The Genealogy of David L. Moody & Yvonne L. La Pointe. - Person Sheet
The Genealogy of David L. Moody & Yvonne L. La Pointe. - Person Sheet
MemoBlandford Cemetery Ward H (Old Ground), Sq. 1, Sec. 1-4
FlagsAugusta, Georgia, Virginia, USA
FatherHONORABLE Edmund RUFFIN SR. (1794-1865)
MotherSusan H. TRAVIS (1793-1846)
Misc. Notes
They had ten children ®134 The Ruffin-Beckwith feud: The object of Edmund Ruffin's particular disapproval was T. Stanley Beckwith, a Petersburg physician who had married Ruffin's daughter Agnes in 1838. Over the years it got no easier. Agnes continued to bear children, thirteen in all. Stanly assumed part of the burden of his aging parents support. Ruffin let them live on one of his farms; he also contributed loans, gifts, advice, and censure, perpetually miffed that his contributions elicited neither gratitude nor compliance with his wishes. In 1857 he finally closed the books. Having decided to retire from active life as a planter, Ruffin divided his property and deeded portions of it to each of his children. It went without saying that Agnes's share would be made a separate estate. Agnes was given no active powers over it, however, Ruffin doubtless fearing she would fall prey to her "despicable" husband's influence. The property; the farms on which they were living, ten slaves, household furnishings, and railroad stock, was instead conveyed in a trust to Agnes's brother Julian, who managed it as he saw fit. (Julian Ruffin died in 1864 in the Civil War) No sooner was the ink dry on the deed than T. Stanly Beckwith moved off the farm to make another try at a medical practice in Petersburg. Agnes followed him after a few months. Edmund Ruffin had always been hurt by his daughter's implacable loyalty to her husband, and this was too much. Ruffin swore off further communication with all Beckwiths, even avoiding visits to Petersburg lest he bump into one of them. And he stuck to resolve, even in war time. Early in 1863, Agnes begged her father to make peace; the death of her sister had left Agnes as Ruffin's sole surviving daughter. Ruffin's reply was swift. "It is not my disposition, nor in my nature, to put off and put on love, according to my changes of temper, or expediency" he wrote. "I have no daughter left alive." Agnes still hoped for a reunion when the war was over, and in 1865, she thought she would have her chance. Weak and sick after months of refuge in North Carolina, Agnes headed for home, sustained by a fantasy of reconciliation. In Petersburg, the news was out; Edmund Ruffin had committed suicide, gone down with his beloved Confederacy. Agnes Beckwith never recovered from that last blow. She died in November 1865. ®2074 The death of Agnes's sister Mildred in 1862 left Agnes as Edmund Ruffin's sole surviving daughter.
“She walks in paradise” ®103
“She walks in paradise” ®103
Research
She was born in 1817 in Virginia. ®2713 The battle for Petersburg began on June 15, 1864 and settled into a 292 day siege which ended on the night of 2 April 1865 when Lee evacuated Petersburg. Petersburg suffered extensive damage from shelling. Agnes R. Beckwith died on 18 Nov 1865. Between 1860 and 1870 he moved with his son John to Georgia.
Spouses
1DR. Thomas Stanly BECKWITH SR. 
®1, ®134, ®135, ®136, ®137, ®102, ®138, ®139, ®140, ®96, ®118, ®141, ®103, ®104, ®142
®1, ®134, ®135, ®136, ®137, ®102, ®138, ®139, ®140, ®96, ®118, ®141, ®103, ®104, ®142Birth16 Mar 1813, Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, USA ®134, ®138, ®143, ®144, ®145, ®146, ®103, ®147
MemoPossibly Halifax, Halifax County, North Carolina
Death22 Aug 1884, Petersburg, aft 1850 Independent City of, Virginia, USA ®148, ®149, ®150, ®103, ®104
MemoBlandford Cemetery Ward H (Old Grounds), Section 1, Square 4, Grave 11
OccupationPhysician
Cause of deathAsthma ®141
FlagsAugusta, Georgia, Macon, Georgia
FatherJohn BECKWITH M.D. (1785-1870)
MotherMargaret Cogdell STANLY (1787-1864)
Misc. Notes
“Thomas Beckwith was my grandfather”, in memoirs written by Mary Izabel Beckwith Moody.
