John Robert was the son of John Beaman and Colen Carraway and he was born at Beamans Crossroads, Sampson County, NC. His father died when he was only seven and his mother died when he was 19. In addition to his mother, he was partially raised by his grandmother, Rebecca Colston Beaman and his mother's brother, Bedreaden Carraway Jr, whom John called “Uncle Carraway”.
John was a very intelligent man and he supposedly attended the UNC-Chapel Hill. He was known throughout Sampson County as a wise and decent man who was a public servant. He moved to Clinton from Beamans Crossroads just before 1850 because he built a large and spacious house on College Street in Clinton in 1850. The home remained until it was destroyed by fire in 1986. The home was featured in the pamphlet, “An Inventory of Historical Architectural of Sampson County, NC”, by Tom Butchko, published 1980 or 1981.
About 1842 he was elected to the N.C. Legislature from Sampson County. In 1846 he was elected Clerk of Superior Court. After the war he was elected as Chairman of the Board of County Commissioners. He was serving as county Treasurer at the time of his death. He was also the Treasurer of the county National Farmers Alliance & Industrial Union.
John's very lengthy obituary was published in The Caucasian, January 28, 1892. A copy can be found in the book, “Statistics of Sampson and Duplin Counties, N.C. 1871-1892”, edited by Bradley Lee West, Vol. II, pages 210, 211, 214 & 215. During the funeral procession to the church, every church bell in Clinton tolled.
Quoting from his obituary, “As a man, he was genial, cheerful, affectionate, manly, strong in his attachments, frank, and unobtrusive in his manners, with no pretense about him. He enjoyed company, he loved children and was fond of young people's company, who always enjoyed being with him. His house was ever open not only to friends, but notably that class who were not able to go to hotels. In his family he was kind, affectionate and generous. After his children married and left him, no pleasure was never more keenly anticipated than their regular visit, which they eagerly kept up to his death. He was ever the willing and strong friend of the poor boys of this county. It was his special pride and delight to help every worthy young man he could. He took them to his home and acted as a father to them”.
Additional information regarding John Robert can be found in The Southern Historical Collection, the Wilson Special Collections Library, UNC-Chapel Hill.

Biography contributed by Larry Draughon