1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Frye. 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:15,520 Speaker 2: And I'm Tracy V. 4 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: Wilson. Today we are talking about a piece of I 5 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:22,079 Speaker 1: guess you would call it a historical true crime that 6 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 1: reads like a tella novella. We're also going to hit 7 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:28,639 Speaker 1: the two hundred year anniversary of this particular drama, which 8 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: involves a politician, a lawyer, and a woman perhaps connected 9 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:36,159 Speaker 1: to both of them, and it unfolds as the story 10 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:41,519 Speaker 1: of sexual scandal and political intrigue and ultimately leads to murder. 11 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: The details of the Beecham Sharp tragedy cannot all be verified. 12 00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:50,840 Speaker 1: There remain a lot of questions regarding accusations made among 13 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: the three and beyond, and even questions about testimony in 14 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:59,400 Speaker 1: a subsequent court case. So a note on pronunciation. The 15 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: way beach is spelled looks French. It looks like it 16 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:07,320 Speaker 1: would be pronounced Beauchamp. It is b ea u c 17 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: cha MP. I have heard it pronounced Beauchamp, but in 18 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: a version of the story that was told in audio 19 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: format by the Kentucky Historical Society, they use the pronunciation Beacham. 20 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,679 Speaker 1: It sort of pains me to shorten a beautiful French 21 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:26,200 Speaker 1: name in that way, but we're going to do it. 22 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:30,319 Speaker 1: That's my own bias. I couldn't find a definitive source 23 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,760 Speaker 1: for that pronunciation, but I'm going to presume that the 24 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:37,240 Speaker 1: Kentucky Historical Society has more knowledge of it, and so 25 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,480 Speaker 1: I'm happy to defer to them. This also made typing 26 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: the name very difficult for me. Sure I see that 27 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: c slash. Hear that pronunciation a lot like among English speakers, 28 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: specifically for Beacham, when it looks like it should be Beauchamp. Oh, 29 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: I wanted to be Beauchamp. Again, my own bias, but 30 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: that is the story that we going to tell today. 31 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: To set the scene, we will start with a very 32 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: brief biography of each of the three main players in 33 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: the story. 34 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 2: So first main player in the story Solomon P. Sharp, 35 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,959 Speaker 2: who was born on August twenty second, seventeen eighty seven 36 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 2: in Washington County, Virginia. He grew up in a log 37 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 2: cabin in Kentucky after his parents, Thomas and Jean Sharp, 38 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 2: moved there a few years after Solomon was born. This 39 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 2: was a time when this area was still pretty rugged. 40 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 2: Life was challenging there. By the time he was twenty, 41 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:39,519 Speaker 2: Solomon was already a practicing lawyer. He started his career 42 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,640 Speaker 2: as a lawyer in Russellville, Kentucky, but he soon moved 43 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:46,239 Speaker 2: about twenty six miles east to Bowling Green, Kentucky. That's 44 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 2: in Warren County. He quickly built a successful law career there, 45 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,799 Speaker 2: and he further grew his fortune by investing in land speculation. 46 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,080 Speaker 2: In eighteen oh nine, he was elected to the state 47 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:01,920 Speaker 2: legislature as a county represented. He was re elected the 48 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 2: next year. His legislative career was interrupted by the War 49 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 2: of eighteen twelve. Sharp served in the Kentucky Mounted Militia, 50 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 2: but that service was brief. He only served for six 51 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:16,360 Speaker 2: weeks and then he went right back to politics and 52 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 2: was elected to Congress in late eighteen twelve. He was 53 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 2: a two term congressman, and then he went back to 54 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:27,640 Speaker 2: his law practice in Bowling Green. In eighteen eighteen, Sharp 55 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 2: married a woman named Eliza Scott. Eliza was from a 56 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 2: very good family. She sometimes described as like a debutante, 57 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 2: and this was considered a very advantageous marriage for Sharp. 58 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 2: He had accomplished a great deal already by what was 59 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 2: in his early thirties. He owned a lot of land, 60 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 2: He was an enslaver, he owned a lot of people, 61 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 2: and he had a pretty impressive legal and political career, 62 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 2: but marrying Eliza gave him connections to society. The next 63 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 2: major player in the story was Anne Cook. Her name 64 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 2: is spelled a number of ways, depending on the source. 65 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 2: Sometimes it's just a N N, other times and with 66 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 2: an e on the end, or even Anna ending in 67 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 2: an A. Her exact date of birth is not known. 68 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 2: She was born in Virginia sometime in the mid seventeen eighties. 69 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 2: Estimates put it around seventeen eighty six. Her parents were 70 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 2: Giles and Alicia Cook. Anne was their first daughter. They 71 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,040 Speaker 2: already had four sons when she was born, and they 72 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 2: had at least one additional son and daughter after Giles 73 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 2: died in the early eighteen hundreds, and at that point 74 00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:41,480 Speaker 2: Alicia moved along with Anne and her siblings to Warren County, Kentucky. 75 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 2: By that point, some of Anne's brothers were adults, they 76 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 2: had their own young families. They all moved together. The 77 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 2: reason the whole family moved to Warren County was that 78 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:56,400 Speaker 2: Giles had also been a land speculator, and he had 79 00:04:56,440 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 2: purchased a lavish estate property complete with it enslaved workforce 80 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,679 Speaker 2: in Kentucky before his death, so the whole family moved there. 