You can still find the Basham surname among the people in Norfolk, England.   Perhaps our line originated in England and migrated to America in the early 1700's.   At this point I'm sure. The 1st known Basham of our line, that we know of, in America was WILLIAM BASSAM born 1722 in Cumberland City, Goochland County, known today as Cumberland County, Virginia.   At age 22, in 1744, William married SARAH AGNESS ANGELLEA, daughter of WILLIAM and CATHERINE ANGELLEA.  Cumberland County, Virginia was formed in 1749 from Goochland County.  William BASHAM bought land in

Children of WILLIAM BASSAM and SARAH ANGELLEA are:
i.  BARTLETT ANGEL2 BASHAM, b.  Abt.  1739; d.  Abt.  1779.
ii.  JEREMIAH BASHAM, b.  Abt.  1742; m.  MARY DOWELL.
iii.  WILLIAM BASHAM, b.  1745, Breckenridge City, KY.
iv.  JAMES BASHAM, b.  Bef.  1746, Cumberland County, VA; d.  Aft.  1830.
v.  SARAH BASHAM, b.  Bef.  1750.
vi.  MICAJAH BASHAM, b.  1750; m.  (1) LUCY PRATHER; m.  (2) SARAH ANN WHITE, February 25, 1815.

Will of Wm.  Bassam probated in Cumberland City., VA, 5-23-1768.  It read as follows:

In the name of God amen.  I, William Bassam of the County of Cumberland, being sick and weak of body, though of perfect health and memory, thanks be to the Almighty God for it.  Imprimis I will and bequeath body to the ground from whence it came, and my soul to God who gave it, trusting in the merits and Mediation of our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that at the great day of judgement I shall have a joyful resurrection with the just.
I lend to my loving wife Sarah all my estate both real and personal during life.
I give to my son William Bassam two hundred acres of land of the same tract whereon I now live.
I give to my son Jeremiah Bassam one hundred and fifty acres out of the aforesaid tract.
I give to my daughter Sarah fifty acres out of the aforesaid tract.
It is my will that after the decease of my wife, my whole estate be divided among my children for their lives and then to be divided equally among my grandchildren after their decease.
I constitute and appoint my sons William and Jeremiah with my wife my executors.

his

William M b Bassam L.S.

mark

JAMES BASHAM James Basham was born before 1746 in CUMBERLAND COUNTY, VIRGINIA.  He married FRANCES MARY TAYLOR March 20, 1762 in Fauquier Co., VA, daughter of BENJAMEN TAYLOR and ELIZABETH UNKNOWN. James moved westward to Bedford County, Virginia by 1772.  Bedford County is located in southwestern part of the state of Virginia, between the cities of Roanoke, to the West, and Lynchburg, to the East.  It is bounded on the North by the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Settlers came to Bedford to farm and to exploit the natural resources of timber and fertile lands, well watered by springs, creeks and streams fed by rains coming off the mountains.  James died after 1830.

OBEDIAH BASHAM
Obediah Basham was a native of Virginia and a veteran in the war of the Revolution, in which he served five years, and some time after removed to Kentucky and located in Breckinridge County, Kentucky.  Obadiah was born April 07, 1759 in Cumberland Co., Virginia.  He married CELIA DOWELL September 05, 1782 in Bedford Co., Va, daughter of GEORGE and MARGARET DOWELL.  CELIA was born 1763 in Bedford County, Virginia, and died December 29, 1829 in Breckinridge County, Kentucky.

Obediah and Celia were married by William Johnson on the 5 of September 1782.  At his time in colonial America Marriage Bonds were posted by the bridegroom, often with a second person, usually the father or brother of the bride, these were to defray the cost of litigation in the event the marriage was nullified.  It was asked to ensure that there was no reason, moral or legal for the couple not to marry and that they would not become charity cases.

Obediah served in the 1st Virginia Regiment in the Revolutionary War as a private.  The 1st Virginia Regiment was commanded successively by Colonel Isaac Read, Lieutenant Colonel Green, Colonel James Hendricks and Colonel Richard Parker.  Obediah served under Capt.  John Lee in the 1st Virginia Regiment of Col. Parker for three years.  The 1st Virginia Regiment served in Pennsylvania and New Jersey campaigns.  He was probably at Valley Forge in the spring of 1778 and may well have spent the winter there with General George Washington.

