Durham Saga #3 – John Harrison Durham

John Harrison Durham came into the world (16 Sept 1808) on his parents (John J and Celia Bonham) farm near Perryville, Kentucky and passed away right here in Montgomery County 3 May 1875. John first married Mary Miller Fields (daughter of Henry Fields and Susan Ripperdan – John Durham 1982 history) 29 Oct 1834 and they were parents of five children (Henry Clay; John Wyatt; Susan Ann; Mary F and James W).

Henry Clay I have never been able to find. Funny, I’ve not found him in years and just did but still quite shy of saying I know anything at all about him but did discover his birth was April 2, 1836, and he married Theissa Vencill.

John Wyatt was of course born here but moved to Eel River Township where he owned a farm and was a large stock raiser. Three days before Christmas (1865) John Wyatt married Lee Ann Tucker and they raised 7 children, six being sons, Charles Omer, Frank Colburn, John Lee, Clarence Stanley, Harry Clay, Thomas Glenn and Mary Fields Durham who all lived long happy lives. A couple of these were quite notable, Frank being an attorney (example) in Chicago and Indianapolis. Most of the sons were described as medium height, medium build and gray eyes. John Wyatt and Lee Ann are buried in the IOOF Cemetery in Jamestown.

Susan Ann Durham (25 Feb 1841 – 22 March 1926) married here William Harvey Greene. Three children: Joe, Sallie and Harry and this family moved to Dearborn County, Indiana.

Mary F. Durham (10 April 1843) was born and married here (Gabriel Adams) but they moved to Geary County, Kansas. As far as I know they had just one child, Delia who passed before her parents.

James W. Durham (22 April 1846 MoCo) married twice – on Christmas Eve 1867 in Mo Co to Elvira Cowan and two children were born: Emmett and Mary. She passed 11 Feb 1877. He married Emma Reddish and they had Lulu and Harry. This family farmed in Brown Township but moved to Jasper, Iowa where James was a carpenter.

Upon John Harrison’s first wife’s death he married (28 Oct 1847) Sarah A. Stubbins (born 23 Aug 1823 Cass County KY died 6 Aug 1888 – they are buried together at Maple Ridge in Waveland) daughter of John Stubbins and wife, Nancy Gott. This couple added nine children to JH’s tally making that a total of 14. Silas their first son was the only one who did not reach adulthood born about 1852 and passing before the 1860 census. Cecelia their oldest was born lacking a few days of a year later. She remained in Waveland, and married William Fordice. They had two daughters, Myrtle and Lula. Myrtle married one of Waveland’s all-time favorites, Dr. Thomas Zopher Ball and they had two sons, Thomas Z and Donald.

Martha Jane was born on the family farm near Waveland 10 March 1850, married Rufus Smith Abbott (children were: Harry Durham and Irvin Walker Abbott). Martha passed away July 27, 1918 from a broken hip and pneumonia. She is buried at Mt. Tabor Cemetery, Aurora, Indiana. Interesting to note that Irvin Walker was a fur buyer at Marshall Fields in Chicago and Harry a farmer and dog trainer.

Sarah Dorcas was born Dec 28, 1854 at the family home and was a life-long Methodist. Quiet and quite reserved, she did many acts of kindness no one knew about.

Emma Josephine was born May 10, 1855 and passed away in July 1938 at her home in New Market. She married Joe Burford and as far as I know they had only one son, Clarence VanNuys Burford. Clarence lived with his parents for decades farming with his father. When he was 55 he married Flavia Lydick and they were married over 25 years before his death. Flavia had first married Ary Bayless and had two children: Audrey and Charlie. She and Clarence of course had no children. She is buried with Ary and Clarence with his parents.

Samuel Wakefield Durham was born the day before Valentines in 1857 on the Durham homestead and spent his whole life there passing away 13 Dec 1942. Although he farmed, he had a frail constitution and was quite sick for several weeks before passing. Not married, no children.

Like her sister Sarah and her brother, Samuel Wakefield, Nancy Belle Durham never married (10 Dec 1858 – 23 July 1937) but was a devoted professional nurse for many years until she had an accident and was an invalid the last few years of her life. She too is buried at Maple Ridge cemetery.

Charles Stubbins Durham is my sister-in-law’s direct line and he farmed in Howard Township, Parke County. Sadly, his first marriage in June 1881 lasted less than a year when Lizzie Belle Reddish Durham passed away on April fool’s day. He remarried three years later to Henrietta Norcross (10 Aug 1864 – 14 March 1934) who was called Etta. They were parents of nine children (Fleta; Guy Wakefield; Claude; Tom; Margaret; Bonnie; Fred; Lucy) all growing to adulthood but their last, Ruth (1905-1907).

Harry Morton (4 Jan 1864 – 10 Dec 1938) was born on the Durham farm and died there as well. Never marrying, he farmed and was head of the household with sisters Nancy and Dorcas plus brother Samuel living with him for many years. After a cerebral hemorrhage in February, he was sick for quite sometime before passing with heart disease. He too is buried at Maple Ridge with most of his family, all with similar stones.

The Durhams were almost all Methodists and either Republicans or Independent voters. They all worked for their communities and supported each other in all aspects of their lives. Nifty family – stay tuned for next week’s last Durham Saga (believe me there could have been much more but these are the four connected to MoCo and most are buried in the Maple Ridge Cemetery – thanks so much for the wonderful Sue P. for this photo)!

Karen Zach is the editor of Montgomery Memories, our monthly magazine all about Montgomery County. Her column, Around the County, appears each Thursday in The Paper of Montgomery County. You can reach her at [email protected].