Reasin Beall

Reasin Beall (December 3, 1769 – February 20, 1843) was an American politician, militia officer, and land official who represented Ohio in the Thirteenth Congress and served as a general in the Ohio militia during the War of 1812. He was born on December 3, 1769, in Frederick County in the Province of Maryland, in that portion of the county which would later be separated as Montgomery County in 1776. During his youth, his family moved westward to Washington County, Pennsylvania, part of the broader migration into the trans-Appalachian frontier in the late eighteenth century.

Around 1792, Beall married Rebecca Johnson. In 1790, prior to his marriage, he had entered military service and participated in the Northwest Indian War in the Ohio Valley, a conflict that pitted United States forces against a confederation of Native American nations resisting American expansion into the Northwest Territory. During this campaign he served on the staff of General Anthony Wayne, the commander of the United States Army in the region, and there became acquainted with then-Captain William Henry Harrison, who would later become a national military figure and the ninth President of the United States. These early experiences helped shape Beall’s familiarity with the Ohio country and its strategic importance.

In about 1801, Beall and his family moved to the newly opened state of Ohio, initially settling at Steubenville in Jefferson County along the Ohio River. As settlement expanded inland, he later moved from Jefferson County to New Lisbon (now Lisbon) in Columbiana County, Ohio. In Columbiana County he became active in local affairs and began his public career as clerk of the Columbiana County Court, a position that placed him at the center of county administration and judicial business in a rapidly developing region.

Beall also continued his involvement in the militia as Ohio organized its defenses on the frontier. In Columbiana County he rose to the rank of colonel of the militia. With the outbreak of the War of 1812, he was commissioned brigadier general of the 2d Brigade, Ohio Militia. In this capacity he led several brigades from eastern Ohio into the area of what is now Richland County, Ohio, helping to secure the frontier against British and Native American forces. He established one of his headquarters, known as Camp Christmas, at Wooster in Wayne County, Ohio, which became an important local base of operations during the conflict.

After the War of 1812, Beall returned to New Lisbon and entered national politics. He was elected as a representative to the Thirteenth United States Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Representative John S. Edwards, who had been elected but died before taking his seat. Beall served in the U.S. House of Representatives from April 20, 1813, to June 7, 1814, representing Ohio during a critical phase of the war and the early years of the state’s participation in federal governance. His service in Congress was relatively brief, but it reflected the growing political influence of Ohio’s frontier leaders in national affairs.

In 1814, the office of register of the Federal Land Office at Wooster became vacant, and Beall was appointed to the position by the President. He took up residence in Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, and oversaw federal land transactions in a period of rapid settlement and development in north-central Ohio. He held the office of register until his resignation in 1824. After leaving that post, he remained in Wooster and largely withdrew from active political life, though he continued to be regarded as a prominent local figure.

Beall’s principal later public role came in the presidential election of 1840, when he was chosen as a Whig presidential elector for the Harrison–Tyler ticket. In that capacity he cast his electoral vote in support of his former military acquaintance, William Henry Harrison, reflecting both his long-standing ties to early national military leaders and his alignment with the Whig Party in the later years of his life. Outside of this service as a presidential elector, he resigned from politics and lived quietly in Wooster until his death.

Reasin Beall died in Wooster, Ohio, on February 20, 1843, at the age of 73. His residence in Wooster, often referred to as the General Reasin Beall homestead, survived long after his death. At one time the property was owned by the College of Wooster, which used the house as a women’s dormitory. From about 1958 to about 1973, the home was under the care of William Foard and his wife Winona (Houser) Foard, who lived in the upper stories. The historic homestead now forms the center of the Wayne County Historical Society of Ohio campus, preserving the memory of Beall’s role in the early military, political, and civic life of Ohio.