Richard Parker was colonel of the First Virginia and then raised a new regiment called the First Virginia Detachment (confusing).  Both regiments were captured at Charleston, SC.  Gen. Washington consolidated eight weak regiments into four and renumbered the line.  On 5 May 1779 he had already ordered Brig. Gen. Charles Scott, in charge of recruiting in the state to organize all available officers and recruits into three provisional regiments as reinforcements for the Southern Department.  The first of these units, under Col. Richard Parker, left Petersburg in October and reached Charleston, South Carolina, on 5 December.  It is possible that Obediah Basham fought in those southern campaigns in 1779 and 1780. Obediah was transferred to Capt.  Tollivar's Company where he was taken prisoner at Charlestown, South Carolina and sent by water to Williamsburg where he was discharged.
 

Below is a biography excerpt of Samuel HOPKINS who served under the same Col. Richard Parker as did Obediah Bahsam.  I think the Charleston event is the same as happened to Obediah Basham.

Samuel HOPKINS, pioneer, b. in Albemarle county, VA., about 1750; d. in Henderson, KY., in October, 1819. He was an officer in the Continental army, fought with distinction at Princeton, Trenton, Monmouth, and Brandywine, and at the battle of Germantown his battalion of light infantry was nearly annihilated, while he was severely wounded.  He was lieutenant-colonel of the 10th Virginia regiment at the siege of Charleston, and after the death of Col. Richard Parker became its colonel, and served as such till the end of the war. He was made a prisoner, with the other officers, at the surrender of Charleston on 20 May, 1780. While they were conveyed in a British vessel to Virginia he complained to the captain of the harsh treatment and starvation to which they were subjected, and threatened to raise a mutiny on the ship unless they were treated as officers and gentlemen.  This bold language secured for the sufferers proper care during the rest of the voyage. In 1797 he settled on the Green river in Kentucky, and served for several sessions in the legislature of that state.

The unconditional surrender of Charleston and several thousand Continental soldiers in May 1780 to Clinton was the greatest loss of manpower and equipment of the war for the Americans and gave the British nearly complete control of the Southern colonies.  The senior officers including Maj. General Benjamin Lincoln eventually were exchanged for British officers in American hands.  For all others in the Continental army, a long stay on prison boats in Charleston Harbor was the result, where sickness and disease would ravage them.  The defeat left no Continental Army in the South and the country wide open for British taking.

Turning Point of the War
But on October 7, 1780 in Battle of Kings Mountain the Over the Mountain Men from Tennessee defeated the British.  [Our Isbell ancestors fought at this battle, along with the Foy ancestors]

After being released by the British in Virginia Obediah was then transferred to Capt.  Joseph Carrington's Infantry Company, located at Petersburg.

THE BATTLE OF PETERSBURG VIRGINIA 25 April 1781

(Col.  Richard Parker's regiment marched from Petersburg, VA by "Hillsboro and Saulsbury, North Carolina, Camden and the Ridge So.  Carolina to Augusta Georgia.)
(Capt.  John Lee and saw service at Monmouth, Stoney Point, etc., and was in winter quarters at Valley Forge.  For first three years was marched through the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Virginia.  )

Cornwallis surrendered to Washington in Yorktown, Virginia on October 19, 1781 as French and American forces traped the British on the peninsula.

Obediah served a total of five years in the Revolutionary War.  He was placed on the Kentucky Pension Roll at $8 per month under the Act of 1818 from 25 July 1818.

Westward Movement
I wish I could see it ..........through their eyes ........like it was.........In the days of Daniel Boone.....if only for a moment.

(In 1790 there were 73,677 people in Kentucky, and in 1800 there were 220,955)
After leaving the military Obediah headed west to Bedford County, VA. where he married Celia Dowell.  Here were born 8 sons and 1 daughter.  On June 02, 1805 the September 05, 1782 his last son was born.

