Mary Stevens Beall

Mary Stevens Beall (November 1, 1854 – May 19, 1917) was an American historian who served as librarian and secretary of the Columbia Historical Society. In addition to The Story Of The Washington Coachee And Of The Powel Coach which is Now at Mount Vernon and Military and Private Secretaries of George Washington, she wrote essays, short stories, and magazine articles.

Early life and education Mary Stevens was born at No. 304 Union Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 1, 1854. She was the only daughter of James Stevens, a prominent merchant, and Georgianna Gill Haines, his second wife. Beall had two half-sisters and a half brother. Her childhood was passed in the privacy of her home, her father having died suddenly of sunstroke in New Orleans when the child was ten years old. She followed with interest the varying incidents of the Civil War.

At the close of the war, Beall entered the Misses Bedlock's school which had been endowed by Benjamin Franklin. She graduated with honors and as valedictorian from the Girls' High School and Normal School of Philadelphia.

She held classes each winter in the study of Shakespeare, and was a lecturer on "The Merchant of Venice as Shakespeare Saw It Played" and other Shakespearean subjects. She also prepared a series of art lectures covering the records from the earliest specimens of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, down to the Christian Era.

A few weeks before she died, Beall was unanimously elected recording secretary of the National Shakespeare Federation.

Beall was active in the institutional and charitable work of St. John's Episcopal Church, Georgetown.

Personal life Beall's paternal ancestors came from England and settled in Talbot County, Maryland, in 1652, the first, William Stevens, holding the office of King's justice. Her grandfather Stevens died when her father was 13 years old, and as soon as the latter attained his majority, he freed all the slaves he had inherited, and about ten years before the Civil War he gave to help build the ship Mary Caroline, for carrying freed slaves to Liberia and establishing them there. Her maternal ancestors came from Germany, the first, Peter Snyder, being one of the first settlers of Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Beall's made their home in a mansion situated in a grove of trees. In every room, there was a collection of pier-glass, antique mahogany, card tables, and candle stands. She had one child, a daughter, who, in later life, became Mrs. Thomas Hughes, residing in Georgetown. A grandson, Stevens Hughes, served in the U. S. Navy while another worked for American Security Trust Co.

The last day of activity, May 15, 1917, was spent in Georgetown in the company of Mrs. Cazenove Lee, arranging and pasting historical photographs into an album. Late in the day, Beall was stricken with apoplexy and hurried to a nearby hospital. In three days, she died.

Selected works The Story Of The Washington Coachee And Of The Powel Coach which is Now at Mount Vernon, 1908 (text) Military and Private Secretaries of George Washington (Volume I, records of the Columbia Historical Society) (text)