John MacBean – Scottish POW (Logan Family)

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about William Bean- 6th Great Grandfather Trans-Appalachian pioneer; Longhunter  on the Logan side.   In researching him, I came across some fascinating information about the Bean family.  Such as, our Bean immigrant was a Scottish Prisoner of War and sold as an indentured servant.

John MacBean (my 9th ggrandfather) came from Scotland as a POW.  He was one of  272 prisoners from the Battle of Worcester on the ship, John and Sarah, in 1651 that traveled to Boston (the Mac was dropped in Boston).

John Bean and six others were indentured to Nicholas Lissen, owner of sawmills on the Exeter River and the Oyster River. Usually, these servants had to serve 6-8 years for their master, but John married his master’s daughter within 3 years! Nicolas’ other two daughters married John’s friends and fellow POWs.   I find it interesting that the Lissens were also from Scotland.

John MacBean was born about 1634 in Strathdearn, Inverness, Scotland.  As with the Clan Logan Visits Scotland, the MacBeans also belong to a Clan.  From clanmacbean.org:

Our Gaelic name is MacBheathain, meaning “Son of the Lively One”. It is prounounced MacBain in Scotland. The “bh” in the Gaelic has a “bv” sound. The “ea” has the harsh “a”. The “th” has an h sound. The “ai” has the harsh “e” sound. This becomes “Macbvaheen”. This is why there are so many spellings of the sound. For a long time, everything was spelled phonetically. There was no set way. You can find one family member that spelled his name one way and his brothers spelled it another way. Many records show the names spelled the way the recorder spelled it, not the way the family spelled it.

The Prefix of “Mac” means “Son of”. As time passed, many people dropped the a and put a line underneath the “Mc” with two dots to show that the a was suppose to be there. Later the lines and dots were dropped altogether. Some times you will find M’ which means the same as Mac. Mack is also accepted. 

Kinchyle is the Cry that the clan warriors would yell as they began to engage in battle. It was meant to unite them as one force. Kinchyle (kin-hile) was the land owned by the Clan which stretched around 2 miles along Lock Ness. This was located approximately where the town of Dores (due-ers) is today.

Clan Motto: Touch not a catt bot a targe!
This motto, which is written on our badge means, don’t mess with this cat unless you have a shield for protection against it!

In the spring of 1650, when Oliver Cromwell threatened to invade Scotland, great numbers of Scottish highlanders enlisted to defend their homeland. The Scots lost the Battle of Dunbar on 3 September 1650, but exactly a year later a reorganized Scottish army prepared to fight Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester. When no ammunition was provided, the Scots resorted to clubs, stones, and the butts of their muskets until they were finally overpowered and Scotland lost her independence. The surviving Scottish soldiers were taken as prisoners of war.  From Volume I, Descendants of John Bean of Exeter (2019 edition) 

On 18 April 1654 he wedded Lissen’s little girl, Hannah, and before long turned into an accomplice in the sawmills, a course of action that went on until Hannah’s demise and John’s resulting remarriage.  John Bean was likewise a land engineer. Somewhere in the range of 1660 and 1708, he obtained almost 20 acres of land which he cleared of timber and changed into working ranches, prepared and available to be purchased by new pioneers. What’s more, he was occupied with cultivating and assembling boots for settlers and shoes for the Indian exchange.

John Bean was Presbyterian, and Margaret, his second wife, was a member of the Hampton church in 1671 but was dismissed from that church in 1698 in order to join the church in Exeter. They chose to worship at the Congregational Church because there was no Presbyterian Church in Exeter, though John remained a Presbyterian till the day of his death.

His first spouse, Hannah,  was born around 1635 in Scotland. She passed on amid the birth of their third child in 1659 at 24 years old in Exeter, New Hampshire. She was buried at Old Gathering House Churchyard in Belknap, New Hampshire. Hannah Lissen had two sisters: Elizabeth Lissen who wedded Henry Magoon and Mary Lissen who wedded Alexander Gordon. The two men were with John Bean on the John and Sara.

John Bean and Margarett Rees were married before 16 Nov 1660 in Exeter, Massachusetts Bay.  Margarett Rees was born circa 1635 in Wales. She died in 1714 at the age of 79 in Exeter, New Hampshire. She was buried at Old Meeting House Churchyard in Belknap, New Hampshire.

