b. 16 February 1846, d. 21 April 1881
Birth | 16 Feb 1846 | William Fountain Beattie was born on 16 Feb 1846 in Virginia.5,6 |
Childhood | | William's childhood was spent on his family's beautiful estate in Washington County. In 1860 William's father owned land valued at $20,000 and personal property worth $24,000. This figure reflected the 16 slaves who lived and worked on the plantation.7,8 |
Education | between 1864 and 1865 | William entered the Virginia Military Institute in March 1864, fighting in the Cadet Corp at the Battle of New Market on May 15, 1864. In Jan. 1865 he resigned to join the First Virginia Cavalry.1 |
Education | Aug 1865 | Following the war William enrolled at Emory and Henry College from which he graduated in June 1869. |
Migration | | He moved to Crittenden Co. Arkansas, purchased land and became a cotton planter. In early 1878 the Governor of Arkansas appointed him to fill a vacancy in the county sheriff's office. Later that same year he was elected to the same position.1 |
Death | 21 Apr 1881 | William was shot and died instantly on 21 Apr 1881 while attempting to arrest an escapee near Marion in Crittenden County. The man had been previously arrested for committing a burglery but had escaped while being conveyed to jail.5,9 |
| | Public sentiment ran strongly against the accused murderer (who was apprehended) but William's brother George addressed the crowd and asked that the law be obeyed and that the man receive a fair trial.10 |
| | The man was tried, convicted and hung before a crowd of 2,000 people in early June.11 |
Burial | | William was buried at Old Glade Spring Cemetery in Washington County, Virginia.5 |
Probate Recd | | At the April 1881 term of the Crittendon County court, a special administrator, J.F. Earle, was appointed to oversee the probate of William's estate. Mr. Earle was required to post $20,000 bond.12 |
Probate Recd | Apr 1882 | A year later Mr. Earle appeared in court with a list of the notes, accounts and orders found among William's papers as sheriff and Collector of Crittendon County.13 |
Probate Recd | Jan 1885 | However in January 1885 a report was filed in the county court which reflected the results of an 1882 audit of the settlement accounts of the Crittendon Co. officers. The report stated that William served as tax collector for the year 1879 and that certain funds collected by him remained unaccounted for at his death. This included $18.40 of the Hanover [?] judgment, $12.26 due the US government, $250.80 in undistributed school funds and $10.30 in other school funds. A similiar report for tax year 1880 reflected $610.85 in unaccounted for revenues. For reasons not stated, William's administrator (by then A.H. Ferguson) refused to pay the money from the proceeds of William's estate, prompting the county to bring suit against the estate and against those men who had provided surety on William's original bond as county tax collector. The results of the suit, or whether William's estate was actually charged for the amounts, was not clear to me from the available records.14 |