New-York tribune., 1921-04-03
Dean Is Slain
By Professor,
Who Kills Self
the end Of the year. This It was bit.
terly resented by Bectwith
Tells Of Student Troubles


In his letter Of protest to Dr.. Whar-
ton he went in detail into mis- relation
with the students, denied he was un-
fai-, and pointed sout that other IN
structors had had similar trouble with
their classes. He declared that such
treatment as he was being accorded
at the hands of the students and
faculty was not new to him. but main
tanned that my rights are independent
Of the misconduct of others"
II have right to earn my living.
to serve and be served" he wrote.
"The world owes me n living provided
| can earn it. The right is independent
Of whether I am given the right to
earn it or not. | am entitled to that
ability"
Beckwith complains bitterly about
the dean and students. and tells of his
intention to kill himself
IL shall cease to exist" the conclud-
ing paragraph says. "My conscious
ness, function or product in some
sense Of my whole organic life, will
cease and will remain a memory only.
trust I have bettered the world
rather than the reverse. 'Om name
padne om' (the dewdrop slips into
the shining sea-.
In the pocket of his coat was found
letter to his uncle, George Holmes,
Of Montclair, N. j., asking him not to
tell his aunt, who is ILL., Another let
ter was to Professor j. o. Simmons.
OF ths university, giving directions for
the disposal Of his body. He asked
that his body be cremated
My estate is small" he said. "Also
my accounts. 1t goes entirely to my
aunt, Mary j. Holmes, who needs it,"
In this same letter he expressed re-
gret for the trouble he was causing
Mrs. Z. H. Merrell, Of 1908 East Adams
Street.
third letter was addressed to Miss
Mary Beckwith, of so Market Street,
Poughkeepsie, N. Y, and was only to
cay good-byes and to express his love
for Aunt Hattie, Mary snd Martha"
Chancellor James r. Day, of the uni
versity, believes Beckwith was insane.
professor Beckwith went into the
deans Office intending to make away
with himself and the dean" the chan
cellor said, in a statement. "He fred
five shots at the dean, four entering the
body, and one went through the win
dow He reloaded the revolver and
fired two shots into his own head
do not see how any man could have had
grievance against the uean, a gentle
man.
"Dr. Beckwith was a Socialist and the
injustice Of the world was his cause.
He said he tried and tried, but he could
not get >ong"
Had Written Life History
Mrs. Merrill, his landlady, says that
for several nights Beckwith has worked
late on mysterious document. which
he locked in his desk. This is his life's
history, the story of his prosecutions
and grievances, starting from his birth
in the Hawaiian Islands and coming
down to the day before the crime
When a boy he lived at Montclair,
N. j., but went to Los Angeles. He
was graduated from high school there
and later from the University of Cali
fornia. For time he intended t. be-
come a clergyman and studied in the
Pacific Theological Seminary at Berke-
ley. but changed his mind.
He married Miss Helen Francis Rob
inson, ofaBerkeley. Together they went
to Germany to study, and on his re
turn he entered Columbia and in 1911
received his doctors degree from that
institution. He Joined the faculty at
Dartmouth, but had a dispute with
other faculty members and was dis
missed.
He went to the officers training camp
at Plattsburg when the war broke out
and was commissioned first lieuten-
ant of artillery. After that he became
head of the College of Business Ad-
ministration at Iowa College, Grin
nell, Iowa. Here he had another dis
pute with the faculty and was dis
missed by President J. H. 7. Main of
that institution.
About this time, too, he relates. "an
affair developed between my wife and
Karl Robinson. She later ceased to
love me and the upshot, prolonged over
a long. period of years, is that my for
mer wife is now Mrs. Karl Davis Robin
son, of New York City"
This disheartened HIM and he con-
templated suicide, he writes. He Sc
cured a position on the faculty of the
University of Colorado, only to have
another dispute with his superiors and
to be dismissed again. He blamed this
trouble on a bank president. on the
board of directors, and again contem-
plated murder and suicide. "He should
have been killed." he wrote about the
banker. "This probably would have