Milam Family of Hickman Tennessee

Date: 1800 to 1850
Location: Hickman, Tennessee, United States
Surname/tag: Milam

This page is for tracking interesting data about the Milam family.

Contents 1 Jordan Milam 1.1 Birth 1.2 Children 1.2.1 Nancy 1.2.2 Lucinda 1.2.3 Dudley 1.2.4 Bartlett 1.2.5 Twins William Bulford and Thomas W 1.2.6 Edward 1.2.7 Henry 1.2.8 Addition Census Notes 1.2.9 Possibilities

Jordan Milam

Birth

It should be noted that his birth date is disputed. In various christening records and marriage records to Mary Peacock, he is listed as being born in 1764. Some of his later census records, and his Revolutionary War pension record, would suggest that he was born in 1750. For now, we are leaning towards his age being "muddled" by the time he applied for his pension. There may be no way to actually determine which of these dates is correct. It does seem that the man who listed his age as 82 in his pension application in 1832 is the same man who married Mary Peacock in 1792, roughly age 28. If Jordan was indeed born in 1764, he would have been 68 at the time of this pension application. By the time he is listed in the 1850 census, his age has drifted upwards to 105, with a birth year of 1745. The information on birth and christening assume that the Jordan Milam born/christened 1764 is the same Jordan who filed the pension application, and the dates will simply stay in dispute for now.

Children

The following children have possibly been attributed to Jordan Samuel Milam and Mary Ann Peacock, with dates as they currently exist in various genealogies. Lucinda is the biggest "if" in the situation.

1. Samuel James Milam 1793
2. John Belfield Milam 1795
3. Jordan Washington 1797
4. Nancy Milam (who married Thomas Warren) 1799
5. Unknown Infant Girl or Lucinda Milam before 1800 or 1802?
6. Susannah Susan Milam 1805
7. Bartlett Milam 1809
8. William Bluford Milam 1810 ♊
9. Thomas W Milam 1810 ♊
10. Henry C Milam 1812
11. Dudley Milam
12. Edward Milam
13. Nancy Milam 1814 (who married William Byrd)

In the 1836 Hickman County Tax Records, were the following people:

District 7

Jourdin Milum, 1Poll

District 11

Samuel Milum 19 acres, 1 poll

Bartlett Milum 1 poll

James B Milum 1 poll (son of John)

Edward S Milum 1 poll

John Milum 1 poll

Dudley Milum 1 poll

Jourdin W Milum 1 poll

This then assumes that all of these men were over the age of 21, living in Hickman County. In other words, everyone in this list was born before 1815. Important by their absence are Henry, and William Bluford and Thomas W., the twins. We will address this further along in this analysis.

By looking at the censuses from 1800-1840, we get the following picture of the family of Jordan Milam.

Household members reported in Jordan Milam's census records from 1800-1850

The age for Jordan bounces around a bit. Originally, Jordan would have been born sometime after 1751. By 1830 he's listed as born between 1741-1750. In 1840 he is specifically called out as being 90 years old (1750), and in 1850 he is 105 years old, born in 1745.

Some of the children have unusual circumstances, or do not seem to be the ages that are otherwise gleaned from census and grave records, or listed in various family trees and FamilySearch. There should be 13 children according to the census records, assuming they are all children of Jordan and Mary Ann. By 1830, Jordan is listed as at least 80, and has four children in the house under 16. We can say then that he would have fathered his last child at about age 66 or 67. Trying to fit all of his children into the grid above has its challenges! This is to be expected in these census records. "How old were the children?" at any given time seems to be a question with many different answers.

Nancy

There are seemingly two Nancys. One born in 1799, and one born 1814. While it seems unusual that there would be two Nancys, both Nancys have been left in this record, as there are indeed spots in the family for both of them. The younger Nancy, is living with her husband and family in 1850, with Dudley Milam, age 23 living in the household. This looks to be John Belfield's son Dudley. This would make sense, because his mother and two brothers are still in Hickman County, but Dudley is not in any other census. The possibly oddity here is that the second Nancy may have been married previously, or she was not actually a Milam! William Byrd married Nancy Suiter, according to both FamilySearch and FindAGrave. The part of the puzzle that draws us to believe that she has Milam connections, is the fact that a female in the Jordan Milam household in 1820 and 1830 fits her age group, and that Dudley Milam is living with her family in 1850. For now, we will leave her in this location.

