Beall, Ninian, 1625-1717

Person

Biography

Ninian Beall (1625-1717) was born in Largo, Fifeshire, Scotland. He was a military officer in the Scotch-English Army and fought against Oliver Cromwell. He fought in the battle of Dunbar, September 3, 1650. During the battle he was taken prisoner and sentenced to five years' servitude where he carried out that sentence in Calvert County, Maryland under Richard Hall. In 1658, for his servitude he was granted 50 acres of public land. Later it is estimated he had as many as 4000 acres. Some of that property was known as the Rock of Dumbarton on which the Dumbarton Oaks estate was eventually built. He married Ruth Moore around 1670 and had three daughters, Sarah, Rachel and Jane and three sons, Ninian (Jr.?), George, and William. When he died he was first buried on Rock of Dumbarton property (at a point on Gay Street, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.), but later his body was removed.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Letter from John S. Thacher to Beatrix Farrand, Reef Point, Bar Harbor, Maine, May 23, 1941 Digital

FOUND IN: Dumbarton Oaks / Collection: Dumbarton Oaks Garden Archives / Series: Correspondence / Sub-Series: Beatrix Farrand / John Thacher / Sub-Group: Correspondence

File — Box D: 1, Folder: 43Identifier: DDO-RB-GAR-001, D:JT 1941.05.23

Scope and Contents: Copy of typescript letter from John Thacher to Beatrix Farrand discusses her next visit to Dumbarton Oaks and answers Beatrix Farrand's questions put forth in her May 20 letter to him (D:BF 1941.05.20B), including where Dumbarton Oaks lies in relation to the original land deed, whether Anne Sweeney could be kept on as garden guide with the new, reduced budget, and which days they could meet while Beatrix Farrand is in town. Ethel Burnet Clark tells Thacher that the deed to Ninian Beall's...