John’s 11th son, James is my ancestor.  He was born on 17 Dec 1672 in Exeter, Massachusetts Bay.  He was a large landowner in his own right.  In February of 1698, he bought 30 acres from the town of Exeter.  He added this to the land he received from his father.  He was a trapper and a hunter.  He also served in the Indian Wars fighting Indians until the withdrawal of the Indians from New Hampshire around 1710.   In July of the same year, James prevented Indians who attempted to kidnap his three nieces and take them to Canada.

James Bean and his first wife, Sarah Coleman, were married in 1692 in Exeter.  Sarah was baptized in 1673 so she was born around that same year.  She died in 1696.

James’ first son, John, is my ancestor.  He was born in 1693 in Brentwood, New Hampshire, and married Sarah Sinkler, in 1718, in Exeter, New Hampshire, British America; died in 1747, in Brentwood, New Hampshire, British America.  It is said that he was the favorite of his grandfather and was rather spoiled by him.  He acquired land from his will.

Their sons were very influential in Exeter, New Hampshire.  In fact, Nathaniel was one of the Delegates who ratified the Constitution of the United States of America.  However, my ancestor is their first son, Joshua.

Joshua was born in 1719, in Brentwood, New Hampshire.  He was a Quaker and had 22 children!  Eleven by his first wife and eleven by his second. No wonder there are so many Beans all over North America.  Around 1781, their daughter Hannah and her husband moved to Gilmanton, Strafford, New Hampshire.  She was the first white woman to settle in Gilmanton and their child, the first white child born there.

By 1781, Joshua and his first wife, Lydia Brown, moved to Gilmanton, traveling on horseback, carrying their three small children in the saddle with them.  Four of Joshua’s sons went to Dartmouth College.  Five of his grandsons graduated from Dartmouth and two graduated from Harvard.

Because Joshua was a Quaker, he could not serve in the Revolutionary War nor could he sign The Association Test Act of 1776.  Joshua and his sons were among thirty-five who sent a letter stating that they supported the Declaration of Independence made on the 4th of July.

Our ancestor is John, Joshua’s 16th child born to him and Hannah Robinson.  He was born on born 4 Sep 1746, in Brentwood, New Hampshire.  John married Abigail Fowler in 1767 in Brentwood, New Hampshire. Abigail was born on 14 Jun 1747 in Brentwood.  Not much more is known about this John.

Most of my research from this blog is from Vol I: Descendants of John Bean of Exeter from the clanmacbean.org website.  However, they did not have information on the rest of my line below.  I currently have an email to them asking how I can add my line to their research.

John and Abigail’s seventh son is John who was born on 20 Apr 1781, in Gilmanton, Strafford, New Hampshire.  He married Abiah Chase, on 11 Jan 1803.  In 1814, they moved to Warsaw, New Hampshire, and in 1834 they moved to Sparta, Pennsylvania.

John and Abiah married on 11 Jan 1803 in Gilmanton.  John served in the military in 1813.

Company Number:  33rd U.S. Infantry

Enlistment Date:  10 May 1813

Comments:  Mustered Out June 30, 1813

Eye Color:  Blue

Height:  5′ 7″

Hair Color:  Light

Complexion:  Light

John and Abiah had eight children.  Their third child, Louise, is my Bean ancestor.  She was born on 9 Feb 1809, in Gilmanton, Belknap, New Hampshire.   She married Lemuel H. Logan in May 1828 in Warsaw, Genesee, New York.  Lemuel’s will stated leaving money to each of his children, but all his real estate went to his “youngest son, Ryland”.   It is believed that Louise died giving birth to Ryland.  According to the 1865 IRS Tax Assessment Lists, Lemuel was a “Retail Dealer” for a Farmer’s Market and he paid taxes on the profit.  Lemuel bought 100 acres of land near to where the Catholic Cemetery is now in Corry, Pennsylvania.

My 2nd great grandfather was born to Louise and Lemuel, Silas H. Logan born on 10 Mar 1833 in Batavia, Genesee, New York.

Silas was a farmer and then worked on the railroad, you can read more about him at

James Lemuel Logan and Silas H. Logan 

and read about the Logans at

https://amzn.to/2VihI7e

Please let me know if you see any errors or have any suggestions.  Thank you for reading!

If you need research assistance, do not hesitate to contact me.

Your Family Tree Research Specialist

Research Specialist