Albert Henry Statham (1833 - 1900)

Born 1833 in Fluvanna County, Virginia, USA

Ancestors

Died 29 Apr 1900 at about age 67 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California USA

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Biography

(added by Donna Newman)

Albert was born in about 1832 in Fluvanna County, Virginia.

As an early pioneer of Fresno County, California, Albert was the subject of a biographical sketch in Wallace W. Elliott's History of Fresno County, California, which has been attached to this profile. Given the timing of this publication in 1882 and the background it includes on his early life, it seems probable that Elliott's source for Albert's sketch was Albert himself. Some of the information included below comes from Elliott's book.

Virginia to Tennessee to Arkansas: Albert's family left Fluvanna County in 1837 and eventually ended up in "Hamilton County, East Tennessee," where they remained until 1846. Albert then left to go to Fort Smith, Arkansas where he enlisted as a drummer boy in Capt. Woods company, i.e., Co. C, 12th US Infantry. His brothers George and Benjamin were in a different company but the same regiment. Albert and his brothers were part of the attack on "the City of Mexico" and Quin Avaca. After capturing the latter, the troops remained there for eight weeks until peace was declared and they were ordered back to New Orleans and disbanded. Albert received a warrant for 160 acres of bounty land for his service in 1851, which he sold to Henry C. Butler.

Albert was living in Crawford County, Arkansas with his brother George in 1850. Several households away was their brother Benjamin, living with their sister, Catherine, and her husband, John Patton. Their parents and youngest brother, Richard, were in Red River County, Texas but would join them over the next few years in what was by then Sebastian County.

Fresno County, California: In the spring of 1852, Albert set out from Fort Smith, Arkansas, traveling west by way of Tucson in the train led by Captain Brown and arriving in Fresno County, California around Christmas of that year. There he got involved in raising stock for a while, tried his hand (unsuccessfully) at mining in Mariposa County, then went back to Fresno where he raised stock and farmed. He eventually opened a livery business, which he sold with some other property in 1881 for $9,000 ("Brevities," Fresno (Ca.) Republican Weekly, 19 Nov 1881, p. 3, col. 1; attached to this profile).

Albert's first wife was Sarepta A. Akers, daughter of William Henry Akers and Delilah Miller (Findagrave.com #22588193). He was married second to Mary Elizabeth Odom. After Albert's death, in Los Angeles on 29 Aug 1902 (Findagrave.com #112992450), Mary married Philipp Klein with her sons William and Walter as witnesses.

CHILDREN of Albert and Sarepta:

1 - George Washington Statham, born about 1857, and died on 31 Mar 1938 in Fresno County. He married Sophie (Triggs) Black in about 1892, probably in Montana where they were living in 1910. There were no children from this union but Sophia's son William from her first marriage carried George's surname.

2 - James Marion Statham was born on 22 Sep 1859 and died on 12 Nov 1909 in Fresno County. He married Margaret A. Lawson on 23 Apr 1886 in Fresno County. James's middle name is often given as Madison (e.g., California, Pioneer and Immigrant Files, 1790-1950, at Ancestry.com) but it appears as Marion on his voter registration, which is attached to this profile.

3 - Jefferson Davis Statham (Statham-48)

4 - Rosa Lee Statham, born on 3 Oct 1863 and died on 3 Nov 1918 in Oakland, Alameda, California. She married (1) Clarence Walter Remsburg on 15 Oct 1885 in Fresno County and (2) Charles Granville Hinds on 4 Jan 1892 in Los Angeles County. Clarence Remsbirg was born in Maryland, the son of Lewis Remsburg and Annie Elizabeth Brent. In 1890, Clarence had troubles by the score that eventually proved fatal, with his being mysteriously shot and killed while driving along in a buggy on the road betweem Sanger and Centerville. Although there was at least one suspect, no evidence was ever found to charge anyone as far as I could discover.

5 - Albert Henry Statham Jr., born on 1 Mar 1866 and died on 6 Feb 1909 in Fresno County. He married Mary Eleanor (Tucker) Jones on 20 Aug 1900 in Los Angeles County. There were no children from this union but Mary had a daughter, Patti Llewellyn Jones, from an earlier marriage and married a third time following Albert's death, to Charles Lee James.

6 - Marvin Leech Statham, born in about 1869, died in Fresno Co. on 23 Mar 1899 (Fresno (Ca.) Morning Republican, 24 Mar 1899, p. 8, c. 5; as Marion L. Statham, age 29). His full name comes from his voter registration record, which is attached to this profile.

CHILDREN of Albert and Mary:

1 - Walter Maxwell Statham, born on 25 Apr 1875, and died in Los Angeles Co. on 26 Dec 1946. He married Anna May Winnett on 4 Jun 1902 in Los Angeles County.

2 - William Launcelot Statham, born on 12 Jan 1879 and died in Los Angeles Co. on 21 Jul 1964. He married Anna Marie De Pierro on 25 Nov 1906 in Los Angeles County. [A descendant of William's shows up on my DNA match list; we share only 7 cM of DNA and in my tree she is shown as my 6th cousin, once removed. I find this amazing since our common ancestor, Love Statham, died in 1781].

Sources

• * findagrave.com

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Additional Sources

Submitted by Donna Newman

History of Fresno County, California, Ancestry.com, publication date 1882.

United States Mexican War Pension Index, 1887-1926, FamilySearch.org.

Military bounty land grant: General Land Office Records[1]

California, County Marriages, 1850-1952, FamilySearch.org.

California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994, FamilySearch.org.

Arkansas Heroes of Mexican War, Sebastian County, Arkansas, from Daily Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, Ark.), Sunday, 28 Jun 1914, p. 14, col. 1, transcription attached to this profile.

California, Voter Registers, 1866-1898 at Ancestry.com

Findagrave.com memorial no. 112992450 (Albert), no. 22588193 (Sarepta) and no. 145235707 (Mary E.)