Lucinda

A DNA match to a Jordan Milam descendant claims that a Lucinda Milam was born in 1802 in Hickman, Tennessee, USA. She died in 1874 in Aetna, Hickman, Tennessee, USA. The FindAGrave records for Jordan and Mary Ann indicate an "unnamed infant born in 1796". This. makes it sound as though this infant died young. Perhaps even too young to be on the 1800 census. There ARE however two daughters on the 1800 census under age 5. This could be a "lost" infant, or a daughter who grew to adulthood. Lucinda Milam married Cornelius "Neal" Mathis. They have sons named Bluford and Bartlett/Bartley. Her census records show her birth as being between 1802-1804. There is no daughter in this range in the census records for Jordan. However, it is likely that Lucinda was one of the daughters in the 1800 census. We'll have to watch for more information.

Dudley

Dudley has been listed with a birthdate of 1802 or 1810 in various family genealogies. Either of these work for being on the 1836 tax rolls. However, there is a spot in our grid for someone born between 1802-1804, and 1810 is really getting crowded by now. The 1802-1804 should be Dudley.

Bartlett

Bartlett has a bit of mystery about him. In the 1850 and 1860 censuses, he is listed as born in Kentucky in 1809. In 1880 he's listed as being born in Tennessee. It's possible that Bartlett was born in Kentucky. He seems to be the first child not born in South Carolina, and the Jordan Milam family might have wandered through Kentucky before settling in Hickman County, Tennessee. Bartlett is in the 1840 census as born between 30 and 39 (1801-1810). He also has two children over 10 in this census, so born at a minimum in 1828 and 1829. This makes 1809 as listed in his census records likely. We will keep Bartlett at 1809 for his year of birth.

Twins William Bulford and Thomas W

Some have listed the twins as having been born in 1810. William Bulford is listed in 1840 as being born between 1811-1820. He has 2 children born between 1836-1840. He was apparently not yet 21 in the 1836 tax rolls. Our graphic above is compacted to see all ages/genders together, but when looking at Jordan Milam's 1820/30/40 censuses with the male ages stacked on top of each other, we get a different picture.

Jordan Milam's young sons in 1820-1840

In 1820 we see three boys born between 1811-1820. These same three boys seem to still be in the house in 1830, but because of the way the ages are requested in 1830, it narrows the births of all three of them down to 1816-1820! This points to the notion that Henry, William and Thomas were all born after 1816.

Edward

Edward is in Arkansas by 1840. There he is listed as being between 20-29 and has two daughters - one under age 5 and one under age 10. This would make his year of birth somewhere between 1811-1820. Also in his household in 1840 is a male 15-19. While it would certainly be possible for this to be his child, if Edward was born in 1810 (15 at the birth of a son), it's more likely that this is Dudley Milam, John B's son. As noted above, John's son Dudley is living with Nancy & William Boyd in Arkansas in 1850. Edward has 1815 as his estimated year of birth in the 1850 census. The 1860 census estimates his year of birth as 1810. Edward does not seem to be living with Jordan in 1830. Only 3 boys and 1 girl are in Jordan's household in 1830. Where Edward might be in 1830 is anyone's guess. He does not seem to be with any obvious family members. He would be anywhere from 15-19 in 1830. Edward was probably closer to 1810 than 1815.

Henry

Henry seems to have been born after 1816 simply by virtue of not being in the 1836 Tax Records. Two censuses for Henry list his year of birth as 1812 or 1813. It's then more likely that he was born "closer" to 1816 than the twins.

Addition Census Notes

In 1840 there is a male aged 30-39 (born 1800-1810) in Jordan's household. All of the males in the family except Thomas have 1840 census records of their own. It's possible that the age bracket is wrong, and that this should have been 20-29. Odder things have been found in these records! We've. not yet found ANY records for Thomas. His FamilySearch profile indicates. he died 14 March 1862 in Hickman County. More research needs to be done for him.

Also in 1840 there is a female aged 30-39 and one 40-49. If the male mentioned above is Thomas, one of these could be his wife. Susannah was already married to Miles Patton. Nancy was already married to Thomas Warren. Nancy II was already married to William Byrd. Lucinda was already married to Neal Mathis. The three extra people in this household are simply unknown. They might. not even be family members. By now Jordan was listed as 90 and Mary Ann as in her 70s. These might be boarders, etc.

Possibilities

The following graphic shows where all of these people could fit into the listing of children in the census records for Jordan Milam.

Census Analysis for family of Jordan Milam

For now, this seem to be the most logical order for the children. For the youngest three boys, they could be in any order, but since we have some indication about William :

1. Samuel James Milam 1793
2. John Belfield Milam 1795
3. Jordan Washington 1797
4. Nancy Milam (who married Thomas Warren) 1799
5. Unknown Infant Girl or Lucinda Milam before 1800 or 1802?
6. Dudley Milam 1802
7. Susannah Susan Milam 1805
8. Bartlett Milam 1809
9. Edward Milam 1810
10. Nancy Milam 1814 (who married William Byrd)
11. Henry C Milam 1816
12. William Bluford Milam 1817 ♊
13. Thomas W Milam 1817 ♊