Samuel was the son of Jacob and Mary Beckner. I found a marriage between a Jacob Beckner and a Mary Andrew(s) on 8 Apr 1819 in Montgomery Co., Ohio that may be theirs. Eleven children have been linked to Jacob and Mary—Eliza, Martin, William, Jacob Jr., Margaret, Samuel, Eli, Mary Jr., an unnamed infant son, Sarah and Susan.

Sometime between Samuel’s birth in 1833 and Eli’s birth in 1837, the family left Ohio and resettled in Elkhart Co., Indiana. The 1840 Census placed them there. That decade’s census only listed the name of the head of household. Besides Jacob Beckner, there were eleven others living in the household, 6-year-old Samuel appearing as the male between the ages of 5 and 9.

By the time the 1850 Census was enumerated, someone had the brilliant idea of listing the names of all of the member of the household. Head of household, Jacob Beckner, 54, was noted as a farmer. Mary, 50, was tending to the running of the household. There with them were children Jacob Jr., 21, Margaret, 18, Samuel, 16, Eli, 13, Mary Jr., 11, Sarah, 7, and 3-year-old Susan. Also living with the family was 7-year-old Sarah J. Thomas (a granddaughter, if she was the daughter of Jacob and Mary’s daughter Eliza, who married Samuel Thomas).

Just before the next decade’s 1860 Census, Samuel married Eliza Yockey the day after Christmas on 26 Dec 1859. The welcomed at least seven children together—Mary Anna (27 Oct 1860 – 30 Dec 1952), Sarah (b. ca. 1862), John William (6 Apr 1864 – 1 Feb 1940), Adeline (b. ca. 1867), Albert Homer (15 Feb 1870 – 24 Nov 1944), Jacob (b. ca. 1875), and Minnie (28 Jan 1877 – 5 Jun 1952).

The 1860 Census revealed that Samuel’s family was living in or near Millersburg in Elkhart Co., Indiana. Samuel Beckner, 25, was farming for a living. Eliza, 18, was keeping house, as they say.

The spring following that census, the Civil War erupted. I found a record of service for a Samuel Beckner in the Civil War Index, who served with Company B (and E?) of the 118th Indiana Infantry, mustering in on 2 Sep 1863 and (supposedly) mustering out on 1 Mar 1864. If he indeed served, he was one of the lucky ones who was able to return home to his family.

The family was living in or near Goshen, Elkhart Co., Indiana a decade later when the 1870 Census takers started knocking on doors. Samuel Beckner, 36, was busy farming. Eliza, 26, had five children to tend to—Mary, 9, Sarah, 8, John, 6, Adeline, 3, and 3-month-old Albert. Living with the family was Eliza’s 68-year-old mother Mary Yockey.

Samuel appears to have had some wanderlust, and the 1880 Census caught up with the family in Salt River, Ralls Co., Missouri. Samuel, 43, was working a new farm. Eliza, 40, was home with John, 16, Adeline, 13, Albert, 9, Jacob, 5, and 3-year-old Minnie.

Unfortunately, with the loss of the 1890 Census, we don’t get an update on the family, and I wasn’t able to find them on the 1900 Census, but it seems that the family was back in Indiana by 1891 and that Samuel’s wife Eliza died somewhere in that three-decade span.

Samuel, widowed, aged 75, reappeared on the 1910 Census, living in Washington Twp., Porter Co., Indiana. Head of household was his son-in-law John Henry Yazel, who was employed by Garden City Sand. John Yazel had married Samuel’s daughter Mary Beckner Linderman.

The 1920 Census caught up with the three of them in Galena, La Porte Co., Indiana. Head of household was Samuel’s son John Beckner, aged 55 and farming as his father had before him. Samuel was 87 years old that year. He died a year later on 13 Jun 1921.