Who was Lucius Beebe?
There were actually several Lucius Beebes, but two in particular have important connections to the Beebe Library. The first was born in 1810 in Hebron, Connecticut. After striking out to seek his fortune, he wandered southern New England, eventually apprenticing in a textile factory in Norwich, Connecticut. He learned business skills quickly and in 1834 relocated to New Orleans where he and his brothers became cotton brokers. After marrying Sylenda Morris, a young woman from Wilbraham, Massachusetts, in 1836, he returned to the Boston area and settled first in Cambridge, then in Melrose, and finally in Wakefield (then known as South Reading) overlooking Lake Quannapowitt in an 1810 house built by the Salem architect Samuel McIntyre. The couple had 12 children, one of whom died in infancy. The last four children were born in the house, which was then known as the Beebe Farm. In 1856 Lucius became the first chairman of the town’s new Board of Library Trustees. He also served on Wakefield
