Archives West Finding Aid

MERRILL D. (SAM) BEAL was born in 1898 in Ephraim, Utah, to George Albert and Melinda Bean Beal. He was nicknamed Sam in high school and the name stuck for the rest of his life. He graduated from Richfield High School in 1917 and soon after, joined the Marines. He was stationed at Mare Island, California. Upon his return to Utah, he began studying at the University of Utah and later accepted an LDS mission call to the Eastern States Mission, where he served from 1919 until 1921. In 1922, he re-entered the University and graduated in 1923. He married Bessie Marie Neill and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with his M.A. in 1934. He received his Ph.D. from Washington State University in 1945 and taught at Idaho State University until 1966. He wrote several books, one on Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce War.

MONTE L. BEAN was born on 23 January 1899 in Richfield, Utah. After his graduation from high school, Monte began studying at LDS College in Salt Lake City. This was interrupted in 1917 by the entry of the United States into World War I. Monte joined the Marine Corps and served six months as a Marine. When he returned, Monte courted and later married Birdie Sanders, whom he had met before joining the Marines. Monte soon graduated from LDS College and obtained a job with Skaggs Cash Stores and worked his way up in that company, taking promotions throughout the West. In 1947, Monte aquired his first Payless Drugstore in Seattle and changed the name to Pay n Save. The corporation grew and by 1980, Monte had aquired about 180 retail stores throughout the northern United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada. Through all of this hard work, Monte still found time for civic organizations, such as the Salvation Army and two schools for the Native Americans. One of Monte most wonderful achievments was the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. This contribution began with his donation of animal specimens to the museum in 1972, although there was no room for the newly aquired donations. Therefore Monte took it upon himself to see to the construction of a large museum to house the museum's extensive holdings. On 21 July 1976, the ground was broken for the new museum and construction began.

GEORGE WASHINGTON BEAN was born on 1 April 1831 in Mendon, Illinois, to James and Elizabeth Lewis Bean. He was baptized into the LDS Church in 1841 and the family late moved to Utah to escape religious persecution. George was a firm believer in the doctrine of plural marriage and in the 1850s he took three wives; Elizabeth Baum, Emily Haws, and Mary Jane Wall. He was also called to serve in the Las Vegas, Nevada, Mission on 22 April 1855, and there he had the opportunity to use both the Shoshoni and Ute Indian languages. In the late 1870s, he acted as presiding bishop of the Sevier Stake. George went into hiding in Idaho, as a warrant had been issued for his arrest, due to his plural marital status. He died in 1897.