A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname
Lee James Barnum was born on 13 Dec 1905 in Spokane, Spokane, Washington and died on 16 Jan 1948 in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon at the age of 42. He attended McMinnville High School, from which he graduated 9 June 1922, and later Oregon Agricultural College (where he pledged Omega Upsilon) and Oregon Normal School. Following his graduation from the latter, he was a teacher, principal and track coach at several Oregon high schools. Beginning just prior to World War II, and continuing up until his untimely death, he worked as a lumber buyer for the Bert D. Campbell Company in Portland, Oregon. At the outbreak of the Second World War he volunteered for service in the Army but was rejected because his work as a lumber buyer was considered vital to the national defense.
Oregon Death Index, 1903-98 about Lee J Barnum. Name: Barnum, Lee J; County: Portland; Death Date: 16 Jan 1948; Certificate: 175.
In the 1940 US Census for The Dalles, Wasco, Oregon Lee and Thelma Barnum were enumerated as follows:
913 West Ninth Street. Dwelling 51, Non-farm home rented for $25 per month.
Barnum, Lee; Head; Male; White 34; Married; Highest grade attained College-3; b. Washington; Living in Washington County, Oregon on April 1, 1935 (not on a farm); Was at work during the week of March 24-30, 1940; Worked 40 hours during that week; Teacher; School; Worked 48 weeks during 1939; Earned $860 during 1939
Barnum, Thelma; Wife; Female; White 29; Married; Highest grade attained College-2; b. Idaho; Living in Washington County, Oregon on April 1, 1935 (not on a farm); Was not at work during the week of March 24-30, 1940; Worked 1 week during 1939; Earned $14 during 1939
Lee J. Barnum died in the hospital, of peritonitis caused by a perforated ulcer. His age at death was 42 years, 1 month, 3 days. His death certificate lists his cause of death as fulminating ulcerative colitis.
Ulcerative colitis is a form of inflammatory bowel disease. It is an auto-immune condition, which means that the body's immune system becomes abnormally activated and, as a result, starts to attack healthy tissue. Ulcerative colitis initially leads to bloody diarrhea, but it can progress to a more severe disease. Fulminating ulcerative colitis is a very severe form of ulcerative colitis. In this case the inflammation of the colon goes beyond the mucosa (the inner lining) and spreads to some of the supportive tissue. If untreated, the colon can rupture, as happened in this case.
Obituary from the Portland (Oregon) Oregonian: Barnum Rites Set Monday. Lumberman Dies in Hospital. Funeral services for Lee J. Barnum, 42, for several years active in the lumber industry, who died Friday night at Physicians and Surgeons Hospital, will be held Monday at 1 P. M. at the Little Chapel of the Chimes. Mr. Barnum, until his illness of a colonic ailment in December, had been associated with Bert D. Campbell & Co., wholesale lumber firm here, since 1945. Immediately prior, he had been with Oregon Pulp & Paper company at Salem, and had served as mill superintendent. Born in Spokane, Wash., December 13, 1905, he was graduated from McMinnville high school, then attended Oregon State College and was graduated from Oregon College of Education at Monmouth. He then entered teaching work, first at Aloha, Or., and then at The Dalles, where he was a junior high school athletic coach and later elementary school principal. Surviving are his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Warren A. Barnum of Independence; the widow, Thelma I. Barnum, and two children, Patrick Warren and Elizabeth Ellen, residing at Briarwood, near Oswego; two brothers, Lt. Donald Warren, in the Navy at Napa, Cal., and Gordon of Sandy, and a sister, Mrs. S. J. Patterson of Berkeley, Cal. His father is a retired lumberman and his mother recently retired as assistant professor of education at Oregon College of Education.
