Early Life
Jereboam Beauchamp was born September 6, 1802, in the area that is now Simpson County, Kentucky. He was the second son of Thomas and Sally (Smithers) Beauchamp. Both parents were devout Christians. He was named after a paternal uncle, Jereboam O. Beauchamp, a state senator from Washington County, Kentucky.
Beauchamp was educated at Dr. Benjamin Thurston's academy in Barren County, Kentucky until the age of sixteen. Recognizing that his father was not able to sufficiently provide for the family, Beauchamp tried to pay for his education by finding employment as a shopkeeper. While this generated funds for his education, he did not have enough time to pursue his studies. Recommended by Thurston, Beauchamp became preceptor of a school. After saving some money, he returned to Thurston's school as a student, and was later employed by the school as an usher.
By age eighteen, Beauchamp had finished his preparatory studies. After observing the lawyers practicing in Glasgow and Bowling Green, he decided to pursue a career in the legal profession.
He particularly admired Solomon Sharp, a young lawyer in his thirties, with whom Beauchamp hoped to study. In 1820, Beauchamp became disenchanted with Sharp when rumors surfaced that he had fathered an illegitimate child with a woman named Anna Cooke. Sharp denied paternity of the child, which was stillborn.
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