Transcribed by Janette West Grimes
This Article
Appeared In The Times
But Was Not
Actually In Cal’s Column
May13, 1948 - Reprinted August 26, 1976
One of the leading families
of Smith County and adjoining sections is that of Oldham.We have only a partial
list of the members of that family and we solicit any additional information.
The family is of English
decent, as indicated by the name, which comes from the word,
"Oldhame'" which was the ancient way of spelling "Old
Home," in England in the centuries gone by. Thence from "Old
Home," or "Old Hame,"
comes the shortened form of Oldham.
The first Oldham of whom we
have any record at this time was George Oldham, who arrived on Peyton's Creek
from Virginia in 1805, bringing with him his wife, the former Miss Sutherland,
and two children, the younger of whom, Polly Ann, was then nine months old.
They arrived in October or November of that year, settling at the place now
owned by Herbert F. Sloan and located about two miles south of Pleasant Shade.
Although he married a Miss Sutherland, her first name is not known.
The children of George Oldham
and the Sutherland woman were: Polly Ann, married William Nixon; Judy, married
Nelson Davis; Sam married Nancy Nixon and later her sister, both of them being
sisters of William Nixon, husband of Polly Ann; Tommie Oldham, married a
Massey; William Oldham, married a sister of Tommie Oldham's wife; Celia Oldham,
married Bruce Piper; Willis Oldham, first a Beasley, second a Richards; Letha
Oldham, married James Gregory, a son of Big Tom and Bettie Gregory, James being
a great-uncle of the editor's; James Oldham, married Mary Perkins; Jane Oldham,
married McKinnis; Betsy Oldham, married George Payne; Adeline, married Levi
Shoulders; and George, a victim of infantile paralysis, who never married.
Polly Ann and William Nixon
were the parents of the following: James C. Nixon (Uncle Jim), married a
Gregory and later a Donoho; Celia Nixon, married J. Taylor; Adeline Nixon,
married Joe Taylor; Sam Nixon, married a Cartwright; William Francis Nixon,
killed in Mexican War; Tom Nixon, married a Hudson; Jane Nixon, married a
Hamilton; one name unknown, killed by horse; George Nixon, drowned while
loading a flat boat on the Cumberland River, at mouth of Taylor Branch, south
of Monoville. He lost his life when a hen flew from a coop and landed in the
river. In his efforts to rescue one hen, he was drowned. The flat boat was being
loaded to go to New Orleans. About 25 years ago the writer saw Miss Eliza
Ballard, then more than a hundred years old. He asked her why she had never
married and her reply was; "My sweetheart was drowned 80 years ago."
It is believed that young Nixon above mentioned, to whom she remained true for
more than 80 years. We are sorry that we did not ask her the name of the young
man whom she had loved for four score years and to whom she remained true until
death, but we are reasonably certain that Nixon was the man to whom she
referred. John C. Nixon, was the other and remaining son of William Nixon and
his wife, Polly Ann Oldham.
Judy Oldham, the daughter of
old George, married Nelson Davis and became the mother of: Willis Davis,
married a Bowman; Celia Davis, married Jabe Gregory, and son of Little Bill
Gregory, a brother of Jerry Gregory, the editor's great-great-grandfather.
Emily Davis, the third child of this marriage, married Ned Gregory, brother of
Jabe.
Sam Oldham, the son of old
George, who married first, Nancy Nixon and later her sister, Sallie was the
father of: Bob Oldham, married a Piper; Mary Oldham, married Tom Miller; Dick
Oldham, no data; Nancy Oldham, married William Piper; and Lou Oldham, married
Alex Piper.
Tommie Oldham, son of old
George, married a Massey. Their children were: Hugh Oldham, married Em
Dellehay; Ben Oldham, went to Oklahoma; Tom Oldham, killed in Civil War; Sarah
Oldham, married Jim Blackwell; Judy Oldham, married Arch Blackwell; William
Oldham, no data; and Jane Oldham, married a Smith.
William Oldham ,son of old
George, married a Massey, sister to Mrs.Tommie Oldham. Their children were: Sam
Oldham, married Sallie ("Chib") Gregory, a first cousin of the
editor's father; Celia Oldham, married John Shoulders; Murray Oldham, no data;
Margaret Oldham, married Lon Dias; Candace Oldham, married a Richardson; Ann
Oldham, married a Burris; Mima Oldham, no data; and Jim, died from bite of
rattlesnake at age of about 10 years, on Toetown Branch, near Pleasant Shade.
