William Gorham

(c1775 – 1837)

 

Although he is on the 1800 tax list, I didn’t find William Gorham in the 1810 census.  He may have been in adjacent Robertson County, Tennessee whose 1810 census is lost.  By 1820 he is in the Logan County census with nine young children and five slaves. In 1830 he has four male and two female children still at home and his son Alexander is adjacent. He has 14 slaves in 1830. 

 

His first appearance is in the 1800 tax list.  On 14 August 1805, he bought 100 acres near the Tennessee state line from his brother-in-law Abner Clark, with his brothers Joshua and Thomas Gorham as witnesses.[1]  He sold this land on 19 January 1807[2] and on the following day his father deeded him 181 acres for $1.[3]   He also patented 200 acres in 1807 which he and his wife Nancy sold in 1809.[4]  He was administrator of his father Thomas Gorham and later of his mother (see Thomas Gorham file).  In the process, he acquired another 94 acres granted to his father, which he and Nancy sold on 4 March 1815.[5]  In addition to other properties, William Gorham also bought the adjoining land of his brothers Joshua and Thomas, and of his brother-in-law Thomas Riggs.[6]

 

William Gorham was alive as late as 4 January 1837 when he made the last of five deeds of gift to his eldest children.[7]  He died intestate within a few months, sometime in early 1837.  The inventory and appraisal were dated 6 June 1837 by Elijah Gorham, administrator.[8]  A division of the land was dated 14 June 1837.[9]  The widow received a dower interest of 104 acres, and a total of 398 acres was split among three heirs “who had received no land from dec’d. in his lifetime.”  Those three were Jackson Gorham, Martha Gorham, and William Traughber in right of his wife, formerly Permelia Gorham.  William Gorham had earlier deeded modest tracts of roughly 150 acres each to Elijah, Alexander, Shelby, and William Gorham Jr., and to Robert Murray (husband of Rachel Gorham) for $1. 

 

These eight persons were the only heirs, as the interest in the dower land and slaves was also split eight ways.  All eight of the heirs are mentioned in a series of deeds confirming the land division.[10]  The eight are also mentioned in a deed in which six of the heirs sold their interests in the dower land to their sister Martha Gorham on 8 July 1837.[11] 

 

William Gorham’s widow, Nancy, is listed in the 1840 Logan County census as age 40-50, consecutive with several of the children.  The slaves owned by William Gorham had obviously been distributed, as Elijah (6), Alexander (2), Nancy (5), Shelby (3), and William Jr. (3) were all shown with slaves.  The only Gorham in Logan County who was not a member of this family is Henry S. Gorham.  Nancy Gorham is in the 1850 census of Logan County two doors away from Elijah Gorham.  She is age 63, born in North Carolina.  In 1860 she is aged 72, with son William in the household and Elijah and Alexander in neighboring households.  It seems likely that Nancy’s age is understated in the 1850 and 1860 censuses. 

 

Whether or not Nancy is the mother of all of the children is unknown.  Her maiden name is also a mystery.  It was reported to me in 1979 by a correspondent that a “Gorham Family File” in the Kentucky State Archives names her as “Nancy Darrington”.   I was unable to find that file the following year (or ever, for that matter), so I don’t know the original source of the information.  I am unable to find any likely candidates in either Kentucky or Tennessee.  It is possible that the son Shelby Gorham’s name is a clue, although he could have been named for an unrelated person.

 

The eight children are identified by the several deeds mentioned above.  It appears that one other daughter died in childhood between the 1820 and 1830 censuses.  I didn’t attempt to track the children who left the area, or the others past 1860, except for Permelia Gorham.

 

1.      Elijah Gorham (c1801 – aft1860)   Elijah first appears in 1825 buying land.[12]  He sold the land on 8 January 1833.[13]  That same day, William Gorham Sr. sold 147 acres to Elijah Gorham for $1.[14]  Elijah married Elizabeth Neel on 6 February 1837.[15]  He is in the 1840 census of Logan County with three children, all males.  In 1850 he is listed as age 49, with Elizabeth (age 30) and six children:  Harvy T. (13), Volney (11), Benjamin F. (9), Nancy (7), John B. (5), and Martha (2).  In 1860, Elijah is 58, Elizabeth is 40, and three children have been added:  Harvy (22), Volney (21), Benjamin (19), Nancy (19), John (15). Martha (13), Mary (11), Sarah (5), and Lucy (6/12).  I didn’t attempt to track him after 1860, but his wife and five children are buried in the New Whippoorwill Baptist Church Cemetery in Logan County.