81 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:09,919 Speaker 1: The third person in this story is Jeroboam Beecham. He 82 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 1: was born to a Kentucky farm family in September eighteen 83 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: oh two, so he was the youngest of the three 84 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:20,119 Speaker 1: people involved here by more than a decade. Though his father, 85 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 1: Thomas Beecham, was a farmer, Jeroboam had relatives in politics, 86 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:30,159 Speaker 1: and he started studying law in eighteen twenty sometime in 87 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:34,479 Speaker 1: the eighteen teens in Bowling Green and Cross Paths with 88 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:38,520 Speaker 1: Colonel Sharp. Anne's life had included a lot of tragedy 89 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: in the years after she moved to Kentucky. While things 90 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 1: had initially gone pretty well, three of her brothers had 91 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,719 Speaker 1: died in less than three years, and she met the 92 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 1: Sharps through some mutual acquaintances. While those sad events were 93 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:52,560 Speaker 1: playing out. 94 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:56,360 Speaker 2: Apparently, she had some degree of friendship with Eliza Sharp, 95 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:00,239 Speaker 2: she visited her at home on several occasions. 96 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 1: Anne got pregnant in the autumn of eighteen nineteen. She 97 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: gave birth in May or June of eighteen twenty. That 98 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:12,600 Speaker 1: baby is usually reported as having been stillborn, although there 99 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: are some accounts that suggest that it died shortly after 100 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,280 Speaker 1: it was born. At the time, Anne, who was unmarried 101 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:24,119 Speaker 1: and not romantically tied to anyone, claimed that the father 102 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: was Solomon Sharp. Anne did not really follow up on 103 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:31,160 Speaker 1: this claim, though, or seek any acknowledgment of it on 104 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:35,680 Speaker 1: Sharp's part. In June of eighteen twenty one, Colonel Sharp 105 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: decided to run for public office again. This time he 106 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 1: was running for a state Senate seat, and his political 107 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:46,840 Speaker 1: opponents chose to bring up this allegation that Cook had 108 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:50,719 Speaker 1: raised in an effort to discredit him. He was also 109 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: accused of land fraud. During the campaign, these two accusations 110 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:59,479 Speaker 1: were often bundled together in criticism of Sharp, but then 111 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: fate intervened and seemed to offer a way for Sharp 112 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:06,640 Speaker 1: to sidestep all of this. He was offered the state 113 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:11,240 Speaker 1: attorney general position by Governor John Adair after the governor's 114 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: first choice for that role declined that though meant that 115 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: Sharp had to go through confirmation, and of course, these 116 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: same accusations again came up during that confirmation, but after 117 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: a Senate committee investigation, they found no wrongdoing, and Sharp 118 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 1: was confirmed as Attorney General. Meanwhile, in eighteen twenty one, 119 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: Jeroboam Beecham finished his law degree and moved home to 120 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:38,840 Speaker 1: his father's house for a little break while he prepared 121 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,080 Speaker 1: for the bar. And he soon met a nearby neighbor 122 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: that was Anne Cook, who had moved to the rural 123 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: area with her mother. Anne and Jeroboam started a courtship, 124 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 1: and soon Jeroboam proposed. The pair waited until he passed 125 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: the state bar exam in eighteen twenty three to move 126 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: forward with their wedding plans. In eighteen twenty four, they 127 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: were married, Jereboah moved to the farmhouse that Anne shared 128 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: with her mother. 129 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 2: We'll pause here for a sponsor break, and when we 130 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 2: come back, we'll talk about how all of this unraveled. 131 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:23,680 Speaker 2: So at the point we left off before the break, 132 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 2: it kind of seemed like everyone's lives were pretty settled. 133 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 2: Sharp had his Attorney General position, and the newlywed Beechams 134 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:36,200 Speaker 2: were starting their life together. But then Sharp decided he 135 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 2: wanted to run for a state legislator position in eighteen 136 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 2: twenty five. There is a whole story about how and 137 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:46,440 Speaker 2: why that decision was made and we're going to give 138 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:49,959 Speaker 2: a super abbreviated version of it, because this whole affair 139 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,640 Speaker 2: could be its own episode as well. It involves a 140 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 2: lot of political arguing about legislation that had been passed 141 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 2: as part of a relief effort to help farmers in 142 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 2: the state of Kentucky who had faced economic hardship and 143 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 2: potential foreclosures, and then that legislation was rejected on a 144 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:11,840 Speaker 2: legal appeal. Following that failed appeal, the sitting judges were 145 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 2: all dismissed by the Kentucky General Assembly and an entirely 146 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 2: new court was appointed. At that point, lawmakers of Kentucky 147 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:24,439 Speaker 2: split pretty hard into two factions, the so called Old 148 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 2: Court Party and the New Court Party. Sharp was a 149 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,720 Speaker 2: member of the New Court Party. Sharp had been right 150 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 2: in the middle of that conflict, and he thought he 151 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 2: could support his position better as a legislator than as 152 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 2: an attorney general. That position had been kind of a 153 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 2: straddling of the fence on this issue. Once he entered 154 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 2: the race, though, the allegations about his relationship with Anne 155 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:52,400 Speaker 2: Cook and the paternity of her child surfaced again. Sharp 156 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:57,880 Speaker 2: vehemently denied these allegations, as he had when they circulated previously. 