Children of OBEDIAH BASHAM and CELIA DOWELL are:
i.  BARTLETT BASHAM, b.  1783, Bedford Co., VA; d.  1850, Warren Co., KY.
ii.  JAMES DOWELL BASHAM, b.  Mar 24, 1788, Bedford Co., Va; d.  Apr 23, 1865, Warren Co., KY.
iii.  JOSEPH DOWELL BASHAM, b.  1792, Bedford Co., Va.
iv.  MICAJAH BASHAM, b.  March 30, 1797, Bedford Co., Va; d.  Aft.  1862; m.  LUCY
v.  MARGARET BASHAM, b. 1798, Bedford Co., Va; d.  July 1850, Breckenridge Co., KY.
vi.  HENRY DOWELL BASHAM, b.  July 25, 1800, Bedford Co., Va; d.  June 09, 1878, Breckenridge
vii.  FREDERICK BASHAM, b.  July 30, 1802, Bedford Co., Va; d.  Jan 14, 1884, Breckenridge Co., KY.
viii.  ALLEN DOWELL BASHAM, b.  August 16, 1804, Bedford Co., Va; d.  January 01, 1889, Breckenridge Co., KY.
ix.  FRANCIS BASHAM, b.  June 02, 1805, Bedford Co., Va; d.  April 22, 1893, Lodiburg, Breckenridge Co., KY.

The years between the victory over the British in the Revolutionary War and the end of the War of 1812 were ones of great exploration and expansion for the newly formed United States of America.  The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 opened up vast sections of land west of the Mississippi for exploration and settlement.  Lewis and Clark began an expedition in 1804 which explored the Missouri River to its source and continued on to the Oregon country.  Earlier, in 1775, Daniel Boone had hacked out a trail across the Cumberland gap and into Kentucky.  This trail would later expand into the "Wilderness Road" and serve as an artery into the Indiana and Illinois Territories. The Basham family was among the early pioneer families which eventually crossed the Cumberland gap and, following the Wilderness Road and other more primitive trails, to make its way into the immense and largely unexplored wilderness of the Kentucky Territory.

Between 1805 and 1810, Obediah , his wife, Celia, and their 9 children loaded their belongings into a wagon and traveled west on the Wilderness Road through the Cumberland Gap. The difficulties and perils of travel were so great as to form a barrier almost impassable.  At each interval of a few miles the horseman found himself stopped by a river.  They probably continued on the Wilderness Road until they reached a river large enough to float their belongings down river to the Ohio River.  From there they could have taken the Ohio down stream until they reached Breckenridge County, KY.
Before our Basham pioneers the forests were swept aside to make room for farms.  Rude log cabins were built with chimneys of logs plastered with mud.  The settlers made  their simple furniture with their own tools.  Their hunting shirts and trousers were of homemade linsey, a mixture of linen and wool, and of deerskin.  Most of their food was gained by their rifles and their traps.  Corn was pounded or ground in rude stone mortars to make meal.  But the vigor and energy of these hardy pioneers soon bettered their condition.  They began to raise tobacco and wheat and to cure hams and bacon.

In 1820 Obediah owned 50 acres of land worth $150, one horse, two cows, and three calves.  In Feb 1823 he sold the land to Henry Basham.

Obediah was still in Breckinridge when in 1858 at the age of 58 he applied for his pension.  Obediah traveled a great deal during his Revolutionary War years and then later as he came to Kentucky.  He saw America change from being a colony of England to a country as wide as the continent.  He continued to reside in Clifton Mills, Breckinridge County, Kentucky until his death on May 28, 1840 at the age of 81.  He is buried in Norton Valley Cemetery.
 
 

Children of BARTLETT BASHAM and NICY SIMMONS are:
xii.  LORETTA5 BASHAM.
xiii.  LUCINDA BASHAM.
xiv.  ELIHU BASHAM.
xv. HIRAM SIMMONS BASHAM  b.  Sept 30, 1824, Brekenridge Co., KY; d.  May 06, 1896.
xvi.  NANCY BASHAM, b.  Abt.  1834.
xvii.  NAPOLEON BASHAM, b.  1835.
xviii.  CARROLL C.  BASHAM, b.  Abt.  1837.
xix.  MARGARET BASHAM, b.  Abt.  1841.
xx.  SAMUEL WESLEY BASHAM, b.  Abt.  1843.
xxi.  SALINA CANDACE BASHAM, b.  Abt.  1847.
First Seminole War  1817-1818

Bartlett served as a soldier in the Seminole war.  The First Seminole War began when settlers attacked Florida Indians and the Indians retaliated by raiding isolated Georgia homesteads.  Americans believed Spain had incited the Seminoles against the white settlers.