The tragic and acrimonious Ruffin-Beckwith feud: The object of Edmund Ruffin's particular disapproval was T. Stanly Beckwith, a Petersburg physician who had married Ruffin's daughter Agnes in 1838. Ruffin always had at least one unkind word for his son-in-law.."spendthrift" and worthless", "wasteful and spendthrift", "lazy and heedless of the future", Ruffin grumbled. It was true that Beckwith was forever in debt and that he had a talent for antagonizing those he depended on. In 1846, Beckwith and his father (also a newcomer to Petersburg and a doctor) engaged in a suicidal dispute with the Petersburg Medical Faculty, a group of regular physicians who, like physicians elsewhere had recently organized to define and combat quackery. High on the Medical Faculty's new list of unethical practices was the promotion of "secret Nostrums". The Beckwiths meantime had made a considerable investment in the production and sale of Beckwith's Anti-dyspeptic Pills, and they saw the Medical Faculty's code of ethics as a mere pretext for driving out competitors. The Beckwiths stood their ground and took the dreary consequences. Consultations were refused, and patients grew fainthearted. Creditors closed in, and the Beckwith's furniture, evidently a gift from Edmund Ruffin, was sacrificed to pay them. On the 31 July 1850 United States census of rural Prince George County, Virginia he is 37 with real estate valued at $1950 and lived with Agnes, 33, and their oldest six children who were all born in Virginia. Very close to them lived the Edmond Ruffin family. ®151 In the 4 Aug 1860 census of Petersburg, Virginia, T. Stanly Beckwith was a physician, 47, living with Agnes, age 42, Julian, age 21 and a clerk, Margaret, age 17, Thomas, age 16, Susan, age 13, twins Edmund and John age 15, Agnes, age 12, Charles, age 10, Mildred, age 5 and Catharine, age 3. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Petersburg Evangelical Tract Society organized on 18 Jul 1861 to supply religious reading material to the forces of the Confederacy. The siege of Petersburg began on 15 June 1864 and lasted 292 days, until on the night of 2 April 1865 Lee evacuated Petersburg. Petersburg suffered extensive damage from shelling.
Over the next four years, Petersburg's citizens watched their once-beautiful city become first a conduit for transient soldiers from the Deep South, then an armed camp, and finally the focus of one of the Civil War's most protracted and damaging campaigns. At war's end, Petersburg's antebellum prosperity evaporated under pressures from inflation, chronic shortages, and the extensive damage done by Union artillery shells. Agnes Ruffin died on 18 November 1865.
Between 1860 and 1870 he moved with his son John to Georgia. On the 1870 census of Petersburg, Virginia, Thomas, 27, his wife Emma, 26, Edmund, 26, Margaret, 28, Susan, 24, Agnes, 22, Charles, 19, Mildred, 17 and Kate 13, live together with John Carey, 24, and domestic servants in Ward 3, Petersburg. Their mother is deceased and their father and brother John are not living with them. ®109 No Thomas Stanly Beckwith or son John can be found in any state on the 1870 US Census, but in 1870 Dr. T. Stanly Beckwith's brother, Rev. John Watrous Beckwith lived with his family in Macon, Georgia and was the Episcopal Bishop of Georgia. ®97 On 5 April 1868 Bishop Beckwith confirmed members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Augusta, including William Derry Wright, son of John Stephen Wright. The John Stephen Wright family were members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Augusta, and probably met Dr. T. Stanly Beckwith through Bishop Beckwith. The 14 March 1871 edition of the Daily Columbus (Georgia) Enquirer contains an advertisement for T. Stanly Beckwith and Son, General Agents for the Piedmont and Arlington Life Insurance Company of Virginia. Dr. (?) John Beckwith and Mrs. John S. Beckwith are registered as communicants at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Macon on 7 May 1871. In October 1871 his son John married C. E. Edwards in Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia. The 1872 Haddock’s Macon, Georgia directory lists the address for T. Stanly Beckwith and Son as 92 Mulberry. T. Stanly Beckwith lives on High between Spring and Orange and his son John Beckwith lives on Mulberry between Spring and New. ®152 The 23 June 1874 edition of the Macon, Georgia newspaper mentions that “Mrs. T. S. Beckwith won the prize for the best dozen hot rolls at the Bibb County Agricultural Fair.” The 17 August 1875 Macon, Georgia Weekly Telegraph refers to “Dr. Thomas Beckwith, the best optician of his day, and the father of T. Stanly Beckwith, of this city, and of Bishop J. W. Beckwith, of Savannah”. In the 28 December 1875 issue of the (Macon) Georgia Weekly Telegraph “Dr. T. Stanly Beckwith offers his professional services to the citizens of Macon. With the experience of more than thirty years in city practice, he feels confident he can do justice to those placed under his charge. Slate at Hunt, Rankin & Lamar’s retail drug store, corner 73 Cherry Street, or may be found at his residence, corner of Bond and College Streets.”
