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Thomas Beaty
Thomas Beaty, my paternal great-great grandfather, was born in 1801, either in what is
now Wayne or Clinton County, Kentucky. His parents were Andrew Beaty,
Sr. and Elizabeth (Cooper) Beaty. His paternal grandparents were John
Beaty, Sr. and Margaret (Montgomery) Beaty. His maternal grandfather was John Cooper,
who migrated from Pennsylvania to Sullivan County, Tennessee, and died there in 1800. On
Feb. 4, 1821, Thomas Beaty married Jane Mullinix, in what is now Fentress County,
Tennessee. She was born about 1804, in Barren County, Kentucky, and died Jan. 7, 1893, in
Fentress County, Tennessee. Her parents were Nathaniel and
Delilah Mullinix. Her paternal grandparents were Richard and Elizabeth (Poynter)
Mullinix, who both were born in Sussex County, Delaware. Jane's paternal
great-great-great-grandfather, Robert Millnor, was born about
1650, in England. Her paternal great-great-great-grandmother, Rebecca (Boston) Millnor,
was born about 1650, in Northampton County, Virginia. Not much is known about Jane's
mother, Delilah, except that Nathaniel divorced her for being unfaithful to her marriage
vows. And nothing is known about Delilah's ancestors. I think that she may have been an
American Indian - a Cherokee, perhaps? Because her granddaughter, Nancy Agnes (Beaty)
King, had features like those of an Indian. Jane was a 1st cousin to Isham Mullinix, born
about 1810, in Fentress County, who was a grandfather of the Isham L. Mullinix, John M.
Mullinix, and Sarah Elizabeth (Mullinix) Lee, who are buried in the Salem Cemetery, at
Rheber, here in Casey County, Kentucky.
The children of Thomas and Jane (Mullinix) Beaty were as follows: Elizabeth Beaty, b. Apr.
23, 1822; Nancy Agnes Beaty, b. Nov. 14, 1824; John Andrew Beaty,
b. Aug. 18, 1827; Alexander Green Beaty, b. Jan. 23, 1830; Nathaniel Priam Beaty, b. June
19, 1832; Thomas Jefferson Beaty, b. July 17, 1835; Nina Jane Beaty, b. Jan. 14, 1838;
Martha Ann Beaty, b. Nov. 11, 1840; William Hagan Beaty, b. Mar. 11, 1843; Matilda Beaty,
b. May 23, 1846; and Hiram Cyrus Beaty, b. Apr. 5, 1849. Elizabeth
and Nancy were born in Clinton County, Ky., all the others in Fentress County, Tenn. Their
marriages were as follows: Elizabeth Beaty married James King. Nancy Beaty married his
brother, Robert King. John Andrew Beaty married Mahala Allred. Alexander Green Beaty's
marriage status is not known to me. Nathaniel Priam Beaty married Ellen Brown. Thomas
Jefferson Beaty married Drucilla somebody. Nina Jane Beaty may have married Hawk Reagan.
Martha Ann Beaty married George Washington Hill. William Hagan Beaty married Miranda
somebody. Matilda Beaty married Sampson Stephens. And Hiram Cyrus Beaty married Catherine
Beaty.
Six of the eleven daughters and sons Elizabeth, Nancy Agnes, John Andrew, Martha Ann,
Matilda and Hiram Cyrus - had a total of 59 children. Nancy and Hiram each had 11; John
and Martha each had 10; Elizabeth had 9; and Matilda had 8. But, it appears that the other
5 sons and daughters had but a few children, if any. Alexander Green Beaty died in 1856,
at age 26. Nathaniel Priam Beaty, a Union soldier during the Civil War, was killed in the
Battle of Mill Springs, Ky., near Somerset, in 1862, at age 30. William Hagan Beaty, who
was also a Union soldier during the Civil War, died in the Confederate prisoner of war
camp at Belle Island, Va. He probably starved to death in 1864 - as several other Union
soldiers did there - at age 21. Thomas Jefferson Beaty, born in 1835, probably died in the
war as a soldier, too; by the age 29 or 30. And I don't have any information on Nina Jane
Beaty, born in 1838. My 3rd cousin Welter Estes Webb listed her as having died unmarried,
in 1855, at age 17. But Tim Lee Huddleston listed her as having married Hawk Reagan and as
having died in 1885, at age 47. I don't have a listing of the Thomas and Jane (Mullinix)
Beaty family in the 1860 census.
Thomas Beaty's father, Andrew Beaty, Sr., was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He
fought in the Battle of Kings Mountain, under the command of Isaac Shelby, who later
became Kentucky's first governor. Other leaders of these frontiersmen from Kentucky,
Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, were William Campbell and John
Sevier. (Later on, Sevier became governor of Tennessee.) The British had overrun Georgia
and South Carolina, and were advancing toward North Carolina. A company of British
soldiers were entrenched on the top of Kings Mountain, in northern South Carolina, near
Charlotte, North Carolina. The American frontiersmen surrounded the mountain and slowly
fought their way, Indian style, to the top. Major Ferguson, the British leader, and nearly
half of his men were killed during the battle, and the rest were captured by the
Americans. That was a turning point in the war in the South. One year and 12 days later,
the British surrendered to General George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia, and the war
ended, October 19, 1781.
Thomas Beaty served as Sheriff of Fentress County for, at least, one term. And, for some
reason, he was called Colonel Tom Beaty. I don't know why. I don't think that he had been
a soldier in any war. He was only 13 years old when the War of 1812 ended. And he was 60
years old when the Civil War started. The title may have been a honorary one, as a
"Kentucky Colonel," for example. I don't know when that Kentucky Colonel stuff
started. (And it appears that the reference book people have not heard about it yet.) In
North Carolina, during World War II, a fellow private about my age, from Chicago, named
Snyder, always called me "Colonel Wright," meaning a "Kentucky
Colonel." I don't have that honor. And, militarily, the rank of Corporal was the
highest that I ever held.
Thomas Beaty was a brother to Alexander Beaty who married Polly Hull, a sister to Cordell
Hull's grandfather; a brother to Nancy Agnes Beaty who married Jonathan Hull, a brother to
Polly; and a brother to William Beaty who married Martha Westmoreland and migrated here to
Casey County, Kentucky, about 1861 probably, with his family. William and Martha were
ancestors of Claude Beaty, John William Wood, Victoria (Wood) Martin, Loretta (Wood)
Cooper, Ethel Patton, and several others here in Casey County.
Thomas and Jane Beaty, their daughter Elizabeth, her husband James King, and some other
relatives, are buried in the old grown up Joel Beaty Cemetery, at Riverton, in Fentress
County. Nancy Agnes, her husband Robert King, Matilda, her husband Sampson Stephens, Hiram
Cyrus Beaty, his wife Catherine, Nancy's sons Peter Priam King and Henry Robert King,
their wives, and some other relatives are buried in King Cemetery in Fentress County. Some
of Thomas and Jane's descendants are buried in Ann Wood Cemetery and in Cooper Cemetery in
Fentress County. Some others are buried in Overton County, Tennessee. And their daughter
Nancy's daughter Elizabeth Ann (King) Wright and husband John Taylor Wright (my
grandparents) and several of their descendants are buried in Whited Cemetery, here in
Casey County, Ky, Some of William and Martha Beaty's descendants are buried in Salem
Cemetery, in Casey County, Ky., and some in Hyder Cemetery, in Adair County, Ky. William
and Martha Beaty, themselves, are buried just over the county line from there, in Casey
County, Ky.
by Roscoe Hollis Wright
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