Dr. Benjamin Franklin Beardsley

Benjamin Franklin Beardsley was born in Otsego County, New York, on 28 February 1841. He was the son of Erastus Beardsley. He was raised on a farm, attending school in the winter and working on the farm in the summer. At age seventeen, he was certified to teach school. After teaching for one year, he became interested in medicine and studied it with his uncle. Dr. Beardsley graduated from the University of Buffalo Medical School in 1865. He served two terms as coroner in Coventry, New York. He moved to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1886. Dr. Beardsley was a prominent member of the Prohibition Party, receiving its nomination for Governor, United States Senator, and Mayor.

On 16 October 1865, Dr. Beardsley married Anna Elizabeth Guy (b. 1843) in Sublette, Illinois. They had three children: Mary Allis Beardsley (Mrs. Charles B. Jarvis) (b. 1872) of Hartford; Guy Erastus Beardsley (b. 1874), vice-president and secretary of the Aetna (Fire) Insurance Company; and Howard Wood Beardsley (b. 1889)of West Hartford. Dr. Benjamin F. Beardsley died at his home in Hartford, Connecticut, on 2 June 1934 at the age of 93.