BEATY

NANCY BEATY married Thomas Keoun (see Keoun) in 1822(1), in Armagh County, Ireland, near a market place called Newrie. As the story goes, Thomas Keoun was the handsome son of the lodgekeeper on the Beaty estate. He and Nancy fell in love and married against her parents' wishes. Because of this family friction, they came to America in 1825 and settled in Abbeville, South Carolina.(2) Some time after their children were born, Nancy and Thomas moved to Alabama and settled near the present town of Ft. Deposit. Thomas is thought to have died in Alabama, either in the Ft. Deposit or Birmingham area.

After the Civil War, Nancy and all her children and their families decided to move to Texas. They sold their Alabama property at public auction and moved to Texas, settling in Smith County near the present town of Winona. The Keouns were a very clannish family and Nancy served as the head of the family until she died about 1875, near Starville in the Winona area. For information on the children of Nancy and Thomas see "Keoun." Nancy was the daughter of

JAMES BEATY married a Jane. He is said to have been a wealthy estate owner in Ireland. They were the parents of: Nancy (see above) married Thomas Keoun in 1822 in Ireland; Samuel; James; John, Huey; William; Robert; Mary married a "Welch"; and Margaret married a "Wolfe."

Ref:
1. Letter--Mrs. E. C. Brown. Shreveport, Louisiana.
2. Letter--Alma Thompson Dickson, Dallas, Texas.