time as Thomas C. Bean.

I did find one report made by a lawyer in Washington D. C. in June of 1888. He did a history of the Bean family and stated that “Colmore Bean, then was married here in 1812 and left this city in the fall of 1818. He went from here to Northumberland County, Virginia. The tax returns of that county are evidence as to his residence there. He had five children: Sallie, born in 1816 and died between 1833 and 1836; William, born 1817, died 1832 or 1833; John, born 1819; Oscar born 1822, both of these sons went to California; and Thomas, born in 1827 and supposed to have died between 1833 and 1836.”

Now, if you choose to believe the before mentioned document I will say this. The Virginian who submitted an affidavit that he went to school with Thomas and his brother, John, stated that that was around 1828…this most certainly does not match what the Washington lawyer said in regards to this Thomas’ birth, so we can also assume he has the death date wrong and was probably hired by an opposing party to compile this false information. Also, remember the deed that was read at the trial from John B. White and O. Dickinson to Colmore, John and Tom Bean, having been dated January 30, 1836. According to the Washington lawyer, Tom Bean would have only been 8 or 9 years old and thus would have certainly not appeared on a deed at this time. In 1892, the case was transferred from Fannin County to Grayson County.

In 1916, 29 years after the death of Tom Bean, a lawyer filed a claim to have all the previous judgments set aside. What is interesting about this article is that it states that the case of Tom Bean’s estate was disposed in the courts in Grayson County on July 16, 1896 and that the land or estate was given to Sarah A. Dove and her lineal descendants and other claimants. Her maiden name was Sarah Ann Bean and she married George M. Dove in Washington D. C. in 1840. She had originally filed suite with Mr. Howard. This case was closed in December of 1920, 33 years after the death of Thomas C. Bean and was left as it was ruled in 1896.

Alas, we may never know the complete story of Mr. Thomas C. Bean, but as the records tell us he was certainly an eccentric man whose story warrants attention. From what I have read, I have not seen any detailed histories written on Thomas C. Bean and there is much of his life that we may never know. This was Thomas C. Bean, a pioneer Texan with many mysteries and who certainly lived a colorful and unique life. While he may or may not have had any children, his name lives on in the little community of Tom Bean…but that, my friends is another story.

The Potter Enterprise
Coudersport, Pennsylvania
September 9, 1898

HE MAY GET A FORTUNE
Frank B. McNamara, of this borough, Is Undoubtedly One of the Fortunate Heirs

Fickle fortune seems to have smiled on a resident of Coudersport, Pennsylvania, Frank B. McNamara, who lives on upper Main Street, a few weeks ago received the following letter, which made him a very happy man.

NORTH TOPEKA
August 1, 1898
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow! We have won the Thomas Bean estate.  It will be turned over to us some time next month.
Yours truly,
Dr, Ashmore

Enclosed was the following clipping from the Topeka Daily Capital of August 6th::
By  the death of Thomas C. Bean, Dr. Ashmore of North Topeka will receive a large fortune amounting in all to nearly one-third of a million dollars.  The story of Bean, who made the fortune, and the story of Dr. Ashmore's finding his uncle, who had long been lost, is novel and interesting.
The Bean Family lived originally in Pennsylvania and from there scattered into various states, some of them going to Ohio and some to Illinois.  In 1828 Thomas Bean enlisted in the army and went to Texas, where he took part in the trouble which finally ended in Texas becoming a part of the United States.  For his services he received from the state 2,100 acres of land.  Bean was a surveyor and knew how to plat land.  The discharged soldiers instead of returning to their homes decided to settle on the government land in Texas. They willingly gave Bean half to survey the land, as it was almost worthless at that time.  Bean seems to have been a hustler, for when he died in 1888 he possessed 30,540 acres in the Red River bottom, all of which had never been deeded to anyone but him.  He never came home after enlisting.  Once he came to Kentucky, but that was the nearest he ever came to Ohio, where his people lived.  He never married.
A few years ago Dr. Ashmore went to Illinois to visit relatives.  They had an old Bible which had been in the family since 1816.  On the fly leaf was the record of each member of the family of Dr. Ashmore 's Grandmother Bean. Many of them had died.  The only reference to Thomas Bean was a short line saying that he had enlisted in the army in September 1828.  Dr. Ashmore then wrote to relatives in Pennsylvania who had preserved a great many papers which had formerly belonged to Bean's mother. Among these was a letter to one of her  boys saying that Thomas had been in Kentucky recently, from the Red River country. Dr. Ashmore then went to Texas and found that Thomas Bean had died in Bonham in 1888.  A man by the name of Russell had been appointed administrator, but claimed not to know where the heirs were.
The property consists of farms and ranches, and business blocks in Bonham and Sherman, Texas, amounting in all to 30,540 acres. Dr. Ashmore has begun action in the Texas courts to recover his share of the estate. As there are  but 3 living heirs, his share is a comfortable fortune.
Mr. McNamara was seen by a reporter for the Enterprise yesterday.  He said the Dr. Ashmore mentioned in the above article is his great-uncle, and that Thomas C. Bean, who left this large fortune, was his father's uncle. McNamara says Dr. Ashmore wrote him in 1896, requesting him to see if he could not find some old letters written by Bean to his father that would help in the legal fight.  He ransacked the house thoroughly, and met with no success until he went through an old trunk that has not been opened for years.  In this trunk he found  bundles of old family letters, some of them dating back more than 70 years. From these he selected 3 and forwarded them to Dr. Ashmore. One of these was a letter to his father, Francis McNamara, from his grandmother, Elizabeth A. Bean, dated Putnam, Ohio, September 19, 1834, in the course of which she says:
We got a letter from your uncle Thomas C. Bean. He was in Kentucky and I wrote a letter to him, but we have had no answer yet.  He said he would be in Putnam about Christmas, and wanted to see you and have you go with him and settle on some land he had taken up near the Red River; and he wanted you to come here and bring Elijah with you.  He wanted to see you both.  If  you would go with him he would do well  by you both, if you would stay with him.
This letter, saved all these years, undoubtedly had a great deal to do with winning the case.  The litigation began in 1805.  The lands of Bean are situated in the counties of Clay, Jack, Tarrant, Cook [sic], Hunt, Grayson and Fannin.  Mr. McNamara says he is one of the heirs to this immense estate.  He will leave for Sherman, Texas very soon to see  just what there is to the matter.  He takes his good fortune in a very matter-of-fact manner, as if such windfalls as these were coming to him often.  He has always been a hardworking man, and is receiving many congratulations from his friends.  The article in the Topeka Capital says there are 3 heirs, but Mr. McNamara says there are 8 - quite a difference. Things like those happening in real life go to prove that there is a good deal of truth in the saying that "Truth is stranger than fiction."