The Parham Family of Granville, North Carolina

     The Parham family has a long history in Granville County, North Carolina and England. Thus, most of the Parham family in the Granville and Vance County, North Carolina area can trace their ancestry to a family patriarch named James Parham from England. This blog post will explore the ancestry of my own grandfather Thomas Clement Parham Sr. who resided in Granville County, North Carolina and was born there in December 1916. From what can be found in the Granville County archives through the Richard Thornton Public Library, the earliest ancestors of the Parhams in Granville County lived in areas near Sulfolk England around 1600. These ancestors were likely named James and Frances Parham. However, records of when James' descendants immigrated to the New World are less than clear. Researchers believe strongly that the Parham last name is of English descent and has its origins in the Old English 'per' and is a reference to the pear tree, and 'ham' or 'hamm' is a reference to a piece of land or enclosure. Thus, the surname can be traced back to England and appears in written records as early as 1594. Variations of the name have been written in records from Sussex, England dating as far back as A.D. 959. Early spellings of the name include, Pearham, Parram, Parrum, Param, Parhom, and Parham. Early bearers of the family's surname from genealogical records available, were likely residents of Sussex and Sulfolk county England and were primarily yeoman farmers and merchants. Although many of the Parham's before their immigration to the New World were farmers and merchants, records from England demonstrate that they were prominent people and this trend continued upon their arrival to what would become the United States. The Media Research Bureau states that the earliest English person settling in America with the Parham surname likely settled in Virgina in or around 1655. In county records, there is a Thomas Parham listed in Charles City County, Virgina records. However, what if any link to my own grandfather there is remains unknown simply due to lack of records. Most of the records related to the Parham family in the 18th and 19th century in the Granville and Vance County, North Carolina areas are from personal written correspondence and marriage records. 



Thus, the earliest direct ancestor of my own grandfather Thomas Clement Parham Sr. that could be found in genealogical records was Asa Parham. Asa Parham was born in Granville County, North Carolina in 1793 and was a farmer in the Tabbs Creek area of Granville County where my own grandfather farmed and made his living in the tobacco industry. Asa Parham was a prominent farmer in the area at the time and census records show that he owned up to eighteen enslaved people at one point in time which would have made him a relatively wealthy man during the 1800's. Census records show that Asa Parham lived with his wife and children in the Granville County area for all of his life. Having several children, Asa lived his life comfortably as a farmer after marrying Delia Hawkins Reavis Parham in 1824 when she was just eighteen and he was already thirty-one. The last of the nine children born to Asa and Delia was my great, great, grandfather-Joseph Benjamin Parham.  Born in Granville County in 1847 to a father in his fifties at the time of his birth and a mother who was forty-one, Benjamin died young at the age of forty-nine in 1897. He married Emma Hunt Parham and had five children. The youngest became my own great grandfather Elvyn Leroy Parham (1883-1952). Elvyn married Ethel May Clement and had just one son named Thomas Clement Parham Sr. (1916-2006). Land and economic records from Granville County show that the family were successful and made a name for themselves in the late 19th century and early 20th century as tobacco growers and buyers. Thomas Clement Parham Sr., following in his family's footsteps worked on the tobacco market for most of his life and established himself as a prominent businessman, landowner, and farmer within Granville County. A prominent road and neighborhood in Granville County is named after Thomas Parham Sr. and is well-known in the area. Thomas Parham Sr. married Billie Abbitt Rose from Henderson, N.C. and had two children named Frances Abbitt Parham Louis (b. 1959) and Thomas Parham Sr. (b. 1960). Therefore, the Parham family and name has become synonymous in the Granville County, North Carolina area with the tobacco industry and farming. The Parham family, undoubtedly as records demonstrate, played a vital role in the creation of Oxford, N.C. as a successful farming town. 



Bibliography

“Elvyn Leroy Parham.” FamilySearch.org. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LVQ7-QCV/elvyn-leroy-parham-1883-1952.

