Introduction

A man from Wynnewood, Oklahoma has falsely claimed to be a descendant of James Lewis DALTON and Adeline Lee YOUNGER and a grand-nephew of their outlaw sons who were known as the Dalton Gang. Following in the tradition of a long list of impostors pretending to be related to various historical figures, he has lied to his neighbors and citizens of Oklahoma about his ancestry. He has falsified documents and proofs of that relationship and many genealogists and historians have been duped by his fraudulent history which has found its way into books and publications and is reproduced in many web sites and genealogies. But it is not true. It is a purposeful distortion of historical evidence.

Purpose

The purpose of the exposé is twofold:

1. Expose the instances of fraud.
2. Show that Bea Elizabeth Phillips can not be the daughter of James Lewis Dalton and Adeline Lee Younger.

Introduction

Every child dreams of being a hero or an explorer and adults imagine where they might be or what they might become. Some plan and work towards those goals while some retreat into insanity, believing their own imaginings. Others seek to attain their dreams through deceit or theft. Pretending to be someone is for actors. Others are identity thieves, cheats and con artists.

In the field of history and genealogy, it is not uncommon for someone to purposely misrepresent facts in order to attain some unearned prize, whether it be money or fame or status or bragging rights. The infamous outlaws of the old west have all lived well past their deaths, with impostors claiming to either be the outlaw or to be related to him. Jesse James, Billy the Kid, John Dillinger, the Doolin brothers and the Dalton Gang, to name a few, have all been survived by impostors pretending, and some actually believing, they are that infamous person.

Detecting Genealogical Fraud

Here are some typical signs of a genealogical fraud or impostor:

• all info from one person
• evidence of fraud in any area
• access to original documents denied
• no supporting evidence offered
• no supporting evidence found
• illogical time line of events
• inconsistencies
• illogical, reality-defying facts, names, places & stories
• inaccuracies
• elaborately crafted stories to cover holes in the evidence

This is an account of a man who created a completely false ancestry, linking himself to the infamous Dalton Gang of the late 19th century. One can only speculate why he would do that, but he did. (Others in his family may have believed this version of history, but no evidence has been found implicating anyone but Billy Murl Phillips – the man who uses the false names William Dalton Phillips or Bill Dalton Phillips – in the fraudulent creation of evidence to prove it, nor in the dissemination of that fraud.)

This man began using a different name so he could use the name DALTON. He forged Bible records and filed applications for death certificates using false information. He "replaced" tombstones with ones he paid for, having them engraved with epitaphs saying that his grandmother was the daughter of Lewis and Adeline Dalton, the parents of the Dalton Gang. He collected Dalton documents and other artifacts and his home became a museum to his alleged ancestors. He gave talks, published papers and even led tours and was caretaker of historic sites related to the Dalton Gang. He altered documents and provided false transcriptions of newspaper articles. He even joined the Dalton Genealogical Society and presented himself as a descendant. He has successfully convinced many people that he is related to the Dalton Gang. Had I met him, I probably would have believed him too. But it is all fiction, a lie.

(It's actually kind of creepy for a person to collect memorabilia on a family to which he never belonged, had never even met, all of whom are long since dead, and for that person to try to present themselves as a member of it.)

Combating the Fraud

Fighting this fraud is like trying to remove weeds that grow by underground runners – it is pernicious and deeply embedded in many publications and genealogies. Please use the navigation menu or view the Site Map or the Table of Contents to view all the pages in this exposé.

Rarely does the genealogist / family historian run across blatant, calculated fraud and, for that reason, our defenses are down and we are unprepared to deal with it. This fraud is often accepted as true because the word of a family member is regarded as valuable evidence, but not if the "family member" is a pretender and not a family member at all. The fraud exposed here runs deep and will be difficult to uproot. Please read on.

The claim that Bea Elizabeth DALTON is the daughter of James Lewis DALTON and Adeline Lee YOUNGER (parents of the Dalton Gang) is a good example of genealogical fraud. The false "evidence" has been accepted at face value by many honest, well-intentioned people, even by the Dalton Genealogical Society. It has been reproduced so many times and is now so widespread in on-line genealogies that it must be true – "if it's on the internet, it must be true". Alas, many researchers have swallowed the falsehood and refuse to step back and examine the evidence, too embarassed to admit they've been taken in.

Verify, Verify, Verify

A genealogist considers many types of evidence, weighing and combining them to make their best assessment of a relationship. An oral family history can be one form of evidence as is a photocopy of a document, e.g. Bible records, and the epitaph on a tombstone. Each type of evidence is assigned varying levels of relevance which, when added together either enhance or challenge the existence of a person, family or relationship. But, when proven false, anything else from that informant becomes suspect.

In this case, all of the above have been proven to have been falsifed.

