Philadelphia was entertaining the nation in honor of the one hundredth anniversary of her freedom when Dimner Beeber came to Philadelphia, and that city has been his home during the near half century of years which have since intervened, 1876-1922. Those years have given Judge Beeber the honors of his profession and the deep respect of his fellow-citizens, and whether he be considered as lawyer, jurist, business man or citizen he stands as a man who has met every demand made upon him, and compiled a record which he can review with satisfaction. As a practicing lawyer, appearing in many cases of greatest importance before the Pennsylvania State and the Federal courts; as a judge of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania; as an aggressive campaigner, in turbulent political battles, and as the executive head of a great financial institution, he has been at all times actuated by a consistent regard for the best public interest.
One hundred and eight years prior to 1876 another Beeber came to Philadelphia, one Valentine, who spelled the name Bieber, who with three sons, Nicholas, Adam and John, arrived on the ship "Betsy," October 16, 1768, from Rotterdam via Cowes. They were German Lutherans, and all settled in Maxatawney township, Berks county, Pennsylvania.
John Bieber, sometimes Beaver, a soldier of the Revolution, was born 1761, died 1846, settled after the war in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, in the Muncy Valley, where with his brothers, who settled there about the same time, he founded and built up Immanuel Lutheran Church, their names appearing on the church constitution, signed in 1794. The three Bieber brothers were buried in the cemetery connected with the church. John Bieber married Mary J. Dimner, born 1762, died 1818.
Colonel Jacob Beeber, one of the four sons of John and Mary J. (Dimner) Bieber, born 1787, died 1863, changed the spelling of the name to Beeber. He was a farmer of the Muncy Valley, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania. He was colonel of a militia regiment, a prosperous farmer and an influential Democrat. His two wives, Mary and Elizabeth (Dimm) Beeber, are believed to have been daughters of Christopher Dimm.
Teter Dimm Beeber, son of Colonel Jacob Beeber, was born in 1815, died in 1876. He was in early manhood a farmer, and a blacksmith of Muncy, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, but later a coal dealer. He was a strong advocate of temperance, a Lutheran in religion, and one of the founders of the Muncy church of that faith. He was a Republican in politics after the forming of that party, and was one time a commissioner of Lycoming county. He married, in 1841, Mary Jane Artley, born in 1818, died 1869, daughter of John and Christina Artley, of Muncy township, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, and they were the parents of three sons, all of whom have occupied a prominent place in the public eye: John Artley Beeber, as a lawyer; Rev. Thomas Rissell Beeber, D.D., as a minister of the Presbyterian church; and Dimner Beeber, as lawyer, jurist and business man.
Dimner Beeber, youngest of the sons of Teter Dimm and Mary Jane (Artley) Beeber, was born at Muncy, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, March 8, 1854. After preparation in Muncy schools and Selinsgrove Academy, he entered Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg, whence he was graduated А.В., class of 1874. At college he formed a taste for the study of the English classics, and became deeply interested in history and biography, making special study of the lives of great lawyers and statesmen. To the cultivation of this taste may be attributed his inclination to the law as a profession.
Upon graduation, in 1874, he began the study of law in the office of his brother, J. Artley Beeber, at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and was admitted to the bar in 1876. He then removed to Philadelphia, where he at once began the practice of his profession. In 1884 he became a member of the law firm of Jones, Carson & Beeber, his partners being Hampton L. Carson, who was attorney general under Governor Pennypacker, and the well known jurist, J. Levering Jones. Subsequently, on the dissolution of the firm, Mr. Beeber practiced alone.
In 1899 Governor Hastings appointed him Judge of the Superior Court to fill a vacancy, and he served through 1899 until the office was filled by election. The high esteem in which his abilities are held by the members of his profession is attested by the fact that in 1898 his recommendation for the nomination of district attorney of Philadelphia was urged in a testimonial bearing the signatures of seven hundred lawyers.
In politics Judge Beeber is a Republican, but placing principle above considerations of party loyalty, he has not hesitated to act independently when, in his judgment, to follow such a course would best subserve the public good. He is widely known as an eloquent and convincing campaign speaker, having taken a prominent part in every presidential campaign since the canvass which resulted in Garfield's election in 1880. He has served on the Philadelphia Board of Education since 1910.
In the business world Judge Beeber was president of the Commonwealth Title Insurance and Trust Company; a director of the Tradesmen's National Bank and of the Fire Association, all of Philadelphia. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar Association, an honorary member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, a member of the Union League, of Philadelphia (of which he was president for the years 1906 to 1908), the Rittenhouse and the Philadelphia Country Club. Princeton University conferred on Judge Beeber the honorary degree, A.M., in 1902, and in 1915 Pennsylvania College conferred upon her son the degree of LL.D.
Judge Beeber married, June 6, 1906, Mrs. Blanch McGovney Gray, of Ironton, Ohio. The family home is at No. 1907 Walnut street, Philadelphia.
Frank M. Eastman. Courts and Lawyers of Pennsylvania: A History, 1623-1923. New York: American Historical Society, Inc. 1922, pp. 33-35.
Contributed by: Nancy.