BIOS: Rufus M. BEACHY, Meyersdale, Somerset County, PA 

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History of Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania; Bedford 
County by E. Howard Blackburn; Somerset County by William H. Welfley; v.3, 
Pub. The Lewis Publishing Company, New York/Chicago 1906, ppg. 203/4

Rufus M. BEACHY.

Rufus M. Beachy, an active and successful veterinary surgeon of Meyersdale, 
was born in Garrett county, Maryland, January 30, 1867.  He is a son of 
Manasses J. and Elizabeth (Heddings) Beachy, and a grandson of Jonas and 
Sarah (Gnagey) Beachy.  Jonas Beachy was of Pennsylvania birth, but his 
parents were natives of Germany.  He lived the life of a Maryland farmer and 
was a minister and bishop of the Amish church.  He died in Maryland (in which 
state his wife also died), aged eighty-six years, and when eighty-five he 
walked seven miles to preach to his people on the Sabbath.
Manasses J. Beachy (father) was a farmer in Elk Lick township, where he was 
born.  His education was obtained in the subscription schools and his early 
life was spent on the farm, which lay along the state line.  He had some skill 
as a veterinarian and practiced to some extent among the farmers of that 
region.  Part of his time he lived in Maryland, where some of his children 
were born.  He was a Republican, and, like his father, was a minister and 
bishop of the Amish people, comprising the Elk Lick congregation.  His first 
wife was Barbara Swartzendruber, by whom he had one child, Anna (Mrs. John K. 
Yoder, of Allensville, Mifflin county, Pennsylvania).  His second wife was 
Elizabeth Heddings, who bore him the following children: Rufus M., of whom 
later; Amos, deceased; Lewis, a farmer of Preston county, Virginia; Moses, 
who farms the old homestead; Phoebe, deceased (Mrs. Peter Smoker); Alvin, a 
farmer of Oregon; Mary, deceased (Mrs. Jonas M. Yoder). Manasses J. Beachy 
died June 21, 1895.  His widow, Elizabeth (Heddings) Beachy, becamse Mrs. 
Samuel J. Miller and lives near Springs, Pennsylvania. 
Rufus M. Beachy was educated in the public schools of the township.  His early 
life was spent on the farm; in fact, nearly all his life has been spent in 
and around it.  He early began to accompany his father on his visits, and when 
but thirteen years old was sent alone to attend a sick horse.  He treated the 
case successfully, staying with his patient all night.  From that time until 
the present (1906) he has followed the veterinary profession, and it may 
truly be said that he has grown up in it.  The practical knowledge gained from 
actual experience has been supplemented by an extensive course of 
professional reading and study, and now he has a large and successful 
practice that occupies his entire time.  His office and laboratory in 
Meyersdale are well equipped with instruments, remedies and an extensive 
library of works pertaining to his profession.  He sold his farm in 1904, 
which was the home farm, purchased at the time of his marriage, and which he 
cultivated in connection with his veterinary work, also his lime and stone 
business, in order to devote his entire time to his profession.
Mr. Beachy married, December 23, 1888, at the age of twenty-two, Lydia, born 
October 13, 1866, daughter of Emanuel and Mary (Miller) Heishberger, from 
Grantsville, Maryland.  Their children were: Jonas, born December 31, 1889; 
John, born May 7, 1891, died July 3, 1894; Noah, born September 22, 1896, 
died in infancy.