Thirteen Year Old Mom by Faye Collum Fairley

Date: 1793 [unknown]
Location: South Carolina

Thirteen Year Old Mom… Jamina Johns Collum

By Faye Collum Fairley

Mr. and Mrs. Uriah Collum welcomed their first child into the world in 1793. Not unusual? No, this is not unusual news, except Mrs. Uriah Collum (former Jamina Johns) also celebrated her thirteenth (13th) birthday in 1793! Uriah was five years older; he celebrated his eighteenth (18th) birthday in 1793!

Thirteen Year Old Mom… Jamina Johns Collum

By Faye Collum Fairley

Noah Webster established New York’s very first daily newspaper in 1793. It was called the American Minerva. This informative piece of literature kept the citizens informed of activities across the U S and abroad.

On the home front, George Washington was our very first president, and in 1793 he laid the cornerstone for the first Capital Building. In Philadelphia, the very first hot air balloon flight was recorded. Meanwhile, Eli Whitney applied for a patent for the cotton gin.

Louis XVI of France was convicted of treason, and executed by the guillotine. In Japan, a volcano erupted and killed over 50,000 people. The very first public zoo opened in Paris in 1793.

With all the activity in the U.S.A in 1793, it is not at all surprising that this bit of information skipped the attention of the media. Mr. and Mrs. Uriah Collum welcomed their first child into the world in 1793. Not unusual? No, this is not unusual news, except Mrs. Uriah Collum (former Jamina Johns) also celebrated her thirteenth (13th) birthday in 1793! Uriah was five years older; he celebrated his eighteenth (18th) birthday in 1793!

According to the genealogy paperwork on this couple, their marriage was recorded as being in 1790. She was born in 1780 according to the same paperwork. It doesn’t take a Philadelphia lawyer to figure out that she was only 10 years old in 1790! Uriah was 15

Now, it is logical to assume that she would have a baby the first year of marriage. Therefore, my colleagues and I have concluded that they were apparently married in 1793 instead of 1790.

Seems that in the 1700’s and 1800’s, a girl of thirteen was mature enough to marry, and begin having children. Jamina gave birth to her first child at thirteen, her second child at fourteen, third child at sixteen. She had two more children by the time she was twenty six years old.

According to a recorded Last Will and Testament from Uriah Collum (her husband), he died in 1808 at the young age of 33. The document instructs all his properties to be divided between his 28 yr old widow and three of their children. The second born was a son by the name of Andrew; he was left completely out of the will.

The children ranged in ages 15, to a small 2 yr old. Andrew was only fourteen when his dad died. I find it impossible to believe that a child of fourteen could have done something so horrendous that he would have been excluded from the family’s inheritance.

We know that William Andrew’s birth was recorded as “about 1793.” We also know that Elizabeth’s birth is recorded as 1794. It is merely conjecture, but my belief is that William Andrew and Elizabeth were born twins in 1794. No evidence is shown anywhere to document Andrew’s existence except birth. The infant daughter lived, and sadly, the little boy died. With all the hardships and burdens these ancestors carried; it’s quite possible that the death of a tiny infant would not be recorded. Our ancestors suffered hardships and tragedies that we could only imagine. No one living today could survive the horrendous life style of yester-year. We should be thankful that God placed the stronger ones in that era to blaze the path for us.

The End

Uriah Collum 1775-1808 son of William Henry Collum 1751-1810 and April Collum 1750-1783

Jamina Johns 1780-? Daughter of Obadiah Johns 1746-1817 and Rebecca Elizabeth Price 1757-1820

Children: William Andrew about 1793, Elizabeth 1794, Manley Isham 1796, Vincent 1804, and Uriah Maxwell 1806

jecollum43 originally shared this on 28 Feb 2017 to Ancestry.com