Lange, Dorothea, photographer. Tobacco strung on sticks. Granville County, North Carolina. United States Granville County North Carolina, 1939. July. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017772468/.

Freedmen's record: "U.S., Freedmen's Bureau Records, 1865-1878"
The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Records of the Field Offices For the State of North Carolina, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872; NARA Series Number: M1909; NARA Reel Number: 15; NARA Record Group Number: 105; NARA Record Group Name: Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1861 - 1880; Collection Title: United States Freedmen's Bureau, Records of Freedmen's Complaints 1865-1872
Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 62309 #2238253 (accessed 20 December 2023)
Residence Place: North Carolina, USA; Name: Asa Parham; Record Type: Residence; Residence Date: 19 Feb 1868.

Oxford Public Ledger Oxford, N.-Current.

“Joseph Benjamin Parham.” FamilySearch.org. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LVQ7-QCV/joseph-benjamin-parham-1847-1897.

Terrell, Mary Church. Mary Church Terrell Papers: Miscellany, -1954; Clippings; Unarranged; 3 of 8. - 1954, 1854. Manuscript/Mixed Material. https://www.loc.gov/item/mss425490750/.

“Thomas C. Parham.” FamilySearch.org. Accessed April 29, 2024. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LVQ7-QCV/thomas-clement-parham-1916-2006.

1840 Census: "1840 United States Federal Census"
Year: 1840; Census Place: Tubbs Creek, Granville, North Carolina; Roll: 360; Page: 98; Family History Library Film: 0018094
Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8057 #3306732 

1850 Census: "1850 United States Federal Census"
The National Archives in Washington D.C.; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Tabscreek, Granville, North Carolina; Roll: 631; Page: 81a; Line Number: 1
Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8054 #12747165

Semi-weekly North-Carolina standard. (Raleigh, NC), Jul. 31 1852. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84024518/1852-07-31/ed-1/.

Slave Schedule: "1850 U.S. Federal Census - Slave Schedules"
The National Archive in Washington Dc; Washington, DC; NARA Microform Publication: M432; Title: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29
Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8055 #91546978 

"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MC6Y-5GG : 11 August 2016), Asa Parham in household of William A Parham, Fishing Creek, Granville, North Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district ED 108, sheet 582B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0965; FHL microfilm 1,254,965.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Christianity in the Early American Republic

  Christianity in the Early American Republic     Early American religion, of course, was dominated by Christianity in a variety of denominations. Many of the early American colonies were founded for religious motivations including the desire for religious freedom or tolerance. For example, the New England colonies were founded by separatists and Puritans. The middle and Southern colonies were also founded by Christians. The middle and southern colonies, however, were founded by Quakers and Protestants. Maryland, uniquely, was founded as a place of religious toleration for Catholics. Interpretations of the Bible and religious practices generally differed from one colony to the next as well as one congregation to the next in the early Republic. Churches as well as their congregations came in all shapes and sizes as well and reflected the social status and wealth of the people they served. Despite their differences in shape and size, all early American Christian churches pu...
Read more

Economic Influencers Between 1900 and 1929 Blog Post.

 Henry Ford was born just outside of Detroit Michigan during the Civil War. At the age of sixteen he leaves his family behind to pursue his interests in machinery in Detroit. By no means does Ford strike it rich initially in the postbellum economy. In 1879 he is only earning roughly $2.50 a week shaping brass valves. A true innovator, he spends every waking moment while also growing his young family in a rented house in Detroit, toying with his invention of the quadricycle. His hard work and determination pay off and in 1896 his first automobile creation, the Quadracycle, is driven by him through the streets of Detroit. Just at the turn of the twentieth century, he is able to form his Detroit Automobile Company. His financial backers all grew tired of his attempts to constantly update his automobiles and constant desire to push the market forward through innovation. While his financial backers grew tired of his constant attempts to update his automobiles and make them more innovati...
Read more