2.      Permelia Gorham (c1805 - c1846)  She married William Traughber in 1822.  See separate page for details.

3.      Alexander Gorham  (23 March 1807 – aft1860)  He is apparently the same Alexander Gorham listed on the 1830 Logan County census adjacent to William Gorham, with a wife and one female under 5.  He married Mary Price by license dated 5 November 1827.[16]  On 19 September 1835 William Gorham sold Alexander Gorham 124 acres for $1.[17]  In 1840, he is adjacent to his mother.  He is still listed as aged 20-30, has no wife in the household, and has a single male under 5 and a female 5-10 in the household.  I did not find him in 1850, but the 1860 census shows him, age 54, as the sole member of his household located next to his mother Nancy.  If he had children, I an unable to identify them.  His gravestone in the Old Red River Meeting House near Adairville, Logan County gives his date of birth as 23 March 1807.  The death date is unreadable, but seems likely to have been in the 1860s.

4.      William Gorham  (c1808? – aft1860)  On 8 January 1833 William Gorham Sr. sold 151 acres to William Gorham Jr. for $1.[18]  William appears consecutive with his mother and brothers in the 1840 census of Logan County as the sole member of his household, age 30-40.  He appears several times in Logan County records, the last I found being a reference to his land in 1845.[19]  In 1860, William Gorham, age 52, is living with his mother Nancy.  There is no marriage record for him.  (Note that there is a William C. Gorham whose estate was settled by Michael Gilbert on 30 January 1849, but I doubt that was him.[20])

5.      Shelby Gorham  (c1812 – 1860s?)  His name may be a clue to his mother’s maiden name.  Another possibility is that he may have been named after Isaac Shelby, the first Governor of Kentucky.  (The fact that Evan Shelby witnessed one of his deeds is intriguing.)  His wife’s maiden name is unknown, but her name was Mary Ann.  He appears in the 1840 census of Logan County adjacent to his mother and brothers (age 20-30) with three male children.  The 1850 census shows him as age 37, with wife Mary A., and several children:  William T. (16), John T. (14), Shelby R. (12), Mary J. (9), Martha (5), and ___ Taylor (1).  In 1860 he is listed as a hotel keeper, age 49, with Mary and children John T. (23), Zachariah (11), and Susan (15).  An 1860 deed by John T. Gorham identifies his mother as Mary Ann Gorham, wife of Shelby Gorham.[21]  Shelby’s wife remarried in 1868, so he evidently died sometime in the 1860s.

6.      Rachel Gorham  (c1815 – aft1880)  Rachel and Martha had to have been the two females under 10 in the 1820 household, and the two females 10-15 in the 1830 household, thus both born 1815-20.  Which was the elder, I don’t know.  She married Robert Murray by license dated 2 September 1833 with the consent of her father.[22]  Her husband is identified in the deeds surrounding the William Gorham estate as “Robert J. M. Murrah” (sometimes Murray).   They are in the 1850-1870 Logan County census living in Adairville (she aged 33, 45, and 55) with children named Pamelia Murrah, Mary Murrah, Lucy Murrah, Nancy Murrah, and a son named Frances B. Murrah.  Her husband apparently died by 1880, for Rachel (age 65) was head of household in 1880.

7.      Martha Gorham  (c1816 - ?)  Martha’s birth date is a guess (see above) from census records and from the fact that she was of age at her marriage.  She was unmarried when she bought the estate interests of several of her siblings in 1937.  She married John D. Freeman by bond dated 15 March 1838 (returned 20 March).[23]  On 9 March 1849, John D. P. Freeman and his wife Martha, of St. Genevieve County, Missouri, sold their interest in the estate of Nancy Gorham.[24]

8.      Jackson Gorham  (c1813 - ?)  Jackson is probably one of the males under 10 in the 1820 census and one of the two males 10-15 in 1830.  (If he were named for Andrew Jackson, he would presumably have been born after Jackson became a national hero in late 1812.)  He was living in Logan County on 14 June 1837 when he was deeded land by the other heirs of William Gorham[25] but moved to Missouri within a year.  He sold both his interest in the dower land and his own inherited land to Shelby Gorham on 29 October 1838, as a resident of Cape Girardeau, Missouri.[26]  In both deeds, his wife Eliza released dower.  I did not find him in Missouri, and Cape Girardeau records are destroyed.  Since Cape Girardeau is on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River, he could have gone several directions from there.  I’d also note the possibility that he may have gone by “Andrew” or some other name if Jackson was actually his middle name.