Advertisement

Charles Wickliffe Beckham

Advertisement

Charles Wickliffe Beckham

Birth
Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky, USA
Death
1888 (aged 31–32)
Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky, USA
Burial
Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky, USA Add to Map
Memorial ID
View Source
Suggest Edits
Marker transcription: "The first Kentuckian to achieve a national reputation as an ornithologist. He was born to William Netherton Beckham and Julia Wickliffe Beckham at the Wickland estate at Bardstown. He was the grandson of Gov. Charles Anderson Wickliffe and Margaret Creff Wickliffe. Beckham studied science and mathematics at the University of Virginia and at Harvard; he began the serious study of birds around age 20. He traveled widely in the South, Southwest and the Rocky Mountain area studying birds and collecting bird skins. [Continued on back of marker:] In 1884, he was hired as a full-time assistant in the bird department of the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. In 1885, he published 'Birds of Nelson County Kentucky', the first book on birdlife in the state. His papers on birdlife were published in the journals of the American Ornithologists Union and the Smithsonian. Stricken with tuberculosis, he died at Wickland shortly before his 32nd birthday and is buried in the Wickliffe-Beckham family plot. The Beckham Bird Club established in Louisville in 1935 is named for him."
Marker transcription: "The first Kentuckian to achieve a national reputation as an ornithologist. He was born to William Netherton Beckham and Julia Wickliffe Beckham at the Wickland estate at Bardstown. He was the grandson of Gov. Charles Anderson Wickliffe and Margaret Creff Wickliffe. Beckham studied science and mathematics at the University of Virginia and at Harvard; he began the serious study of birds around age 20. He traveled widely in the South, Southwest and the Rocky Mountain area studying birds and collecting bird skins. [Continued on back of marker:] In 1884, he was hired as a full-time assistant in the bird department of the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. In 1885, he published 'Birds of Nelson County Kentucky', the first book on birdlife in the state. His papers on birdlife were published in the journals of the American Ornithologists Union and the Smithsonian. Stricken with tuberculosis, he died at Wickland shortly before his 32nd birthday and is buried in the Wickliffe-Beckham family plot. The Beckham Bird Club established in Louisville in 1935 is named for him."

Family Members

Parents
Siblings

Advertisement

See more Beckham memorials in:

Flower Delivery Sponsor and Remove Ads

Explore more

Advertisement