A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname
Eliakim Barnum emigrated from Vermont to Canada in 1807, taking a boat to Kingston, Ontario and then overland to Northumberland County. He chose to settle in Haldimand Township near the village of Grafton (then called Haldimand) on the north shore of Lake Ontario, a few miles east of present-day Cobourg. He is said to have had several brothers. [N.B., Documentation has been found for one brother and one sister.] A young man in his early twenties, he went to Grafton, married and bought "The Poplars" a pretentious log building which was burned while British soldiers, on the retreat from York in the War of 1812, were billeted with the Barnums. Col. Barnum, with patriotic fervor, refused any remuneration from the British Government but rebuilt this home on the same site. Initially, Barnum operated a tavern and a small distillery. He purchased the lot on which the Barnum House now stands in 1812-1814, and by 1820 had accumulated over 900 acres of adjoining farmland. Although he was now fully engaged in developing his agricultural holdings, his entrepreneurial spirit sought new outlets. About 1830 he erected a grist mill a half mile south of his house and operated a milling business into the early 1840s.
Eliakim Barnum married Hannah Ewing during the War of 1812. Together they raised a family of two sons and two daughters: Smith, James, Sarah and Harriet. Barnum joined in establishing the first school in the township in 1820 and acted as a local Justice of the Peace. A loyal Tory, he also helped to found Saint George's Anglican Church in Grafton. An active member of the militia, Barnum eventually became Lieutenant Colonel of the Third Northumberland Battalion. He was remembered as being tall, with black hair and eyes, and as always wearing a tall silk hat.
Smith Barnum, Eliakim's eldest son, received part of his father's holdings during the 1840s. He built a brick house for his family and soon became a prosperous farmer in his own right. In 1849 he was made the first Warden of the United Counties of Northumberland and Durham.
Eliakim's younger son, James, Married Edith Lyon about 1853. He remained on the family homestead, inheriting the property upon his father's death in 1877. James Barnum was responsible for dismantling both the grist mill and the large barn which stood across the road from the house, an indication of the family's diminishing reliance on agricultural pursuits. Following James Barnum's death in 1907, the house remained in the Barnum family for another ten years, at which time it was sold to Harry Prentice.
The Haldimand Historical Background, written in 1986, states that Eliakim's daughter was engaged to marry Sir Isaac Brock, but that the engagement was cruelly terminated by Sir Isaac's death in battle on October 13, 1812. Because of the age difference (Sir Isaac was born in 1769) it is more logical to assume that his engagement was to Eliakim's sister May, or to one of their cousins.
The History of Haldimand states that "Eliakim Barnum, also from Vermont, settled in Haldimand at the close of the last century. He married a sister of old Benjamin Ewing. At an early period of his residence he engaged in milling and distilling and accumulated a large property. As an active magistrate and colonel in the volunteer militia, as well as private gentleman of large means, he exercised a large influence in the locality. Two sons survive him, both highly respectable gentlemen -- one Smith Barnum, ex-warden if the United Counties, and James who occupies the old homestead, about a mile west of Grafton on the Kingston road.
There is a Surrogate Court record for him in Halidimand dated 1877 which might possibly indicate the presence of a will.
The house built by Eliakim Barnum in 1817 to replace the log house burned during the War of 1812 is considered to be one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture in the area. The frame house, built entirely of white pine, is now the Barnum House Museum, furnished as the home would have been at about the time of its construction.
A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family Worldwide
AncientFaces - Family History Photos
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