Berrien Kinnard Upshaw (1901 - 1949)

Husband of Margaret Munnerlyn (Mitchell) Marsh — married 2 Sep 1922 (to 16 Oct 1924) in Atlanta, Fulton, Georgia, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jamie Cox [send private message]

Biography

Berrien was born March 10, 1901.^[1] He was the son of William Francis Upshaw (1877-1946) and Annie Gibbs Kinnard (1877-1918).

He was married to author Margaret Mitchell for two years, from September 2, 1922, ^[2] until 1924. He is considered to be an inspiration for the character of Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind. ^[3]

In 1930, he was in a mental hospital in Raliegh, NC. ^[4]

He jumped to his death from a hotel in Galveston, Texas on January 12, 1949. ^{[1] [5]} He was 47 years old.

He is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Galveston, Texas. ^[6]

Research Notes

FindAGrave gives his death as January 13, 1949, but his death certificate says January 12.

Was his mother's middle name "Likhs"? (per Annie Edwards' Road to Tara.)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9Y19-3547?cc=1983324&wc=9T43-GP8%3A263835801%2C268461801%2C268462901 : 22 July 2014), Death certificates > 1949 > Vol 020, certificates 009501-010000, Jan, Erath-Williamson counties, includes delay > image 74 of 559; State Registrar Office, Austin.
2. ↑ Mitchell-Upshaw Wedding Beautiful Home Event, The Atlanta Constitution (newspaper), September 3, 1922, page 3. "A beautiful home wedding... was that of Miss Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell and Berrien Kinnard Upshaw, which was solemnized Saturday evening at the home of the bride's father, Eugene M. Mitchell, on Peachtree road..."
3. ↑ Edwards, Anne. 1983. Road to Tara. pages 132-33, 135, 139, 151, 191, 216, 219, 225.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRCJ-VJ6?cc=1810731&wc=QZF7-F26%3A648806301%2C651375501%2C649036901%2C1589282559 : 8 December 2015), North Carolina > Wake > Raleigh > ED 48 > image 7 of 30; citing NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002).
5. ↑ Merchant Seaman Dies in Fall From Hotel in Galveston, Lubbock Morning Avalanche (Lubbock, Texas) January 13, 1949, page 6. "GALVESTON, Jan. 12 - A 47-year-old merchant seaman died today in a five-story fall from a downtown hotel. He was identified as Berrien Kennard Upshaw of Raleigh, N.C. "
6. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #6953663

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:ML29-VGL : accessed 10 August 2021), Beraien K Upshaw in household of Willian F Upshaw, Atlanta Ward 7, Fulton, Georgia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 97, sheet 15A, family 297, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 192; FHL microfilm 1,374,205.