[excerpt from VanDike Newsletter, vol. 2, no. 2, Feb. 1997]
" On August 6, 1843 Nancy Beams, a slave of John and Nancy Van Dyke, at the direction of her mistress, struck John on the left side of the head with an axe, killing him. Both Nancys were arrested along with Amanda Moore (daughter of John and Nancy Van Dyke) for the murder. In November 1843 Nancy Van Dyke, as widow of John Van Dyke and guardian of my minor children, and Amanda Moore, daughter of John Van Dyke, transferred the entire estate of John Van Dyke, both real and personal, as a fee to their attorneys for their defense. This transfer included two horses, one claimed by Andrew Van Dyke and one by Amanda. Wilson is not mentioned, however, he was in prison in Mexico at the time for his participation in the Meir Expedition, and thus, unable to contest this."
"In November 1844 Nancy Beams and Nancy Van Dyke were tried and convicted of murder. The details of the case are not known but the jury recommended them to mercy. The judge, however, was not so sympathetic and sentenced them to death by hanging in December 1844. Two weeks before the execution was to take place the President of The Republic of Texas, Sam Houston, sighting 'representations of a satisfactory character', granted them a full pardon."
"What became of Nancy Van Dyke, Andrew B. Van Dyke, Amanda (Van Dyke) Moore, Nancy Beams, or the 'minor children' of John and Nancy is a mystery. They do not show up on the 1850 census for the State of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, nor California. Perhaps they changed their names or moved to another state or territory."
Oct. 30, 1844 - John J Musgrove (Red River co., Texas) sales interest in Beams family to Isaac Herrick (Red River co., Texas). Isaac Herrick lived in a house on land sold by John J Musgrove to Enos Look in 1845 and the deed was witnessed by Lambert Duncan Vandyke (1816-1906).
The Texas History Teacher's Bulletin
Volume 13, Number 1, page 40
" One evil leads to another and following closely on the heels of the first
divorce came several instances of women committing homicide. The first in
Nacogdoches was of one Nancy Van Dyke and her slave Nancy Bean, who, charged
with the murder of Mrs. Van Dyke's husband, were found guilty and in the
following words the sentence was pronounced by the judge:
" It is indeed shocking for a female to have raided her arm against one whom she had promised to "love, cherish, and obey" and with whom she had passed the greater part of her life. Those who come after will read in the court records how you were found guilty by a jury of willingly, maliciously, and feloniously, murdering your husband. Friday next you shall be taken to the County of Rusk and the sheriff of said County of Rusk shall hang you by the neck until dead, and may God have mercy on your soul." *
But Mrs. Van Dyke did not hang, for Sam Houston, then President of the Republic, pardoned her, saying that when all the men in Texas that needed hanging were hanged, then it would be time enough to start inflicting that punishment on women.
There are scores of other interesting cases too numerous to tell in detail, but reading the originals would be well worth one's time."
* Court proceedings of Nacogdoches County. Book E. p. 86
[2015 update]
A search of Ancestry.com has an unsourced and unverified genealogy of this Vandyke
family. John Vandyke was born about 1785 in Lincoln co., North
Carolina. He married Nancy Doss who was born about 1785 in South
Carolina. Their children were: Wilson Nelson Vandyke (abt.
1815-1881), Andrew B Vandyke (abt. 1818-?), Mary Vandyke (abt. 1822-?), Amanda M
Vandyke Moore (abt. 1822 SC-1860s), Nancy Vandyke (abt. 1831). Amanda
married Peter Moore on Oct. 18, 1842 in Nacogdoches co., Texas.