 His 2x great-grandfather was Gerardus Beekman, and his 3x great-grandfather was Dutch Wilhelmus Beekman, who sailed with Peter Stuyvesant to New Netherlands, and was an officer of the Dutch West India Company.He graduated from Columbia College in 1834, and studied law with John Landis Mason, but never joined the New York Bar Association.His father died in 1833 left him with money, and the death of his uncle, James Beekman, Jr. (1758-1837), added to his real estate holdings on the East River near Fifty-second street, including the Beekman mansion, "Mount Pleasant", a place of historic interest from its prominence in Revolutionary times.