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Henry Beard – One of the First African Americans to Settle in the Area

The story of Henry Beard begins in antebellum (pre-Civil War) South. 

Born in Kentucky in 1840, Beard lived the life of a slave until early in the Civil War. In 1862, when the Northern army gained control of most of Kentucky, Henry was given his freedom.

As would become increasingly apparent in the coming years, Beard, like all newly freed blacks, was hard-pressed to find work and start a new life.  Henry Beard was fortunate.  The conquering union regiment stationed in his part of Kentucky, the 105th Illinois, was from the DeKalb-Sycamore area.  Their commander hired Henry to work as a laborer, but he was eventually chosen to serve as under cook for the adjutant general of the army in command of that portion of the western theatre of war.

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Category : August 2011 Edition, Local History, Sycamore
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