BEAUMONT, JEFFERSON (1801-1865). Jefferson Beaumont, early settler and public official, was born in Carter County, Kentucky, on March 12, 1801, the son of William Henry and Elizabeth (Cooper) Beaumont. On January 5, 1823, he married Sarah Greenleaf. The couple settled in Natchez, Mississippi, where Beaumont became a leading merchant. In 1845 he moved his family to Texas, accompanied by his brother Franklin and Franklin's family. Beaumont served as chief justice (county judge) of Calhoun County from August 22, 1848, to August 18, 1856. According to at least one source the city of Beaumont may have been named for him. He died at Carancahua, Jackson County, on July 25, 1865, and was buried there.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Homer S. Thrall, A Pictorial History of Texas (St. Louis: Thompson, 1879).