157 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 1: Soon after these allegations came back up, a counter rumor 158 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: began to spread that the deceased child had been of 159 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,719 Speaker 1: mixed race, suggesting that it could not possibly have been 160 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:15,000 Speaker 1: Sharp's and also insinuating that Anne had a sexual relationship 161 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:19,280 Speaker 1: with a black man. It was believed, though denied, that 162 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:23,439 Speaker 1: Sharp's camp had started that rumor regarding Anne's baby's race, 163 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:26,840 Speaker 1: though there were also claims that her midwife had provided 164 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: the Sharp family with a sworn document backing that rumor. 165 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 1: But despite all of this gossip and mudslinging, Solomon Sharp 166 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:40,240 Speaker 1: won his election the day the Legislative Assembly was to begin. 167 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:44,839 Speaker 1: November seventh, eighteen twenty five, Solomon Sharp and his wife 168 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:48,880 Speaker 1: Eliza were awakened at approximately two a m. By somebody 169 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: knocking at their door. They were claiming to be somebody 170 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 1: that the couple knew who was in need of lodging. 171 00:10:56,559 --> 00:10:59,480 Speaker 1: When questioned through the door, this person said that all 172 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: the local taverns were full and that he needed a 173 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:05,839 Speaker 1: bed for the night. Here is how things played out 174 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 1: from there. According to the paper the frankfort Argus quote, 175 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:13,120 Speaker 1: Colonel Sharp told him he should have a bed and 176 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 1: opened the door. The assassin entered and passed with Colonel 177 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:20,719 Speaker 1: Sharp by the door of Missus Sharp's room. He then 178 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:24,319 Speaker 1: asked her you Colonel Sharp. The colonel answered in the affirmative. 179 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 1: The assassin then said, my name is John A. Covington. 180 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: Colonel Sharp replied, I do not know you. The assassin said, 181 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: damn you, you shall soon know me and plunged the 182 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:42,319 Speaker 1: fatal weapon into his body. Colonel Sharp groaned and fell 183 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:45,079 Speaker 1: to the ground, and when Eliza heard that, she jumped 184 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:48,600 Speaker 1: out of bed and ran to him. Sharp's brother, Leander, 185 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:50,880 Speaker 1: who also lived in the home, heard the noise as 186 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 1: well and ran to see what it was. Sharp died 187 00:11:54,400 --> 00:11:57,280 Speaker 1: from his stab wound just a few minutes after the attack, 188 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:00,839 Speaker 1: without saying a word to his wife or brother. The 189 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 1: only clue left at the scene was a bloody handkerchief. 190 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 1: It was believed that it had been used first to 191 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,720 Speaker 1: conceal the knife and then to wipe the blade After 192 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:13,120 Speaker 1: the stabbing. The assailant had run out through the same 193 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:16,200 Speaker 1: door that he entered, with neither of Sharp's surviving relatives 194 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: having seen any detail of his face, they could only 195 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:23,199 Speaker 1: report that it had been a tall man wearing dark clothes. 196 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: A man hunt began immediately, and the trustees of Frankfort 197 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 1: put up one thousand dollar reward quote for the purpose 198 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:36,720 Speaker 1: of apprehending the monster who committed this diabolical act. In 199 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,040 Speaker 1: addition to that, the state governor, with an authorization from 200 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:44,360 Speaker 1: the state legislature, offered another three thousand dollars quote for 201 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:46,120 Speaker 1: the apprehension. 202 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:49,679 Speaker 2: Of the murderer of Colonel Sharp. Although Sharp had just 203 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:53,840 Speaker 2: been part of a very polarized election cycle at a 204 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 2: time when Kentucky was very much divided, the community galvanized 205 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 2: over his murder, and even his most intense rivals and 206 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:06,840 Speaker 2: detractors condemned the murder and called for justice. 207 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:11,199 Speaker 1: While suspicion had briefly fallen on one of Sharp's political rivals, 208 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:16,320 Speaker 1: eventually Beecham was the person who came into focus. He 209 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:18,840 Speaker 1: was known to have been in Frankfurt the night before 210 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,000 Speaker 1: the murder. He had apparently left the lodgings where he 211 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:24,640 Speaker 1: was staying in the middle of the night, and then 212 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:28,360 Speaker 1: he had left the following morning. News of the attack 213 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,200 Speaker 1: had already broken when he left, and while everyone else 214 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:35,760 Speaker 1: in town was aghast and discussing Sharp's death, Beecham was disinterested, 215 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 1: to the point that people thought it was odd. Additionally, 216 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:43,440 Speaker 1: he had threatened Sharp on several occasions when rumors about 217 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 1: his seduction of Anne had circulated. As citizens of the 218 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:51,200 Speaker 1: area pieced these bits of information together, a group formed 219 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:53,480 Speaker 1: up and went to his and Ann's farm in the 220 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 1: next county to apprehend him. He was brought back to 221 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,200 Speaker 1: Frankfurt on November fifteenth and formally arrested once he arrived there. 222 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:07,040 Speaker 2: There was plenty of testimony at the ready regarding Jereboam Beaucham, 223 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 2: but physical evidence was a lot harder to come by. 224 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 2: He did have a knife when he was taken in, 225 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:16,080 Speaker 2: but that knife could not be conclusively tied to the murder. 