The First Seminole War began in earnest with a U.S.  invasion of East Florida to punish hostile Seminole Indians, whose territory had become a refuge for runaway slaves.  American troops on July 27, 1816, had destroyed the Seminole stronghold of Fort Apalachicola, on the river of that name.  On December 27, 1817, General Andrew Jackson took command, with orders to pursue the Indians across the Florida boundary.  Jackson marched his troops into Florida and captured St.  Marks on April 7, 1818 and Pensacola on May 24.  In the course of his campaign, Jackson seized two British traders, Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert Ambrister.  He accused them of aiding the enemy and had the former hanged and the latter shot.  There was a great outcry in England and considerable criticism in Washington.  Nevertheless, popular opinion approved the campaign, which brought East Florida under American control and resulted in its cession to the U.S.  by Spain in 1819.

After the war Bartlett returned to Kentucky, became a farmer, and "ginned" cotton.

Hiram S. Basham, son of Bartlett, was the support of his parents until their deaths.  The business of the farm devolved upon him to such an extent that he had very few opportunities of attending school, and his education was almost entirely practical.  He was self-made, having started in life without any capital except that vested in health, strength and resolution.  He was the proprietor of a farm of 140 acres of good land, that produced abundant crops of grain and tobacco.  He married Paradine Taylor a daughter of Joseph and Polly (Hudnall) Taylor.  Hiram was a Union Civil War Veteran from the 16th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry.  He enlisted in October 23, 1864, and after participating in the engagements at Fort Fisher, Fort Anderson and Wilmington, received an honorable discharge from the United States service June 10, 1865.  A story is told that Paradine was pregnant while Hiram was enlisted.  The Union troops had settled at Bunker's Hill in Bowling Green, KY and Hiram walked through the night to see his wife.  He hollered "Par, Par, is the baby here yet?"  The child had not been born and Hiram returned to Bunker Hill where the troops left the next day.  He and wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  Politically he was a Republican.

Benajah Anderson Basham
Benajah Anderson Basham (son of Bartlett) was born 1820 in Breckenridge Co., KY, and died May 21, 1906 in Butler Co., KY.  He married (1) NANCY E. TURNER June 29, 1843, daughter of REUBEN TURNER and ELIZABETH LYKINS.  She was born 1823 in Warren Co., KY, and died 1880 in Edmonson Co., KY.
He married (2) HARRIET C. GOTT May 22, 1884 in Edmonson Co., KY.

Children of BENAJAH BASHAM and NANCY TURNER are:
 i. ISAAC M. BASHAM, d. in infancy.
 ii. EMILY C. BASHAM, d. in infancy.
 iii. WILLIAM T. BASHAM, d. infancy.
 iv. REUBEN BARTLETT BASHAM, b. Abt. 1845, Warren Co., KY.
 v. JAMES HERROD BASHAM, b. Aug 25, 1847, Warren Co., KY; d. Ja 03, 1903, Warren Co., KY.
 vi. HENRY W. BASHAM, b. Abt. 1850, Warren Co., KY.
 vii. MARK A. BASHAM, b. Abt. 1853, Warren Co., KY.
 viii. SAMUEL GREEN BASHAM, b. October 13, 1855, Warren Co., KY; d. July 05, 1936.
 ix. MARGARET E. BASHAM, b. 1859, Edmonson Co., KY.
 x. NANCY J. BASHAM, b. 1860, Edmonson Co., KY.
 xi. OBIDIAH MITCHEL BASHAM, b. 1869, Edmonson Co., KY.

During the Civil War Benajah was a Private in the 11th Infantry (KY/Union).  He enlisted on the 6 of October 1861.  He filed for pension but the records are so blurred that I can't read the date.

