 A year after he was emancipated, he got married and became a farmer in Pinson, a city just outside Birmingham, Alabama.In 1872, after working in a flour mill in Hardwicks, Alabama, Beard built his own flour mill, which he operated successfully for many years.In 1881, he patented a new double plow design that allowed to adjust the distance between the plow plates (), which he later sold in 1884 for $4000 (equivalent to almost $100,000 today).