Rachel Beardsley

Not much is known about the first two ladies of the Havilah Beardsley House; like many women of the 19th century, they were undoubtedly overshadowed by the accomplishments of their husbands and were seldom spoken of in collected histories.

Rachel Beardsley, (née Calhoun), was the wife of Elkhart’s founder, Havilah Beardsley. She was born in Pennsylvania sometime between 1796 and 1801 and John C. Calhoun, Vice President to both John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, was her first cousin. By 1823, her family had relocated to the Greenfield, Ohio area. Rachel married Havilah that year. Together, Rachel and Havilah ended up settling in the area that would become Elkhart, Indiana by 1830. On all accounts, their marriage was a happy and successful one, and it produced 7 children (5 of which survived to adulthood). They built the first brick home in Elkhart in 1848 - what is now known as the Havilah Beardsley House. Although Havilah died in 1856, Rachel would outlive him by 34 years. Her son, James Rufus, inherited the Havilah Beardsley House after Havilah’s death and built the East Wing, or the Grandmother’s Quarters, where Rachel lived until she passed away in 1890.