Between 1875 and 1880 T. Stanly Beckwith left Macon, Georgia as in the 1880 U. S. Census for Petersburg, Dinwiddie County, Virginia, T. Stanly Beckwith lives at 14 Long Market Street, is a widower and a physician, age 67, who was born in Virginia and whose parents were both born in Virginia. Living with him are M. S. Beckwith, a single daughter age 37 who keeps house, Mildred Beckwith, a single daughter age 26 who is at home, Kate R. Beckwith, a single 21 year old daughter who is at home, and two black servants, Ann Fields, age 24, and Henry Worsham, age 21. Next door at 12 North Market Street live the T. S. Beckwith, Jr., family. ®96 Mr. and Mrs. John S. Beckwith had left Macon, Georgia by 1873 as their first child died in Augusta, Georgia in 1873. By 1875 they had returned to Petersburg as their son was born there that year. In 1880 John S. Beckwith is 34, a bank clerk and lives at 150 Jefferson Street, West Side, Petersburg, Virginia with his wife C. E. who is age 27 and born in South Carolina, John Q., age five and born in Virginia and Catherine W., age one and born in Virginia. ®101 The 24 August 1884 edition of the Macon, Georgia, Telegraph and Messenger quotes Petersburg, Virginia, August 23 that “ Dr. Stanly Beckwith, one of the oldest physicians in this state, died at his residence in this city last night, from protracted illness. He was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, May 16, 1813, where he was engaged in the drug business for several years. He graduated in medicine at Philadelphia and came to Petersburg in 1837 and commenced to practice his profession, where he has resided ever since, with the exception of a few years residence in Georgia. The deceased was the elder brother of the Rt. Rev. John Beckwith, Episcopal Bishop of Georgia”
Dr. T. Stanly Beckwith's wife Agnes had died in 1865, 19 years before T. Stanly Beckwith’s death. At the time of his death on 22 August 1884 he was 72 years, 3 months and 6 days of age, married (not widowed), and he lived at 14 North Market Street. He died of asthma. ®141
“Looking for the Resurrection” ®103
The tragic and acrimonious Ruffin-Beckwith feud: The object of Edmund Ruffin's particular disapproval was T. Stanly Beckwith, a Petersburg physician who had married Ruffin's daughter Agnes in 1838. Ruffin always had at least one unkind word for his son-in-law.."spendthrift" and worthless", "wasteful and spendthrift", "lazy and heedless of the future", Ruffin grumbled. It was true that Beckwith was forever in debt and that he had a talent for antagonizing those he depended on. In 1846, Beckwith and his father (also a newcomer to Petersburg and a doctor) engaged in a suicidal dispute with the Petersburg Medical Faculty, a group of regular physicians who, like physicians elsewhere had recently organized to define and combat quackery. High on the Medical Faculty's new list of unethical practices was the promotion of "secret Nostrums". The Beckwiths meantime had made a considerable investment in the production and sale of Beckwith's Anti-dyspeptic Pills, and they saw the Medical Faculty's code of ethics as a mere pretext for driving out competitors. The Beckwiths stood their ground and took the dreary consequences. Consultations were refused, and patients grew fainthearted. Creditors closed in, and the Beckwith's furniture, evidently a gift from Edmund Ruffin, was sacrificed to pay them. On the 31 July 1850 United States census of rural Prince George County, Virginia he is 37 with real estate valued at $1950 and lived with Agnes, 33, and their oldest six children who were all born in Virginia. Very close to them lived the Edmond Ruffin family. ®151 In the 4 Aug 1860 census of Petersburg, Virginia, T. Stanly Beckwith was a physician, 47, living with Agnes, age 42, Julian, age 21 and a clerk, Margaret, age 17, Thomas, age 16, Susan, age 13, twins Edmund and John age 15, Agnes, age 12, Charles, age 10, Mildred, age 5 and Catharine, age 3. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Petersburg Evangelical Tract Society organized on 18 Jul 1861 to supply religious reading material to the forces of the Confederacy. The siege of Petersburg began on 15 June 1864 and lasted 292 days, until on the night of 2 April 1865 Lee evacuated Petersburg. Petersburg suffered extensive damage from shelling.
