MY NAME IS LEAH BEARD AND I HAVE BEEN RESEARCHING THE BEARDS FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS. AS AN INTODUCTION, LET ME SAY THIS SITE HAS MANY PAGES SO PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO LOOK AROUND. I'M STILL ADDING TO IT ALMOST DAILY AT THIS POINT. ALSO, PLEASE VISIT THE GENEALOGICAL REPORT YOU WILL FIND IT UNDER "DESCENDANTS." UNFORTUNATELY, I DON'T HAVE "linked" INFO, SO YOU WILL HAVE TO LOOK AROUND. I HAVE MADE EVERY EFFORT TO NOT LIST ANYONE I FELT MAY BE STILL ALIVE DUE TO THE CONCERNS ABOUT IDENTITY THEFT THESE DAYS. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME. IT TOOK SOME DOING TO GET MY LINE FROM WILCOX CO AL BACK TO BLADEN CO (NOW CUMBERLAND CO) NC. ALL THE RECORDS I HAD SEEMED TO POINT TO THE FATHER OF THE THREE FAMILIES I FOUND IN BLADEN/CUMBERLAND CO BEING NEILL BEARD. THEN I FOUND HIS WILL WHICH PROVED IT. I THEN FOUND OTHER SUBSTANTIATING DOCUMENTS THAT I WILL EVENTUALLY HAVE POSTED HERE. BUT I HAVE YET TO TAKE HIM ACROSS THE WATER. ONE THING THAT MOST GENEALOGISTS KNOW IS ONE MUST LOVE HISTORY TO DO IT WELL AS IT'S NECESSARY TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE AREA, BE IT THE COLONIES, EUROPE OR ELSEWHERE. IT HAS BEEN SUSPECTED THAT NEILL BEARD WAS FROM SCOTLAND. THERE THE SURNAME WAS BAIRD. THERE HAVE BEEN BAIRDS IN SCOTLAND FOR CENTURIES. THERE HAS BEEN BAIRD AND BEARDS IN IRELAND, ENGLAND AND ELSEWHERE. BUT KNOWING THE SURNAME BEARD OR BAIRD IS FOUND THERE DOESN'T PROVE ANYTHING. THERE ARE A FEW THEORIES FLOATING AROUND SUCH AS NEILL WAS DEPORTED AS A RESULT OF THE POLITICS OF SCOTLAND AROUND 1700s, BUT THE PROBLEM IS WE DON'T REALLY KNOW IF HE WAS THE FIRST COME OVER OVER. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? WELL, SINCE WE DON'T KNOW, IT'S BEEN LIKE LOOKING THROUGH A HAYSTACK FOR THAT NEEDLE. BUT ONE THING IS A GIVEN... NEILL GOT HERE!!! IT IS POSSIBLY NEILL CAME IN UP NORTH POSSIBLY DELAWARE. THERE ARE BEARDS FROM THAT AREA LISTING SOME CHILDREN AS "UNKNOWN" --- CHILDREN THAT MAY HAVE BEEN NEILL. THERE AREN'T MANY RECORDS FOR THIS TIME PERIOD, BUT I HOPE TO LUCK UP AND FIND SOMETHING. SOMEONE TOLD ME JUST THE OTHER DAY - - - -IT'S JUST A CLICK AWAY... HE HAD ENOUGH MONEY IN 1745 TO BUY LAND AND CONTINUED ACQUIRING IT! THE UNFORTUNATE POSSIBILITY REMAINS WE MAY NEVER FIND OUT. BUT IT CERTAINLY WON'T BE WE DIDN'T LOOK! THERE ARE DESCENDANTS OF NEILL BEARD I HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF AND THEREFORE IF YOU DO HAVE INFO AND WOULD LIKE TO SHARE AND HAVE IT LISTED HERE WITH ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. *************************************************** I WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEGDE AND THANK ALL THOSE WHO HELPED ME OVER THE YEARS: Donnie Beard Robert M. Butler Ann Porter Rhonda and Clayton Beard Steve Mims Sylvia Beard Seppala Bonnie Smith Beard Minnie Lou Genes Thompson Ras Bunion Beard Jr. James M. Beard Billie Jean Jackson Blanton Catherine Yates Catherine Cashwell Virginia Marsh Jim Cooke Jim Thrower Millie Owen And untold others . . .