March 25, 2025
Introduction: James Pylant describes how, while researching a previous story, he was surprised to find that one of his relatives was the accused killer’s wife! James is an editor at GenealogyMagazine.com and author for JacobusBooks.com, is an award-winning historical true-crime writer, and authorized celebrity biographer.
In my earlier story “Tainted Tonic,” I wrote about merchant Lester Groover’s indictment for the 1906 murder of Lizzie Hooks, who swallowed a fatal dose from a poisoned medicine bottle. The accused man was found not guilty.
Lester Groover lived in Chattooga County, in northwestern Georgia, where he had married Emily Hammond in 1901. My great-grandmother’s maiden name was the similarly spelled Hammons, and her roots were also in the Peach State – but in the north-central county of Hall. Hammond is a relatively common last name; it ranked 481 among the top 1,000 surnames in the 2010 federal census.
Still, I found an unexpected twist while researching this story: my great-grandmother and Lester Groover’s wife were not-so distantly related – second cousins once removed, to be exact.
Emily Hammond was born on 7 October 1883 to Valentine and Josephine (Mills) Hammond. The “much admired and loved” Emily Hammond and the “prosperous merchant” Lester Groover’s 1901 newspaper wedding announcement called Valentine Hammond “one of the best farmers of this section.” (1)
Emily’s father was drawn into her husband’s saga when detectives testified that they witnessed Valentine mailing a package just days before Lizzie Hooks received a similar package containing the fatal tonic. The following newspaper article reports:
G. L. Groover of Chelsea, Ga., and [Valentine] Hammond, father-in-law of Groover, have been indicted on the charge of poisoning to death Mrs. R. E. Hooks of the same place.
(Note: this article misreported Emily’s father’s name as “J. H.” instead of Valentine.)
Valentine’s indictment did not result in a conviction, with newspapers making no more mention of it. He lived another 28 years, dying on 22 March 1935 in Chattooga County.
Born on Valentine’s Day in 1862, Valentine was the son of Joseph and Nancy Caroline (Hendrix) Hammond, who were married in 1848 in Hall County. (2) Family tradition says that Joseph was killed in 1864 after deserting the Confederate States Army by Gatewood’s Raiders, a marauding gang who claimed he was hanged for horse theft.
Calamity struck the Hammond family more than once.
In 1910, Valentine’s first cousin, Georgia (Hammond) Beard, was listed in the federal census in Turkeytown, Alabama, as a 46-year-old widow supporting five children between ages 6 and 17 by farming. However, the husband of the “widowed” Mrs. Beard was very much alive – behind bars in another state. Her husband’s imprisonment was a highly publicized story.
Georgia was born in December 1862 in Hall County, Georgia, to William O. “Bill” Hammond (3) and Adaline Kemp. At 17, she married 18-year-old Jonathan M. Beard in Hall County on 8 January 1880. There, Jonathan farmed and later worked as a machine operator. The couple’s 20th wedding anniversary came in 1900, and their eighth child was born in December 1903. But something went awry after their last child’s birth.
The next day, another Georgia newspaper elaborated, stating that Beard committed the crime “because his wife had left him and her father would not consent for the baby child to be returned to Beard.” The same article gave an account of the shooting.
William Hammond died of his wounds received in the shooting.
Officials began to doubt the sanity of the accused killer, Jonathan Beard.
Georgia law mandates:
“When insanity plea is filed, court must cause issue on that plea to be tried by special jury. If found true, court shall order defendant to insane asylum to remain until discharged by law.”
Jonathan Beard’s insanity trial began in Gainesville, Georgia, on 25 January 1905. Defense attorney W. B. Sloan found witnesses who would testify to Beard’s mental state, as this next article reports:
“Beard has had an unbalanced mind since childhood, and that it runs in the family; that he had spells of dementia at times, when he would not be accountable for his actions.”
Jonathan Beard claimed to have regained his sanity after two years and six months of confinement at the Georgia State Sanitarium in Milledgeville. That’s when he learned that he had killed his father-in-law, saying his mind was in “utter darkness” and he had no memory of the tragedy. Recovering from insanity caused his return to Hall County to face the murder charge.
At his murder trial, Jonathan explained that his father-in-law, Bill Hammond, had kidnapped one of the Beard children and twice caused Jonathan to separate from his wife. He also made the startling claim that Bill had attempted a murder-for-hire scheme to kill him – and that the would-be assassin was Jonathan’s 20-year-old son, Oliver Beard! Jonathan said Oliver, whom he called “weak-minded,” told him about the plot. (4)
This newspaper account tells the results of the January 1908 murder trial.
Jonathan was incarcerated on 12 February 1908. According to Beard’s prison record, he died on 23 October 1913. (5) A brief newspaper death notice provided the final chapter in Jonathan Beard’s story. It stated that he “died at a private sanitarium,” marking the end of a life marred by tragedy.
Georgia (Hammond) Beard returned to her native state, where she died on 3 May 1922 at age 59 from Bright’s disease and heart trouble.
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Note on the header image: Sherlock Holmes investigates a mystery.
Illustration credit: https://depositphotos.com/home.html
Related Article:
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(1) “Groover-Hammond,” Summerville News (Summerville, Georgia), 27 February 1901, p. 3.
(2) Joseph Hammond/Nancy Caroline Hendrix license (1848), “Georgia, U.S., Marriage Records from Select Counties, 1828—1978,” online database with images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed 12 December 2024).
(3) William O.’s father was W. C. Hammond, as stated in Deeds, Vol. 5, p. 100, Hall County, Ga. Listed next to the W. C. Hammon household, 1850 U.S. census, Hall County, p. 385-B (stamped), dwelling 62, family 62, NARA microfilm M432-72, was his probable son, Joseph Hammon, 21.
(4) “Johnts Beard Brought Back,” Gainesville News (Gainesville, Ga.), 23 October 1907, p. 1.
(5) J. M. Beard entry, “Georgia, U.S., Central Register of Convicts, 1817-1976,” online database with images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com: accessed 16 December 2024).