Over the next four years, Petersburg's citizens watched their once-beautiful city become first a conduit for transient soldiers from the Deep South, then an armed camp, and finally the focus of one of the Civil War's most protracted and damaging campaigns. At war's end, Petersburg's antebellum prosperity evaporated under pressures from inflation, chronic shortages, and the extensive damage done by Union artillery shells. Agnes Ruffin died on 18 November 1865.
Between 1860 and 1870 he moved with his son John to Georgia. On the 1870 census of Petersburg, Virginia, Thomas, 27, his wife Emma, 26, Edmund, 26, Margaret, 28, Susan, 24, Agnes, 22, Charles, 19, Mildred, 17 and Kate 13, live together with John Carey, 24, and domestic servants in Ward 3, Petersburg. Their mother is deceased and their father and brother John are not living with them. ®109 No Thomas Stanly Beckwith or son John can be found in any state on the 1870 US Census, but in 1870 Dr. T. Stanly Beckwith's brother, Rev. John Watrous Beckwith lived with his family in Macon, Georgia and was the Episcopal Bishop of Georgia. ®97 On 5 April 1868 Bishop Beckwith confirmed members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Augusta, including William Derry Wright, son of John Stephen Wright. The John Stephen Wright family were members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church of Augusta, and probably met Dr. T. Stanly Beckwith through Bishop Beckwith. The 14 March 1871 edition of the Daily Columbus (Georgia) Enquirer contains an advertisement for T. Stanly Beckwith and Son, General Agents for the Piedmont and Arlington Life Insurance Company of Virginia. Dr. (?) John Beckwith and Mrs. John S. Beckwith are registered as communicants at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Macon on 7 May 1871. In October 1871 his son John married C. E. Edwards in Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia. The 1872 Haddock’s Macon, Georgia directory lists the address for T. Stanly Beckwith and Son as 92 Mulberry. T. Stanly Beckwith lives on High between Spring and Orange and his son John Beckwith lives on Mulberry between Spring and New. ®152 The 23 June 1874 edition of the Macon, Georgia newspaper mentions that “Mrs. T. S. Beckwith won the prize for the best dozen hot rolls at the Bibb County Agricultural Fair.” The 17 August 1875 Macon, Georgia Weekly Telegraph refers to “Dr. Thomas Beckwith, the best optician of his day, and the father of T. Stanly Beckwith, of this city, and of Bishop J. W. Beckwith, of Savannah”. In the 28 December 1875 issue of the (Macon) Georgia Weekly Telegraph “Dr. T. Stanly Beckwith offers his professional services to the citizens of Macon. With the experience of more than thirty years in city practice, he feels confident he can do justice to those placed under his charge. Slate at Hunt, Rankin & Lamar’s retail drug store, corner 73 Cherry Street, or may be found at his residence, corner of Bond and College Streets.”
