Peter Ellis Bean (sometimes ''Ellis Peter Bean''; es, Pedro Elias Bean) (June 8, 1783, Grainger County, Tennessee – October 6?, 1846,
Veracruz
Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
) was a United States
filibuster
A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...
in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
and
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
, and a Mexican revolutionary.
Early life
Bean was born on June 8, 1783 to William Bean and Elizabeth Blair in Grainger County, Tennessee. Bean was the first born child from his father's second marriage, and he had seven siblings and several half-siblings. He grew up in the
Cumberland Mountains
The Cumberland Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern section of the Appalachian Mountains. They are located in western Virginia, southwestern West Virginia, the eastern edges of Kentucky, and eastern middle Tennessee, includin ...
in eastern Tennessee, and his grandfather had established a settlement known as Bean's Station.
In the few years leading to Bean's birth, several men from his family waged war against the British with long rifles, including his grandfather, Captain William Bean, who died in 1782. They also seized land from the Cherokees as they advanced into Tennessee's frontier.Jackson (2005), pp. 89.
Expedition to Spanish Texas
In 1800, at 17 years of age, his father sent him south to the Mississippi River via the Tennessee River by flatboat with a load of trade goods. The boat capsized at
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, the population of Muscle Shoals was 13,146. The estimated popul ...
, and Bean escaped with nothing but his clothes. He continued on to
Natchez, Mississippi
Natchez ( ) is the county seat of and only city in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Natchez has a total population of 14,520 (as of the 2020 census). Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, ...
, where he joined Philip Nolan's last filibustering expedition to Spanish Texas, on the promise of riches from captured mustangs and perhaps gold and silver.
On May 21, 1801, a Spanish force of 120 men under the command of Lieutenant Miguel Francisco Múzquiz left Nacogdoches in pursuit of Nolan, whom they encountered entrenched and unwilling to surrender just upstream from where the current Nolan River flows into the larger Brazos (now in Hill County, Texas). Several of Nolan's men surrendered immediately, and after Nolan was killed, the remainder yielded. Bean opposed surrender, but Múzquiz promised the prisoners would be taken to Natchez and released. A first-hand account of the expedition, capture and subsequent imprisonment is contained in Bean's ''Memoirs''. Bean was second in command of the expedition.
In Mexico
Instead of Natchez, Bean and the other survivors were taken deep into Mexico, and held at various towns. Bean tried several times to escape. As punishment, he was once held in
stocks
Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law describing ...
for fifteen days. The men finally arrived in
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to:
Places
*Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state
**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
**Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state
**Chihuahua Mun ...
, where they were held for five or six days in prison, but then granted freedom of the town. The names and fates of the other prisoners are unknown, but thanks to his memoirs, Bean's story has survived.
In Chihuahua, Bean went into business as a hatter, doing well. After five years, Bean and some other prisoners attempted to escape through
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex
, Offi ...
, but were recaptured. Bean was sent to the prison in
Acapulco
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has ...
. He remained in prison there until November 1811, when he was released after volunteering to fight for the Spanish Royalists against the insurgents under General
José María Morelos
José María Teclo Morelos Pérez y Pavón () (30 September 1765 – 22 December 1815) was a Mexican Catholic priest, statesman and military leader who led the Mexican War of Independence movement, assuming its leadership after the execution of ...
, who was besieging Acapulco. However, at the first opportunity Bean deserted, joining Morelos, and helping in the latter's capture of the town. Bean rose in rank and favor in the insurgent army, in large part because of his knowledge of munitions. He established several powder mills and furnaces for casting cannons.
Return to the United States
Fifteen years after leaving the United States, Bean returned as a Mexican colonel and emissary from Morelos to seek American aid for the insurgents, but without much success. In
Jean Lafitte, and together they offered their services to General
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame a ...
in the
Battle of New Orleans
The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815 between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Fren ...
against the British. They were assigned positions in the American battle line. Their valiant conduct gained a pardon for Lafitte, and promises of help for the Mexican insurgents for Bean.
On February 18, 1815, Bean sailed on the ''Águila'' to return to Mexico, but he soon was sent back to New Orleans as the escort of the Mexican emissary to the United States, José Manuel Herrera, and Morelos's son, Juan Almonte. By the time Bean got back to Mexico, Morelos had been captured and shot. The insurrection was in desperate straits. Bean raised money and tried to gather mules and stock for the patriot army.
