Husband William George Landsman Beecroft [6568] 1
Born: 16 Aug 1874 - Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States 2 3
Christened:
Died: Jan 1924 4
Buried: - Oak Hill Cemetery, Vineland, Cumberland Co, NJ 4 5
FamilySearch ID: G3HT-M57
Father: John Robert Beecroft [6565] (1847-1901)
Mother: Elizabeth Corbett [6566] (1850-1927)
Marriage: 24 Jun 1903 - Manhattan, New York, New York, United States
Events
• Military: Interment.net lists Vet.
• He appeared on the Federal census in 1880 in Flushing, Queens, New York, United States. John R Beecroft, age 33, born ENG, Clerk in Store; Elizabeth, wife, age 31, born PA, Keeping House; Frederick J, son, age 7, born IL; William G, son, age 5, born IL; Edgar C., son, age 3, born IL; Albert A, son, age 1, born IL.
• Event: 18 Nov 1893. Introduction
The Pelham Manor Tribune began in November, 1893. Indeed, on November 18, 1893, the New Rochelle Pioneer published a brief "welcome" to The Pelham Manor Tribune, stating "We desire to welcome to our exchange list, a new contemporary in the person of the Pelham Manor Tribune. The Tribune is devoted to the local news of the Manor, and is issued bi-weekly." Source: [Untitled], New Rochelle Pioneer, Nov. 18, 1893, Vol. XXXIIII, No. 33, p. 4, col. 2.
The fact that the New Rochelle Pioneer welcomed the new Pelham Manor newspaper should come as no surprise. Though published and circulated in Pelham Manor, the new newspaper was printed in New Rochelle by the presses of the New Rochelle Pioneer. It should be noted that, perhaps in recognition of the creation of a new newspaper on the "mainland" part of the Town of Pelham, only a few weeks later City Islander Orrin F. Fordham established The City Island Drift, a weekly community newspaper "devoted to the interests of the Town of Pelham and City Island."
Pelham Manor resident William George Landsman Beecroft founded The Pelham Manor Tribune. He was, of course, a member of the prominent Beecroft family of the Village of Pelham Manor. See Fri., Nov. 11, 2016: John Robert Beecroft and the Beecroft Family of Pelham Manor. Born in 1874, at the time he founded the paper William G. L. Beecroft was eighteen years old. The masthead of his newspaper included a slogan that summarized his philosophy as a journalist: "This paper will be the friend of the Village in morals and truth, independent of party prejudice."
• Event: Pelham Manor Tribune, 1 Oct 1894, Pelham Manor, Westchester, New York, United States. Only a few copies of a newspaper briefly published in the 1890s for residents of the Village of Pelham Manor known as the Pelham Manor Tribune are known to exist. The newspaper was established in the fall of 1893 by R. C. Beecroft who quickly "sold out" to Edgar C. Beecroft. William G. Beecroft served as an editor of the publication.
Below is the editorial that appeared on the first anniversary of the newspaper's founding on October 1, 1894.
"Pelham Manor Tribune.
WILLIAM G. BEECROFT, Editor.
EDGAR C. BEECROFT, Manager
50 Cents Per Year.
.
• Military: Spanish American War, 6 Sep 1898. Record of Military Service of William George Landsman Beecroft
During the Spanish American War. Source: Abstracts of Spanish
American War Military and Naval Service Records, 1898-1902.
Series B0809 (34 Volumes), New York State Adjutant General's
Office, New York State Archives, Albany, New York.
• He appeared on the Federal census in 1910 in Manhattan, New York, New York, United States. Ward 12
William G Beecroft, age 35y, born IL; wife Fredrica, age 32y, born NY; son William G, age 4y, born NJ; dau Elizabeth V, age 5y, born NY; son Richard E, age 0y 2m, born NY; mother Elizabeth, age 59y, born PA.
• Military: WWI Draft Registration, 1917-1918, Middlesex Co, NJ. • Biography: Historic Pelham, February 22, 2019, Blake A. Bell. Who Was William George Landsman Beecroft? Events
• She appeared on the Federal census in 1910 in Manhattan, New York, New York, United States. Ward 12 Marriage Events
• Marriage: 24 Jun 1903, New York City, New York County, New York, United States.
