A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname
Thomas was born to a slave who was owned by Francis Davis. Her name is not known. Davis had owned her for about a year, having purchased her and her two children at the estate sale of his father-in-law, George Garey. The name of Thomas's father is also unknown.
Originally, slaves had no surnames and did not assume one unless it was needed for some type of documentation or to define legal status. The Deed of Manumission freeing Thomas gives his name as Thomas Bonham but does not provide any clue as to the origin of that surname. The problem is exacerbated by the appearance of the alternate spellings Bonum, Bannen, Brannan, and Barnum in later census documents. The last of these spellings was eventually standardized and is in general use by his descendants.
US Federal Censuses for Maryland in 1820, 1830, 1840, and 1850 all enumerate Francis Davis as the owner of slaves whose gender, age and status of esclavitud correspond with Thomas and his mother.
At his death in 1813, George Garey owned five slaves. His will stated that two were to go to his widow. They were a man named John and a woman named Hannah. An unnamed female slave and her two children were to be sold. She was Thomas' mother.
In the 1820 census, when Thomas would have been six years old, Francis Davis was listed as owning three slaves. They were a boy and a girl under 14 years old and a woman between 14 and 26. She was almost certainly the mother of Thomas.
At the death of Francis, the ownership of the three slaves passed to his widow, Eve Abigail Davis. The Inventory of Francis' estate, dated 1 December 1821, listed Thomas as a Negro Boy valued at $165.
While wrestling with a friend during the year 1829, Thomas suffered an injury to an ankle that left him lame for the remainder of his life.
In 1830, Thomas entered an agreement with Josiah Davis, the son of his owner, Eve Abigail Davis. Josiah was 22 and managing the Davis farm, Thomas was 16, and they had grown up together. Josiah would give Thomas him a path to freedom if he would do the physical work on the farm while Josiah managed it.
In July of 1843, Josiah Davis purchased from his mother, Eve Abigail Davis, Thomas's children Charles and William and their mother, for $600. When Josiah died in 1850, it was revealed that he had never paid the agreed purchase price.
In March of 1844 Thomas was charged with running away but was found innocent.
On 28 December 1847 Thomas became a free man, when his Deed of Manumission wa registered in Washington County, Maryland. He was listed as 5 feet, 1-1/2 inches tall, rather slender built, of a yellow or copper color, and with a small scar on his forehead.
On 1 December 1849, Thomas bought three acres of property from Rosana Handy for $61.
On 18 August 1850 Josiah Davis died and his mother, Eliza McCauley Davis, became the owner of Thomas´s family. Although he had been free for several years, Thomas agreed to stay on as farm manager and to care for his family, who were all still enslaved.
On 1 November 1850, Thomas bought his wife and children in a special agreement with Eliza Davis. He paid her $450. At the same time, bought two horses, a cow, and farming equipment. One of the horses was shown as an eight-year-old bay mare named Bolt.
On 16 May 1853, Thomas's sons Charles M. and William H. Barnum received their freedom.
On 12 March 1856, Thomas bought at auction two plows from Daniel Middlekauf for $1.50. At the same auction four slaves are sold. His former owner's wife, Eliza Davis, bought Margaret Sewell for $300.
About 1856, Thomas rented the David Coffman farm, just west of the Davis farm and began to work it. When Thomas left his job as manager of the Davis farm, the youngest two Davis boys would run the farm with the help of Dennis Lewis as a substitute for Thomas.
On 20 September 1862, shortly after the battle of Antietam, the Union Army entered the area and took over several farms, Thomas's among them.
In October, 1862, Thomas filed a damage claim with the government. All his crops had been destroyed to feed the horses of the Union soldiers, and they had slaughtered 18 pigs, 9 calves, and 16 sheep to feed themselves.
Thomas's wife Maria Williams died about 1862, in Washington County, Maryland. Since Thomas's son Stewart was born in 1862, it seems logical to assume that she may have died giving birth to him.
Shortly after the death of Maria, Thomas married Caroline Curtis, probably in 1863. Their son Richard Harry Curtis Barnum was born in November 1864.
On 19 December 1867, Thomas sold to Samuel Boyer, for $400, the three acres of land that he had purchased from Rosana Handy on 1 December 1849 for $61.
In 1868, Thomas's daughter Mary Elizabeth was born in Williamsport.
On 1 March 1870, payment came due on a debt of $272.30 owed to Thomas. Samuel Williams, an 86-year-old black man who lived near Funkstown, had borrowed the money from Thomas and was unable to repay the loan. Thomas had the right to seized Samuel's property, but he chose to be generous and extend the period of the loan. He was finally paid in 1883.
In the 1870 US Federal Census, Thomas was living in District 2, Washington, Maryland. The nearest Post Office was listed as Williamsport.
About 1871, Thomas's daughter Caroline May was born in Williamsport.
On 7 December 1872, Thomas agreed to act as guarantor for his friend Dennis Lewis. Dennis, who had also been a slave of the Davises, had borrowed money from four individuals and was unable to repay them.
On 14 November 1873, Thomas's son John Ross Barnum was born in Williamsport.
On 23 April 1878, Thomas bought his own farm near Downsville, Washington, Maryland. Recorded in Washington County Maryland Land Records, Deeds - Book 76, Page 666 records is his purchase of 80 acres for $2,000.
Thomas was enumerated In Williamsport in the 1880 US Federal Census.
Thomas's son Charles M. Barnum died on 26, March 1887.
On 6 November 1889 a fire of unknown origin destroyed the barn on Thomas's farm, together with a wagon shed, corn crib, hog pen, about 25 tons of hay, 500 bushels of wheat, 40 bushels of oats, 200 barrels of corn and all his farming implements and harness. The loss was partially insured. In The Herald and Torch Light (Hagerstown) issue of 21 November, Thomas expressed thanks to his white friends, who rendered him great assistance in the time of his trouble.
Thomas died on 13 April 1895, at the age of 80. His obituary was published in the April 18 edition of The Herald and Torch Light (Hagerstown).
A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family Worldwide
AncientFaces - Family History Photos
©1998, 2022. The format of this website and all original statements and narrative included on it are copyrighted and all rights are reserved. Factual information may be freely quoted for use in private genealogical research when accompanied by a full source citation, including the date of acquisition. Click here to view the format of a citation for an Internet resource. The publication of large extracts from this site in any form requires prior written consent.
Page built by Gedpage Version 2.21 ©2009 on 02 September 2024