226 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 2: The knife wound on Sharp's body was a lot wider 227 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,320 Speaker 2: than the blade of Beecham's knife. Furthermore, it was not 228 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,320 Speaker 2: the least bit odd at this time and place for 229 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:30,240 Speaker 2: a man to be carrying a knife. The handkerchief that 230 00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 2: had been found at the scene had been picked up 231 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:35,560 Speaker 2: by the posse that followed Beacham home, but then it 232 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 2: had been lost on the journey. So the strongest piece 233 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 2: of evidence against Beacham was Eliza Sharp, who identified his 234 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,560 Speaker 2: voice as that of the attacker. But Beaucham declared his 235 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 2: innocence from the moment he was taken in. He was 236 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 2: adamant that he had never threatened Sharp, and he wrote 237 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 2: to a number of people hoping for help in the matter. 238 00:14:57,640 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 2: One of those people has come up on the show 239 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 2: before that was lawyer and politician George M. Bibb, whose 240 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:08,120 Speaker 2: family recovered in July of twenty twenty two. Beecham told 241 00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 2: bib who had been a close friend of Sharp's, that 242 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 2: he was being framed. I have penciled that bib episode 243 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 2: in as a Saturday Classic forthcoming for people who are interested. 244 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:25,800 Speaker 2: That might sound far fetched, not the Saturday Classic what 245 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:31,760 Speaker 2: Holly just said, Tracy, really, but there were people who 246 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 2: believed it, and with pretty good reason. In the middle 247 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 2: of all the tumult that had been going on in 248 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:42,520 Speaker 2: Kentucky politics, there had been instances of violence, like basically fisticuffs, 249 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,200 Speaker 2: and some of Sharp's friends and allies in the legislature 250 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,720 Speaker 2: thought it was possible that his political enemies could have 251 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:53,240 Speaker 2: taken things farther in an effort to eradicate a powerful 252 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:58,320 Speaker 2: opponent to their agendas. One of Sharp's friends named Amos Kendall, 253 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 2: who would eventually become post Master General of the United 254 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:05,160 Speaker 2: States ran the argus of Western America, and he used 255 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 2: his platform to accuse Sharp's rivals of goading Beacham on 256 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 2: by making sure those rumors about Sharp and stayed circulating. 257 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 2: He even accused specific politicians of going directly to Beacham 258 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:24,280 Speaker 2: to talk about these rumors. There were implications that some 259 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:26,960 Speaker 2: of these men had been near Sharp's house in the 260 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 2: early morning of November seventh, insinuating that they had urged 261 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:33,280 Speaker 2: Beacham to take action. 262 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: We are going to get to Beacham's trial, but before 263 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:39,360 Speaker 1: we do, we will hear from the sponsors that keep 264 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:52,560 Speaker 1: stuff unissed in history class going. During the grand jury hearing, 265 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,360 Speaker 1: which found cause to move forward with a trial, but 266 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 1: not enough evidence to suggest that anyone other than Beecham 267 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:03,120 Speaker 1: be charged, Jeroboam's attorney, John Pope, asked if they could 268 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 1: postpone the trial for a while so they would have 269 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:09,280 Speaker 1: time to put together their case. That was honored, and 270 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: this trial was set for May the following year. When 271 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:16,920 Speaker 1: it began on May eighth, eighteen twenty six, Jeroboam Beacham 272 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:18,760 Speaker 1: pled not guilty. 273 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:22,879 Speaker 2: During the trial, which was prosecuted by Charles Bibb. Just 274 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 2: to keep the bib family in the mix. One of 275 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 2: the interesting pieces of testimony came from Patrick H. 276 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:29,640 Speaker 1: Darby. 277 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:32,720 Speaker 2: Darby was one of the men who had been accused 278 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 2: of stirring up Jeroboam and inciting him to murder. His 279 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:41,399 Speaker 2: testimony indicated that he had met with Beecham, but that 280 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:44,760 Speaker 2: he hadn't known who the defendant was when they met. 281 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,520 Speaker 2: Darby claimed that while the two men both happened to 282 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:52,080 Speaker 2: have stopped at the same roadside well while traveling, Beacham 283 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:56,359 Speaker 2: broached the subject of the purported sexual relationship between Sharp 284 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:00,439 Speaker 2: and Anne and told Darby that Sharp had basically offered 285 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:04,679 Speaker 2: him a bribe, with that being money, an enslaved girl, 286 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 2: and property if they would just drop. 287 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:08,880 Speaker 1: It and leave him alone. 288 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 2: But he had never delivered on the promised items, and 289 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:15,080 Speaker 2: Jeroboam was hoping to enlist Darby to help him get 290 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:18,639 Speaker 2: what he was owed. Darby testified that he refused to 291 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:20,919 Speaker 2: do this and that at that point Beacham said he 292 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:25,800 Speaker 2: would kill Colonel Sharp, and cross examination, defense attorney Pope 293 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 2: pointed out that Beaucham's conviction would help Darby and his 294 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 2: political allies get out of hot Water, so his testimony 295 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:38,080 Speaker 2: should be considered questionable. Darby also brought another witness into 296 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:41,720 Speaker 2: the case that was Anne and Jerebouham's neighbor named low 297 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,240 Speaker 2: The neighbor stated that when Jereboam had returned to his 298 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:48,320 Speaker 2: farm from Frankfort, he had been waiving a red flag 299 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,919 Speaker 2: and claiming victory, but he had not discussed with the 300 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:55,800 Speaker 2: defendant what that actually meant. Lowe also stated that he 301 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:59,440 Speaker 2: