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The Beach Family

Charles Asa Beach came from a family of businessmen. Having moved from South Gower in 1856, his father, Mahlon Ford Beach (1833-1913), built a small steam sawmill in Winchester, Ontario, and over time added other machinery and buildings, such as planing mills, a sash and door factory, and a grist mill. M.F. married Louisa Charlotte Wickwire (1835-1907) in Iroquois, Ont., on Oct. 18, 1865. Charles was the eldest of their ten sons:

Charles Asa Beach (1866-1944) - Beach Furniture Limited, Cornwall
Frederick Wesley Beach (1868-1938) - Owner, saw and stave mill, Iroquois
Benson Clothier Beach (1870-1949) - Owner, Beach Foundry, Ottawa
Anson White Beach (1870-1961) - Federal veterinary inspector
Mahlon Wickwire Beach (1872-1966) - Owner, flour mill, Barrie
Howard Bow Beach (1873-1953) - Superintendent, Beach Foundry, Ottawa
David Easton Beach (1875-1928) - Soldier, Johannesburg Mounted Rifles
George Weston Beach (1875-1939) - Manager, M. F. Beach Co., Winchester
James Russell Beach (1878-1940) - Foreman, Beach Rural Electric System
Olin Abner Beach (1882-1966) - Owner, Beach Motors Limited, Ottawa

There are two sets of twins here: Easton and Weston, and Anson and Benson.

As a young man, Charles Asa joined his father's M.F. Beach Co. Limited, and after his father's death in 1917, he became President of the firm. He married Martha Doretta Gray (1865-1949) in Winchester, Ontario in 1887. In 1908, the family moved to Cornwall, where Charles bought the defunct Cornwall Furniture Company to found Beach Furniture Limited. Charlie and Dora had a family of three:

James Clifford Beach (1892-1964)
Lela Mary Beach (1896-1926)
Charles Claude Beach (1900-1983)

From 1919 on, Charles and Doretta wintered in St. Petersburg, Florida, where they erected and maintained a home, the counterpart of the handsome residence adorning their "Beachview Farm" in Cornwall.

The family toured the Mediterranean in 1926. Daughter Lela died on the return voyage. Brothers Clifford and Claude continued to operate Beach Furniture Limited until 1959, at which time they closed the business.

The author of this Web site is a grandson of Clifford.

Rev 2004-11-06