Newsom Barham, Sr.

Eldest son of Benjamin Barham (b. c1745) and Sarah Knight (January 19, 1748/49-c1788), daughter of William Knight. Grandson of Thomas Barham, Sr. (December 15, 1715/17-September 16, 1784) (the second son of Robert Barham, Sr. and Elizabeth Clarke) and Sarah Newsom, daughter of Thomas “Newsum” and Elizabeth Crawford (1685-1755/m. 1705).
Newsom Barham, Sr. married Elizabeth "Betsy" Joyce on 22 Jul 1794 in Wentworth, Rockingham (not Davidson) County, NC.
The Newsom Barham family began the move into Tennessee in 1812/13, and were residing in Davidson County, Tennessee by between 1812 and 1815; no later. Newsom was a tailor by trade. The family built a home there and also erected a mill for grinding corn, wheat, etc. near their home, located on the South Harpeth River, which was still standing and being used as late as 1895.
Newsom and Elizabeth became members of the Christian Church about 1831. The South Harpeth Church of Christ, by which name it is known today, was originally a log structure which was established on May 13, 1812. On that date, a one-acre plot of ground was deeded to the church by Joseph Davey for “a meeting house and burial ground.” There, in that same year, a log structure with dirt floors was erected. It later burned, and Newsom Barham built another log structure in its place near their home, which also burned at the same time their home burned. Both were believed by some to have been set on fire by locals opposed to the Christian Church because they did not like “Campbellites.” After that, they built another home and another Christian Church was erected, built completely of brick, made by family slaves to replace the original, in 1835. The cemetery wall was also built by the slaves out of stones found around the South Harpeth River in the immediate area. This church building had two front doors, one entrance for the men and the other entrance for the women, since men and women sat separately in the early days. The cemetery mainly contains members of the Linton family, also among the founders of this church. It became a Church of Christ about 1900. In 1951, additions to the brick church building were made and the old section is no longer actually used, other than for storage. This Church of Christ is one of the oldest still meeting at its original location in the United States. These Barhams were obviously very religiously devout people! The second house they built burned sometime before 1895.
Both Newsom and Elizabeth Barham died at Linton in Davidson County, Tennessee, and were buried close to the South Harpeth River bank near the church and home they had built. However, having searched several times for their burial places over the years, I had, regrettably, been unable to locate their grave sites myself. My personal search for Newsom and Elizabeth Barham’s grave sites spanned many years, from the 1980s to 2010. I had located the church back in June of 1989, and was satisfied that they must be buried nearby. But I could not locate their grave sites as no markers were extant.
Eventually, in the mid-2000’s, I posted a request on the website ancestry.com for any information on their location. In early 2010, I was finally contacted by someone who knew of their location, and of some recent history concerning the graves and their markers.
In February of 2010, I was contacted by Barbara Merlie, who was responding to the post I had placed on ancestry.com a few years before asking for any information concerning the grave sites. In her response to my query, she stated that her grandfather, Robert Nance Cason, had located them in the early 1970s. She stated that at that time the property had been owned by a Mr. Pat Davidson. The graves were located in his front yard, but had been buried by him in an effort to preserve them after he had purchased the small, overgrown plot they had been located on to add to his yard and had found them. Davidson was afraid that they might be vandalized, as they were very close to the road in front of his house.
Barbara was good enough to email me more information. Soon afterward, I was also contacted by Mr. John Barham Langston II, who stated that his cousins, James and Don Langston, had done the work on documenting the graves. And, per my request, he sent me information on his lineage and two old family photographs.
And here, finally, are the uncovered gravestones of Newsom and Elizabeth Barham. I can not put into words the sheer satisfaction of being able to see these gravestones and, thus, the burial places, of the ancestors I have searched for over so many years!
After receiving all of this information, I decided to visit the South Harpeth Church of Christ on March 14, 2010. I found the congregation to be very welcoming and more than ready to tell me about the church’s history. I was shown the inside of the old church building, where I took a picture of an original oil-burning chandelier, and I went outside and took pictures of the old church section and the cemetery.
It is entirely possible, even probable, that the Newsom Barham family may have taken in many travelers who were on their way to West Tennessee. This not only because they were situated right next to the South Harpeth River, which was undoubtedly used for travel, but also because they resided relatively close to the Natchez Trace, which many settlers took into West Tennessee. It is interesting to me to think that, if they had lived long enough, they may have even temporarily taken in the Richard Browder family as they traveled from Rockingham County, North Carolina to McNairy County, Tennessee. After all, both families had come from Rockingham County, North Carolina, and likely knew of one another. But, alas, Newsom Barham had died before 1844 and Elizabeth, while still alive in that year, was probably too old to take travelers into her residence anymore. But the possibility that one of their descendants might have still temporarily taken them in on their way to West Tennessee is intriguing since they would have traveled through that area in any case.
The children of Newsom and Elizabeth Barham were William Night (b. February 10, 1796), Mary “Polly” (November 14, 1798-August 20, 1863, Davidson County, TN), Marion (March 13, 1801-1813), John (August 17, 1803-April 13/14, 1876, Rusk County, Texas), Robert Joyce (January 3, 1806-October 13, 1888, Madison/Chester County, Tennessee), Newsom, Jr. (July 31, 1808-April 6, 1883, Henderson County, Tennessee), J. Alexander (July 7, 1811-March 17, 1894/96, Cheatham County, Tennessee), Elizabeth “Eliza” (May 27, 1815-February 6, 1864, Hardin County, Tennessee) and Thomas, who died as an infant.
All of these children were born in Rockingham County, North Carolina except for Eliza, who was born in Davidson County, Tennessee. Robert Barham died in Chester County, Tennessee. Alexander Barham died in Cheatham County, Tennessee. Elizabeth died in Hardin County, Tennessee.