had letters from Beacham that incriminated him. These letters were 302 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 2: not miss that included a plan to murder Sharp, they 303 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:07,159 Speaker 2: had been written after Beacham was arrested. They were incriminating 304 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 2: because they included detailed directives on the story that Jereboam 305 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:14,639 Speaker 2: would like low to tell in court, including that Anne 306 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:17,080 Speaker 2: had not been the one to introduce the rumor of 307 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:19,640 Speaker 2: the affair with Sharp, but that it had been concocted 308 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:24,080 Speaker 2: by one of his political rivals, John Waring. Yeah, Pope 309 00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:26,960 Speaker 2: really tried to have this letter struck, and it did 310 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,080 Speaker 2: not hold up because it obviously made the defendant look 311 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:34,480 Speaker 2: very bad. Throughout this trial, which went on for two weeks, 312 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:37,639 Speaker 2: every aspect of the case was of course addressed and 313 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 2: debated in detail. Witness testimony, though, was largely contradictory, with 314 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:46,680 Speaker 2: just about anything introduced by the prosecution countered with an 315 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:50,720 Speaker 2: opposite account from a defense witness. Everything from the issue 316 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:53,000 Speaker 2: of the size of the knife to the disappearing bloody 317 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:57,040 Speaker 2: handkerchief was discussed, and there too, in those pieces of 318 00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 2: physical evidence, or lack thereof, the expert test testimony from 319 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 2: each side contradicted the other. There was no physical evidence 320 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 2: of the actual crime. It was all circumstantial, and the 321 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 2: only sticking point remained Eliza Sharp's insistence that Jereboam's voice 322 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 2: was the one she had heard at their door the 323 00:20:16,359 --> 00:20:19,680 Speaker 2: night her husband was murdered. This case went to the 324 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 2: jury at five pm on Friday, May nineteenth. At about 325 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:28,120 Speaker 2: six pm, just an hour later, the verdict was read guilty. 326 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:32,800 Speaker 2: For a while, it seemed like Anne might also be charged. 327 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:33,640 Speaker 1: Their neighbor. 328 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,679 Speaker 2: Low had more to say about this. This was actually 329 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:40,959 Speaker 2: precipitated by Jereboham's defense counsel, who introduced the possibility of 330 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 2: Anne being a more active participant as a way to 331 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 2: postpone the sentencing. Lowe told the judges that Anne had 332 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,919 Speaker 2: told him that she had helped plan this murder, and 333 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:56,040 Speaker 2: she detailed the various ways that they had gone about 334 00:20:56,200 --> 00:21:00,320 Speaker 2: learning the layout of the sharp holme acquiring she and 335 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:03,440 Speaker 2: a knife that were different from her husband's personal items. 336 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:04,240 Speaker 1: Things like that. 337 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 2: Lowe also told the judges that Darby's testimony about a 338 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:12,800 Speaker 2: bribe to silence the Beachams was not correct and that 339 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 2: no such deal had ever been offered. But although this 340 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:19,840 Speaker 2: was compelling and a dramatic development, it was determined that 341 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 2: Anne had not been materially responsible for the murder, so 342 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 2: she was not charged. That same day, Jerebohen was sentenced 343 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:32,199 Speaker 2: to death. Yeah, so much of this trial hung on 344 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:35,119 Speaker 2: the testimony of their neighbor, low who was a person 345 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:37,399 Speaker 2: that Darby had found and said, I think you know 346 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:43,720 Speaker 2: about this case. It's also convoluted and dramatic and a 347 00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:45,159 Speaker 2: lot of machinations. 348 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 1: So much of it. 349 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:48,679 Speaker 2: I'm like this seems like hearsay to me. 350 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:53,640 Speaker 1: Huh. The date of the execution was set for June sixteenth, 351 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:57,320 Speaker 1: but Beecham asked for a postponement because he wanted to 352 00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:01,600 Speaker 1: write something. Surprisingly, this quest was honored and the new 353 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:05,960 Speaker 1: date of execution was set for July seventh. Jereboham returned 354 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,280 Speaker 1: to his cell to write, and his wife and joined him. 355 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:13,040 Speaker 1: She stayed with him throughout the rest of his life. 356 00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:16,679 Speaker 1: While an appeal was attempted, it did not gain traction. 357 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,399 Speaker 1: And this is where Beecham's story seems to have just 358 00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:24,879 Speaker 1: changed abruptly. Almost from the moment that he was sentenced. 359 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:28,960 Speaker 1: People started reporting that he was telling people that he 360 00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:33,000 Speaker 1: had in fact been the murderer. This information was relayed 361 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 1: to the press, which just ran with it. Simultaneously, he 362 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,679 Speaker 1: started to write the thing that he had in mind, 363 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:43,160 Speaker 1: which opens as follows, quote, I am this day condemned 364 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,720 Speaker 1: to die by my country's laws. My country has extended 365 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:50,119 Speaker 1: the limited time first fixed for my existence on earth, 366 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:52,920 Speaker 1: in order that I might write an account of the 367 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,439 Speaker 1: causes which have led to my death. He goes on 368 00:22:56,520 --> 00:23:00,280 Speaker 1: to confess in this document, but also to justify his 369 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:04,480 Speaker 1: actions in doing so, quote, I die for pursuing what 370 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:07,760 Speaker 1: the dictates of my clearest and most deliberate judgment had 371 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:10,920 Speaker 1: determined it was at least justifiable in me to do, 372 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,560 Speaker 1: if not my duty to do, and for which no 373 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:18,679 Speaker 1: guilty pang of conscience has ever yet reproved me, or 374 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:22,120 Speaker 1: the certain prospect of death made me feel the least regret. 