The dearth of data available for Bea Elizabeth "DALTON" requires the genealogist to seek information from family members, but that source has been tainted by the fraud coming from at least one of them.

The falsified documents and misrepresentation of facts is enough to cause the serious researcher to doubt the veracity of the claims that Bea Elizabeth "Dalton" is related to the Dalton Gang, but the undeniable fact that she was born in Texas and the lack of any other verifiable evidence about her is all the proof we need that she is not related to this Dalton family.

Consider

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• No public records have been found for Bea Elizabeth. None. No census records, no will, no probate, no land records, no newspaper articles or obituaries.
• No (legitimate) documentation has been found to prove Bea Elizabeth Phillips was the daughter of Lewis & Adeline DALTON.
• The only "safe", unalterable evidence for her are the census records, social security applications and death certificates for her children — all of which indicate their mother was born in Texas, not Missouri, and, for that reason alone, she cannot be the daughter of James & Adeline Dalton.
• The abundance of genealogies (primarily on the internet) indicating she is a daughter are presented as "proof", when they are just incorrect information repeated ad nauseum.
• The "proof" for Bea Elizabeth "DALTON's" link to the Dalton Gang consists of a forged death certificate, falsified Bible records, altered newspaper articles and the (recent) placement of new tombstones, one reading "DAUGHTER OF JAMES LEWIS AND ADALINE DALTON" on his grandmother's stone, her name "Elizabeth" on Adeline Dalton's stone and "GREAT-NEPHEW BILL PHILLIPS" on Emmett Dalton's tombstone. What would Bea (Elizabeth) say if she could see what her grandson has done in order to gain a little notoriety?

  A tombstone ought to be useful evidence

  But not when it has purposely been crafted to deceive.

  Fraud

  

  Be careful of "Proof" carved in stone.

See the Tombstone page for details.

Verifiable Evidence

There is no reliable evidence that anyone named Bea Elizabeth Dalton ever existed or who she married. We don't know Bea Elizabeth Phillips' maiden name, but it is probably HARRIS or HARRISON. The only source found is the "U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900" index, which is a complilation of data from other peoples' genealogies and family histories whose accuracy cannot be confirmed. The index has listings for two marriages, one to HARRISON and one to Tom PHILLIPS and give her name as Bea Elizabeth or Elizebeth DALTON. The fact that no dates or places are given indicates the data did not come from a useful genealogical resource e.g. a Bible record or marriage index. The information for "U.S. and International Marriage Records" says:

This unique collection of records was extracted from a variety of sources including family group sheets and electronic databases.

The records from which these marriages were derived can be seen here and on the "Time Line" page. It will be obvious to any researcher that these records do not constitute proof or even the slightest notion the events ever happened.

Is Emmett's sister Lelia the same person as Bea Elizabeth DALTON?

• Some conveniently - perhaps using Bill's fraudulent genealogy - combine Emmett's sister's name with Bea's to create someone named "Bea Elizabeth Lelia DALTON" (though no evidence is shown where she used that name), but merging Emmett's sister's name with Bea's doesn't prove anything other than sloppy genealogy or desperation to prove a non-existent relationship.
• Emmett's list is in perfect chronological order for all the other children, and so it seems reasonable to assume that he is correct about Lelia and that she was born after Littleton and before Frank, i.e. about 1858, not 1856 as for Bea.
• Lelia never appears on a census with her family (the 1860 census hasn't been found). If she left home before the 1870 census, she would have been less than 12 years old. It is unlikely she married and had children. Family members indicate she died young.
• The PHILLIPS family have produced no (legitimate) record of their Bea Elizabeth PHILLIPS ever being called Lelia, so how could the conscientious genealogist conclude she is the Lelia in Emmett's list?
• If she is Emmett's sister, why didn't he list her by her name, Bea or Elizabeth?
• Some say it is because Lelia was the family nickname for her, but that wouldn't explain his making a mistake as to her date of birth. Bea cannot be the Lelia in Emmett's list.
• Were Bea actually married to a Texas Ranger, and were she Emmett's sister, why didn't he mention that lawman in either of his books?

What remains?

Virtually nothing – no known official records, newspaper accounts or other records have been found. The only evidence to be found is either questionable, proven falsehoods or highly suspect because of the accompanying lies and the discerning genealogist is forced to conclude that there is no evidence that Bea Elizabeth was related to the Dalton Gang or even that her maiden name was DALTON.

The evidence strongly suggests someone so badly wanted the fame and intrigue of being related to the Dalton Gang that they purposely fabricated Bea's relationship to them. From an ethical and moral perspective, they are related – they are thieves just like the Dalton Gang, though not of money but of the trust of others and of a heritage that does not belong to them and the shameful dismissal of one's true ancestors.