Legacy Accuracy: An 'Evolutionary' America250 Story Featuring Moses Yale Beach

A legacy marker was installed in front of Mr. Beach’s gravesite with the incorrect date of birth. The Eagle Scout Project, in consultation with the Cemetery Association Superintendent and the Officers of the Wallingford Historical Society, was similar in content and tone to the historic marker inside Moses Yale Beach School. Unfortunately, the Eagle Scout Project perpetuates the decades-old date-of-birth error and obfuscates Mr. Beach's confirmed role as founder of the Associated Press. Ironically, it is installed in front of the primary source, the grave marker.

Within weeks of our book's launch, we witnessed exactly why accessible, accurate information matters. Despite corrections published on our website since 2017, shared by Connecticut State Historian Emeritus Walt Woodward in "Today in Connecticut History," and updated on Wikipedia in 2023, a new heritage marker was installed at Mr. Beach's gravesite—with the same incorrect birth date we had already debunked. Ironically, our main character in The Check Minus, Youssef, discovers the correct date in the Center Street Cemetery.

When our Board member read "The Check Minus" to advancing third-graders from Moses Yale Beach School, they described the portrait of Mr. Beach in the school's hallway as "that man wearing a neck thing-y". The "thing-y" is actually a high Victorian-style collar. Their innocent observation is the reason why our work matters: history needs context and examination. (This story was released on Patch.com in July.)

Heritage Marker Incident Demonstrates Need for Dialogue & New Voices

Today, 'Moses Yale Beach' internet searches led directly to our 'Moses Yale Beach_Revealed' Initiative and ancestry data. Depending on the source, both the Jan 7 and 15th dates will appear.

While researching Moses Yale Beach, Wallingford's native son—we discovered that his New York Times obituary, carried in newspapers across the nation, listed his birth date incorrectly. We concluded that this error originated in an early biographical sketch written by his contemporary William Hunt. The error was promulgated in encyclopedias in Spanish & English. We have reached out to encyclopedia.com, one of the few remaining public resources about the procedure for correcting errors; to date, we have no reply.

Tracing the Birth Date Error: Volunteer researchers at WPAA-TV investigated how Moses Yale Beach's birth date became widely misreported. They traced the error to this sequence: Original Source (1848): William Hunt published the incorrect date in American Biographical Sketch Book (Vol. 1), writing that Moses Yale Beach "was the first born, that event occurring January 7th, 1800." Secondary Source (1870): Charles Henry Stanley Davis repeated Hunt's error with very similar language and tone in History of Wallingford. Wide Distribution (1868): Emanuel Luetze likely used Davis's book as his source when writing Beach's New York Times obituary, which was then republished nationwide. Lasting Impact: This chain of publications caused encyclopedias to list Beach's birth date as January 7 instead of the correct date of January 15, 1800. Recent Correction (May 2023): Wiki editor and former WPAA-TV producer Oral Ofori corrected the birth date on Wikipedia, which helped address the long-standing error. The researchers concluded that a single mistake in 1848 cascaded through multiple publications over 175 years, demonstrating how historical errors can become entrenched through repetition.

‘Nothing remarkable, merely a determined man’

Another irony: community leaders who once claimed little knowledge about Mr. Beach beyond pictures of his house and recently published findings by the Associated Press (2015) now actively chronicle his life and legacy. Mr. Beaumont of the Wallingford Historical Society recently told his version of Mr. Beach's story on this history podcast. The podcast episode The Man Who Created the News Service You Use the Most continues the early characterizations of Mr. Beach by Wallingford historians as 'determined'. This version aligns with the description at Moses Yale Beach School.

This podcast is subtitled, '...Moses Yale Beach created the AP during the Mexican-American War, looking for a way for his New York Sun newspaper to beat his competitors and get the news to readers more quickly. On its face, this is an inaccurate claim. As the founder of the AP, he brought his competitors together. His entrepreneurial instincts elevated process over competition. While costs were a factor, consistent reporting from the war front was important to leveraging this agreement between competitors. Syndication and reliability evolved into the founding principles of the Associated Press (AP).

About The Book: Based on Two True Wallingford Stories

The Check Minus is historical fiction derived from a true story of a student at Moses Yale Beach. While the characters and events are imaginary, all references to geography, religion, and history are true. The story thoughtfully explores identity, belonging, and the importance of primary sources. In Youssef's journey of self-discovery he learns to navigate a new culture and embrace his own unique perspective. The story also highlights the importance of critical thinking and questioning established narratives, as Youssef challenges the accuracy of the encyclopedia based on a truth he knows firsthand. Reviewers agree, it is a powerful message that can resonate with readers of all ages.

Our book "The Check Minus" received a grant to print & market support from the Community Foundation For Greater New Haven. The grant covers costs such as distributing this blog on local news platforms. By supporting the marketing and distribution of "The Check Minus," the foundation concurrently helps demonstrate the power of community, collective history and the critical importance of primary sources.

Is there an America250 Next Step for the Moses Yale Beach Heritage Markers?

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven's grant enables us to continue our public engagement as an America250 affiliate. This heritage marker experience reinforces that preserving accurate history is evolutionary work - and America250 offers our community a unique opportunity to model how diverse voices can contribute to keeping our shared story both accurate and alive.

As we approach this milestone, we invite discussion about how our community can address historical inaccuracies while honoring the process of discovery itself. The goal isn't perfection, but creating space for the critical conversations necessary to ensure our legacy reflects the full complexity of remarkable people whose influence deserves more than footnote status.

Even the most careful research will have gaps for numerous reasons like available sources at the time, institutional constraints, bias, and evolving discoveries. When the school's marker was created, the primary source confirmation of Beach's role as AP founder had not yet come to light, and encyclopedias universally listed the incorrect birth date.

The heritage-marker incident reminds us that our work is not finished. Can we spark genuine curiosity and critical thinking about local history? Community members who once claimed little knowledge of Mr. Beach now actively chronicle his life and legacy. Those third-graders may still see the mysterious figure in the "neck thingy," but they're learning the importance of questioning, researching, and verifying facts.

Our effort to effect community engagement embodies the lesson our main character learns. His teacher says, "It's important to be wrong sometimes. That's how we learn." —Maybe we all can be more like Youssef.

Ask us to talk to your group: We presented at the Wallingford Senior Center last March. Here is what they had to say: "The presentation approach was interesting, showing his background & motivations." "Wonderful." "Keep digging." "So he actually lived here, not like the other guys we always hear about." "I need to check out the cemetery monument for myself." Send inquiry to email myb@wpaa.tv with suggested dates and times.

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The book The Check Minus is available for a minimum donation of $12 to WPAA-TV and Community Media Center. Stop by 28 S Orchard St, Wallingford anytime, or our Celebrate Wallingford booth on October 4th and 5th to participate in our gift exchange. The Check Minus is also at the Wallingford Public Library, courtesy of the Community Foundation For Greater New Haven small grant.

Note: We attempted to notify the Eagle Scouts involved in both of these installations about our interest in addressing the error via the BSA troop. We also added a note on the historic marker database (See is the 1st link in this article).