Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Beauchamp–Sharp Tragedy


 * The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by SandyGeorgia 02:32, 31 January 2009.

Beauchamp–Sharp Tragedy

 * Nominator(s): User:Acdixon
 * previous FAC withdrawn

I had to withdraw my previous nomination because I already had a nomination of another article underway. I hope to see this article promoted so it can be the main article of a featured topic with FA Solomon P. Sharp and GA Jereboam O. Beauchamp. I welcome your comments and hope to respond to them promptly. Acdixon (talk • contribs • count) 15:57, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

Nominator's note: Due to a catastrophic ice storm, my access to the internet will be limited and unpredictable for the foreseeable future. I appreciate your patience as I try to respond to your comments as I am able. Thanks. Acdixon (talk • contribs • count) 23:20, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

Comments - sources look okay, links checked out with the link checker tool. Ealdgyth - Talk 16:49, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

Support I'm not going to go through the sources and check validity here, but I would like to support this as an example of Wikipedia's best writing. It's very well written and very interesting. There was only one tiny thing I spotted that I didn't like: I think it is silly to wikilink the word "disinformation" in the Background section. Looie496 (talk) 19:17, 24 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the support. Overlinking is something that shows up in my reviews often. Still, I'm not sure how widely understood this term is, so I'd like to wait for another opinion before de-linking it. Acdixon (talk • contribs • count) 19:26, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

Image review Please note that WP:IUP states that a good source for images will "provide all information about the book (Author, Title, ISBN number, page number(s), date of copyright, publisher information) and not just title and author." I just copied this from the previous FAC. Awadewit (talk) 21:46, 24 January 2009 (UTC)
 * File:Beauchamp kills Sharp.jpg - It would be best to have the complete publication and author information for this image.
 * File:Anna Cooke.jpg - It would be best to have the complete publication information for this image.
 * File:Solomon P Sharp.jpg - It would be best to have the complete publication information for this image.
 * File:Jereboam O Beauchamp.jpg - It would be best to have the complete publication information for this image.
 * File:Beauchamp hangs.jpg - It would be best to have the complete publication information for this image.
 * I've just added all the info I have. There is no author given for The life of Jeroboam O. Beauchamp : who was hung at Frankfort, Kentucky, for the murder of Col. Solomon P. Sharp, and although The United States Criminal Calendar is by St. Clair, I don't know if he did the etching of Beauchamp killing Sharp. All were published in the U.S. well before 1923, and are out of copyright. Acdixon (talk • contribs • count) 22:26, 24 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Do you not have the author, publisher, publication location, etc. for the source for the Solomon Sharp image? Awadewit (talk) 03:09, 26 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I knew I missed one! No, I do not have any of this information for that image. I scanned it either from Bruce's book or Cooke's article in the Register. (I forget which; it appears in both). Bruce only credits it as "Courtesy of the Kentucky Historical Society". As it is a photograph (or something like one), it had to have been created before 1826, and thus the author would have been dead for well over 100 years. It is also likely that it was first published before 1923. Either way, it should be in the public domain. Acdixon (talk • contribs • count) 04:21, 26 January 2009 (UTC)
 * As the source is the Bruce book, we need to add the publication information for that book. I have now done so. I have also changed the wording and the license on the image - we don't know for sure that it was published before 1923. The evidence is a little thin for PD (all of those probably's!, but I suppose it will do. All image issues have now been resolved. Awadewit (talk) 05:20, 26 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Strong support - Great article. Just have one question for you, are there any online sites that other people can look at? Also, I would suggest altering the image in "Trial" down because under the header, I think is a violation of MOS. Good job though. Mitch 32 ( Go Syracuse ) 00:19, 25 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Glad you enjoyed the article. I definitely enjoyed researching it, as it is an interesting event in the history of my state. Thanks for your support. As far as online resources beyond what you'll find at the end of the article, here's one that didn't quite pass muster as a reliable source but is a good read nonetheless. Also, there's a preview of Dickson Bruce's book on Google Books. Other than that, a Google search for Jereboam Beauchamp or Solomon Sharp would likely turn up some things.
 * If you're really interested, though, I have to recommend the two part article on Solomon Sharp in the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, and they are unfortunately not available online anywhere that I know of. Also, be advised that the anonymous The Life of Jereboam O. Beauchamp is identical to what is published in St. Clair's The United States Criminal Calendar (available online from Lehigh University). The only thing you won't find in St. Clair's version are the illustrations. Hope that helps. Acdixon (talk • contribs • count) 00:59, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

Support Comments  All comments addressed or satisfactorily responded to. Definitely worth FA status, but first, some comments:
 * "allegedly fathered an illegitimate child with a woman named Anna Cooke" Perhaps it's just my view, but what other sex could he have fathered a child with?
 * It's not so much to emphasize the sex as it is a cue to the reader that, "No, you have not missed the introduction of this character, Anna Cooke, before. She's just some random woman who has heretofore gone unmentioned." Does that make sense? If you have a suggestion that sounds less awkward, I'm open to it.
 * No problem; I had an idea that you were going to respond along that line of thinking, but I just wanted to make sure. Dabomb87 (talk) 21:57, 25 January 2009 (UTC)


 * "Sharp denied paternity of the child, which was stillborn." Why not "Sharp denied paternity of the stillborn child."
 * Again, the idea was that the fact that the child was stillborn hadn't been mentioned yet. I didn't want it to jar the reader. Nevertheless, I've adopted your wording here.


 * WP:CAPTION says that image captions that are complete sentences should have periods at the end. Example: "Anna Cooke alleged that Solomon Sharp was the father of her illegitimate child"
 * Corrected. Thanks.
 * I fixed one more. Dabomb87 (talk) 21:57, 25 January 2009 (UTC)


 * "allegedly destined for Bowling Green." "allegedly" has a negative connotation. Is this what you are trying to convey here? Maybe "apparently".
 * It was alleged that he was headed for Bowling Green, but apparently, he was not, since when Beauchamp arrived, Sharp was not there and not expected.
 * OK, so it was said that he was headed for Bowling Green. The wording is fine then, I must have missed something in the text. Dabomb87 (talk)


 * "she sent a letter to him denouncing Beauchamp's actions"-->she sent a letter to him that denounced Beauchamp's actions
 * Done.


 * "between debtors seeking relief"-->between debtors who sought relief
 * Done.


 * perjury is overlinked; I don't think it is necessary to link poem.
 * Fixed.


 * "leaving him imprisoned and deprived " Not sure of the purpose of the italics here. Dabomb87 (talk) 17:10, 25 January 2009 (UTC)
 * He was already imprisoned; the italics were to emphasize a further consequence if the New Court turned on him. I've removed them, as they aren't really necessary.
 * Thanks for your helpful comments. I hope you will eventually be able to support the article's promotion. Acdixon (talk • contribs • count) 21:32, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

Sandy Georgia (Talk) 01:50, 27 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Fixed, hope I got them right. Dabomb87 (talk) 02:02, 27 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the assist, friend. Acdixon (talk • contribs • count) 03:25, 27 January 2009 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.