A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname
In the 1900 US Census for District 36, Moro, Sherman County, Oregon Ladru Barnum and two siblings were enumerated as follows:
Dwelling #24; Family #25
Barnum, Dru; Head; W; M; May 1877; 23; Single; b. Oregon; Father's birthplace unknown; Mother b. Oregon; Salesman; Employed full census year; Can read, write and speak English; Owns non-farm home free of mortgage
Barnum, Ora; Sister; W; F; b. July 1882; 17; Single; b. Oregon; Father's birthplace unknown; Mother b. Oregon; Can read, write and speak English
Barnum, A. H.; Brother; W; M; b. June 1878; 21; Single; b. Oregon; Father's birthplace unknown; Mother b. Oregon; Can read, write and speak English; Farm laborer; Employed full census year; Can read, write and speak English; Owns farm home free of mortgage; Farm Schedule 2
In the 1930 US Census for District 31, The Dalles, Wasco County, Oregon the family of ladru Barnum was enumerated as follows:
Dwelling #27; Family #40
Barnum, Ladru; Head; Owns non-farm home valued at $10,000; Owns radio set; M; W; 52; Married 23 years; Can read and write; b. Oregon; Father's birtplace unknown; Mother b. Oregon; Can speak English; President; Bank; Wage earner; At work previous day; Non-veteran
Barnum, May C.; Wife; F; W; 48; Married 18 years; Can read and write; b. Ohio; Father b. Pennsylvania; Mother b. Ohio; Can speak English; No occupation
Crosfield, Mary; Daughter-in-law; F; W; 29; Married 21 years [sic]; Can read and write; b. Oregon; Father b. Pennsylvania; Mother b. Ohio; Can speak English; No occupation
Crosfield, Norton L.; Nephew; M; W; 7; Single; Attended school during the census year; b. Oregon; Both parents b. Oregon; Can speak English; No occupation
From Lockley, Fred. History of the Columbia River Valley, From The Dalles to the Sea. Vol. 2. S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1928. p. 33: A product of Wasco county, Ladru Barnum has progressed with its development, giving his best efforts to every task that he has undertaken, and is now a forceful figure in financial circles of The Dalles, representing the First National Bank in an official capacity. He was born in 1877 in Moro and at that time Wasco, the "largest county in the world," as it was called, comprised in its area what is now Sherman county. His father, Henry Barnum, was a native of New York state and in his youth yielded to the lure of the west, sailing around Cape Horn. He came to this region when eastern Oregon was one great cattle range, unfenced for hundreds of miles. He filed on a homestead in Wasco county, becoming the owner of the land on which the town of Moro was afterward built. There he spent the remainder of his life, raising cattle and horses on an extensive scale, and his homestead is now the state and federal demonstration farm for eastern Oregon. Mr. Barnum was a broad-minded man of generous impulses and in his will provided for the maintenance of a school. For each of his children who a pupil at this school the district was to receive a bonus of seventy-five dollars per annum, provided he or she attended during three months of the school year. Mr. Barnum attained the full measure of success and in 1884 death terminated his useful and upright career. His widow, Mrs. Elmira (Masicker) Barnum, was born in Yamhill county, Oregon, and passed away in 1923. They were the parents of four children: E. E., a resident of The Dalles and one of the large wheat growers of this part of the state: Ladru; A. H., a breeder of registered Hereford cattle and one of the leading stockmen of Sherman county; and Mrs. Ora M. Peetz, whose husband is county commissioner and maintains his home in Moro.
Ladru Barnum attended the school established by his father and rode the range until he reached the age of twenty, becoming thoroughly familiar with the details of stock raising. When about sixteen he took part in the Moro rodeo, wearing chaps and riding wild steers, but the life of a cowboy was not to his liking and he determined to fit himself for a commercial career. He completed a course in the Portland Business College and for six months was a clerk in a general store in Klondike, Sherman county. Afterward he was employed in a similar capacity by the Moro Mercantile Company and in 1900 entered the service of the Wasco Warehouse & Milling Company of Moro as grain buyer, or chief field man. For twenty years he filled that important position, traveling throughout eastern Oregon and in addition he acted as manager of the bank operated by the company in Moro, assuming the duties of the latter office in 1903. Reared on a ranch, he has never lost his interest in agricultural matters and in 1912 was the prime mover in securing for the farmers of Sherman county a loan which saved them from what at one time looked like ruin, the amount obtained from eastern sources for that purpose being nearly three-quarters of a million dollars. On March 6, 1919, he came to The Dalles and has since been vice president and general manager of the First National Bank. Mr. Barnum has aided materially in making this one of the strongest and most important financial institutions of Oregon and is also vice president of the Bank of Moro, a director of the Bank of Wasco and of the Eastern Oregon Banking Company of Shaniko.