375 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: And if my death teaches a respect for the laws 376 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:28,760 Speaker 1: of my country, my example will be not less serviceable 377 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:31,879 Speaker 1: in teaching a respect for those laws of honor to 378 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:37,240 Speaker 1: revenge the violation and outrage of which I so freely die. 379 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:41,840 Speaker 1: The writing indicates that Jereboham intended for there to be 380 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:46,760 Speaker 1: a didactic outcome from the murder and the trial. Writing quote, 381 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: the death of Colonel Sharp at my hands will teach 382 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:53,960 Speaker 1: two lessons not altogether uncalled for by the present moral 383 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 1: and political state of society in Kentucky. It will teach 384 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:00,800 Speaker 1: a certain class of heroes, who make their glory to 385 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:04,480 Speaker 1: consist in triumphs over the virtue and the happiness of 386 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:09,680 Speaker 1: worthy unfortunate orphan females, to pause sometimes in their mad 387 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:13,640 Speaker 1: career and reflect that though the deluded victim of their 388 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: villainy may have no father to protect or avenge her, 389 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 1: yet some friendly arm may sooner or later be nerved 390 00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:26,359 Speaker 1: by her to avenge her blighted prospects. The second lesson 391 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,920 Speaker 1: Beecham felt the colonel's death might impart was this quote. 392 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:33,480 Speaker 1: My example, or rather that of Colonel Sharps, will also 393 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:38,199 Speaker 1: teach the unprincipled politician in his career of ambition, that 394 00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 1: if his dishonor has driven from society and buried in 395 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:45,800 Speaker 1: a living grave, an unfortunate female who had fallen a 396 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 1: victim to his villainy. It may be better to lie 397 00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:53,439 Speaker 1: under the reproach of her seduction than to hazard adding 398 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:58,000 Speaker 1: further insult to so deep an injury, slander and detraction 399 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 1: to such an outrage upon on every human feeling. One 400 00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:07,159 Speaker 1: aspect of Beecham's sentence that fascinated the public at the 401 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:10,280 Speaker 1: time and frankly a lot of people since, was that 402 00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:12,879 Speaker 1: Anne made no secret that she wished to have the 403 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:17,160 Speaker 1: same fate as her husband. Jeroboam also wrote about this 404 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:20,439 Speaker 1: in his confession, noting, quote, my wife is, I know, 405 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: inflexible in her determination that as I die for her, 406 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,439 Speaker 1: she will die with me. I have no motive to 407 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:30,840 Speaker 1: conceal the part which she has acted, the more especially 408 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:33,439 Speaker 1: as she insists to let the world know all the 409 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:37,399 Speaker 1: agency she has had in bringing about a revenge for 410 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,680 Speaker 1: the deep, indelible wrong which Colonel Sharp had done her 411 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:41,680 Speaker 1: and her family. 412 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 2: On July fifth, Anne administered what she thought would be 413 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:50,000 Speaker 2: a fatal dose of laudanum to both herself and to Jereboam. 414 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,479 Speaker 2: She had snuck the laudanum into the cell, concealing it 415 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 2: in her clothing. It was not a fatal dose, and 416 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:59,359 Speaker 2: she and Jereboham were both put on suicide watch, but 417 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:02,200 Speaker 2: it doesn't appear that anybody searched her at that time. 418 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 2: Because she still had more laudanum with her, she took that, 419 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:09,520 Speaker 2: but rather than killing her, it just caused her to vomit. 420 00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,160 Speaker 1: Two days later, on the seventh, which was the date 421 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: that Jeroboum was to be executed, the pair asked for 422 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:20,440 Speaker 1: some time alone. They were not supposed to be left unattended, 423 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:25,440 Speaker 1: but for some reason the jayler agreed. Anne still determined 424 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,720 Speaker 1: that they should die together, and, once again with contraband 425 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:31,840 Speaker 1: in her possession that no one had managed to notice, 426 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,280 Speaker 1: pulled out a knife and stabbed herself in the chest. 427 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:40,000 Speaker 1: She also convinced Jeroboam to stab himself. He stabbed the 428 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:43,160 Speaker 1: knife into his abdomen, but apparently did not hit any 429 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:47,399 Speaker 1: vital organs. His wound was not fatal, and hers was. 430 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:51,520 Speaker 1: She died an hour after the stabbing, with her husband 431 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:53,560 Speaker 1: by her side. She had been removed from the cell, 432 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:55,679 Speaker 1: but they allowed him to come to where they had 433 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,959 Speaker 1: her when they realized she was about to expire. He 434 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:02,480 Speaker 1: reportedly stated as he watched her past quote. I wish 435 00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 1: doctor Sharp was here. I wish he was here to 436 00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:09,840 Speaker 1: behold this spectacle. Her last words, as reported in the 437 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:14,280 Speaker 1: local newspaper, were, Oh, my husband, I die for my husband. 438 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:18,080 Speaker 1: Beecham was taken to the gallows in the early afternoon. 439 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:21,800 Speaker 1: He was composed, He asked for some water and for 440 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:25,520 Speaker 1: the attending bands to play Bonaparte's Retreat from Moscow, and 441 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:30,240 Speaker 1: then he was hanged. After the execution, newspapers ran the 442 00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:34,160 Speaker 1: story with an introductory paragraph that read, quote, the tragic 443 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,639 Speaker 1: scene has closed and the curtain has fallen over the 444 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:42,000 Speaker 1: murderer of Colonel Solomon P. Sharp. The trial, conviction and 445 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:45,639 Speaker 1: confession of guilt and execution of Jereboam Oh Beecham for 446 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,639 Speaker 1: the murder and suicide of Anne Beacham formerly Anne Cook, 447 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:52,919 Speaker 1: who was privy to and instigated her husband to the 448 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:53,959 Speaker 1: murder of Sharp. 