You may be aware that Cornelius Beekman, Jacksonville’s wealthiest and most prominent pioneer, was a philanthropist, but did you know that his daughter Carrie followed in his footsteps? March is Women’s History Month so Historic Jacksonville, Inc. is sharing the stories of local women, many of them previously untold.
You may have heard how Cornelius gave money to build schools and churches. Carrie initially did things on a more personal level, even after she moved to Portland in 1931. For example, she financially cared for those who worked for the Beekman family until her death in 1959; she funded a “heating plant,” “pew cushions,” “well repair,” and periodically the minister’s salary at Jacksonville’s historic Presbyterian Church.
But Carrie Beekman is also the one who preserved the family history. While her brother Ben saw that the 1863 Beekman Bank remained intact as a museum during his lifetime, it was Carrie who deeded the Bank and all its contents to the Oregon Historical Society following Ben’s death, along with $10,000 in Ben’s memory. It was Carrie who donated the Jacksonville Reservoir to the City of Jacksonville and the property between the Presbyterian Church and the manse to the Church. It was Carrie who set aside the bulk of her estate for the University of Oregon to establish the Beekman Professorship of Pacific and Northwest and History in honor of her father and brother. It was the first endowed chair at the University. And it was Carrie who deeded the Beekman House and its contents to the University of Oregon upon her own passing.