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DURHAM GENEALOGY
Compiled by Glenn Gohr


My DURHAM family connection comes through the DODSON line. The early Durham ancestry has been a point of much discussion on the Dodson E-mail List through Rootsweb. Recently the idea that Thomas Durham (b. ca. 1660) was the son of Henry Durham and wife Judith Hunt of Bermuda has been proven false. This lineage has been listed in a number of Dodson family publications and in the IGI. Thanks to Gene B. Rooks for discovering the truth of this matter. Her postings may be found on the Dodson-L List on Rootsweb during 1998. Just look under the search words of "Henry Durham" in quotation marks when you look up the Dodson Archives. Her first message was posted March 5, 1998.

Gene wrote to the Bermuda Archives for proof of Thomas Durham's lineage. They sent her a copy of a case in the Court of Assize in 1734 involving an Action of Trespass, which involved one Richard Durham of Sandys as heir to estate of Thomas DURHAM, of the same parish. Thomas was the son of Henry DURHAM who died in 1692. The cover letter also said "This seems to suggest that Thomas was living in Bermuda and not America, though I can trace no direct proof. I can not locate a copy of Henry Durham's will, which I believe would indicate where his son was located."

Gene also posted a brief abstract of the court case which implies that the Thomas DURHAM born 1661 to Henry Durham and Judith Hunt lived and died in Bermuda, and is NOT our Thomas DURHAM, allied with the Dodson family.

At this point, I do not know who the parents of Thomas Durham are. Because there is still some question as to how Mary GILBERT might be related to Thomas Durham who married Dorothy ______, I have been wondering if Mary Gilbert is actually the mother of Thomas Durham as she willed property to Thomas and Dorothy Durham. If she isn't Thomas's mother, maybe she is Dorothy's mother?

There are also questions as to who Dorothy was that married Thomas Durham. Was she a Smoot, Gilbert, or what? See some of my comments regarding her ancestry as shown on my Dodson Puzzles Page. The information on Mary GILBERT is included here along with information regarding William SMOOT:

    Go to Dodson Puzzles
Also, see some of the ongoing discussion about Dorothy which has taken place on the SMOOT List on Rootsweb. These postings have been transferred over to the Smoot Family Association page by Fred Smoot. They can be found at this location: http://www.dogtrot.com/smoot/smootdur.htm

Here is my DURHAM lineage as near as I can determine:
  1. Thomas DURHAM, b. ca. 1661 possibly in Bermuda or VA or England??, d. 1715 Richmond Co., VA; md. ca. 1680 Richmond Co., VA to Dorothy (SMOOT? or GILBERT?), b. ca. 1660,d. aft. 1715 Richmond Co., VA
  2. Mary DURHAM, b. 5 June 1686 Richmond Co., VA, d. aft. 1740 Richmond Co., VA; md. ca. 1701 Richmond Co., VA to Thomas DODSON, b. 15 May 1681 Rappahannock Co., VA, d. 21 Nov. 1740 Richmond Co., VA
  3. Rev. Thomas DODSON, b. ca. 1709 Richmond Co., VA, d. bef. 21 Oct. 1783 Pittsylvania Co., VA; md. 3 April 1726 Richmond Co., VA to Elizabeth ROSE, b. ca. 1706 VA, d. aft. 1766 Fauquier Co., VA
  4. Thomas DODSON (Second Fork), b. 3 Oct. 1728 Richmond Co., VA, d. 1811 Hawkins Co., TN; md. ca. 1747 VA to Mary NEVILLE, b. ca. 1730 VA, d. aft. 1790 TN
  5. Agatha DODSON, b. Dec. 1749 VA, d. Nov. (aft. 1830) Maury Co., TN; md. bef. 1769 to Moses HANKS, b. 15 July 1746 Richmond Co., VA, d. 19 Aug. 1831 Maury Co., TN
  6. Elizabeth HANKS, b. 9 Sept. 1782 Pittsylvania Co., VA, d. 1833 Maury Co., TN; md. 1 June 1799 Lincoln Co., KY to Robert WILLIAMS, b. 1776 VA, d. 1837 Maury Co., TN
  7. Agatha WILLIAMS, b. 2 June 1802 Maury Co., TN, d. 13 July 1874 McNairy Co., TN; md. 22 Sept. 1817 Columbia, Maury Co., TN to James Matthew WOOLVERTON, b. 12 May 1797 Somerset, Pulaski Co., KY, d. 24 July 1878 McNairy Co., TN (both buried in Woolverton Cemetery near Adamsville, Tennessee)
  8. Nancy Artemisia WOOLVERTON, b. 28 Aug. 1829 Maury Co., TN, d. 24 Jan. 1926 Adamsville, McNairy Co., TN; md. 28 Dec. 1848 Jonesborough, Tippah Co., MS to Luther Rice LITTLEFIELD, b. 25 Dec. 1826 Spartanburg, Spartansburg Co., SC, d. 25 Mar. 1903 Adamsville, McNairy Co., TN (both buried in Adamsville Cemetery)
  9. Sarah Agatha LITTLEFIELD, b. 28 Oct. 1849 Jonesborough, Tippah Co., MS, d. 7 Feb. 1940 Leapwood, McNairy Co., TN; md. 18 Oct. 1868 McNairy Co., TN to William Ashley HARRIS, b. 19 May 1849 Hardin Co., TN, d. 12 Mar. 1916 McNairy Co., TN (both buried at Mars Hill Cemetery, McNairy Co., TN)
  10. James David HARRIS, b. 9 Jan. 1871 McNairy Co., TN, d. 22 Sept. 1938 Marlow, OK; md. 28 Oct. 1894 McNairy Co., TN to Docia Bell PYRON, b. 5 Oct. 1872 McNairy Co., TN, d. 1 Sept. 1944 Lyford, TX
  11. William Earl HARRIS, b. 8 Aug. 1895 McNairy Co., TN, d. 5 Jan. 1967 Cortez, CO; md. 12 Dec. 1915 Parker Co., TX to Orpha Antonia Hazel GARVIN, b. 11 Nov. 1895 Jack Co., TX, d. 21 Dec. 1979 Cortez, CO *These are my grandparents.