449 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:59,720 Speaker 2: It was also after the execution that Jeroboam's confession became public, 450 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,800 Speaker 2: and writing it, it appears that he was hoping the 451 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:06,080 Speaker 2: contents would lead to his sentence being commuted, or even 452 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:09,840 Speaker 2: that he might be pardoned. He did not claim innocence 453 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:14,000 Speaker 2: in the murder, but he invoked Darby's involvement, and this 454 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:17,840 Speaker 2: confession also had some bombshells. A big one was that 455 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:20,679 Speaker 2: he said he had heard about the rumors regarding Sharp 456 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 2: and Cook and had subsequently orchestrated a way to meet 457 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 2: her shortly after they had become acquainted. He said he 458 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:32,399 Speaker 2: had confronted Sharp about it, but that Sharp had gotten 459 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:36,040 Speaker 2: away from him, and that this had happened four years 460 00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:39,680 Speaker 2: before the murder. Then he described how his desire to 461 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:42,320 Speaker 2: kill Sharp was a big part of the bond that 462 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 2: he shared with Anne. He wrote that at one point 463 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:48,720 Speaker 2: he and Anne tried to lure Sharp to their house 464 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 2: with a fake lead on a land claim, hoping that 465 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:55,520 Speaker 2: they could kill him there, but Sharp didn't come. What 466 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 2: emerges is a tale of two people deeply intent on 467 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:00,840 Speaker 2: getting revenge. 468 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:06,600 Speaker 1: Yeah. His version of why they didn't get married until 469 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty four was that initially Anne told him he 470 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:14,840 Speaker 1: had to kill Sharp before she would marry him. Like 471 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:19,479 Speaker 1: there's a hole wild what their relationship really was that 472 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 1: plays out in this confession. But another version of the 473 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:28,040 Speaker 1: events was written down by Colonel Sharp's brother, doctor Leander Sharp. 474 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:31,040 Speaker 1: This was titled Vindication of the Character of the Late 475 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:35,480 Speaker 1: Colonel Solomon P. Sharp. And the Leander account, actually, like 476 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:39,440 Speaker 1: the other, does place the blame on Darby's shoulders. It 477 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 1: strongly suggests that he was actually the one that started 478 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:46,080 Speaker 1: the rumors of Sharp and Ann Cook's affair, and it 479 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,400 Speaker 1: also reiterates the story that her deceased child had been 480 00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 1: of mixed race. One of the things that does give 481 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:56,240 Speaker 1: Leander Sharp's account a bit more weight in the eyes 482 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 1: of many historians is the fact that he worked pretty 483 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:04,600 Speaker 1: diligent to collect evidence. He collected accounts from various witnesses, 484 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:08,120 Speaker 1: he gained sworn testimonies, he actually ran down a lot 485 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:11,440 Speaker 1: of leads, and he included all of this in his work. 486 00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:15,480 Speaker 1: But this version of events was suppressed due to pressure 487 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:18,720 Speaker 1: from Darby, and it only came to light decades later 488 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:21,360 Speaker 1: when the manuscript was found in the Sharp home. 489 00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:26,800 Speaker 2: Yet another publication did see public release in eighteen twenty six, 490 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:31,320 Speaker 2: and it was The Letters of Anne Cook. This salacious 491 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:34,920 Speaker 2: collection of missives was popular with a public that wanted 492 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:38,640 Speaker 2: to condemn the behavior of everyone involved in this tragedy, 493 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,920 Speaker 2: but also wanted to learn all of the juicy details 494 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:45,960 Speaker 2: in private. This publication was almost certainly a fake, not 495 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:49,360 Speaker 2: real letters and had written, although it has been referenced 496 00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 2: a lot of times by people as though it were 497 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:54,440 Speaker 2: legitimate in the last two centuries. 498 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:57,520 Speaker 1: As noted in the book Murder and Madness, the Myth 499 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:01,080 Speaker 1: of the Kentucky Tragedy, which was written by Matthew Schoenbackler 500 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 1: in two thousand and nine, quote, most of what we 501 00:31:03,960 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 1: do know about the Kentucky Tragedy comes from three remarkable documents, 502 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:13,280 Speaker 1: the published proceedings of Beacham's murder trial, Beacham's confession, and 503 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:16,600 Speaker 1: a vindication of Solomon Sharp, written by his devoted brother, 504 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:21,760 Speaker 1: doctor Leander Sharp. Since the Sharp and Beacham writings contradict 505 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,200 Speaker 1: each other, and the trial account likely contains testimony that 506 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:28,720 Speaker 1: was purposely false, we're kind of left to puzzle out 507 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,880 Speaker 1: for ourselves whether this was truly a crime of honor 508 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:36,040 Speaker 1: bound vengeance, or just the result of political machinations. 