When were the Beale Papers “written?” Hard to say for sure but it's probably safe to assume that they were actually written sometime in the recent months or years leading up to the publication date of 1885.
“Thomas J. Beale” or “TJB” as he is referred to in the pamphlet is often reduced to just “Thomas Beale” by those who research the story and yet the author has made perfectly clear distinction that the main character's identity was, “Thomas J. Beale,” or “TJB,” and not just Thomas Beale.
Now with all of this in mind there are those who simply lay claim that the differences between Thomas J. Beale and Thomas Beale just doesn't matter. Why do they make such claims? One answer is simplicity, plain and simple. By claiming it just doesn't matter the huge complication of positive identity is avoided, this is one reason. The second reason is convenience, the notion that it just doesn't matter allowing them to attach any Thomas Beale they desire to the story, as has been done over and over again on the local romantic level and from the New Orleans era where Thomas Beale's are easy to locate.
But in 1884, in Richmond Virginia, just one year prior to the pamphlet's publication, in that very city where “important business affairs” required our author's attention, we do find record of a “Thomas J. Beale.” So with this I say, and still in search of the real truth, “Positive I.D. does most certainly matter.”