Between 1875 and 1880 T. Stanly Beckwith left Macon, Georgia as in the 1880 U. S. Census for Petersburg, Dinwiddie County, Virginia, T. Stanly Beckwith lives at 14 Long Market Street, is a widower and a physician, age 67, who was born in Virginia and whose parents were both born in Virginia. Living with him are M. S. Beckwith, a single daughter age 37 who keeps house, Mildred Beckwith, a single daughter age 26 who is at home, Kate R. Beckwith, a single 21 year old daughter who is at home, and two black servants, Ann Fields, age 24, and Henry Worsham, age 21. Next door at 12 North Market Street live the T. S. Beckwith, Jr., family. ®96 Mr. and Mrs. John S. Beckwith had left Macon, Georgia by 1873 as their first child died in Augusta, Georgia in 1873. By 1875 they had returned to Petersburg as their son was born there that year. In 1880 John S. Beckwith is 34, a bank clerk and lives at 150 Jefferson Street, West Side, Petersburg, Virginia with his wife C. E. who is age 27 and born in South Carolina, John Q., age five and born in Virginia and Catherine W., age one and born in Virginia. ®101 The 24 August 1884 edition of the Macon, Georgia, Telegraph and Messenger quotes Petersburg, Virginia, August 23 that “ Dr. Stanly Beckwith, one of the oldest physicians in this state, died at his residence in this city last night, from protracted illness. He was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, May 16, 1813, where he was engaged in the drug business for several years. He graduated in medicine at Philadelphia and came to Petersburg in 1837 and commenced to practice his profession, where he has resided ever since, with the exception of a few years residence in Georgia. The deceased was the elder brother of the Rt. Rev. John Beckwith, Episcopal Bishop of Georgia”
Dr. T. Stanly Beckwith's wife Agnes had died in 1865, 19 years before T. Stanly Beckwith’s death. At the time of his death on 22 August 1884 he was 72 years, 3 months and 6 days of age, married (not widowed), and he lived at 14 North Market Street. He died of asthma. ®141
“Looking for the Resurrection” ®103
Research
Did he return to Petersburg at the end of Reconstruction in 1877?
Was he born in Raleigh, or in Halifax as stated in the Death Register? The informant for the Death Register was not of his family, so is suspect. ®141
I need his will and land records, etc.
No Thomas Stanly Beckwith or variant can be found on the 1870 US Census on Heritage Quest or Ancestry, Military Records.
Check Film #M230 roll 3 (N.C.), M376 roll 2 (Ark), M376 roll 2 (Ark), M380 roll 1 (Mo)....from www.civilwar.nps.gov
There are four Beckwith families in Dinwiddie County in 1880:
John Beckwith C. E. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1846 Virginia Self (Head)
is a bank clerk and lives at 150 Jefferson Street?
C. E. Beckwith John Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1853 South Carolina Wife
John Q. Beckwith John C. E. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1875 Virginia Son
Catherine L. Beckwith John, C. E. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1879 Virginia Daughter
T. S. Beckwith Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1813 Virginia Self (Head)
is a widowed physician and lives at 14 Long Market Street? He had two black servants.
M. S. Beckwith T. S. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1843 Virginia Daughter
Meldred R. Beckwith T. S. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1854 Virginia Daughter
Kate R. Beckwith T. S. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1859 Virginia Daughter
T. S. Beckwith C. Emma Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1843 Virginia Self (Head)
works in a books store and lives at 12 Long Market Street?
C. Emma Beckwith T. S. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1843 Virginia Wife
S. Cary Beckwith T. S. C. Emma Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1871 Virginia Son
J. Ruffin Beckwith T. S. C. Emma Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1873 Virginia Son
T. Stanley Beckwith T. S. C. Emma Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1876 Virginia Son
Emma Beckwith T. S. C. Emma Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1876 Virginia Daughter
E. R. Beckwith Mary J. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1845 Virginia Self (Head)
is an apothecary and lives at 127 Halifax Street, at the intersection with Long Market Street.
Mary J. Beckwith E. R. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1850 North Carolina Wife
18 September 2008
David,
Thank you for the patience you have shown regarding the further research on Thomas Beckwith.
I have finally made the trip to Petersburg. I reexamined the index to probates and intestate settlements in the courthouse and confirmed there was no listing for either a will or intestate settlement for Thomas. While that would be quite definitive for a probate, it would not necessarily be so for an intestate settlement. I have seen instances where there was no mention of an intestate settlement in the will books simply because the estate was too small for the administrator to be required either to post a bond or file a report with the court, but that mention of the estate was nonetheless made in the court order/minute book. These books are actually what the title suggests, a diary of sort of what occurs in the Court. Generally speaking a minute book will be created at the time of the event and sometimes even written in a type of shorthand, while order books are created afterward and contain more detail, though rarely the kind of detail that the records to which mention is made. Though the books I examined were more in the "style" of an order book, they were labeled "minute book".
