Hiram S. Beal was born in Hardin County, Iowa, December 4, 1876. His parents, with nine children, migrated to Oregon, back to Missouri, finally settling on a farm south of Meadow Grove Nebraska. He spent his youth doing farm work here.
On March 2, 1904 he married Louise Karabel in Neligh. She was the daughter of Joseph and Julia Karabel who were immigrants from Austria. They homesteaded a farm southeast of Tilden. They lived in the Tilden vicinity during their early married life. Their first daughter was born there. Later they moved to a farm near Meadow Grove where their second daughter was born. In 1910 they were lured to Olricks, South Dakota to settle on a homestead. Clara was born there. They remained in South Dakota for about a year, returning to Tilden and then back to the Beal farm at Meadow Grove.
Hiram operated a steam engine for a threshing crew and also drove a horse drawn school bus for several years. In 1916 they bought a farm southwest of Pierce and lived there for three years. Next they moved to Antelope County and bought a farm south of Royal. Daughter Leona married Waldo Davis in 1924. Hiram left farming in 1926 and moved to Neligh to operate a trucking business. A year later they moved back to Royal and he operated an oil trucking business which was known as The Beal Oil Company. Daughter, Clara married Homer Barton in 1930. In 1931, Hiram built another filling station in Orchard. Daughter, Marie, taught school and in 1931 married Walter Austin of Battle Creek. Hiram passed away in 1933. Louise owned two farms in the Royal community. She remained in Royal for several years, then moved to Orchard. In 19965 she moved to Plainview, remaining there until her death in 1971.
Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in June 2007