Biographywas a pioneer painter and photographer who was multitalented. He was born in the little hamlet of Stoneheads, near Whaley Bridge, Cheshire, England, but died in Coalville, Utah. About two years after his settlement in Coalville, he was hired as a chore boy with the town's branch of ZCMI and worked there with great success for over fifty years. Essentially a self-taught artist, Beard met and began painting with Carl Anderson (q.v.) in the 1870s. About the same time he also acquired skill as a photographer under the tutelage of Charles R. Savage (q.v.). He found time for extensive excursions into the surrounding mountains, painting and photographing dramatic mountain panoramas throughout a very productive lifetime. (b. December 21; d. October 4)
Olpin, Robert S., William C. Seifrit, and Vern G. Swanson. ARTISTS OF UTAH. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 1999: 18.