Tombstone of Elizabeth G. Nichols Markham at the Dycusburg Cemetery. Click photo for larger version.The first record we find was in Livington County, Kentucky, on 25 April 1836 he married Elizabeth Nichols.
Elizabeth was the wife of Jacob Nichols and we are pretty sure they had at least two children.
On 21 April 1841, Permilia I. Nichols Leech married George Washington Hill. She was a daughter of Elizabeth Nichols Markham.
In January 1837, George borrowed money on his tobacco crop.
George appears with his family on the 1840 census for Livingston County and apparently it is the combined Nichols and Markham family. George is in the 40-50 age group, males. There are three males in the 10-15 age group. We figure they are John R. Markham (1824), William Nichols (1828) and H. Berry Markham (1829). In the 5-10 age group, male, is a person we cannot account for. Elizabeth is in the 30-40 age group, female. In the 15-20 age group, female, are two: Permilia Nichols (1825) and Nancy Markham (1824). There is one female in the 5-10 age group, Sally Markham who was born in 1833.
Kentucky Land Grants show that on 14 August 1840, a survey of 127 acres was made for George W. Markham on the Cumberland [River]-Livingston County (book 7, p. 368). Also 28 acres on the Cumberland [River]-Crittenden County (book 19, p. 309). On 27 December 1841, George and Elizabeth sold their farm. I assume this was her farm from Jake Nichols.
We found where on 10 June 1841, Elijah Duncan married Nancy Markham, daughter of George W. On 2 February 1846, Patric Smith married Sally Markham, daughter of George W.
Elizabeth Nichols Markham born 19 February 1810, died 19 January 1848 and is buried in Dycusburg Cemetery (KY). We do not believe George W. and Elizabeth had any children.
We have not found a marriage record but believe A. Berry Markham, son of George W., and Nancy Bond were married in 1848.
On 16 May 1848, George W. married Sarah J. Rhodes, daughter of Aquilla I.
George W. Markham bought some land in Dycusburg on 1 Jan. 1849. Bond was signed by his son, John R. Markham.
Federal census for 1850 shows Elijah Duncan and Nancy in Crittenden County with their family. George W. is head of a household in which are living John R. and his wife, Margaret. Crittenden County marriage records show that on 23 Aug. 1850, John R. Markham married Margaret A. Crow. We did not find A. Berry Markham and Nancy nor Patric Smith and Sally in 1850.
Have no idea what happened to Sarah Rhodes whom George married on 16 May 1848. Did not find any divorce or annulment records.
Crittenden County census for 1850 shows households #243-343 of Washington Hill and his wife Permelia and their family. Living with them is William Nichols age 22. Permelia and William are step-children of George W. and apparently were in his household in 1840.
Princeton, county seat of Caldwell County, marriage records show that on 17 Nov. 1851, George W. married Mrs. Nancy Wells. Elijah Duncan signed the marriage bond. George and nancy are on the census for 1860 in Crittenden County, KY. Children were Mary 7, Lucille 6 and Sarah A. 2. We didn't make any real effort but did not find Nancy's children James and Jasper. On 27 March 1861 George and nancy sold some of their land.
We don't know for sure how many children George and Nancy had but there were twins, born on 27 March 1862, George Marion and Helen (Tilton). One of George W. and Nancy's daughters, Lucille married Elihu Noah Duncan and on 21 Oct. 1878, George W. signed an indenture leaving his farm to Elihu and Lucille on the condition they take care of him for the rest of his life.
Federal census 1880 for Crittenden County lists Nancy Markham, widowed, and living with her is her son George. Found nothing on Nancy Well's children and the only other child of George W. and Nancy we found was Lucille who had married E.N. Duncan. George W. was probably dead by 1880 but we don't know the date, place of death, nor burial place. Nancy died 28 April 1881 and is buried in the Dycusburg Cemetery. She was born 27 July 1825 in Virginia.
Buried near Nancy is Lucille F., wife of E.N. Duncan, born 11 March 1854 and died 22 April 1909. Next to her is Elihu Noah Duncan, her husband, born 1845 and died 1919.
There was a William Markham in Livington County in 1840 living fairly close to George W. William was in the 30-40 age group and could have been a brother of George W.
We found a James Markham in Scott County who was in the 20-30 age group and his wife was in the same age group in the 1840 census. On 1850 census for Crittenden County is a James Markham with his wife, Elizabeth, living fairly close to George. We believe this is the same James found in 1840 in Scott County. James is shown as age 32 and his wife is 31. Two children ages 9 and 5 are shown as born in Missouri. One child age 3 and the other 4 months are shown born in Kentucky. This would indicate that after 1845 they moved from Missouri to Kentucky. James is shown as born in Kentucky.
Kentucky birth records show a son born to James Markham (born in Kentucky) and Elizabeth Thompson Markham (born in Missouri) in Crittenden County, Kentucky on 9 Aug. 1852. No doubt this was Lewis M.
Sometime before 1860 James was gone from his family. We found where on 19 Oct. 1857 a James L. Markham married in Crittenden County to Miss Martha Seeper. This could be Elizabeth's husband but we have no further information.
When we first started working on this Markham family, it was our good fortune to contact Annie Markham Mabry. She is a great-granddaughter of George W. but she had no information on him. Annie kept talking of Berry's brother George M. who went to California and became wealthy. She had a copy of George M.'s will which she gave us. In this will he refers to his half-brother, James Wells, Nancy's son and his half-brother John Markham and two of John's children, was a brother of A. Berry Markham.
From this will we got enough information to write to California and got a death certificate on George M. which shows he was born in Kentucky. George W. was a father and Nancy Kelly his mother.
