Bernard Beverley was born in London, England, and had only been in the United States for several years at the time of the Eastland Disaster. A Western Electric employee, he had planned to go to the employee picnic to celebrate his July 25th birthday with his wife, Elizabeth. They were going to be joined by two friends, Mr. and Mrs. Kerr.
...they watched as the ship began to roll over... As it turned out and as luck would have it, Mrs. Kerr, who was typically late for the things they did together, was true to form and was once again late for this date. As Bernard and Elizabeth waited, they became impatient as many passengers were boarding the Eastland and the ship was filling up. They finally spotted the Kerr's coming through the crowd. Suddenly, Mrs. Kerr stopped and began pointing toward the Eastland. As Bernard and Elizabeth turned around they watched as the ship began to roll over.
During the chaos of the aftermath, Bernard and Elizabeth stayed at the wharf and did whatever they could to help. They did not return home until much later in the day. The news of the disaster, however, reached their neighborhood and their three daughters began to think that their parents had perished in the disaster.
Bernard's name later appeared on a list of the victims, resulting in flowers being sent to Elizabeth.
Please direct questions and comments to the Eastland Disaster Historical Society at info@eastlanddisaster.org.
Copyright © 1998-2004 Eastland Disaster Historical Society. All rights reserved.