James Ham (abt. 1760 - 1834)

Born about 1760 in Amherst , Colony of Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Mourning (Burford) Ham — married 18 Dec 1787 in Amherst, Virginia, United States

Husband of Nancy (Crews) Ham — married 20 Feb 1796 in Amherst, Virginia, United States

Husband of Margaret (Tinsley) Ham — married 24 Jul 1802 in Amherst, Virginia, United States

Husband of Elizabeth (Goff) Ham — married 31 Jan 1809 in Amherst, Virginia, United States

Descendants

Died 31 Aug 1834 at about age 74 in Madison, Alabama, United States

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Biography

James Ham died intestate and the date of death of 31 August 1834 is mentioned in the estate case papers.

James A. Sanderson, Bowling Green, Mo., writing in 1905 said: "The Ham family was raised in Alabama. Mr. Ham, wife and their children came to Va. on account of Mrs. Ham's health. He left his plantation and negroes in the care of an overseer and settled in the mountains near Lynchburg, Va. His two daughters married John and Austin Smith. Meckey or Mecha married John, and Catherine married Austin. The mother died. Mr. Ham and his son Yancey went back to Alabama. Yancey died before he married. Mr. Ham married again and his wife had four children. He died sometime about 1840, leaving a will giving all his property to the last four children. John Smith went to see about their interests and found a will in favor of the four children by his last wife. He employed counsel and brought suit for an equal division, or to break the will, and it was broken and an equal division of the land was made between the six children and the negroes were divided. The money was not in sight. He was said to have been a very wealthy man. Mrs. Ham's maiden name was Yancey, related to the Yanceys of the South. Her father was doubtless in the Revolutionary War. I have no dates of their births or deaths, except John Smith's wife, Mecha, and that was taken from grave stones.
Mrs. Mattie Smith, daughter of Andrew Jackson Smith, relates that John and Austin Smith met the Ham sisters while the latter were spending the summer at some springs in Virginia.^[1]

Marriages

James Ham (bachelor) married Mourning Burford (spinster) on 18 December 1787 in Amherst, Virginia. Consent of his father, Stephen Ham. Consent of her father, John Burford. John Ham was bondsman.^[2]

James Ham married Nancy Crews 20 February 1796 in Amherst, Virginia. Consent of her father, James Crews. Lewis Crews was bondsman.^[2]

James Hamm married Peggy Tinsley on 24 July 1802 in Amherst, Virginia, United States.^[3]

James Hamm married Elizabeth Burford on 31 January 1809 in Amherst, Virginia, United States.^[4]

Family

Estate of Elizabeth Ham - wife of James Ham
5 January 1848
Madison, Alabama, United States
Legatees:
son: James R Ham
son: Mansfield Ham (now deceased)
daughter: Cleopatra Clayton wife of John A. Clayton
son: Philip Buford (from previous husband)

Probate

All of the below are sourced from the same probate file ^[5] Estate of James Ham - Letters of Administration
20 October 1834
Madison, Alabama, United States
issued to James R Ham and Graves W. Bouldin

Estate of James Ham - Petition to Divide Slaves
27 January 1835
Madison, Alabama, United States
William Ham, Russell Ham and Willis Davidson of behalf of his wife Nancy D (Ham) petitioned for the administrator of the estate to show cause why the slaves should not be divided.

Estate of James Ham - Petition to Divide Slaves Denied
27 March 1835
Madison, Alabama, United States
William Ham, Russell Ham and Willis Davidson ordered to pay costs.

Estate of James Ham - Appraisal
29 April 1835
Madison, Alabama, United States
Inventory ,appraisal & sale of perishable property, accounting of the renting of the land and slaves, and inventory and accounting of notes

Estate of James Ham - Petition to sell lands
2 November 1835
Madison, Alabama, United States
James R Ham petitioned to sell the lands - 560 acres in Madison and 160 acres in Lineston
named as non-resident heirs of James Ham:
John Smith and his wife Micha (Ham)
Elizabeth H. Smith, William H. Smith, Robert Y. Smith, James M. Smith and Catherine E. Smith children and heirs of Sally Smith (Ham) deceased
Charles Love and his wife Rodah (Ham)
appointed Richard B Prdon as guardian pendente of Robert Y. Smith, James M. Smith and Catherine E. Smith and of Cleopatra A.R Ham infant heirs of said James Ham
named as resident heirs:
William Ham
Russell Ham
and Willis Davidson and his wife Nancy (Ham)

Estate of James Ham - Petition for division of slaves
11 January 1836
Madison, Alabama, United States
Mansfield Ham (one of the children of James Ham) petitioned for the division of slaves. James R Ham and W. Graves Bouldin assented. Commissioners appointed to divide.

Estate of James Ham - Report of division of slaves
19 September 1836
Madison, Alabama, United States

Estate of James Ham - Order to sell lands
20 September 1836
Madison, Alabama, United States

Location of heirs mentioned in case
Micha Smith formerly Micha Hamm, the wife of John Smith of Bedford County, Virginia
Rhoda Love, the wife of Charles Love, of Rutherford County, Tennessee
William Hamm, Russell Hamm and Nancy Davidson, wife of Willis Davidson - Limestone County, Alabama
James R. Ham (one of the administrators)
Cleopatra A.R. Ham (under legal age)
Sally Smith, who was the wife of Austin Smith (also deceased), deceased leaving five children - Elizabeth M. Smith, William S Smith, Robert G Smith (under legal age), James Smith (under legal age) and Catherine E Smith (under legal age) of Campbell County, Virginia

Citation issued to James R Ham as administrator of James Ham
18 January 1839
Madison, Alabama, United States
Plaintiff is Willis Davidson & wife

Sources

1. ↑ Cloyd, A. D. 1912. Genealogy of the Cloyd, Basye and Tapp families in America: with brief sketches referring to the families of Ingels, Jones, Marshall and Smith.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Sweeny, William Montgomery, and Lenora Higginbotham Sweeny. 1999. Marriage bonds and other marriage records of Amherst County, Virginia, 1763-1800 / Marriage records of Amherst County, Virginia, 1815-1821 and subscription for building St. Mark's Church, Amherst County, Virginia / by Lenora Higginbotham Sweeny. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Pub. Co.
3. ↑ Marriage: "Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940"
   citing FHL microfilm: 30273; Record number: 496;
   FamilySearch Record: XRDN-NYG (accessed 28 December 2022)
4. ↑ Marriage: "Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940"
   citing FHL microfilm: 30273; Record number: 132;
   FamilySearch Record: XRQ2-5WY (accessed 7 August 2022)
5. ↑ Probate: "Alabama, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1753-1999"
   Alabama, Madison County, Probate Records; Author: Alabama. Probate Court (Madison County); Probate Place: Madison, Alabama
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8799 #9740366 (accessed 24 January 2022)
   James Ham probate.

See also:

• "Virginia, Marriages, 1785-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XR77-3LS : accessed 3 October 2015), James Ham and Mourning Burford, 18 Dec 1787; citing Amherst County, Virginia, reference P 40; FHL microfilm 30,273.
• http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/l/a/m/John-Lamb/GENE1-0001.html