509 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:40,440 Speaker 2: In nineteen sixty seven, the Kentucky Historical Society had a 510 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:44,360 Speaker 2: marker placed at the grave of Jereboam and Anne, which 511 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:47,719 Speaker 2: takes a pretty starry eyed stance. The front of that 512 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:51,840 Speaker 2: marker reads Romantic eighteen twenty five tragedy Jereboam Beacham and 513 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:55,680 Speaker 2: wife Anna buried here in same coffin at own request 514 00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:00,080 Speaker 2: to avenge her alleged seduction by Colonel Solomon Sharp. B. H. 515 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:04,120 Speaker 2: Jim murdered him match Sharp's Frankfort home eighteen twenty five. 516 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:07,520 Speaker 2: Beacham and Anna were held in Frankfort jail. She was 517 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:10,360 Speaker 2: released but joined her husband in his cell, refusing to 518 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:14,160 Speaker 2: be separated even by force. He was sentenced to hang. 519 00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:18,600 Speaker 2: The back of the marker reads quote. On execution day, 520 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:22,800 Speaker 2: they attempted suicide by stabbing themselves. Her wound was fatal, 521 00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:25,640 Speaker 2: but he lived to be hanged that day, the first 522 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:30,200 Speaker 2: legal hanging in Kentucky eighteen twenty six. Colonel Sharp's political 523 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:35,200 Speaker 2: prominence caused case to have widespread newspaper publicity. Edgar Allan 524 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:38,719 Speaker 2: Poe and many other authors wrote of the tragedy inspired 525 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:41,120 Speaker 2: by Beecham's deep devotion and love. 526 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:45,960 Speaker 1: It's such a romanticized version. A fascination with this case 527 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:49,200 Speaker 1: does seem to be never ending. Fiction has, as referenced 528 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:52,520 Speaker 1: in that marker, drawn from it many times. Social and 529 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:55,720 Speaker 1: legal analysts have continued to break down the details of 530 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:59,240 Speaker 1: the case and examine it through various lenses over the years. 531 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:03,080 Speaker 1: One of the angles that I didn't see considered or 532 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:06,440 Speaker 1: talked about very often. Was put forth by Dixon D. Bruce, 533 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 1: Junior in his two thousand book The Kentucky Tragedy, A 534 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:14,600 Speaker 1: Story of Conflict and Change in Antebellum America. In the book, 535 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:19,200 Speaker 1: Bruce notes the cultural context of Beacham's crime quote, Kentucky 536 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:21,960 Speaker 1: could be a violent place in the eighteen twenties. It 537 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:24,760 Speaker 1: was a place where people gave credence to a strict 538 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:28,160 Speaker 1: and bloody code of honor that, among other things, provided 539 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:31,800 Speaker 1: little room for despoiling a woman's character, as Sharpe is 540 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:34,680 Speaker 1: said to have done, and virtually demanded the kind of 541 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:39,480 Speaker 1: violent retribution Beacham exacted. Thus, to a great extent, the 542 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:43,320 Speaker 1: code served to frame how people understood the Beecham Sharp 543 00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:46,160 Speaker 1: affair at the time and how they have continued to 544 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:51,400 Speaker 1: interpret its significance. Bruce also notes, as others have, that 545 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:55,760 Speaker 1: it's impossible to find any contemporary writings about the events 546 00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:59,360 Speaker 1: involved that isn't biased. So the only truths that we 547 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:02,880 Speaker 1: could really hang on to are the few components that 548 00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:07,280 Speaker 1: are consistent from account to account. Oh, we got a 549 00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:09,839 Speaker 1: whole thing to talk about on Friday. We sure knew 550 00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:16,560 Speaker 1: about poems. Okay, do you have a listener mail I do. 551 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:22,440 Speaker 1: We have gotten a lot of emails about our Library 552 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:26,239 Speaker 1: of Congress episode, and I want to read them all 553 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:28,120 Speaker 1: because they're really good. But I really wanted to read 554 00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:32,440 Speaker 1: this one in the hopes of wishing someone the best 555 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:36,360 Speaker 1: possible good fortune going forward. This is from our listener Katie, 556 00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:40,239 Speaker 1: who says, Hello, Holly and Tracy. Longtime listener, first time emailer. 557 00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:42,279 Speaker 1: I'm writing to thank you for your episode on the 558 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:45,520 Speaker 1: Library of Congress and your acknowledgment of the unjust firing 559 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:48,360 Speaker 1: of doctor Carla Hayden. I have been a librarian with 560 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:51,080 Speaker 1: the federal government for over eleven years. In the last 561 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:54,480 Speaker 1: four months have been some of the hardest of my career. Sadly, 562 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:56,880 Speaker 1: I know I'm not unique in this regard. I have 563 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:00,640 Speaker 1: always appreciated your references to and use of various libraries 564 00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:04,240 Speaker 1: and the vast resources they provide. Libraries of all types 565 00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:09,160 Speaker 1: have always faced challenges shrinking budgets, book bands, finding ways 566 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:12,400 Speaker 1: to provide equitable access to all citizens, be it books, 567 00:35:12,719 --> 00:35:15,760 Speaker 1: maker spaces, access to free Wi Fi, or a place 568 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:18,680 Speaker 1: to stay warm or cool. This is our passion and 569 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:22,000 Speaker 1: our calling, and as with many helping professions, we are 570 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:24,279 Speaker 1: not in it for the money. As we face so 571 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:27,160 Speaker 1: much uncertainty in the world, libraries have always been a 572 00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:30,320 Speaker 1: safe space, and I hope we survive the next four years. 573 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:33,600 Speaker 1: Thank you for all that you do. I'm obviously crying 574 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:37,880 Speaker 1: because I hope so too. But then Katie attaches pictures 575 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:41,440 Speaker 1: of her kiddie Blue as a pet. Tax Blue is 576 00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:45,520 Speaker 1: a fluffy, gray, magical creature, very near and dear to 577 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:48,080 Speaker 1: my heart. Is a great cat. So I love these. 578 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:49,759 Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing them. I'm sorry I'm getting so 579 00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:53,280 Speaker 1: choked up. I really want libraries to survive and thrive. 580 00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:57,440 Speaker 1: That's all I'm wishing you well. If you would like 581 00:35:57,440 --> 00:35:58,880 Speaker 1: to write to us and make me cry, you can 582 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:02,480 Speaker 1: do that at History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You 583 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:05,680 Speaker 1: can also subscribe on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you 584 00:36:05,719 --> 00:36:08,760 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows. 585 00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:15,800 Speaker 2: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 586 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:20,759 Speaker 2: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 587 00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:22,880 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.