Beardstown, Illinois
Encyclopedia
Beardstown is a city in Cass County, Illinois
, United States
. The population was 6,123 at the 2010 census. The public schools are in Beardstown Community Unit School District 15
.
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 3.5 square miles (9.1 km²), of which 3.4 square miles (8.8 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) (1.73%) is water.
, which plays an important role in the economy and history of the community, and is the site of two grain terminals where farm products are transferred to barges for transport. Hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation along the river contribute to the local economy. A large Cargill
meat processing plant is a major employer and has attracted a substantial immigrant population to Beardstown in recent years.
of 2000, there were 5,766 people, 2,172 households, and 1,437 families residing in the city. The population density
was 1,692.1 people per square mile (652.9/km²). There were 2,339 housing units at an average density of 686.4 per square mile (264.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.76% White, 0.87% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 7.01% from other races
, and 0.76% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.90% of the population.
There were 2,172 households out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.1% were married couples
living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.8% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,104, and the median income for a family was $31,951. Males had a median income of $25,481 versus $20,054 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $13,777. About 17.0% of families and 19.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.7% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.
, a noted gambler and saloon keeper of the Old West who was killed in a gunfight in Kansas
in 1873 by "Rowdy Joe" Lowe
. Later he built a two-story brick building which was used for 85 years as a store and inn. This inn is alleged to have sheltered Abraham Lincoln
on his visits to Beardstown, but that is legend and unconfirmed. The building was demolished and replaced by a post office. William Henry Herndon
, Lincoln's Springfield law partner, claimed that Lincoln contracted syphilis
from a prostitute in Beardstown, an incident author Gore Vidal
colorfully recounts in his historical novel Lincoln
.
Site of famous Lincoln / Douglas debate A Beardstown Courthouse. Lincoln Museum on 2nd floor courthouse along with many Indian relics.
. For six straight years they were honored by the National Association of Investors Corp's "All-Star Investment Clubs". In 1993, they produced their first home video for investors called, The Beardstown Ladies: Cooking Up Profits on Wall Street. By 1994, they wrote their first book, The Beardstown Ladies' Common-Sense Investment Guide, which sold over 800,000 copies by 1998 and was a New York Times Best Seller. The Beardstown Ladies become a global phenomenon and TV stations from Germany, Brazil, and Japan were interviewing them and taping their monthly meetings in Beardstown. The seeds of scandal were planted in late 1998: a Chicago magazine noticed that the group's returns included the fees the women paid every month. Without them, the returns dwindled to just 9%, underperforming the Dow. An article in the Wall Street Journal led the ladies to hire an outside auditor, which proved they had indeed misstated their returns. Time magazine jokingly stated that they should be jailed for fraud and misrepresentation. , the Beardstown Ladies were still buying stocks. Their books can bought from Amazon.com for mere pennies.
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 6,123 at the 2010 census. The public schools are in Beardstown Community Unit School District 15
Beardstown Community Unit School District 15
Beardstown Community Unit School District 15 is a unified school district located in the Cass County, Illinois city of its namesake: Beardstown. While the majority of the students in the district are white, almost 35% of the ethnicity of the Beardstown Community Unit School District 15 is Hispanic...
.
Geography
Beardstown is located at 40°0′44"N 90°25′43"W (40.012189, -90.428711). Beardstown is located on the Illinois RiverIllinois River
The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in the State of Illinois. The river drains a large section of central Illinois, with a drainage basin of . This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route...
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 3.5 square miles (9.1 km²), of which 3.4 square miles (8.8 km²) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.258998811 km²) (1.73%) is water.
Economy
Beardstown is located on the Illinois RiverIllinois River
The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in the State of Illinois. The river drains a large section of central Illinois, with a drainage basin of . This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route...
, which plays an important role in the economy and history of the community, and is the site of two grain terminals where farm products are transferred to barges for transport. Hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreation along the river contribute to the local economy. A large Cargill
Cargill
Cargill, Incorporated is a privately held, multinational corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Founded in 1865, it is now the largest privately held corporation in the United States in terms of revenue. If it were a public company, it would rank, as of 2011, number 13 on the Fortune 500,...
meat processing plant is a major employer and has attracted a substantial immigrant population to Beardstown in recent years.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 5,766 people, 2,172 households, and 1,437 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,692.1 people per square mile (652.9/km²). There were 2,339 housing units at an average density of 686.4 per square mile (264.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.76% White, 0.87% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 7.01% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.76% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.90% of the population.
