A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname
From the History of Ingham and Eaton Counties, Michigan, by Samuel W Durant, 1880: Among the children of Mr. and Mrs. Peter C. Van Houten were twins, one of whom was the subject of this biography [Racheal Van Houten]. Her early life was passed amid the duties of a farmer's home, and was uneventful in its character until the age of nineteen, when her marriage to Willis Barnum of Roxand, Eaton Co., occurred, the auspicious year having been 1838. Mr. Barnum, whose birthplace was Massachusetts, was one of the early pioneers of his adopted township, and actively identified with its first settlement. To them were born four children, none of whom now survives [1880]. Two of these children were twins, making the third generation of twins, —a remarkable phenomenon. Mrs. Barnum was on June 20, 1860, left a widow, and in 1863 married Mr. John W. Welch, of Vermont, who was the son of John and Emily Esther Welch, and born in 1827, in Vermont. His life from boyhood was one of toil and hardship, with little to brighten the path of rugged labor. On his arrival in Michigan he spent several years in the pine-woods. One son blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Welch, who is still living. Mrs. Welch is and active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and manifests the same zeal in her religious duties which she observes in her domestic relations. She is generous and hospitable, a kind neighbor, and a most useful citizen.
In the 1860 US Census for Sunfield, Eaton County, Michigan the family of Rachael Barnum was enumerated as follows:
Dwelling #1459; Family #1437
Rachel Barnum, 36, F, Real property $5,000, Personal property $3,712, b. New Jersey
Dwight Barnum, 16, M, Farmer, b. Michigan
Watson Barnum, 14, M, b. Michigan
Helena Barnum, 8, F, b. Michigan
Hester Barnum, 8, F, b. Michigan
This dwelling was shared with the family of William Sackett, 39, farmer. Living one house away was the family of Betsey Barnum. Betsey's husband Daniel and Rachel's husband Willis (both deceased) had been brothers. Both families contained sets of twins, an apparent genetic trait of that line of descent.
A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family Worldwide
AncientFaces - Family History Photos
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