New Mexico State
Highway Department and
County Road Department Documents
1910-1934
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| Henry E. Beisman (June 14, 1898 – July 21, 1992)
was born at Loma Parda, New Mexico (Mora County, near Watrous). He
ultimately made his home on the Plaza in Las Vegas, NM, marrying Alta
Jones on September 11, 1930. They had two sons, Gene and Gary. Henry
became a surveyor who did a wide range of work for private property
owners, but was especially known for his surveys for the New Mexico
State Highway Department and the County Road Departments of San Miguel
and Mora Counties. He also had a small collection of early New Mexico
license plates, some as early as 1916, the serial numbers of which had a
serendipitous connection to the surveying profession. One example was a
1920 porcelain plate with the number 1760, which is the number of yards
in a mile. Upon Henry’s death in 1992 his sons donated his papers,
survey equipment, office furniture and license plates to the library of
New Mexico Highlands University. (A more detailed biography and history
of Henry Besiman can be found at:
https://nmarchives.unm.edu/repositories/15/resources/4399. Notwithstanding the aforementioned donation, more of Henry’s papers surfaced in an estate sale held after the death of Gary Beisman in 2022. These were acquired by NMplates.com, most of which are shown in the photograph above. To read descriptions of these in PDF format, click here. |