Elvin Ct., P. Beasley, 1960

Here’s another contractor I haven’t seen before, P. Beasley. I found this one while walking up and down Elvin Court to look at people’s Christmas lights, since there are several houses still decorated there. It’s on the east side of the street, between Jerome and the dead end. (That’s all of Elvin there is. It starts at Jerome and stops abruptly where the old Armory’s grounds begin.)

I did not find anything about P. Beasley, but I have a possible lead. I found several references to W.H. Beasley and Son, general contractors, in the Lansing State Journal between 1948 and 1951. They were connected with several civic projects, including building Midway Elementary School in Holt. Could P. Beasley be the “Son” of Beasley and Son?

Sorry, only a small lights display to look at here. The good ones were all behind me. This is looking north on Elvin. The old Armory building is visible past the end of the street.

Another piece of evidence suggests so. Find A Grave shows that there is a William Hosa Beasley buried in Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in DeWitt. The symbol on his gravestone, and the fact that he is buried in the Masonic Garden section of the cemetery, shows that he was a Freemason, which would be quite fitting for a builder, if this is our man. This W.H. Beasley died in 1951, matching the fact that I do not see any references to Beasley and Son after that date. Perhaps P. Beasley was indeed the “Son” and carried on the business in his own name after the death of his father.

That’s a tidy enough story, but there is a major problem. Whoever has entered the family history into Find A Grave has W.H. Beasley as having one son named William W. So I am inclined to say that this W.H. Beasley is indeed the contractor I read about, but I doubt that P. Beasley was his son. Find A Grave’s information could be wrong, of course, but usually these are entered by people doing family genealogy and so it is likely based on census information or another semi-reliable source.

So alas, while I have learned a bit about W.H. Beasley, I have possibly learned nothing about this specific stamp. My research so often goes that way.