William George Beecroft
United States World War I Draft Registration Cards
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William George Landsman Beecroft was the second child of John Robert Beecroft and Elizabeth Corbett who were married on January 16, 1872 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. William was born there on August 16, 1875. His father emigrated to the United States from England in the 1860s and became an early and prominent resident of the settlement of Pelham Manor as he and Elizabeth raised William and other young members of the family. Like his son William would be later, John Robert Beecroft was a journalist. For a few years following his arrival in the United States he was employed with the publisher A. S. Barnes & Company in Chicago and as a manager of the Scribner Publishing Company of Chicago. In May, 1879 he joined the Century Company, became an editor of the Century Magazine and thereafter moved his family to New York where the family lived in Flushing Queens. In about 1881, John Robert Beecroft and his wife moved their family to Pelham Manor.
John Beecroft was an active member of the community. In addition to his service as a School Board Trustee and as President of the School Board, he also was an active member of Christ Church in Pelham Manor, located virtually across the street from his home. He served as a Warden of the Church. He also was a member of the New York Athletic Club, The Church Club, The Polo Club, and the Congregational Club. He also was a Free Mason with the Huguenot Lodge, F. and A. M. of New Rochelle.
The couple's son, William, and his three brothers became known throughout Pelham as the "Beecroft Boys" as they grew up in the little settlement. By the 1890s the family lived in the home that still stands at 1382 Pelhamdale Avenue.
The Brief Life of The Pelham Manor Tribune
William G. L. Beecroft founded The Pelham Manor Tribune in November, 1893. He served as editor while one of his younger brothers, Edgar Beecroft, played the day-to-day operational roles of Advertising Manager (and, later, Manager). William's older brother, Fred, served as a "business manager" of the venture during summer vacations when he returned home from college.
Truth be told, as one account has noted, "the entire Beecroft family" was involved in the venture. The venture operated out of the family home at 1382 Pelhamdale Avenue although the newspaper was physically printed in New Rochelle. The subscription rate was fifty cents per year. In addition to revenue derived from at least a hundred subscribers, the newspaper sold advertising bought principally by New Rochelle merchants and, occasionally, by New York City merchants. Advertisers included Daniel J. Kennedy, a "general contractor of sheet metal and hot air work;" Coutant's Drug Store in New Rochelle, J. L. Eick, a horse harness and collar maker who also was a carriage trimmer; E. Lamben, a dealer in "fancy groceries;" Kusche's Ideal Market; William Downing, a horse shoer; Huyler's Candy Store in New York City; and George T. Davis, an undertaker and embalmer.
After the short run of only two years and two months, on January 4, 1896, William George Landsman Beecroft announced that the issue would be the newspaper's last. In an editorial that appeared in that January 4 issue, Beecroft wrote:
"With this issue we present our last attempt at journalism in Pelham Manor. We sincerely hope that our subscribers have derived as much pleasure from reading our simple little sheet, as the editor has enjoyed writing it. We have several reasons for allowing the Tribune to sink into [archives], important among which is the fact that Pelham Manor is not yet a large enough field to make the conducting of a newspaper a financial success. For, although we have enjoyed almost three years of prosperity, we are obliged to admit that our advertisers have patronized the Tribune more on account of the enterprise than because of the benefits which they might derive from advertising in its columns. Another, and by no means secondary reason that makes a newspaper unprofitable in Pelham Manor, is that some of the people do not seem to appreciate the fact that a newspaper in a small village, is a great enhancement to property value and consequently do not give the paper the support it deserves. If there are any of our subscribers who feel that their fifty cent investment has not been a profitable one, their money will be returned on application. It has been the endeavor of the management to present a sheet free from scandal and small talk, and to include within its pages only such material as could be read by our youngest reader to advantage. How far we have succeeded we leave to you, but we can say that in our three years of existence, we have never had a single complaint, nor has the editor ever been horse-whipped (the fate of many an editor). Kind reader, au revoir."
With that, the first newspaper published in the Town of Pelham folded.
After closing The Pelham Manor Tribune, William G. L. Beecroft continued his work in the field of journalism as dramatic editor of the New York Press. He interrupted his work to join the United States Naval Reserve on May 14, 1898 to serve a one-year term during the Spanish American War. He served during the War on the USS Jason, the last of the monitors, though he saw no action. With the end of the war he received an early honorable discharge September 6, 1898.
On Wednesday, June 24, 1903, Beecroft married Frederika Bette Schmidt. See "A DRAMATIC EPISODE" in The Fourth Estate, No. 487, p. 4, col. 4 (NY, NY: Jun. 27, 1903). The couple had at least six children: William George Landsman Beecroft Jr., Elizabeth Valerie Beecroft, Richard Edgar Beecroft, Barbara Beecroft, Emily West Beecroft, and Mary Jane Beecroft.
