Friday, April 18, 2014

Jabez Ham


Elder Jabez Ham (1796-1842) = Farmer. Primitive Baptist minister. Born on August 3 to Rhoda and Stephen Ham, Sr. of Madison Co, KY.

Jabe married Hannah S. Todd (b.1798), daughter of Hannah and Peter Todd [1756, PA.- c.1841, Ky.) a former Revolutionary War Soldier , on January 13, 1814. They emigrated to Missouri in 1817 and altogether had 14 children. A dark chapter came into their lives when Indians massacred all passengers, including two of their boys, on a wagon train going west but one, Joel Campbell Ham (1818-1887). He escaped by crawling into a haystack and the Indians overlooked him. He returned to Missouri.

Elder Jabez Ham organized a church on Loutre Creek in Montgomery County, Missouri called New Providence *. In a letter, written by a Callaway County woman to her sister in Kentucky about a wedding she attended officiated by him, she described him thus: "He had on a long buckskin overcoat that looked so funny! Mr. Ham was a spelling and reading the ceremony from the book." He was said to be quite a character. Another story involves a State senator, one Mr. Harper who left Montgomery County to get a load of corn in Callaway County. Harper wore his usual home-spun clothes and on his way back home, he went by a house where Jabe was preaching. Harper stopped by to hear it and during the services, Jabe asked the congregation to kneel in prayer, which all did except Harper, who leaned his head upon his hand. Then Jabe prayed that the Lord would bless "that Virginia man, who had on store clothes, and was afraid or too proud to get down on his knees."

He passed away in Callaway County, Missouri on December 12, 1842 and is buried in the New Providence church cemetery.


* Historical Note: According to my unpublished research into pioneer Missouri churches 1541-1910, Joseph Baker (d.1811) came from Kentucky to Montgomery County in 1809 and  organized a Baptist church in 1810 on Loutre Creek, called "The Church on Loutre." In September of that year, the congregation called Joseph Baker as their pastor, electing William Savage clerk and set apart Samuel Brown as deacon. Baker's church and Ham's church may have been some distance apart on the creek, or perhaps, for some reason, the congregation drifted apart and Jabez Ham reorganized the church body. More study is needed.



More to Read:
1. The Ham Family Kith and Kin. By Rev. Ervin Charles Tipton. San Rafael, CA. 1977.
2. Madison County, Kentucky Marriage Records, Vol. 1, p. 113.
3. Pioneer Families of Missouri. By Byron and Rose, History of Pettis Co, p. 972. 
4. A History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri: With Numerous Sketches … By William Smith Bryan. (Side note: the author is related to Daniel Boone's wife Rebecca). 
5. Revolutionary War Records for Peter Todd, #S31430, Rowan County, NC under Capt. Robert Moore
6. The Ghost Towns of Central Missouri: Callaway & Osage Counties. by Kelly Warman-Stallings. Ketch's Printing, Jefferson City, MO, 1998. Vol.2.
8. Ham Country
9. Primitive Baptist Church Library in Carthage, IL
10. Access Genealogy
11. Charles Harper, 2nd District (1842) Missouri State Senators
12. Findagrave #28718049

Descendants:
"History of Elk Fork Township: Joel C. Ham."  The History of Pettis County, Missouri, p. 972

Activity: Pray for the descendants of those he ministered to. 

11 comments:

  1. Jabez ham is my 3rd great grandfather. I love finding more relatives and learning more of my family's history. Thank you. One story I've never heard is the massacre of our relatives on a wagon trek west. My great great grandfather was Dr. Samuel Griffin Ham. He was Jabez and Hannah's 11th child. I'm not sure which children were supposed to have been killed, but I know all of them died at various times, with an average age of 53. I would love to learn more.

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    1. I sent you an email, Jeanne. Welcome, cousin, to my little blog! :)

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    2. I researched the Jabez Ham family for over 20 years and never once ran across anything on a massacre. All his children are accounted for. Where did you get your information?

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  2. No. 1 Book by Rev. Tipton above, which I own. Eld. Ham is my 4th great-grandfather and my line comes through Joel Ham.

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  3. You are the only one that has this information. I have researched since 1990 with a lot of researchers and this is the first. They only had 12 children. And they are accounted for.

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    1. There are several newspaper archives online such as the Library of Congress or Pro-quest. Don't know if we could find a newspaper article that mentions this attack or not. The letter that describes Jabez was also from this book.

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    2. You might be correct, I had just never heard of this and am shocked. I found out that a lot of the books have mistakes. That is why I always want proof. I was researching a family and received birth and marriage info from England and found out that the Daughters and Sons of the Pilgrims book has a wrong father with a wrong son. Thankfully I have the birth certificate for the son and a marriage license for the father to prove it. Have you ever attended the Ham reunion in Missouri? Thanks again. I will need to look further. The line my family is descended from is Jabez's daughter Rhoda Coffer Ham.

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    3. My grandmother's information about her parents and how we descend from Jabez is also included in Rev. Tipton's book. I think I found Rev. Tipton's memorial on Findagrave yesterday. His book was published in California in 1977 and his memorial states his death was in 1977, so it was published the year of his death. No, I've never attended the Ham reunion. Didn't even know there was one. I contacted Eld. Robert Webb yesterday also of the Primitive Baptist Library in Carthage, IL to see what he might have on Jabez Ham. I haven't heard back from him yet. You know that the Kansas City metro area is the jumping off point for the Oregon, California, and Santa Fe Trails? The Pony Express left St. Joseph (I also have an article on Alexander Majors on this blog). I also wrote a short article on the Butterfield Mail Route for my Rush-Family-News blog. He could have traveled on a Stage Coach on that road also. The National Frontier Trails Museum in Independence, Mo. has a library. Wonder if they would have any records of stage coach lines?

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    4. Yes, descendants from each of Jabez's children attend. Have you ever seen his grave picture?

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    5. I have never seen a photo of Jabez Ham, however, I am a member of Findagrave.com.

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  4. My fiance is a 4 great grandson of Jabez Ham. Would love to help him connect with more cousins.

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Ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ~ Ephesians 1:15-17.