Mr. Barnum was married June 30, 1900, in Moro to Miss May Kunsman, a native of Ohio and a daughter of John and Mary Kunsman, both of whom passed away in Oregon. Their younger children, Roy and Mary Kunsman, were reared by Mr. Barnum and carefully nurtured. Roy is engaged in business at Arlington, Oregon, and has a wife and one child, Barbara May. Mary is now Mrs. Newton, Crosfield, of Wasco, Oregon, and has a son, Newton Ladru.
During the World war Mr. Barnum was head of the local Red Cross organization and food administrator for his county. He was chairman of every bond and stamp drive in Sherman county and also participated in the campaigns promulgated by the Young Men's Christian Association. For a considerable period he was chairman of the republican county committee of Sherman county and for seventeen years was its representative on the republican state central committee. While a resident of Moro he was a school director for eight years and also filled the offices of councilman and mayor. For four terms he was president of The Dalles Chamber of Commerce and acted as district trustee of the local Kiwanis Club for a similar length of time. He is also a member of The Dalles Golf & Country Club and a Knight Templar Mason, holding the thirty-second degree in that order. In the blue lodge he is past master and is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He has been through all of the chairs in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is likewise connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and is a past patron of the Eastern Star. His wife belongs to the last named order, is past worthy matron and was active in the Grand Chapter. Enterprising, broad-minded and unselfish, Mr. Barnum has demonstrated his public spirit by actual achievements for the general good and the rules which govern his life are such as constitute the basis of all honorable and desirable prosperity.
Answers to Questions Concerning Pioneer History of Moro. Answered by Ladru Barnum, Who as a Boy Witnessed the Start of Moro and Assisted in It's Growth.
Addressed to: Mr. C.L. Ireland, Moro, Oregon. Editor, Sherman County Observer.
In your paper of Friday, January 6th, under the heading "Who Can Answer" put out by the Moro Woman's Club I submit the following answers:
Where did Moro get its name? The name was chosen in our dining room in 1881 or 1882. There were present John Fox, John Scott, Owen Scott, Henry McBride, his sister Mrs. Bounds, Miss Mellissa Hampton, my mother and we children. Names, as I remember it, were reduced to three, the three selected were then put into a hat and Miss Hampton was allowed to draw one. The first one drawn was Moro. This name was put into the hat by Mr. Fox. It was the name of the town in the county in Illinois where he came from.
Who built the first house in Moro and in what year? My father, Henry Barnum, built in the year '70, '71 or '72. It is the present home of Arthur Phillips.
Name five of the oldest settlers. C.C. Masiker, Colonel Fulton, Henry Barnum, John Leonard and Pat Fennagan. There were many other settlers who came within two or three years of one another so there might be a wide difference of opinion as to which five should be classed as the oldest without going into exact dates.
Where was the first flour mill in Moro? Where the Farmers' Elevator now stands. Built by the W.E. Getz Milling Company, was erected in 1901-2. It was a stock company and all of us who subscribed lost our money. This was the first loss I ever sustained over $100. I lost $350 in this as an original subscription. I made a trade with N.W. Thompson for a subscription he had made and lost this also.
Who owned the first piano in Moro? My guess is John B. Mowry. – (Editor's note – A number of the older residents of Moro credit ownership of the first piano to Mr Barnum's own mother; a large square piano for several years in the parlor of a hotel owned and built by her. This same piano was part of the property sold by Wm Walker when he sold his interest in the new concrete Hotel Moro managership).
Who owned the first phonograph in Moro? The first phonograph in Moro was owned by Clyde Williams and Cal Vandervort. It was connected up with ear tubes and the price for admission was 10 cents or three tunes for a quarter. Among the tunes played were "A Hot Time In the Old Town Tonight," "On the Sidewalks of New York" and a political speech by some noted author, this last was very comical. They toured Central Oregon visiting Antelope, Burns, Prineville, Lake View and other interior towns. They made this trip by team and buggy. The team they used was sold to C.L. Ireland and many of the old timers remember this little span of bay mares. I have driven them myself. They carried the newspapers thru-out the southern portion of the county which distributed the arguments which helped to locate the county seat in Moro.
Who owned the first automobile in Moro? If you have reference to a person living directly in the town, I, Ladru Barnum, was the first owner. If you have reference to the community O.L. Belshe. The Belshe machine was purchased on June 12, 1907 and I received my machine on July 17th. Wm. Rudolph was the owner of the machine who used to drive up to the curb and shout "Whoa."
World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family Worldwide
AncientFaces - Family History Photos
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