Moses W. Barham was born in Sumner County, Tennessee December 21, 1825 to Thomas Newsom Barham and Elizabeth Perry.

Moses married Margarete Jackson in Sumner, Tennessee on March 6, 1848. By the 1850 federal census, they were located in District #5, Robertson County, Tennessee. Moses was shown as a farmer at age 24 and Margarete 23. They had one son, William aged 1, and a live in female aged 20 named Emily Jackson (likely a sister of Margarete’s.)

By the 1860 census, the family had relocated to Keysburg, Logan County, Kentucky and accumulated another son named Thomas, born in 1854. The family’s personal estate was considerable at $6,300. An unbelievable sum for the time.

After the 1860 census was taken, the small family migrated to Williamson County and located in what is now East Marion Township. Moses’ wife Margarete passed away December 18, 1863 and was buried in Barham Cemetery. Their presence in the county was confirmed in a Civil War Draft Registration record dated August 1863 where Moses was listed as 37 years old with no occupation. Oddly enough, he gave Kentucky as his birth state. Moses remarried again to Ann E. Calvert in Williamson County on August 17, 1865. She was the daughter of Joseph L. Calvert and Nancy Bowyer.

In 1860, the Barham’s purchased a lot in the 100 block of E. Union St., diagonally across from where Crown Brew Coffee is located today in 2023. They held this property until selling it to his son-in-law Charles Skelly in 1898. I suspect but can’t confirm that this was his business location. Over time Moses eventually purchased the lot next door to him on E. Union where the Roland Theater would be later located. He also owned property on E. Jackson St. behind what is now Bennie’s Restaurant and property in the 100 block of E. Main Street at the corner of S. Madison, behind the current location of City Hall. In addition, he also owned lots in the 100 block of E. Calvert St. in his father-in-law’s addition to the city of Marion.

The 1870 census records Moses as a 42-year-old tobacconist. Ann was shown as 22 years old with one son, Joseph, aged 3 at home. Their real estate value was shown at $35 and personal estate at $1,000.

In 1877, Moses was elected as city alderman under Mayor James C. Jackson and re-elected under him again in 1878. He served one more term as alderman under Mayor Leroy A. Goddard in 1879. He also served on the Williamson County Fair Board in 1877 and likely in other years, a position considered prestigious in those days.

By the 1880 census, the family was living with three children in the home, Joseph 13, Mary E. 9, and Curtis aged 6. Moses was still shown as a tobacconist.

In the 1900 census, Moses was listed as a carpenter aged 74 and his wife was 54. All the previous children were out of the house and two more were listed, Walter 19 and Fred 14. A question on that year’s census revealed that the couple had had 8 children and at the time only 5 were still living. The family was living next door to his son William, his wife Sarah and their children Nora and Charles. William was listed as a marble dealer.

Moses W. died July 10, 1902 of exhaustion, old age and cancer of the face. He was buried in Barham Cemetery with his first wife Margaret Jackson. His second wife Ann Elizabeth Calvert remarried an unknown Lemming and moved to Williamsburg, Ohio. She passed away on March 27, 1910 and her burial place is yet to be found.

Sources: Federal Census Records, WC Mortgage Records, Marion Monitor Newspaper, The Barham Connection book, Civil War Registration Records, WWI and WWII Draft records, Washington Death Records, Williamson County Deed Records, WCHS resources. Compiled by Sam Lattuca 8/5/2023)

Children by Margarete Jackson:

William T. Barham, b. 1849, Tennessee, marble dealer, married Sarah E. Huddleston in 1877, had children Nora F. & Charles in the 1900 census. Lived at 608 N. Madison in 1907.

Thomas Barham, b. abt 1854, Kentucky, died Dec. 16, 1933, buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Marion. He married Louise Marietta Cash May 5, 1872, in Williamson Co. Louise was the daughter of Jeremiah Cash and Amana Melvina Williams. Louise was divorced from Thomas at his death and remarried to James M. Tippy.

Children by Ann Calvert:

Joseph Louis Barham, b. Jan 8, 1867, married Katie B. Rock April 10, 1890, died March 15, 1921, Interred in Barham Cemetery. They lived at 307 E. Reeves St. prior to their deaths. He was a coal miner. She died in April 1965 at age 93. She left a daughter Mrs. Faye Warren

Mary E. Barham, b. abt 1871 in Marion, married October 24, 1888 to Charles B. Skelly from Sparta, Il.

Curtis Marion Barham, b. May 27, 1874, married Maggie Friedman in 1892, worked as coal miner, died February 15, 1945. Worked for Johnston City Washed Coal, injured in 1918 in mine accident. Also went by Marion Curtis. They had a daughter named Emma M. (Mrs. Roy Norman). Maggie died in May 1970 at age 98. They had lived at 708 N. Van Buren in Marion for 65 years prior to her death.

Walter P. Barham, b. March 26, 1881 in Marion, died February 22, 1904, buried in Barham Cemetery

Fred Lee Barham, b. August 17, 1886, Marion, enlisted in the Army at Jefferson Barracks in 1909 and was stationed in San Fransisco in 1910.  After the army he married Rose Ehlers and they lived in Chicago in the 1920’s through 1940’s and had children named Edna, Frank L. Jr., and Dorothy. Fred L. died in Seattle, Washington at age 65 of cerebral hemorrhage on March 3, 1952. He worked as a stock clerk prior to his death.

Unnamed infant son, b. March 28, 1889, premature