Bean married Magdalena Falfán de los Godos, a lady of "fine family", intending to return with her to the United States. However, in 1816 Bean was nearly captured by Royalists in Veracruz. He managed to get back to New Orleans, but by mutual consent his wife remained in Mexico. The details of this escape are not given in his memoirs. He stayed in the Neutral Ground (between the
Louisiana Purchase
The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...
, belonging to the United States, and Spanish colonial
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
), working on his memoirs. In 1817 he decided to visit relatives in Tennessee. There in 1818 he married Candace Midkiff, daughter of Isaac Midkiff, either assuming his Mexican wife was dead, or simply not mentioning her. In 1820 the couple moved to southwest
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the ...
, where their son, Isaac Bean, was born in 1821.
Return to Mexico
With news of Mexican independence, in 1823 Bean moved with his family to Nacogdoches, Texas, intending to seek reward for his revolutionary services. He settled in Mound Prairie, near the
Neches River
The Neches River () begins in Van Zandt County west of Rhine Lake and flows for through the piney woods of east Texas, defining the boundaries of 14 counties on its way to its mouth on Sabine Lake near the Rainbow Bridge. Two major reservoirs, L ...
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...
, where he received a land grant and was commissioned as a colonel in the Mexican army. He was also appointed agent to the Cherokees and other immigrant tribes in
East Texas
East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region con ...
. He applied for colonization rights to the border reserve along the Sabine River, but Mexico awarded them to Lorenzo de Zavala instead, in 1829.
While he was back in Mexico, Bean renewed his relations with his first wife, Magdalena Falfán, but kept his home with his second wife, Candace Midkiff, in Texas. He eventually had three children with Candace.
Back in Texas
Bean settled down to discharge his duties as Indian agent. He was instrumental in defusing the
Fredonian Rebellion
The Fredonian Rebellion (December 21, 1826 – January 31, 1827) was the first attempt by Anglo settlers in Texas to secede from Mexico. The settlers, led by Empresario Haden Edwards, declared independence from Mexican Texas and created the ...
in Texas in 1826, by keeping the Cherokees neutral. He briefly commanded a small military force at
Fort Terán
Fort Terán (sometimes Teran or Fort Turan) was a former Mexico, Mexican military base, military post and Texian settlement located in Tyler County, Texas, Tyler County in East Texas. The post was named after Mexican general Manuel Mier y Terán.
...
in 1831 and helped overthrow the centralist commandant at Nacogdoches in 1832, becoming the interim Mexican military chief in East Texas.
Although he probably sympathized with the Texas Revolution, Bean was after all an officer in the Mexican army. He took no active part in the revolution, and volunteered to place himself under arrest when the fighting began. He was initially granted parole, but General Sam Houston ordered him detained in April 1836.
After Texas gained independence, Bean continued to live around Nacogdoches until 1843, when he returned to Jalapa, Veracruz and his first wife. He died in bed at her estate in 1847, at age 63. His second wife and the mother of his children, Candace Midkiff, died in 1848. She is buried in Selman-Roark Cemetery at Linwood.
Although uneducated, Peter Ellis Bean was a natural leader. At the time of his death he owned considerable property in East Texas. He was well thought of by the people who knew him. (Se The Peter Ellis Bean Collection at
Stephen F. Austin State University
}
Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) is a public university in Nacogdoches, Texas. It was founded as a teachers' college in 1923 and subsequennly renamed after one of Texas's founding fathers, Stephen F. Austin. Its campus resides on part ...
.)
References
*
* Fehrenbach, T.R., ''Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans'', updated edition, 2000, p. 117.
*Jackson, Jack, ''Indian Agent: Peter Ellis Bean in Mexican Texas''.
Texas A&M University Press
Texas A&M University Press (also known informally as TAMU Press) is a scholarly publishing house associated with Texas A&M University. It was founded in 1974 and is located in College Station, Texas, in the United States.
Overview
The Texas A ...
, 2005.
*Lay, Bennett, ''The Lives of Ellis P. Bean'' Austin:
University of Texas Press
The University of Texas Press (or UT Press) is a university press that is part of the University of Texas at Austin. Established in 1950, the Press publishes scholarly books and journals in several areas, including Latin American studies, Texan ...
*
* Fehrenbach, T.R., ''Lone Star: A History of Texas and the Texans'', updated edition, 2000, p. 117.
*Lay, Bennett, ''The Lives of Ellis P. Bean'' Austin:
University of Texas Press
The University of Texas Press (or UT Press) is a university press that is part of the University of Texas at Austin. Established in 1950, the Press publishes scholarly books and journals in several areas, including Latin American studies, Texan ...