There were 2,172 households out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.1% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.8% were non-families. 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.11.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,104, and the median income for a family was $31,951. Males had a median income of $25,481 versus $20,054 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $13,777. About 17.0% of families and 19.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.7% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.
History
Beardstown was first settled by a man named Thomas Beard in 1819. Thomas Beard erected a log cabin at the edge of the Illinois River, from which he traded with the local American Indians and ran a ferry. His son was Edward "Red" BeardEd Beard
For the football player of the same name see Ed Beard .Ed Beard, or Edward Beard, aka Edward "Red" Beard, was a gambler and saloon keeper of the Old West....
, a noted gambler and saloon keeper of the Old West who was killed in a gunfight in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
in 1873 by "Rowdy Joe" Lowe
Joseph Lowe
Joseph Lowe , aka "Rowdy Joe" Lowe, was a gambler and saloon keeper/owner of the Old West. Although sometimes described as a gunfighter, he did not historically fit into that category....
. Later he built a two-story brick building which was used for 85 years as a store and inn. This inn is alleged to have sheltered Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
on his visits to Beardstown, but that is legend and unconfirmed. The building was demolished and replaced by a post office. William Henry Herndon
William Herndon (lawyer)
William Henry Herndon was the law partner and biographer of Abraham Lincoln.-Biography:Born in Greensburg, Kentucky, Herndon and his family moved to Illinois in 1820, and they settled in Springfield when he was five. Herndon attended Illinois College from 1836-1837. In 1840 he married Mary J....
, Lincoln's Springfield law partner, claimed that Lincoln contracted syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
from a prostitute in Beardstown, an incident author Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal is an American author, playwright, essayist, screenwriter, and political activist. His third novel, The City and the Pillar , outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality...
colorfully recounts in his historical novel Lincoln
Lincoln (novel)
Lincoln is a historical novel, part of the Narratives of Empire series by Gore Vidal.Set during the American Civil War, the novel describes the presidency of Abraham Lincoln through the eyes of several historical figures, including presidential secretary John Hay, First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln,...
.
Site of famous Lincoln / Douglas debate A Beardstown Courthouse. Lincoln Museum on 2nd floor courthouse along with many Indian relics.
The Beardstown Ladies
From 1984 to 1993, a group of 16 late-aged women were picking stocks in the Dow Jones and over the course of nine years were claiming returning of 23.4% on their stocks. Once they went public with the amazing returns, they gained national recognition for their success. The Beardstown Ladies, with an average age of 70 (1994), were asked to appear on The Donahue Show, CBS's Morning Show, NBC's The Today Show, and ABC's Good Morning AmericaGood Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
. For six straight years they were honored by the National Association of Investors Corp's "All-Star Investment Clubs". In 1993, they produced their first home video for investors called, The Beardstown Ladies: Cooking Up Profits on Wall Street. By 1994, they wrote their first book, The Beardstown Ladies' Common-Sense Investment Guide, which sold over 800,000 copies by 1998 and was a New York Times Best Seller. The Beardstown Ladies become a global phenomenon and TV stations from Germany, Brazil, and Japan were interviewing them and taping their monthly meetings in Beardstown. The seeds of scandal were planted in late 1998: a Chicago magazine noticed that the group's returns included the fees the women paid every month. Without them, the returns dwindled to just 9%, underperforming the Dow. An article in the Wall Street Journal led the ladies to hire an outside auditor, which proved they had indeed misstated their returns. Time magazine jokingly stated that they should be jailed for fraud and misrepresentation. , the Beardstown Ladies were still buying stocks. Their books can bought from Amazon.com for mere pennies.
Notable people
- Red NorvoRed NorvoRed Norvo was one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba and later the vibraphone as viable jazz instruments...
, jazz vibraphone pioneer, born in Beardstown - Jesse WallaceJesse WallaceJesse Rink Wallace was a United States Navy Captain and the 29th Governor of American Samoa. He served as Governor for a period of only ten days from July 30, 1940 to August 8, 1940. Wallace was born in Beardstown, Illinois on July 7, 1899. On June 20, 1918, Wallace was appointed to the United...
, United States Navy Captain and the 27th unique Governor of American Samoa; born in Beardstown.
External links
- Harvesting the River: Beardstown at the Illinois State MuseumIllinois State MuseumThe Illinois State Museum is the official museum of the natural history of the U.S. state of Illinois. The headquarters museum is located on Spring and Edwards Streets, one block southwest of the Illinois State Capitol, in Springfield, the state capital...
website - Beardstown Houston Memorial Library
- Beardstown Economic Development — requires JavaScriptJavaScriptJavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....