Interment source:
Bay View Cemetery Map, ca 1940
NO HEADSTONE
1. Biography
This gentleman is usually identified only as "Mr. Drinkard". Little is known about him because he died so early in the history of Corpus Christi. According to a special edition of the local paper "The Advertiser" of August 14, 1867, "Mr. Drinkard" died on July 25, 1867 at the beginning of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1867. Mr. Drinkard is the first one listed after Mr. Snyder who was believed to have brought the fever to Corpus Christi. However, the paper notes specifically that it was "not fever" that killed Mr. Drinkard. Local citizen Joseph Almond kept a diary for many of those early years. He reports in his entry of July 26 (1867) the following, "Last night I called to see Andrew Fisher and stayed all night with him. About ten o’clock I was informed that Mr. Drinkard was dead. He was sick of Dyspepsia but the cause of his death was the bursting of a blood vessel". This would seem to imply that Mr. Drinkard suffered some sort of aneurism or stroke. According to descendents of W. W. Beckham, Mr. Drinkard's widow was Sarah Penn who subsequently married Wm. W. Beckham. Sarah was of the "Penn" family of Virginia. Through records related to her in the Deed Records ofNueces County we learn more of the identity of "Mr. Drinkard". On August 19, 1871 Sarah P. Drinkard, "widow of Geo. H. Drinkard" sold lot 9 of the Beach Addition (with 50' fronting on Mesquite Street and 150' running back) to Wm. W. Beckham, her future husband (Deed Records, volume I page 529f). This is the same property that "G. H. Drinkard" purchased on December 27, 1865 (Deed Records, volume H page 267) from Margaret Jane (Matt) Nolan after the assassination of her husband who was acting sheriff in Nueces County (and was gunned down December 19, 1865). Thus it seems that the fuller name of "Mr. Drinkard" is George H. Drinkard. As noted earlier, Sarah Penn Drinkard went on to marry widower Wm. W. Beckham in March of 1875 (Nueces County Marriage Records, volume D). They lived in the area known as Collins (near present day Alice, Texas) where Sarah raised Mr. Beckham's children by a previous marriage. It is unclear if she had any children by George Drinkard. None are listed with George and Sarah in the 1860 census when George was working as a blacksmith in the Austin area (1860 census Travis County, page 238). In this record both George and Sarah are listed as natives of Virginia, and George claims to be a year younger than Sarah. He says he is 48 years old and thus born about 1812. In the 1870 census, subsequent to George's death, Widow Sarah is living in Bee County with the Smith family next door to the McClanahan family. George McClanahan's wife had also died in the Yellow Fever epidemic (and is buried in Old Bayview). He had subsequently moved to Beeville and was a major merchant there. Again in this census no sons or daughters are listed with "Sallie Drinkard" (1870 census Bee County, page 578B). Another record indicates that Sarah's father died prior to July 22, 1873 when a letter from lawyer F. Johnston of Salem, Virginia informed "Sarah P. Drinkard" of issues related to the settlement of her father's estate, including land near San Antonio, Texas (letter in the archives of the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University of Dallas, Texas). In the 1880 census of Nueces County (p. 71 C) Sarah is listed with W. W. Beckham, but the children all appear to be descendents of his first wife as they indicate their mother was a native of South Carolina. Again in this census Sarah lists herself as a native of Virginia. It should, be noted that Mr. Beckham's first wife was also named Sarah. She died in the early 1870s and like George Drinkard she too is buried in Old Bayview Cemetery. Sarah P. Drinkard’s second husband, Wm. W. Beckham, died 28 October 1894 and was buried in the Collins Cemetery (in southwest section of Alice near intersection of the TexMex Railroad and Airport Road). Sarah P. Beckham died a few years later and petition to administer her estate (Nueces County probate case #585) was filed in September of 1896. Her descendents at that time were listed as daughters Mary Elizabeth (John) Sedgwick, Fannie (W.A.) Hinnant, Laura V. (John) McIntyre, and Priscilla (G.F.) Cook. These all appear to be her stepdaughters so there is no indication that she had any descendents by George.
Research by: Msgr. Michael A. Howell