Samuel Beard was born between 1770 and 1780 in Virginia. He would have grown up there and in the wilds of what is now Eastern Tennessee. Samuel would have been a young adult when his family pioneered Green and Adair Counties in Kentucky at the turn of the century. His father John lived in the village of Columbia. Samuel and his brother James both went to Maury County, Tennessee by the year 1812. Court record from Adair County, Kentucky in 1812: "Samuel Beard of Maury County, Tennessee sold land on Butlers Creek to John Rogers. (Deed Book C, page 195.)
There was more than one Samuel Beard in Maury County. There were at least two other Beard/Baird lines present at the time, and none of the three were related to the others.
We have a record from Maury County records, wherein the estate of Samuel Scott held a sale 2 June 1812 and Samuel Beard was listed as a buyer. Also in the list were a couple of known Beard family acquaintances, adding credence that it was "our" Samuel Beard present.
On 5 October 1813, Samuel Beard was a listed buyer at the estate sale of one James "Milican" (Millican, Millikan, etc) of Maury County. The Millican family were close fellow travelers to the Beards. The buyer list also included Reynolds and Butler family members, all closely related to the Beards and Millicans.
On the 1820 census for Maury County, Samuel Beard is listed on page sixteen; his brother James Beard is listed on page fourteen. Samuel was listed as 45 or older. Males in the home included one 26-44 and two 16-25. There was only one female and she was 26-44.
In 1830, we find only one Beard listed in Maury County, a Thomas Beard. He might be a grown up son of Samuel, but the entire family could have pulled up and moved from the county, too. At this point in time, we have to assume that Samuel may have died, too. We came to a dead end on this family, unlike that of his brother James Beard, who went to Hardin County. We know that he probably had many children, judging by the number of younger males in his 1820 household; daughters were probably married and living not far away. The combination of no clues for 1830, plus burned courthouses and records across Tennessee does not bode well for any more to come on Samuel Beard, the son of John Beard of Adair County, Kentucky.