According to an article in The Pelham Sun (quoted in full below), after working as the dramatic critic of the New York Press, Beecroft did syndicate work under Ervin Wardman. Beecroft was an avid sportsman and outdoorsman. He became a writer for the leading outdoors magazine at the time, Forest & Stream. He became the corporation secretary and, then, an editor of Forest & Stream . (The magazine later was bought by Field & Stream magazine.) Thereafter he became, for a short time, an advertising agency executive associated with Maclay & Mullally, Inc., a general advertising agency headquartered in New York City. There he had charge of the department of general advertising. Source: "Ad Field Personals" in The Editor & Publisher, Vol. 49, No. 37, p. 25, cols. 1-2 (NY, NY: Feb. 24, 1917).
During World War I, Beecroft worked for the Hercules Powder Company. After the war, Beecroft was appointed editor and general manager of the American Banker. Source: "Change on American Banker" in Editor & Publisher, Vol. 52, No. 18, p. 30, col. 2 (NY, NY: Oct. 2, 1919). He moved his family to Darien, Connecticut.
Beecroft worked at American Banker until 1920 when he retired. When Beecroft finally retired from journalism, he became a fruit farmer with a farm on West Chestnut Avenue in Vineland, New Jersey. According to family tradition, his son Richard Edgar Beecroft was a sickly child. When doctors told the family that the child needed "country air," Beecroft retired from journalism and moved to the Vineland, New Jersey farm.
William Beecroft died in January, 1924 as the result of a tragic accident. His wife taught at the New Jersey State School for the Feeble Minded Woman. He and his wife were scheduled to attend a fund-raising entertainment at the school. An acquaintance named Matt Unsworth, a mason by trade, gave the couple a ride in his truck to the school. Because the mason's truck was so dirty, William stood in the rear of the vehicle to keep his clothing from getting dirty. On the way to the school, the driver swerved to avoid debris in the roadway. William was thrown from the truck and badly injured. He was taken to the hospital in Vineland where he died two days later. He was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Vineland, Cumberland County, New Jersey.
Wife Fredericka/Frieda Bette Schmidt [6569]
Born: 30 Jan 1878 - Manhattan, New York, New York, United States 4 6
Christened:
Died: 1964 4
Buried: - Oak Hill Cemetery, Vineland, Cumberland Co, NJ 4 5
FamilySearch ID: 9D4Y-LLW
William G Beecroft, age 35y, born IL; wife Fredrica, age 32y, born NY; son William G, age 4y, born NJ; dau Elizabeth V, age 5y, born NY; son Richard E, age 0y 2m, born NY; mother Elizabeth, age 59y, born PA.
William George Beecroft
mentioned in the record of William George Beecroft and Frieda Bette Schmidt
Name
Spouse's Name
Event Date
Event Place
Father's Name
Mother's Name
Spouse's Father's Name
Spouse's Mother's Name
Children
1 F Barbara Beecroft [6594]
Born: 1912 - New York, United States 7
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
FamilySearch ID: G3C9-4QK
2 F Elizabeth Valerie Beecroft [6593]
Born: 1905 - New York, United States
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
FamilySearch ID: G3CS-S2X
3 M William George Landsman Beecroft II [6586] 8
Born: 24 Aug 1905 - Hackensack, , NJ 8 9
Christened:
Died: 7 Dec 1988 - Williamsport, Lycoming, Pennsylvania, United States 9
Buried: 12 Dec 1988 - Rose Hill Burial Park, Springfield, Clark Co, OH
FamilySearch ID: GXDM-LT7
Spouse: Norma Hogan 10 [6588] (1898-1985)
Marr: 20 Jun 1935 11
Spouse: Martha Hogan [6595] (living)
4 M Richard Edgar Beecroft [6440]
Born: 19 Feb 1910 - New York City, New York County, New York, United States 9
Christened:
Died: 22 Sep 1999 - Cumberland, New Jersey, United States 9
Buried: 19 Oct 1999 - Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Fairfax Co, VA 4 12
FamilySearch ID: G3C9-KZL
Spouse: Sarah Anne Parker [6441] (1916-2002)
Marr: 31 May 1941
5 F Emily West Beecroft [14105]
Born: 1914 - New York, United States 13
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
FamilySearch ID: G3C9-64P
6 F Mary Jane Beecroft [14106]
Born: 1917 - New York, United States 14
Christened:
Died: 3 Aug 2001 14
Buried:
FamilySearch ID: G3CS-3ZS