Organized at Camp Calhoun, Ky., December 9, 1861. Attached to 14th Brigade, Army of Ohio, December, 1861
Benajah Anderson Basham's duty while serving during the Civil War for the Yankee troops involved the occupation of Nashville, Tennessee.  His unit was at the Battle of Shiloh.  Among other battles he was at the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky, where he fought against another ancestor of mine Thomas Jefferson O'Neal.  Thomas was wounded in the face in mouth and died Oct. 18, 1862 at the Confederate Hospital at Perryville, or Danville, Ky.

Benajah's unit also participated in the Battle of Stone's River December 30-31, 1862, and January 1-3, 1863.  Here he fought against another ancestor of mine Thomas Jefferson Evans from Putnam County, TN.  This Thomas died April 1862  in a hospital in Tullahoma, Coffee County, Tennessee on 17 April 1863.  Thomas fought for Tennessee serving the Confederate States of America.

While on duty at Bowling Green, Ky., his Regiment mounted and operated against guerrillas.

11th Regiment Infantry also fought through East Tennessee along the Holston River before joining Sherman at Kingston, Ga.  They were in operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain. Later they were in the Siege of Atlanta and Operations against Hood in North Georgia and North Alabama

They finished the war by traveling back to Nashville.  They were ordered to Louisville, Ky., November 14; thence to Bowling Green, Ky., and dutied there until they Mustered out December 16, 1864.

These have been the highlights of the battle engagements that the 11th Kentucky Infantry Regiment was involved in.  At this point I haven't found out how many of the engagements that James Herrod Basham participated in.  It is probable that he may have been on leave at some time.
 

James Herrod Basham
James Herrod Basham was born August 25, 1847 in Warren Co., KY, and died January 03, 1903 in Warren Co., KY.  He married POLLY ANN PHELPS November 16, 1868 in Edmonson Co., KY.  She was born Abt. 1846 in Butler Co., KY, and died August 21, 1932 in Warren Co. KY.
Do you think James wrote to Elizabeth a proposal similar to the one below?  I don't think they were quite as formal as " The Ladies' Guide to Perfect Gentility" suggested.  But perhaps just as romantic, Kentucky style.

Below is a Model for correct acceptance of a proposal typical for the time:

Sir:
 The attentions which you have so long and so assiduously shown to me have not escaped my notice; indeed how could they, since they were directed exclusively to me? . . . I admit the truth, that pleased and flattered by such attentions, I fondly endeavored to persuade myself that attachment toward me had formed itself in you breast.
 Judge then, what must have been my feelings on reading the contents of your letter, in which you propose to pay your addresses, in a manner, the object of which cannot be mistaken - that I may regard you as my acknowledged suitor, and that you have chosen me as the most likely to contribute to your happiness in the married state.
 On consulting my parents, I find that they do not object to your proposal; therefore, I have only this to add - may we still entertain the same regard which we have hitherto cherished for each other, until it shall ripen into that affection which wedlock shall sanction, and which lapse of time will not allow to fade.  Believe me to be,
       Yours, sincerely attached.
Source: Emily Thornwell, The Ladies' Guide to Perfect Gentility, New York, 1859

Children of JAMES BASHAM and ELIZABETH PHELPS are:
i. CAROLINE7 BASHAM, d. childhood.
ii. MARY JANE BASHAM, b. Abt. 1870, KY.
iii. GEORGE WASHINGTON BASHAM, b. April 14, 1870; d. May 28, 1950; m. MARY ELIZABETH DAVIS, July 28, 1909, Warren Co., KY.
3iv. JEANETTE 'NETTIE' BASHAM, b. December 17, 1873, Richardsville, Warren Co., KY; d. June 24, 1949, Russellville, Logan Co.,  KY.
v. JOHN J. BASHAM, b. April 12, 1875; d. October 10, 1897, Green River.
vi. BENNIE BASHAM, b. January 05, 1885; d. February 17, 1918.
vii. ALLIE MAY BASHAM, b. August 01, 1886; d. January 05, 1958.
 

