A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname
In the publication Marriages - La Junta (Watrous) Sep 1873 - Apr 1908 (Albuquerque, New Mexico: Hispanic Genealogical Research Center of New Mexico) is found the following entry: On the 2nd of April of 1891, I blessed the matrimony of Apolonio Casados, single, son of Tomas Casdados and of Francisca Lopez, from Tiptonville, with Laura Flores Barnum, single, legitimate daughter of Albert Barnum and of Ramona Tafoya, from Tiptonville. Witnesses: Alberto Barnum and Sarah Barnum. [Note: one of the witnesses appears to have been her sister Sarah Angelina Barnum (b. 28 Nov 1872). The other was probably either her father, Albert P. Barnum, or her older brother Albert L. Barnum].
Watrous, New Mexico was originally known as La Junta de los Rios Mara y Sapello (literally, the joining of the Mara and Sapello rivers). Two alternate routes of the Santa Fe Trail, the Mountain Cutoff and the Cimarron Cutoff, joined at the little settlement of La Junta. Wagon trains organized there before entering hostile Indian territory. In 1879, the Santa Fe Railroad arrived and laid out the present town of Watrous to the east. The town of La Junta was eventually absorbed by it and Watrous became the name by which the entire area was subsequently known.
The 1860, 1870, and 1880 United States Census enumerations for the area surrounding Fort Union reflected a growing New Mexico and a demand for agricultural goods for the Quartermaster and Commissary Departments of the fort itself. Except for Fort Union, the censuses documented the agrarian heritage and rural nature of the area, still evident today. It was not until the 1880 census that a number of settlements were finally noted and more retail establishments appeared. The arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad at Watrous in 1879 gave the area an outlet, not only to the rest of the Southwest but to the entire world.
A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family Worldwide
AncientFaces - Family History Photos
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