Daniel Carter "Uncle Dan" Beard (June 21, 1850 – June 11, 1941) was an American illustrator, author, youth leader, Georgist and social reformer who founded the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905, which Beard later merged with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).
Early life
Beard was born on June 21, 1850, in Cincinnati, to a family of artists. As a youth in Painesville, he explored the woods and made sketches of nature. His father was the artist James Henry Beard and his mother was Mary Caroline (Carter) Beard. His uncle was the artist William Holbrook Beard. He lived at 322 East Third Street in Covington, Kentucky near the Licking River, where he learned the stories of Kentucky pioneer life.
He started an early career as an engineer and surveyor. He attended art school in New York City. He wrote a series of articles for St. Nicholas Magazine that later formed the basis for The American Boy's Handy Book. He was a member of the Student Art League, where he met and befriended Ernest Thompson Seton in 1883. He illustrated a number of books for Mark Twain, and for other authors such as Ernest Crosby.
In 1886, Daniel Carter Beard joined Henry George's Single-tax movement and became a strong advocate of the Georgist philosophy. He wrote several novels about the subject (such as Moonblight and Six Feet of Romance).
With Mark Twain's approval, Beard's illustrations for A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court were a Georgist interpretation of the story.
On August 15, 1894, Beard wed Beatrice Alice Jackson, with whom he had two children, Daniel and Barbara.