I was perhaps fortunate that when the clerk assisting me was unable to find one of the books I needed, she invited me into the record room to help in the search, the fact there was a sign on the door "Authorized Personnel ONLY", but then I have often been able, even without asking, to get access to records I need because I try to treat the clerks with whom I deal in the same manner I would want to be treated.
These minute books did have indexes, but my experience in working with such books is that the indexes are rarely as detailed as I would like so I decided to read through them. I am familiar enough with such records that going through nearly 200 pages of records took me less than 90 minutes because the clerk's writing was quite legible, he had left a space between each entry, and with about 90% of the entries, it was possible to determine both what was the nature of the entry and who the parties involved were within the first two to three lines of the same. I started with August, 1884, the month that Thomas died, and read through June, 1885, as state law required an estate begin administration within 9 months of the death and it was not uncommon for the Sheriff or some other officer of the Court to be ordered to undertake an administration when no one came forward to do so voluntarily. A surviving widow has the first right to administer her husband's estate, but given that she was living in Georgia, it would not have been practical for her to do so. I had hoped to find an order noting that she had waived that right in favor of one of her step-sons, but I found nothing at all, suggesting that the estate was too small to pop up "on the radar".
What I did find was a criminal indictment of one of Thomas' sons for embezzlement at a bank at which he worked which was subsequently dropped for what I suspect was lack of evidence sufficient for the same to go to trial--the specific language used was "false bill". I inquired about getting a copy of the same in the event you might be interested and was told that due to the condition of the record, the Court no longer made copies but that I could photograph the same with a digital camera if I wished. I had not brought the same into the Courthouse with me because I had not expected to have that volunteered to me as an option, so I went out to my car to get the camera and my tripod. I took photos of both the full pages and close ups of portions of each page as I am not as adept using the camera as I would like and thus figured that if the full pages were to indistinct to read when enlarged, there would always be the portions that were photographed at a higher resolution/size, which I could even piece together with one of my graphics editing programs. I've not yet done so as I wanted to make certain you would actually want the images.
There is nothing further due unless you would wish me either to continue with this research or have other work you would want done, and even then, I would not require a deposit toward the same from you, merely an indication of how much time you would want me to put in on the same and how long I would have to report the results to you.
Michael E. Pollock
Anquestory Genealogical Research Services
Mechanicsville, VA
Was he born in Raleigh, or in Halifax as stated in the Death Register? The informant for the Death Register was not of his family, so is suspect. ®141
I need his will and land records, etc.
No Thomas Stanly Beckwith or variant can be found on the 1870 US Census on Heritage Quest or Ancestry, Military Records.
Check Film #M230 roll 3 (N.C.), M376 roll 2 (Ark), M376 roll 2 (Ark), M380 roll 1 (Mo)....from www.civilwar.nps.gov
There are four Beckwith families in Dinwiddie County in 1880:
John Beckwith C. E. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1846 Virginia Self (Head)
is a bank clerk and lives at 150 Jefferson Street?
C. E. Beckwith John Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1853 South Carolina Wife
John Q. Beckwith John C. E. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1875 Virginia Son
Catherine L. Beckwith John, C. E. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1879 Virginia Daughter
T. S. Beckwith Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1813 Virginia Self (Head)
is a widowed physician and lives at 14 Long Market Street? He had two black servants.
M. S. Beckwith T. S. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1843 Virginia Daughter
Meldred R. Beckwith T. S. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1854 Virginia Daughter
Kate R. Beckwith T. S. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1859 Virginia Daughter
T. S. Beckwith C. Emma Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1843 Virginia Self (Head)
works in a books store and lives at 12 Long Market Street?
