According to a statement written to John W. Wayland, January 28, 1907, by Mrs. Samuel F. Miller, who was a sister to Col. John F. and Eld. Benj. W. Neff, the old brick house near Quicksburg, for many years past the home of Mr. Samuel Moore, was built by James Madison Hite Beale. Mrs. Miller says:

"Col. James Beale married William and Beale Steenbergen's sister; lived on the farm now (1927) owned by Samuel Moore near Quicksburg. I remember when Col. Beale built that large brick house. Some years after building the mansion he moved to Point Pleasant and went to merchandising. . . . I think Col. Beale was at one time a Congressman."

The Congressional directory states that Colonel Beale was born at Mt. Airy, Shenandoah County, on February 7, 1786; and that he died in Putnam County, WV, August 2, 1866. He represented his district in Congress form 1833 to 1837, and again from 1849 to 1853. He then declined renomination.

Excerpted from John W. Wayland's A History of Shenandoah County, Virginia

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