William Ambrose Beasley was my great-grandfather (and I
knew him!). You can see more of the Beasley family tree
here.
According to the 1890 Census, Morris David Beasley was
married but still living with his parents at the time of the
census; he was not living with his wife, Emma, whom he
married February 4, 1880 in Daviess County, Kentucky. Why? I
don't know. And why can't I find my Emma in the 1890
Census?
Morris David Beasley died the same year Walter Morris
Beasley was born, in 1893 - just seven months after the
birth of his last son.
Emma Smith's parents were, to the best of my knowledge, William
Smith and Polly Wells. According to the 1900 Census,
Emma's father, the elder William, was born in Germany and
her mother, Polly Wells, was born in South Carolina. But
another Census for Emma says both of her parents were born
in Indiana.
I don't know when exactly my third great-grandparents,
William Smith or Polly Wells, were born. But according to a
court record (more on that later), they died before 1878 in
Daviess County, Kentucky, owning 100 acres of land, which
was apparently left to their son, William.
Supposedly, Emma was born 26 June 1854 in Kentucky, but she may have been born in Georgia.
A court order in Daviess County, Kentucky committing Emma's
brother, William, to the "Western Lunatic Asylum" says
William was born in Indiana, and in 1878, was 28 years old,
and had lived in Kentucky for 23 years. That would mean he
and his family - his sister and their parents - had arrived
in Kentucky in or around 1855.
Per a Court Order from July 3, 1878, William was committed
to the "Western Lunatic Asylum" in Hopkinsville Kentucky,
per attempting to harm himself "several times" and because
he was "fanatical on the subject of religion." The order
says he had 100 acres of land worth $1500 per acre and that
his parents both died in Daviess County. I have no idea what
happened to the land nor the money when that land was sold
(any help on where I would find that information would be
appreciated).
William, my second great grandmother's brother, was released
at some point from the hospital and lived with his sister, a
widow at the time of his release, along with Emma's
children. The article about his death says he came to Reed
about 12 years before his death, which would make his
arrival in Reed at about 1894. That could be when he was
released from the asylum and moved in with his sister, Emma.
William was born in 1850, which would make him 56 when he
died, and the information from the court order would also
put his birth date in 1850, but the newspaper article says
he was 42 at the time of his death.
He died on August 31, 1906. According to my grandmother,
Emma (Beasley) Cravens, who was the daughter of William
Ambrose Beasley, William Smith died because he "fell in a
fire." I did not ask further questions about this when she
told me. Years later, after her death, a friend in
Henderson, Kentucky looked up the information in the
newspaper from the time (not available at newspapers.com).
Here is the transcript of the story he found, and here is a
scan of the information (PDF - two extra long pages):
Tuesday, September 4, 1906
The Gleaner (Henderson, Kentucky)“Billy” Smith is Burned to Death
At Reeds, This County - Deliberately Committed Self-Destruction.
He Jumps Into Brush Fire
Was Forty-Two Years Old and Was Deaf Mute - Came From Daviess County
The motives which prompted William Smith, better known as “Billy” Smith, a resident of Reed, to commit self-destruction will never be known. His death occurred Friday at Reed and was quite tragic.
Billy Smith, extremely unfortunate in life - he was deaf and dumb - walked westward from Reed on the road that leads to the mouth of the Green river and about 10 o’cluck reached the point where a number of hands were cleaning the Stanley ditch. The place where they were working was within forty yards of the spot where, on Monday of last week, Houston Leonard met a horrible death in the explosion of a charge of dynamite that had been placed under a stump.
In the only language known to the unfortunate man, working his fingers in the deaf mute language, he was conversing with Jeff Bentley, the overseer of the work. He had just mentioned to Bentley that one brush pile - they had fired a number of them - was burning particularly well, its flames leaping into the air twenty or thirty feet. Smith turned to leave Bentley and the latter, with his back to Smith, returned to his work. Bentley supposed that Smith had started back home and upon hearing a noise and turning around, was horrified to see Smith leap into the center of the burning brush pile and fall. He ruled over and Bentley ran up to the fire and succeeded in pulling him away from the fire and extinguished his burning clothes by throwing water over him. He had been burned on both sides of his body and his legs and hands were burned, but his face was unscathed.
Smith was immediately taken to his home where he as given aid by Dr. G. E. Mitchell. Smith endured the terrible agony of his pains stoically, the only sound he could make being a heart rending mumbling which no one could understand.
Smith died about midnight and was buried Saturday afternoon at 2 o’clock at the Brick Wall grave yard. Rev. Luke Lacer, of the General Baptist church, conducting the ceremony.
When Smith made his fatal leap he had in his pocket a leather wallet containing $216 in currency and $1.09 in coin - he had a hatred of banks - and the purse with its contents were entirely unharmed.
Smith was forty-two years old and had always been quite a character around Reed where he was known by everyone. He was raised in Daviess county near Birk City, and had resided in Reed about twelve years. He was unmarried and is survived by a sister, with whom he lived and several nephews.
Until someone on Reddit (thank you - you know who you are)
shared with me the court ruling about the asylum commitment,
I had wondered if William really had committed suicide. I do
now think that's true. That the article says that he "had
always been quite a character around Reed" now makes much
more sense. My grandmother never told me William was deaf.
And the sign language William used - where did he learn it?
Or did he create it and everyone just learned it from being
around him?
My great-grandfather was 9 when his uncle died - what did
he remember? What a shame that I was too young to talk to my
great-grandfather about it when he was alive and I would
visit his farm out in Beals, Kentucky.
Also, Emma (Smith) Beasley died in 1918 and is also buried
at the Brick Wall grave yard in Henderson County, Kentucky.
There is a headstone there for her and other relatives, but
it is a memorial, not a marker of an exact burial site.
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The personal opinions expressed on this page are solely those of Ms. Cravens, unless otherwise noted.