C. Emma Beckwith T. S. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1843 Virginia Wife
S. Cary Beckwith T. S. C. Emma Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1871 Virginia Son
J. Ruffin Beckwith T. S. C. Emma Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1873 Virginia Son
T. Stanley Beckwith T. S. C. Emma Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1876 Virginia Son
Emma Beckwith T. S. C. Emma Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1876 Virginia Daughter
E. R. Beckwith Mary J. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1845 Virginia Self (Head)
is an apothecary and lives at 127 Halifax Street, at the intersection with Long Market Street.
Mary J. Beckwith E. R. Petersburg, Dinwiddie, VA abt 1850 North Carolina Wife
18 September 2008
David,
Thank you for the patience you have shown regarding the further research on Thomas Beckwith.
I have finally made the trip to Petersburg. I reexamined the index to probates and intestate settlements in the courthouse and confirmed there was no listing for either a will or intestate settlement for Thomas. While that would be quite definitive for a probate, it would not necessarily be so for an intestate settlement. I have seen instances where there was no mention of an intestate settlement in the will books simply because the estate was too small for the administrator to be required either to post a bond or file a report with the court, but that mention of the estate was nonetheless made in the court order/minute book. These books are actually what the title suggests, a diary of sort of what occurs in the Court. Generally speaking a minute book will be created at the time of the event and sometimes even written in a type of shorthand, while order books are created afterward and contain more detail, though rarely the kind of detail that the records to which mention is made. Though the books I examined were more in the "style" of an order book, they were labeled "minute book".
I was perhaps fortunate that when the clerk assisting me was unable to find one of the books I needed, she invited me into the record room to help in the search, the fact there was a sign on the door "Authorized Personnel ONLY", but then I have often been able, even without asking, to get access to records I need because I try to treat the clerks with whom I deal in the same manner I would want to be treated.
These minute books did have indexes, but my experience in working with such books is that the indexes are rarely as detailed as I would like so I decided to read through them. I am familiar enough with such records that going through nearly 200 pages of records took me less than 90 minutes because the clerk's writing was quite legible, he had left a space between each entry, and with about 90% of the entries, it was possible to determine both what was the nature of the entry and who the parties involved were within the first two to three lines of the same. I started with August, 1884, the month that Thomas died, and read through June, 1885, as state law required an estate begin administration within 9 months of the death and it was not uncommon for the Sheriff or some other officer of the Court to be ordered to undertake an administration when no one came forward to do so voluntarily. A surviving widow has the first right to administer her husband's estate, but given that she was living in Georgia, it would not have been practical for her to do so. I had hoped to find an order noting that she had waived that right in favor of one of her step-sons, but I found nothing at all, suggesting that the estate was too small to pop up "on the radar".
What I did find was a criminal indictment of one of Thomas' sons for embezzlement at a bank at which he worked which was subsequently dropped for what I suspect was lack of evidence sufficient for the same to go to trial--the specific language used was "false bill". I inquired about getting a copy of the same in the event you might be interested and was told that due to the condition of the record, the Court no longer made copies but that I could photograph the same with a digital camera if I wished. I had not brought the same into the Courthouse with me because I had not expected to have that volunteered to me as an option, so I went out to my car to get the camera and my tripod. I took photos of both the full pages and close ups of portions of each page as I am not as adept using the camera as I would like and thus figured that if the full pages were to indistinct to read when enlarged, there would always be the portions that were photographed at a higher resolution/size, which I could even piece together with one of my graphics editing programs. I've not yet done so as I wanted to make certain you would actually want the images.
There is nothing further due unless you would wish me either to continue with this research or have other work you would want done, and even then, I would not require a deposit toward the same from you, merely an indication of how much time you would want me to put in on the same and how long I would have to report the results to you.
Michael E. Pollock
Anquestory Genealogical Research Services
Mechanicsville, VA
ChildrenJulian Ruffin (1839-1862)
Margaret Stanly (1842-1932)
Thomas Stanly (1843-1919)
Edmund Ruffin (Twin) (1845-1912)
John (Twin) (1845-1906)
Susan Travis (1846-1877)
Agnes Ruffin (ca1847-1930)
Lucy J. (Adopted) (ca1850->1920)
Charles Minnigerode (1851-1928)
Mildred “Matilda” Elizabeth (1855-1939)
Catharine Devereaux "Kate" (1856-1931)
Ella (Died as Infant) (1858-1858)