For thirteen generations the family of Beveridge have been an honored family of Fifeshire, Scotland. They were an agricultural family and possessed all those sterling attributes of character that distinguished the Scotch farmer. Many of the sons received college educations and entered the professions, military life claimed others, while the profits of commercial life lured others away from the soil. At Kennison Farms, Fifeshire, lived James Beveridge, an educated farmer. He died there aged seventy-eight. He married ———— Miller, who lived and died in the same locality, full of years. They were the parents of four sons and two daughters. Three of the sons — James, John and Robert — lived and died in Fife; the fourth son was David I., of whom further. One of the daughters, Jane, died unmarried at the age of eighty, and the other, Mrs. Hexon, also reached ripe years.
(II) David I., son of James and ———— (Miller) Beveridge, was born in Fife, Scotland, November 20, 1801, died at Scotch Bush, town of Florida, Montgomery county, New York. He received a good education in his native land, and was reared a farmer. He decided to seek a home in the United States, and in 1822 took passage in a sailing vessel. He was the only one of the family to emigrate to this country. It took the vessel nine weeks to make the passage to New York City, his destination. He did not long remain in that city, but proceeded up the river, settling in the town of Florida, Montgomery county; later he decided to locate in Schenectady, nearer a kinsman. He purchased one hundred and thirty-six acres of land in the town of Duanesburg, on which he resided for twenty years. After the death of his first wife he purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty-six acres not far from Minaville, Montgomery county, on which he lived until his death. He was a man of wide knowledge and extensive reading. He was always interested in educational matters and did much to create healthy sentiment in the two towns. He was a good farmer and was successful in accumulating property. He married (first) Margaret Kachie, born in Florida, March 14, 1804, died March 13, 1854, daughter of John and Isabelle (McKinley) Kachie, of Montgomery and Saratoga counties, who died at the ages of eighty-eight and eighty-five. She was granddaughter of Andrew Kachie, probably born in Scotland, and died at an advanced age. He settled in the Scotch settlement widely known as Scotch Bush, Florida town. Both David I. and his wife were faithful to the religious faith of the Scottish family and were members of the United Presbyterian church. They had three children:
- James, died at age of sixteen.
- John, (see forward).
- Annie M., died at the age of three.
He married (second) Eleanor Gardner, who survived him and died at an extreme old age. She bore him a daughter, Sarah, who died at three years of age.
(III) John, second child of David I. and Margaret (Kachie) Beveridge, was born in Duanesburg, Schenectady county, New York, May 5, 1840. In 1854 the family removed to Florida, where he now resides on the farm purchased by his father near Minaville. He is an active, energetic farmer of education and alive to up-to-date methods in agriculture. He inherits the virtues of his ancestors and is a worthy descendant. He is a member of the United Presbyterian church, and a Republican in politics. He married, in 1866, Jeanetta Serviss, born in Florida town, January 20, 1844. She was of the well known Serviss family of the Mohawk Valley, daughter of Chalett and Christina (MacMichael) Serviss, married July 3, 1833. Chalett Serviss was born in Florida, and died there at the age of seventy-five; his wife was born in the same town and died June 25, 1855, in her thirty-ninth year. Children of Chalett and Christina Serviss:
- Annette, born August 24, 1836, died June 6, 1906; she was wife and widow of Abram Jewell, who died in 1883, aged forty-four;
- Harriet, born September 5, 1839, married (first) William Ingraham, who died in California; (second) Colonel Charles Edmunds;
- William M., born November 23, 1841, married Mary Williams, and resides in Amsterdam, New York;
- Jeannetta (Mrs. John Beveridge);
- James, born February 1, 1848, is a carpenter and builder of the state of California.
John and Jeannetta (Serviss) Beveridge are the parents of two sons:
- James, born February 8, 1868, received his preparatory education in the town schools, and at age of seventeen began teaching; later entered Princeton University, from which he was graduated in 1893; studied law and was admitted to the bar, pursuing the practice of his profession for some time; he gave up the law to enter commercial life in New York City, and is now a manufacturer of the line of government supplies known as "Lambs." He married Anna Lamb, of New York City; no children.
- William W., born July 25, 1869, received his early education in the public schools, taught for a time, then spent two years in a preparatory school, entered Princeton University, where he was graduated after a four years' course, class of 1895; he began the study of medicine and graduated from the Bellevue Medical College at head of his class; for two years was house physician at Bellevue Hospital, New York; later located at Asbury Park, New Jersey, where he has a large and growing practice. He married, January 20, 1910, Emma Johnson, of Asbury Park, New Jersey.