Our grand-aunt Miranda used to come often to the Beckwith home, an environment in many ways a complete contrast to her own.  Aunt Lillie Almeda Beckwith, who was a demanding judge of people, told us that she liked Miranda best of all the Barbs.  Miranda loved to hear the lively music that often resounded at the Beckwith house, for they were quite a musical family.  She would have liked to dance to it, too, but she was too afraid to learn due to her zealously religious father's ire.  Grandfather James never allowed even a violin to be played in his house.  At the Beckwith home, at least she could listen to the music and singing, and she would urge the others to dance. Occasionally she would get up and march around with them in time to the music. Poor child, she wanted to make some noise!

When she was not very old, people began to say that Miranda Barb was odd.  Aunt Lil said that Miranda was hurt and terrified when she began to understand these opinions.  Of course this helped matters along; she gradually became worse and worse.  We do not know that she ever became dangerously insane, but she was a continual care.  Finally one spring, she was more disturbed than usual and, with the rush of spring work at hand, it was decided to take her 'away'.  At that time there were no asylums for the care of people like Aunt Miranda, so she was taken for detention to the county poor farm in Carthage, Illinois.  She was shut in a room, alone.  This was the straw that completely broke her troubled mind.  She wept and screamed and continually tore at the locked door; she refused to eat one bite of food.  After one week of this, the authorities sent word to her parents to come and get her, which they did.  Poor Miranda did not trouble them much longer. Soon after they brought her home, when she was only 31 years old, Miranda died.  The year was 1878. We don't know if disease killed her; we suppose that the old-fashioned reason of a broken heart may fit as well as any diagnosis.  The following is carved on her tombstone in Majorville Cemetery: