Theodore Lane Bean

~• The <Lane> name given for Rev. War ancestor Edward Lane, patriot and Edward's son Pvt. William Lane who also served
~• Theodore Lane Bean is also SAR as a direct ancestor of Christian Weber. (June 24, 1942 {PA})

Lived, in later life, at Norris Hall, an estate built by Charles Norris 1765-1813 (Norristown). Norris Hall was built in 1809 but has since been torn down (after the 1940's) All that remains is a street name that indicates the general area.

Bean, Theodore Lane (1878-1943) — of Norristown, Montgomery County, Pa.; West Norriton Township, Montgomery County, Pa. Born in Norristown, Montgomery County, Pa., June 27, 1878. Son of Col. Theodore Weber Bean and Hannah (Heebner) Bean. Republican. Lawyer; burgess of Norristown, Univ.Pennsylvania Law School's youngest ever graduate; Burgess of Norristown (1903); member of Pennsylvania state senate 12th District, 1935-38. Episcopalian. Member, Beta Theta Pi; Phi Delta Phi; Freemasons; Loyal Legion; Elks; Moose; American Bar Association. Died September 22, 1943 (age 65 years, 87 days). Interment at Washington Memorial Cemetery, Valley Forge, Pa.

Relatives:

Son of Col. Theodore Weber Bean and Hannah (Heebner) Bean; married, October 14, 1903, to Sarah Albertson Hunter (died 1908); married, August 18, 1917, to Adele (Cantrell), the former Mrs. White who divorced her husband to marry TLB.

• Theodore Lane Bean was baptized Lane Sunderland Bean by his parents. His only brother, William Heebner Bean, had his named changed after the death of their father, Theodore. Sunderland was not a family name but that of TW & his wife, Hannah's dear friend (account of Mary Rogers (Bean)).

TLB was additionally a genealogist and wrote columns for the Norristown Newspaper incorporating stories and writings of his father. When TLB was young, about 12, his father died by suicide. Both his older brother and father took their own lives. A precocious scholar, he graduated from Norristown High School at the early age of 15. After his first wife, Sarah, died young he often left his two young daughters in the care of his sister Mary Jones (Bean) who lived in Conshohocken until such time as he remarried. For a little while the orphans were also cared for by Stinson in-laws... (not confirmed)

"he aided in the formation of Valley Forge Park's Dogwood Association " c. 1943

• <WEBER> <LANE> & <BEAN> are SAR ( Sons of the American Revolution ) names (First Lieutenant Christian Weber, II , Edward Lane, patriot and Captain James Bean and Colonel William Lane).

• Please see documents and photos for additional information.

• What’s noteworthy is that Jeffersonville (now Norristown), where Theodore Weber Bean grew up, was right in the neighborhood where his son, Theo. Lane Bean decided to remain his whole life.

There's a Stinson lane right near the site of the Norris Hall estate.

The significance of the Stinson surname: T.L.B.’s brother William married a Stinson while his father, TWB, did a fair amount of work for the Albertson’s bank where Stinson was a director.

So: there were both marital & business connections between the Beans, Albertsons and Stinsons.

of other interest: Hon. T.L. Bean stood shoulder to shoulder with members of the Extreme Right in American politics. He favored American liberty but spoke out against each and every progressive policy of his era and shared podiums with others of that persuasion such as Senator Clare B. Hoffman. Bean's allegiances were complex. Read in particular from a regular column he wrote under the pen name "Norris" in 1935 (Bean was a Mason but was not a known KKK member.

references

https://archive.org/stream/norristown18121900heys_0#page/n0/mode/1up