DURHAM E-MAIL LIST


If you have queries concerning the DURHAM surname, you may post these at the Durham Family Genealogy List that is now managed by David W. Morgan.

Durham Genealogy List is a part of the Rootsweb e-mail discussion lists. It offers free queries and discussion on the Durham surname and variant spellings.

To subscribe, send an e-mail to: DURHAM-L-request@rootsweb.com
Leave subject line blank (This will be ignored).
In the body of the message type: subscribe

Then a welcome message will be sent telling how to post messages. Once you are subscribed, you may send a query to everyone on the list by sending e-mail to: DURHAM-L@rootsweb.com

Archived postings to the Durham e-mail list can be found on the WEB at:

    http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl

When prompted, type in DURHAM for the name of the list. A second screen will appear where you can choose a year and type in a search word(s). If you type in DURHAM you would probably get all the previous postings to the list. You can also type in a person's name instead or a locality to narrow your search. If you wish to do a search by date, try entering it in quotation marks with the day and then the month as "01 Mar" using single digit dates preceded by a zero and only the first three letter of the month.



ROOTSWEB DURHAM MESSAGE BOARDS

There are several Message Boards on Rootsweb which are set up for the DURHAM surname. These boards are for posting information in the following categories: BIBLE, BIOGRAPHY, BIRTH, CEMETERY, CENSUS, DEATH, DEED, IMMIGRATION, LOOKUP, MARRIAGE, MILITARY, OBITUARY, PENSION, QUERIES, and WILLS. The search perameters and drop down screen on the main page allow you to do a key word search or to view all postings according to one of the above categories. Click on the icon below to access the Durham Message Boards.

Query Post a query (or information from any one of the above categories) on any DURHAM name or related family. Please give dates, and locations they lived. Try to give as much information as possible.



An online genealogy forum for posting queries has also been setup specifically for the DURHAM family. It can be found at the following address:

    http://genforum.familytreemaker.com/durham

***Note***During the Fall of 1998, GenForum combined with Family Tree Maker, which means that all queries and information posted to that site becomes the property of Family Tree Maker. This is still a good site to look up information and get contact names for the DURHAM lines you are searching, but be advised that if you now post a new query or a response to something on that site, chances are that sometime in the future Family Tree Maker will include that information on a CD-ROM which they will sell for profit to anyone who is interested. I do not like the idea of someone else using my hard researched information and ideas and selling them for a profit without my knowledge. This same practice is evident on all of the Family Tree Maker pages which are found on the internet, if you will read the disclaimer notices on those pages. I recommend the Family Tree Maker pages as good look up pages, but I don't recommend posting information there. Similar things can be said for Ancestry.com and MyFamily.com which are connected to each other and seek to make a profit from genealogical materials on the internet.


DURHAM WEB PAGES

Some other Durham researchers and web sites include:
    Barber & Related Families hosted by David W. Morgan. He is a descendant of James Durham of Sumner Co., TN who married Lydia Gillespie.

    George Trotter's Family Pages. He includes references to Thomas and Dorothy Durham and to William Smoot, etc.


Copyright (c) 1998-2004.

Last updated June 1, 2004.


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