Alfred Beckett a prominent citizen of Westminster, Orange County, was born in Ontario, Canada, June 7, 1830, a son of Stephen and Anna (Taylor) Beckett, and the sixth child in a family of nine. He received a good common-school education, worked at the mill and lumber business for several years and also did some farming, and in 1877 came to California and bought forty acres of laud in Westminster, which he has put under a high state of cultivation. Politically he is an intelligent supporter of the Republican party. Both himself and wife are highly respected members of social circles.
He was married January 3, 1856, to Miss Mercy Ward, also a native of Ontario. Her parents, Richard and Ruth (Hoag) Ward, were from Dutchess County, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Beckett have three children: Ruth; Hattie, now Mrs. Everett B. Trefethen, of San Pedro, California, and Susie, wife of Edwin McPherson, of Hanford, California.
