BIO: William Irwin BEBOUT, Beaver County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja & Joe Patterson Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver.html http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver/bios/bbios.htm Index for this bio book. _________________________________________________________________ BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES. This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Buffalo, N.Y., Chicago, Ill.: Biographical Publishing Company, 1899, pp. 269-270. _________________________________________________________________ WILLIAM IRWIN BEBOUT, proprietor of a large general store in Darlington, Pa., whose portrait we present on the preceding page, has been found at the same stand for the past twenty-seven years. He deals in drugs, hardware, groceries, harness, paints, house furnishings, tin, granite, and enamel ware. Mr. Bebout was born in Mercer county, Pa., July 25, 1843. He is a son of Ellis and Olivia (Campfield) Bebout, and grandson of Peter Bebout. Peter Bebout was a native of Green county, Pa., but at an early date removed to Mercer county, where he bought two hundred acres of wild land. After clearing a portion of it, he built a house and barn, and followed farming all his life. Ellis Bebout, father of the subject hereof, was born in Mercer county, where he received his scholastic training. He afterward assisted his father on the farm; one hundred acres of the homestead farm were given him as his share of the estate. He married Olivia Campfield. Olivia was born in Mercer, where she was also educated. The following seven children were born to them: John C., who was killed in the army when twenty-one; Wesley S., a merchant in Mercer county; William Irwin, the subject of these lines; Alfred S., a retired merchant; Andrew J., a merchant, of Pittsburg, Pa.; Elizabeth Jane (Hewett); and Mary A. Ellis Bebout was a Whig. He was a member of the M. E. church, of which he was Sunday school superintendent for years. He died in 1852, at the early age of thirty-eight years, and was survived by his widow until 1896 when she, too, crossed the river of death. William Irwin Bebout was mentally instructed in the public schools, which he attended constantly until he attained the age of seventeen years. He then enlisted in the Union Army, September 2, 1861; he entered Company B, 76th Reg., Pa. Zouaves, and participated in the following battles: Pocotaligo, Fort Wagner and Strawberry Plains. He was engaged in the siege of Petersburg, in Butler's and Grant's campaigns in Virginia, in connection with the Mine Explosion, and other historical events. He was honorably discharged November 30, 1864. He was severely wounded by a gun shot at Fort Wagner, July 11, 1863. He was in the hos- 270 BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES pital at Hilton Head for about nine months. While there, he was treated not only for his wound, but for lung and heart ailments and for neuralgia. At Botany Bay Isle, he was treated for laryngitis for several weeks. Mr. Bebout's brother, John C., was in the same company, and was killed while on picket duty at James Island, June 15, 1862. Mr. Bebout was joined in marriage April 2, 1872, with Margaret M. McConnell. Mrs. Bebout was a native of Mercer county, Pa., where she was born, February 8, 1847. She was a daughter of Henry and Julia A. (Bruce) McConnell. Her primary education was received at her native place. Afterward, she entered Edinboro State Normal School, from which she hoped to graduate. Ill-health prevented this, however, compelling her to leave the institution. To Mr. Bebout and his amiable wife, one child, Anna Maude, was born; her birth occurring in Darlington, in September, 187. After preliminary schooling she took a finishing course at Darlington Academy. From the time of the death of her beloved mother, in 1889, Anna Maude kept house for her father until her marriage with Mr. S. S. Leiper, of Darlington. After the war, the subject of this sketch engaged in farming for one year and then for several years was a carpenter. He subsequently clerked awhile for his brother, who was a druggist. In 1872, he purchased Dr. Ball's business and started a drug store at his present location in Darlington. At a late date he added the lines previously mentioned, and enjoys a liberal patronage. As a businessman he is exceedingly popular. In politics, Mr. Bebout is a Republican. He has served in the borough council for several terms, and is still a member of that honorable body. He is in accord with the United Presbyterian church. Fraternally, he is enrolled as a member of the I. O. O. F., of Sharpsville, Pennsylvania.