Bio:Wolcott LeClear Beard

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Year of birth via A genealogy of the descendants of Widow Martha Beard of Milford, Conn., Stating: 448. Wolcott LeClear, born Nov. 10. 1866. He was a graduate of Hobart College, B. S., 1889, C. ]*-.. 1891. For a time he was engaged in irrigation works in Arizona and he was 1st lieutenant of the U. S. volunteer engineers in 1898. He contributed numerous stories to magazines and wrote "Sand and Cactus." He held government positions in Lingayen, province of Pangasinan, as civil engineer, supervisor and head of administrative boards, and commanclcd an exploring expedition to the Bolivian headquarters at Amazon. He married Gabriella Smyth, June, 1901, in New York. Wife l>orn \l)ri! 24, 1876. Residence — New York City. --Dirk P Broer 12:27, 10 November 2011 (UTC)

Major Wolcott LeClear Beard was a civil engineer, an author, and an adventurer. Born in New York City on November 10, 1866, he was the son of William Holbrook Beard, the well known artist and architect. His mother, Carrie R. LeClear, was the daughter of another well known artist. After graduating from Hobart College with a B.S. in 1889, he left to ply his trade in Arizona. A few years later, however, he was seriously injured in a riding accident. He returned home to New York City, and during his recovery, began writing short stories about the West. (Some of these were collected in Sand and Cactus, 1899.) In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, he participated in the Costa Rico campaign as a 1st lieutenant in the U. S. volunteer engineers. Later he lived in the Philippines, holding various governmental positions in Lingayen, a city in the province of Pangasinan. Still later he led an expedition to explore the Bolivian headwaters of the Amazon. He continued writing for more than thirty years, and ultimately published more than ninety stories, many about the military and/or the West. Finally, on February 12, 1939, aged 72, he died in New York City. [by Dr. Charles G. Waugh]