Basham Ladies - Photo to the right Nancy Cockrill Swallows remembers her grandmother.  She tells the story that Polly Ann Phelps was orphaned and raised by a family named Johnson in Richardsville area of Warren Co., KY.  Nancy also says Polly was full blooded Indian.  I have no idea if this is true or not.  Here is a photo of Polly Ann Phelps and her daughter Nettie taken sometime before 1832. Below  may be a clue as to the story told me by my grandmother, Nancy Cockrill Swallows. I received the following email back in  November 14, 2003 from  Julie I have a mystery with my Phelps also.  And wondered if there could be some connection.   My ggrandmother was Nancy Ann Phelps b. 01 Sept. 1861 Ky married 08 June 1882 died 16 Feb. 1920 Butler County Ky, Miller's Cemetary.  Nancy was a full blooded Indian.  Her father John "Red Indian" Phelps died in the civil war.  Her mother Margaret "Peggy" Jones Phelps died 1932, by family legend lived in a cave for awhile and gave some of her children away because she could not feed them.   I have been searching for three years now and have found nothing else.  Nancy Phelps husband was John Ellis Ferguson.  They are bothed buried in Miller's Cemetary, Butler County Kentucky. Thanks, Julie Jeanette 'Nettie' Basham December 17, 1873-June 24, 1949 holding 2 babies (one of the babies is Themie Hamill's baby) Photo made at the home of Polly Ann Phelps Basham in Warren Co. KY

Seated from left to right Jeanette 'Nettie' Basham Cockrill holding Themie Hamill's baby and Polly Ann Phelps Basham Standing from left to right Mary Palestine Cockriel Hamill and Themie Hamill photo made same day as the one to the left at the home of  Polly Ann Phelps Basham  Photo taken before 1932 in Warren Co., KY

This is John Ellis Ferguson and Nancy Ann Phelps w/8 of their 9 children    Eyebrows and noses are very similar to Jeanette (see photo above).

JEANETTE 'NETTIE' BASHAM
Nettie was born December 17, 1873 in Richardsville, Warren Co., KY, and died June 24, 1949 in Russellville, Logan Co.,  KY.  She married JAMES 'JIM' COCKRIEL December 24, 1888, son of JAMES COCKRIEL and PHOEBE TURNER.  He was born March 15, 1863 in Warren Co., KY, and died December 28, 1950 in Russellville, Logan Co., KY.

Children of JEANETTE BASHAM and JAMES COCKRIEL are:
i. MARY PALESTINE8 COCKRIEL, b. October 05, 1889, Warren County, Ky.; d. December 17, 1955, Barren River Baptist Cemetery.
ii. HENRY WASHINGTON COCKRIEL, b. July 29, 1893; d. September 07, 1962.
iii. ALLIE PARADINE COCKRIEL, b. April 1896.
iv. HUEY JACKSON COCKRIEL, b. December 06, 1900, Richardsville, Warren Co. KY; d. 1997.
v. ANNIE PEARL COCKRIEL, b. 1906, Warren County, Ky.
vi. NANCY ELLEN COCKRIEL, b. September 09, 1908, Richardsville, Warren County, Kentucky.
vii. HETTIE JANE COCKRIEL, d. April 11, 2001, KY.
viii. VERNA LEE COCKRIEL, b. 1910, Logan County, Kentucky.

'NETTIE' worked in a restaurant for a short time while she and James lived in Chicago, Illinois. They had a baby that died and was buried in Chicago.  James was a very tall man.  Jeanette was short being able to stand under his outstretched arm.  James was the kind of man that if he was mad at you, he stayed mad at you.  Evidently he got mad at Nettie's mother, Polly, and refused to let Nettie see her mother for 10 years.  Something must have happened because eventually they did start seeing each other again.  Mama Nancy, Nettie's daughter, remembers walking with her mother to catch the train from Russellville back to Warren County to visit her grandmother Polly.

There were pioneers and patriots mixed with our kith and kin,
Who blazed the paths of wilderness and fought through thick and thin
I learns the joys and heartaches of those who went before.
They loved, they lost, they laughed, they wept, and now for you and me,
They live again in spirit around our Family Tree.

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