Virgil Beeson in the 1920s

My grandfather, Virgil Augustus Beeson, was married to Charlotte Howe Lewis. Toward the end of World War I, he was sent as an officer to Europe where he managed a supply company during and after the war. When he returned to Arkansas in 1919, he found that his wife had gone to California, presumably with another man. He was appointed the leader of the Arkansas National Guard. Eventually, he filed for divorce. Meanwhile he became embroiled in a power struggle for leadership of the Guard. Charlotte came back, the divorce was pretty scandalous and was reported in the newspapers. she was granted a divorce decree. About the same time, the governor sided with the other guy about leadership of the National Guard. Somewhere in this, he met my grandmother and they married and left Arkansas, perhaps "in disgrace". What exactly they did over the next few years was not documented well, but I've worked out some things. Perhaps they were in New York to see Jack Dempsey's last successful title defense in September 1923 at the polo grounds. My mother was born in November of 1924 in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1925, Virgil was issued a real estate license in south Florida. There was a real estate boom at the time, so perhaps he was drawn down there to cash in. Beverly was born in North Carolina on September 14, 1926. The timing is interesting. I don't know why they were there at the time. A great hurricane hit south Florida in September 1926, but it hit slightly after Beverly was born. There weren't satellites and such in that time, so there wasn't much warning of the hurricane's approach -- thus it seems they must have left before knowing of the hurricane. Some pictures have come down to me and I have been able to identify a number of them from this period. There are some from the town of Hollywood, Florida which have been confirmed by the town Historical Society.

Hollywood Theater

Hollywood Station

Jack Kagey mansion

Hollywood Boardwalk

There are a couple from Blowing Rock in North Carolina. The description of the town says many people from Florida go there in the summer to escape the heat and humidty, so perhaps that's why the family was there, since Aline was pregnant.

Two weeks after Beverly was born, Virgil left North Carolina driving the car. Aline and the girls followed on the train. They sent telegrams to each other during the trip.

In 1928, the family was in San Francisco. Grandmother Aline started a typing service and a few years later she sold her interest to her partner and the family moved to Los Angeles for good.