Oliver Perry Beatty

1868 – 1941

 

As some of you know, Oliver Beatty was my dear old grandpa. Fred Dillard’s father was a brother to my grandma Beatty and Fred said that they visited each other quite often. When Fred first came to French Lick to teach school his family lived with grandpa and grandma Beatty. In fact, this is where the twins were born. They had a rather large house on Monon Street and Grandma hung a sheet over a door to separate the two families. The bathroom was on grandma’s side of the house so the Dillard’s had to go through her part of the house to reach it.

 

Not too many years before he died I went to visit Fred at his house in Queen City. He told me that my grandpa was the kindest, most gentile man that he had ever known. He said that he never knew him to raise his voice to his children or anyone else. He also said that my dad was a carbon copy of grandpa.

 

Oliver was born  12^th January, 1868 on his father’s

farm very near Cuzco in Dubois County. He died

14^th February, 1941. He was buried at the Cuzco cemetery just across the street from the Methodist church which is no longer standing.  I was one of
the pallbearers as was my brother Don and cousin
Bobby Beatty and the two Abel boys, Gene and
Louis. I forget the other one but he may have been
Oscar Judy.

 

He was a son of George and Elizabeth (Cox) Beatty.  His father died before he was two years old and his brother George was born about three months after the death of his father. The records say that he died from the effects of Typhoid fever, as did his mother and a brother, all within a space of three months.  They were all buried at Cane Creek.

George Beatty had built a house shortly after his
return from army service and the last time I was
by there it was still standing. In the 1870 census
returns Elizabeth and her two boys were living
with her father-in-law, James Beatty.

 

Elizabeth was engaged to be married to Tom Clements and the date was set and the license was obtained. On the appointed day however she was a “no show!” She later married his brother, James Clements and years later she told some family members that she married the wrong one!

Grandpa Beatty had a nice farm of 160 acres that he had inherited from his father. It was mostly tillable and had two houses on it. The last time I was down that way they were both still standing. My dad said that when grandma Beatty would get tired of living in one house she would gather all the kids and they would pick up and move into the other one. .Grandpa would come in from the field only to find an empty house but he knew where to go.  Grandpa had a set of mules that were said to be the finest in the area.

 

Grandpa had a good life in Cuzco. He had a good farm and he was doing just what he wanted to be doing and was making a good living. Most of this land is now owned by Purdue University Experimental Farms. Even though she was raised on a farm grandma grew tired of the farm life and badgered grandpa so much that he finally gave in and sold out and moved into town. They first bought a house about four miles out of French Lick on Highway 145. They didn’t stay there very long because grandma found that this wasn’t much better than Cuzco. They then bought a house on Washington Street. I can just barely remember when they lived there.

Grandpa had an exceptional way with horses and he obtained a position with the Claxton Ice and Coal Company right away as a teamster. In the middle twenties Ed Claxton disposed of his wagons and went with the motor trucks which put grandpa out of work because he never learned how to drive an automobile. Claxton would still use him now and then to load or unload coal.

Grandpa would work at any type of common labor job he could find. He even caddied some at the hotel. When I started to caddy in 1933 he gave me his caddy badge. They were not easy to come by as only 300 were issued. My number was 268. When Roosevelt unveiled his WPA program grandpa was able to participate as a laborer. It was a life saver for him. He worked steady for the WPA until his death.

 

One summer day Aunt Pearl and some of her girls came over from Jasper to spend the day and have Sunday dinner. On Sunday mornings some of the locals would congregate at the Taggart Field looking for a pick-up ball game. On this particular Sunday grandpa took me and we went over to watch. They needed one more player to even things up and they prevailed upon grandpa to play. It was quite a thrill for me just to watch the old man play and when he came up to bat he hit a hard grounder right through shortstop who missed the ball as did the fielder and after running it down he threw a wild one over the head of the third baseman which enabled grandpa to come home and score what I considered a home¬ run. I ran all the way home to tell them that grandpa hit a home run!!

 

Grandpa and grandma had a total of ten children seven of whom lived to maturity. John, Lila and Howard were all buried at Cuzco. The cemetery at Cuzco is still in use and very well kept.

In all his life grandpa never knew anything but hard work. I doubt that he ever ate in a fine restaurant or attended a movie. I don’t believe he ever got any farther from home than Madison, IN. I never saw my grandpa in church except for an occasional funeral.
 

 

 

 

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