Warren Wallace Beckwith Sr. (August 10, 1874 – September 24, 1955) was an American sportsman who served as a minor league baseball player during the late 1800s. His first wife was

Jessie Harlan Lincoln Jessie Harlan Lincoln (November 6, 1875 – January 4, 1948) was the second daughter of Robert Todd Lincoln, the granddaughter of Abraham Lincoln, and the mother of Mary Lincoln Beckwith and Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith. Early life Jessi ...

, a member of the

Lincoln family The Lincoln family is an American family of English origins. It includes the fourth United States Attorney General, Levi Lincoln, Sr., senators Levi Lincoln, Jr. and Enoch Lincoln, and Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States ...

and granddaughter of President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

. The couple's children were the last undisputed Lincoln descendants, Mary Lincoln Beckwith and

Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith (July 19, 1904 – December 24, 1985) was an American gentleman farmer known as a great-grandson of Abraham Lincoln. In 1975, he became the last undisputed descendant of Lincoln when his sister, Mary Lincoln Bec ...

Early life

Beckwith was born in

Mount Pleasant, Iowa Mount Pleasant is a city in and the county seat of Henry County, Iowa. The population was 9,274 in the 2020 census, an increase from 8,668 in the 2010 census. It was founded in 1835 by pioneer Presley Saunders. History The first permanent s ...

, on August 10, 1874 to Captain Warren Beckwith and Luzenia Porter. Captain Beckwith worked as general roadmaster of the

Burlington railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

. After Luzenia Porter died, he married her sister Sarah Porter. Warren was the youngest of Captain Beckwith's five children. Being a "wealthy railroad executive", his father left him an inheritance when dying. The Beckwiths were considered a "distinguished family." Beckwith attended Episcopal school Kemper Hall in Davenport, Iowa. After Kemper Hall, he attended

Iowa Wesleyan University Iowa Wesleyan University is a private university in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. It is Iowa's first co-educational institution of higher learning and the oldest of its type west of the Mississippi River. The institution is affiliated with the United Met ...

, where he was a quarterback on the football team.

Marriage with Jessie Harlan Lincoln

Beckwith met Jessie Harlan Lincoln in Mount Pleasant, Beckwith being a friend of the

. Knowing that her family did not approve of the match, the two eloped and married on November 10, 1897. At the time, Beckwith was playing college football, and it was considered unseemly to marry a footballer. Jessie had told her mother that she was going shopping with friends, and instead rendezvoused with Beckwith to travel to Milwaukee and get married. The marriage was performed by Pastor Orlando P. Christian. The two required witnesses were Mrs. Christian, the pastor's wife, and the Pastor's neighbor, Mrs. Henry J. Baumgaertner. It was the first time that Christian had performed an elopement ceremony, though he was not aware that it was an elopement until after the ceremony had been performed. The marriage made ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', with a headline that read " R.T. LINCOLN'S DAUGHTER WEDS; Marries an Iowa Man to Whom Her Parents Objected". After getting married, the two relocated to Chicago and Beckwith secured a job at the Chicago Light Gas & Coke Company.Lachman, p.332. Two children resulted from the marriage in the following years. On August 22, 1898, she gave birth to her first child, Mary Lincoln Beckwith, in Iowa. On July 19, 1904, Jessie had

, named after her father. Beckwith and wife Jessie separated at least two times because of marital issues. In January 1905, Jessie took their two children to visit family without Beckwith. After months of arguments over the telephone, Jessie moved from their Riverside home. She moved her belongings in the Harlan home on Mount Pleasant and then moved in with her parents on

Lake Shore Drive Lake Shore Drive (officially Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable Lake Shore Drive, and called DuSable Lake Shore Drive, The Outer Drive, The Drive, or LSD) is a multilevel expressway that runs alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan, and adjacent to ...

in Chicago, taking her children with her. When Jessie took the children to Europe, Beckwith filed divorce papers on January 31, 1907. He claimed desertion, and the divorce was granted. Jessie was granted custody of their children, and Beckwith never saw his children again.

Sports

Football

After Beckwith's marriage to Jessie, ''The New York Times'' covered his very next game at Iowa Wesleyan University, that being the

Iowa Wesleyan Tigers Iowa Wesleyan University is a private university in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. It is Iowa's first co-educational institution of higher learning and the oldest of its type west of the Mississippi River. The institution is affiliated with the United Met ...

versus the Keokuk College of Physicians and Surgeons (a now defunct college). The Tigers won the game 48–0.

Baseball

Beckwith played for a number of minor league baseball teams: In 1905, Beckwith managed the Oshkosh Indians of the

Wisconsin State League The Wisconsin State League was a class D baseball league that began in 1905, changing its name to the Wisconsin–Illinois League in 1908 and operating through 1914. The league re–organized under that name in 1926. Another Wisconsin State League ...

from

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had a population of 66,816 in 2020, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh. History Oshkosh was ...

for one season. They were a D-level team. When Jessie was four months pregnant, Beckwith tried out for and was signed to the pro baseball team in Ottumwa, Iowa, in March 1898. Sarah, Beckwith's stepmother (and aunt), went to the team manager and convinced him to release Beckwith out of his contract so he could find more suitable employment.Lachman, p.333. During his baseball tenure, Beckwith was known as "the dude" and "the lady killer".

Later life

After divorcing Jessie, Beckwith married Blanche Cutter. After the marriage with Cutter ended, Beckwith then went on to marry Vera Ward. Ward was an

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

actress, and the two married in 1924. Together they had son Warren Wallace Beckwith, Jr., who became an oceanographer and worked at the

Scripps Institution of Oceanography The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sometimes referred to as SIO, Scripps Oceanography, or Scripps) in San Diego, California, US founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for oceanography, ocean and Earth science research ...

. Warren Wallace Beckwith, Jr. married Barbara Olson, whom he survived when she died on March 1, 2014. She was the daughter of Hazel Updike Reasoner and Robert Reasoner of

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

, Nebraska. Beckwith moved to

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

in 1938, where he spent his time hunting and golfing. He died there on September 24, 1955.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckwith, Warren Wallace 1955 deaths 1874 births People from Mount Pleasant, Iowa Paris Midlands players Sacramento Gilt Edges players Dallas Steers players Iowa Wesleyan University alumni Iowa Wesleyan Tigers football players Aurora (minor league baseball) players Denison-Sherman Twins players Waco Tigers players Lincoln family Baseball players from Iowa Players of American football from Iowa