Jonathon Seward Beard was the second child of Henry Clay and Lucinda(Macy)Beard. His father died early(1877) when Jonathon was 13 yrs old. The boys had to help out. He married Minnie in 1899. "It is likely no man was ever more widely known in the Economy Community than Jonathon Seward Beard" So stated Wayne Guthrie in his column "Ringside in Hoosier Land" in a 1950 issue of the Indianapolis News. Seward was born in 1864 the oldest son of Henry and Lucinda Macy Beard. His first name, Seward came from Abraham Lincoln's secretary of war. "My father was a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln and because everyone was naming their baby boys 'Abraham', he decided to call me Seward in honor of Abraham Lincoln's choice of William H.Seward." a quote from Uncle Seward made to a Palladium-Item reporter in 1946. In his early teens Seward had a siege of typhoid fever which left him weak the remainder of his life, but he learned to live with it. In 1891 he started into business in Economy as a tinner after being apprenticed to a tinsmith in Farmland. He began this business in the former D.B. Robbins store on the corner of South Poplar and Main Streets where the Peoples State Bank is located. Gradually, he added to the stock, including candy, patent medicines, hardware, dishes, school supplies, cooking ware, furniture for a time, glass, paint, and other countless commodities. One common item never found in Beard's store was tobacco for human consumption. A little tobacco was to be found in horse and hog medicines he sold and he regretted that. The business developed into one of those typical country general stores that carried about everything. It was said that if anyone asked for something he didn't have in stock, he'd make a note of it and get it later. For years candy for the children was one of his principle stocks in trade. Someone remarked one time that Seward and Minnie,his wife,got all the pennies in the township. A school child would spend some time choosing what he wanted with the one penny he had--maybe a half-cents worth of this, a quarter cents worth of that, ect. Regardless of the childs whims, he was allowed all the time he wished. A story was told that another Economy merchant's daughter proved the popularity of the Beard establishment. She would ask her dad for pennies so she could buy at the Beard store candy of which she could have had aplenty at her father's store. Seward's wife, Minnie, whom he married in 1899, was always at his side, helping in every way she could. I venture to say there was never a better known or nore loved couple in Economy that "Seward and Minnie" as they were known to all. People in the community said they were "Friends" both in their religious denomination and their everyday life. Seward told the reporter in 1946 that he was born during the Civil War and had lived through three devastating wars in live's and property. "The world was in a mess then and still is today," he said and Minnie agreed. Minnie Beard passed away in March of 1947, age 82, leaving Seward a lonely man. after a while he went back in the store and carried on for several months. He died in March, 1948 at the age of 83 of complications that set in while he was recuperating from an operation for appendicitus. Seward Beard was for years a Notary Public and President of the Economy Bank. When it became a branch bank, he served as a director until his death. He was Sunday School Superintendent in the Friends Church for years and was a regular attendant at worship services as long as he was able. (From the Economy Times Book)