Elkanah Beard was born near Lynn in Randolph County, Indiana, Oct. 28, 1833, the son of William and Lydia (Cox) Beard. In 1852 he married Irena Johnson (1835-1920), a fellow Lynn Quaker. He was recorded a Friends minister in 1863, and Irena soon afterwards. That same year, the Beards went to Mississippi to work among the freed people, remaining there until 1869. They then went by way of England to India as missionaries, where they remained until 1872. Returning to the United States, they worked as Quaker evangelists on the east and west coasts. In 1877 and 1878, he was a traveling inspector for Quaker mission stations among oklahoma Indians. After 1879, the Beards lived in Winchester, and Lynn, Indiana, traveling as Quaker evangelists. Elkanah beard died in Biloxi, Mississippi, where he had gone for his health, February 8, 1905.

Note written by