Obituary from The Capital Journal, Salem, Oregon, 23 Jan 1948, Friday, Page 15: Last Rites Held in Portland for Lee J. Barnum. Funeral services were held Monday, January 19, for Lee J. Barnum, who died Friday, January 16, at the Physicians' and Surgeons' hospital in Portland after a month's illness. Mr. Barnum was born in Spokane, Wash., December 13, 1905. He was graduated from the McMinnville high school, attended Oregon State College, and was graduated from Oregon College of Education in 1929, where he was prominent in student body activities and athletics. He held track records in the high jump in both colleges. He was married to Thelma I. Pruitt of Burns, also a graduate of the Oregon College of Education, February 1933. Mr. Barnum was principal of the Aloha grade school for five years, after which for three years he served as high school athletic coach and elementary school principal at The Dalles. In 1942 he moved to Salem where he held a position in the Oregon Pulp and paper company, later becoming superintendent of the lumber division of that company. Since 1945 he has been associated with Bert D. Campbell Co., wholesale lumber firm of Portland as a buyer where he was widely known throughout the state. Surviving are his wife Thelma and two children, Patrick Warren, 6, and Elizabeth Ellen, 4, who reside at Briarwood, Oswego. He also leaves one sister and two brothers: Mrs. S. J. Patterson of Berkeley, Calif.; Gordon L. Barnum, of Sandy; and Lieut. Don W. Barnum, USN, of Napa, Calif. His parents are Warren A. Barnum, retired lumberman and Sophia E. Barnum, who was for 25 years on the faculty of Oregon College of Education at Monmouth. They live at Independence where for the last ten years Mr. Barnum has been connected with the Independence Sand and Gravel company. Services were held at the Little Chapel of the Chimes in Portland on Monday, January 19, and interment was at Rose City cemetery. Many people from Monmouth, Independence and other cities were in attendance. Pall bearers were: King Sweet, Depoe Bay; Earl Gooch, Salem; Roy Giles, Eugene; William Wessner, Vancouver, Wash.; and Emerson Haggerty, and Edward Bye of Briarwood. Honorary pall bearers were: Bert Campbell and Clare Miller of Portland; Dr. Henry Gunn and Professor Delmer Dewey of the Oregon College of Education; George Snell, Roseburg; Jean Babcock, Vancouver, Wash.; Tim Preston, Salem; Sherman Hill, Oswego; and Bob Brown and Paul Chesterton of The Dalles. Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Barnum, who were spending the winter months in Arizona were called home because of their son Lee's illness. They arrived on Thursday, January 15, the day before he passed away. Mrs. S. J. Patterson and Don Barnum came from California for the funeral services of their brother, Lee.
Obituary from the Oregon College of Education Alumni News, March 1948, page 4: Friends wee shocked and grieved to learn of the sudden passing of Lee J. Barnum, OCE '29, in a Portland hospital on January 16, following a brief illness. He was the eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Barnum, the latter for 25 years a member of the faculty of OCE.
Born in Spokane on December 13, 1905, Barnum was graduated from the high school in McMinnville, attended Oregon State College for a year and received his diploma from OCE in 1929. During is college days, he took an active part in all student affairs as a class and student body officer, and in athletics, particularly track, in which he held records in the high jump. For eight years he was an efficient elementary school principal but later entered the lumber business. Since 1945 he had been a member of the wholesale lumber firm of Bert D. Campbell of Portland,, and lived in Briarwood, Oregon.
With a real gift for friendship and a wholesome, sane outlook on life, Mr. Barnum was highly regarded by his school and business associates for his genuine kindliness. Also reflecting this same philosophy were numerous bits of verse which he wrote, some appearing in the Oregon Journal and others in various college and yearly anthologies.
Surviving are his wife, Thelma Pruitt Barnum, OCE '30, and two children; his parents; two brothers, Gordon of Sandy and Lt. Don W. Barnum, U.S.N.; and a sister, Mrs. A. J. Patterson, OCE '23, of Berkeley, California.
He was buried in Rose City Cemetery, 5625 NE Fremont Street, Portland, Oregon 97213.
A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family Worldwide
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