Sarah A. Beckham

Sarah A. Beckham
1832 - 1868

Photo Credit: Rosa G. Gonzales

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Sarah A. Beckham

The descendants of W. W. Beckham are all by this first wife of William W. Beckham.  According to their oral tradition, Sarah was a “red Head†who was from Georgia and whose maiden name was “Stevensâ€.  There are indeed a number of Stevens that settled in this area; and the 1870 census lists a James Stevens and Alice Corkill (maiden name Stevens) on the same page as W. W. and Sarah in the county recording.  This Sarah Beckham was the mother of Mary Elizabeth (Mrs. John Sedgwick of Alice), Fannie/Fanny (Mrs. W. A. “King†Hinnant), William Thomas Beckham, Joshua Beckham, Louis Beckham, Laura V. (Mrs. John McIntyre), and Priscilla (Mrs. G. F. Cook).  She is listed in 1870 for the last time in the federal census.  By 1880 W. W. Beckham has married again, to a Sarah P. Drinkard.  This marriage took place on March 22, 1875 so the first wife (Sarah A Beckham) must have died sometime between June of 1870 and March of 1875. The second Mrs. Beckham is listed as previously married (Mrs. Sarah P. Drinkard), and according to the family members, her maiden name was “Pennâ€, and she claimed to be related to William Penn.  Her family were early settlers of Virginia (in the 1880 census she is listed as from Virginia), and she signed her letters “F. F. V.†(First Families of Virginia).  While Sarah A. Beckham is buried in Old Bayview Cemetery, W. W. Beckham is buried in Collins Cemetery in Jim Wells County.  Many of the descendants of Fannie Beckham and William A. Hinnant still live in the Alice area.

 

Research by:  Msgr. Michael A. Howell
Transcription by:  Geraldine D. McGloin, Nueces County Historical Commission