Local Civil War hero may finally get federal recognition

Beaty was brought to Cincinnati as a youth to serve an apprenticeship. It was in in 1861, in Cincinnati, that he became a free man.

When the city of Cincinnati was threatened in Sept. 1862 by a column of Confederate soldiers marching from Richmond, Ky., toward the city, Beaty became a member of the famous Black Brigade, which played a key role in safeguarding Cincinnati by building defenses around the city.