Noah Beauchamp

Case details

Noah Beauchamp (February 24, 1785 - December 30, 1842) was a blacksmith and an Indiana pioneer. He was the first person to be legally hanged in Parke County, Indiana after murdering his neighbor George Mickelberry over a dispute.

Background

Noah Beauchamp was born February 24, 1785 in Maryland to Thomas and Sarah Adams Beauchamp. As an adult, he was over six feet tall, burly, and had a ruddy complexion. He was said to have been quick to anger. It was also said that when he was a young man he had a disagreement with his father over the morality of slavery. He was described as very religious, a devote Baptist, and vehemently against slavery. His father owned slaves, possibly disowned Noah, and Noah soon left for Kentucky and then Ohio, where he may have met Elizabeth Adams, who became his wife.

Noah Beauchamp’s first child, Noah Beauchamp, Jr., was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 29, 1804. By 1811, Noah moved with his family to Connersville Township in Fayette County in the Indiana Territory, where he set up a blacksmith shop. On December 14, 1812, Noah purchased a tract of land in Fayette County and lived there until the 1820s, when he moved his family to Edgar County, Illinois. They resided in Illinois until the mid 1830s when he relocated again to Indiana, to Vigo County.

The offence

Noah’s neighboring families in Sugar Creek Township, which abutted his farm, included the Mickelberry family. George Mickelberry and Noah got into a heated dispute over their property boundaries.

The tension between the two families did not prevent Mrs. Mickelberry from hiring Noah’s daughters to knit. After one of these knitting jobs in the July of 1840, a larger dispute took place between the Mickelberry and Beauchamp women. The Mickelberry daughters were spreading the word around town that Noah’s children stole some left over wool from the job. Noah got wind of the accusations and quickly became very angry over the slanderous statements made about his daughters.

Noah decided to confront George Mickelberry and ask him to prevent his family from making further comments about his daughters. Noah began walking over to George Mickelberry’s house and stopped in a clearing where meat had been prepared and where a large butcher’s knife was left on a stump. He stopped to pray for guidance and then decided to take the knife with him in case Mickelberry’s farm hands were around and gave him any trouble.

Only George answered the door when Noah knocked. In the doorway, Noah, in anger, berated him over his daughters’ behavior. One of the daughters was in the living room and began talking back to Noah. Becoming enraged, Noah threatened the daughter saying, “If you was a man I'd cut you into laces,” as he brandished the knife. George put his hand on Noah’s shoulder to quiet down the situation and, upon reflex, Noah plunged the knife into George’s chest. Noah’s breast bone cracked at the force of the blade, and George died almost instantly.

After killing George Mickelberry, Noah ran from the house in a panic and made for the Wabash River. He stole a row boat and used the river as a means of escape.

Investigation

After word got out that Noah had killed George Mickelberry, a large manhunt proceeded to search all over Vigo County and the whole area, but Noah was nowhere to be found.

George Mickelberry’s family grieved for their loss, and George was buried.

Arrest and attempted escape

Noah managed to flee to the vast state of Texas, where he borrowed money to open up a blacksmith shop. He owed large debts. The son of one of the men who loaned him money happened to see the wanted poster in the local hotel that was brought down to Texas by a traveller in April 1841. Since Noah had not used an assumed name, it was not long before the lenders son and another man went looking to collect the $500.00 reward on the fugitive.

Noah was quickly apprehended, and the two men set out for a river to ship Noah back up to Indiana in custody. Before they even made it to the river, Noah broke free and overpowered one of the men. Noah made a run for it but was soon recaptured.

Noah was locked in one of the cabins on the boat as it made its way up river. Unknown to his captors, Noah used the sheets of the bed to fashion a noose and tried to kill himself in the cabin. Just in the nick of time someone checked up on Noah and he was prevented from killing himself.

Trial

Back in Vigo County, Noah’s trial began in earnest. His lawyer got a change of venue from Vigo County to Parke County because the case was so well known. After a lengthy trial, Noah was sentenced to death on September 8, 1842.

The gallows were constructed in Rockville, Indiana.

Sentencing and execution

On the morning of December 30, 1842, Noah’s old friend and minister Reverend Newport delivered a sermon right outside Noah’s jail cell window so he could hear it.

Noah had his last meal and said his goodbyes to his family and friends. He was taken out to the gallows, where a large contingent from Vigo County waited. When he was asked if he had any last words, Noah said, “Goodbye,” and he was hanged.

Outcome

Noah Beauchamp was executed by hanging on December 30, 1842.

Other details

It was noted that a similar event had happened before, in the 1820s, involving a Beauchamp who, to defend the honor of a woman, killed a man in the man’s own doorway with a knife. Like Noah, that Beauchamp fled, a large manhunt took place, he was captured, tried to kill himself and was saved at the last minute, and was tried and hanged. That case was of Jereboam O. Beauchamp, who killed Col. Solomon P. Sharp on November 7, 1825. The case became famous and was known as The Beauchamp-Sharp Tragedy and inspired many literary works. Jereboam was Noah’s cousin. Noah Beauchamp was a direct descendant of the Quaker Ambrose Dixon, and Dixon was Beauchamps great-great-great grandfather.