Celia Oldham, daughter of old
George, married Brice Piper. Their children were: Letha, married Sandy Grant;
George, married Em Toney; Polly Ann, married Tom Smith; Celia, married Dismang;
Buck, married a Winkler, (and became the parents of our own Prof. D. Henry
Piper); and Frances, married Tom Cothron.
Willis Oldham, son of old George,
married first a Beasley; and second a Richards. By his first marriage he had
two children, Lou Tishie, (Letitia), married Lige Hackett; and George Oldham,
married Lily Nash and went to Missouri. By his second marriage he had three
children, Tom Oldham, married Nancy Nash, a sister of Lily; John Oldham,
married Belle Gregory, an own cousin and the daughter of his aunt, Letha Oldham
Gregory; and Arch Oldham, married Harriet Smith.
Letha Oldham, daughter of old
George, married James Gregory and became the mother of: Gid, married first Ann
Dillehay; second a Harper; Susan, married a Nash; Jennie, married Tim
Shoulders; Stokes, married a Smith; Belle, married her cousin, John Oldham;
Nora, married Billy Wilburn; Cora, married Albert Wilburn; Cis, married Ike
Gregory; Josh, married a Nash; Morgan, married a Jenkins; Tom, married Sallie
Brooks; Martha, married Will A. Ballou; Elizabeth, died young; and another that
died in infancy, perhaps named Nancy.
James Oldham, son of old
George, married Mary Perkins, and became the father of: Celia,no data; Mary Ann, married Cobb
Russell; George, married Dillehay and Williams; James, married Matilda Sloan;
W. Templeton (Duff) Oldham, married Shoemake; Dr. Davy Oldham, Alloway and
Hawkins; Sallie, married John Oldham, son of Tom Oldham, son of Willis Oldham,
son of old George;
Betsy Oldham, daughter of old
George, married George Payne, and by him became the mother of 16 children, none
of whose names is available at this time. They resided in Georgia.
Adeline Oldham, the daughter
of old George, married Levi Shoulders and bore him two children, Celia Jane
Shoulders, married a Graham first and later a Clark.
George Oldham, the remaining
son of the first or old George, was a victim of infantile paralysis and never
married.
Bob Oldham, the son of Sam
Oldham, the son of George as given above, married a Piper who bore him: Sam,
married a Smith; Mary Ann, married a Harris; James, married a Piper; John,
married a Brimm; Sallie, no data; Sam Oldham, who married a Smith, became the
father of James and Charlie Oldham, the latter residing near Pleasant Shade, at
this time.
Mary, the sister of Bob
Oldham, married Tom Miller, and became the mother of: James Miller, married
Fronie Shoulders; Billie, Nanny, and Mary Jane Miller.
Hugh Oldham, the son of
Tommie Oldham, the son of George Oldham, married Em Dillehay, and became the
father of: Dossie, married Robert Gregory; Martha, married Eil Cothron; Sam,
married a Merryman; Herbie, married Florence Gregory; Bud, married a Cothron;
Pale, married a Gregory; and Quillie, married Tom Stokes Gregory.
Sam Oldham, son of William
Oldham, son of George Oldham, married Sallie ("Chib") Gregory and
became the father of: Lutch, Will W., Nelson, Mance M., Henry H., Janie, and
Nora.
Tom Oldham, son of Willis
Oldham, by his second marriage, to Richards, was the father of: George Oldham,
married a Gregory, a Towns, and a Violett; John Oldham, married Smith; Tennie Oldham, married Spud Gregory;
and Emmie, married a Cothron. John Oldham, the son of Willis Oldham, the son of
George Oldham, married Belle Gregory, his own cousin, and became the father of:
Albert, Walter, Robert, Ida, Annie, and Becky Oldham.
Arch Oldham, son of Willis
Oldham, son of George, married Harriett Smith, and became the father of: Bige, Lou, Bettie, Esther, and Sallie
Oldham.
James Oldham, the son of James
Oldham, the son George Oldham, married Matilda Sloan and became the father of:
Mary, married Clinton Gregory; Eva, married Pup Porter; Henry C. Oldham, a
Baptist minister, married a Petty and a Williams; and Willie, who married a
Taylor.
If any reader of the paper
has information of the family back of the first-named George Oldham, whom we
have called, old George, to distinguish him from young George Oldham, we shall
be glad to have it published in the Times.