Annie also told us her grandfather Berry had raised a cousin Tennessee (Margaret). Margaret was the daughter of James and Elizabeth Thompson Markham.
For some time we had figured that Berry and James were brothers but ages do not fit so we are assuming James was a brother of George W. Records show us George W. was born in Virginia and James was born in Kentucky. So, if our assumptions are true, and what Annie says is true, then the two were brothers and sometime between 1805 and 1818, their parents left Virginia and moved to Kentucky.
Note #1: We have divorce papers on George W. from Sarah Rhodes.
Note #2: Found marriage record of Hiram Wells and Nancy Kelley in St. Francois County, Missouri, 2 June 1843.
There is no positive proof, but there is a family in Wayne County, Kentucky who mostly spell their name Marcum. Head of one of the families was Archibald and we have records that list his children. Among them are a George (not George W.) and a James M. Census records and tax lists both indiciate this could be our George. Indicated age, number of children and years of appearance on tax lsits all fit.
As to James M. he appears variously as James and James M.
Source: Written by Medley M. Bryar (May 1984) and printed in The Roetteis History by Audrey and Cornelia Roetteis
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1912 - Markham Building, Ripon, San Joaquin, California
George Markham and his sister Mary (brother and sister to Helen Markham) opened a restaurant in their home on the corner of Main and Stockton. After much hard work and success, the Markhams built the Markham Building in 1912, moving to the upstairs of the building. They tore down their old house to build the First National Bank. A.J. Show issued Volume I of the Ripon Record on April 20, 1912.
The first recorded murder (in Ripon, St Joaquin, CA) occurred on December 12, 1884 when the Reverend James Wells shot and killed Philip Finch for "seducing" the Rev. Wells half-sister, Helen Markham. After two trials, Wells was acquitted. Trial expenses caused Wells to sell his ranch to the Markhams.
Ripon, San Joaquin, California;
1912 - Markham Building
George Markham and his sister Mary (brother and sister to Helen Markham) opened a restaurant in their home on the corner of Main and Stockton. After much hard work and success, the Markhams built the Markham Building in 1912, moving to the upstairs of the building. They tore down their old house to build the First National Bank. A.J. Show issued Volume I of the Ripon Record on April 20, 1912.
The first recorded murder occurred on December 12, 1884 when the Reverend James Wells shot and killed Philip Finch for "seducing" the Rev. Wells half-sister, Helen Markham. After two trials, Wells was acquitted. Trial expenses caused Wells to sell his ranch to the Markhams.
History of San Joaquin County, California – Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1923, pg 919
GEORGE MARION MARKHAM.
A successful business man and one of the leading citizens of Ripon, San Joaquin County, is George Marion Markham, who for the past thirty-eight years has been a resident of this thriving town. He was born in the rural district near Dycusburg, Ky., a son of George Washington and Nancy (Kelly) Markham, of English and Irish descent, but natives of old Virginia, both now deceased. George Marion Markham had little opportunity for an education, and at the age of thirteen began to make his own way, selecting farming as his vocation, which he followed until he was twenty-two years old. His half brother, Prof. J. W. Wells, had come from Dycusburg, Ky., to Ripon, where he was engaged to teach in the public school. He was accompanied by his half-sister, Helen Markham, who now resides in Ripon. J. W. Wells was a Baptist minister as well as a school teacher. Mary E. Markham, sister of Helen, arrived in Ripon on May 10, 1883; their younger brother, George Marion Markham, joined them in 1884. Arriving at Ripon Mr. Markham found employment on the William H. Crow ranch in the harvest field, and in the warehouse in Ripon, which occupied him for three years. At that time, the town of Ripon consisted of a blacksmith shop, a small schoolhouse, and two saloons. There was no bridge across the Stanislaus River, Murphys Ferry being used until 1887, when the county bridge was built. Mr. Markham was employed as a ranch hand on farms throughout the county until 1901. With his sister Mary, he then started farming, Mary acting as housekeeper.
They purchased their first acquisition of California real estate from their half-brother, J. W. Wells, and Mr. Markham invested in fifty acres in the Whitmore subdivision near Ceres. In 1912 they erected the Markham Hotel. On November 1 of that year it was ready for occupancy and was opened to the public. This is one of the best hostelries in San Joaquin County. The ground floor is devoted to stores, the hotel being on the second floor. Mr. Markham used one of the storerooms as a restaurant, which he operated for five years, while his sister managed the hotel, considered one of the most comfortable and sanitary houses in the city. At the same time they developed the Ceres property, which was sold in 1914 to good advantage. They are also the joint owners of the building occupied by the First National Bank, which was completed in 1921. The building where the postoffice is located, and other stores connecting, were completed in 1922. They are the owners of choice ranch property in the Ripon district, and have been active in the development of irrigation in their locality, and in the organization of the First National Bank of Ripon.
Both Mr. Markham and his sister have manifested in all their undertakings, whether in private or in public affairs, a spirit of progressiveness and enterprise which has brought them success and the confidence of all with whom they have had dealings. Mary Markham is a person of exceptional diligence and excellent business ability, and works in perfect harmony with her brother, whose judgment in regard to finance, land values, and business matters at Ripon, is regarded as being very accurate. They are very kind, and considerate of others. At the death of their half-brother's wife, they helped to bring up and put through school his three children, Ellen, Ernest and Winnie Wells, who are all married and doing well at the present time. They have also helped a great many unfortunate children, among whom was Charles Woods, an orphan boy, whom they brought up from the time he was five years old. He is now married, and resides with his family at Madera, Cal., where he is in the employ of the American Express Company. They have also reared Alvin Hensen, an orphan boy, since he was five years old. He has resided in their home for nineteen years and has received a high school education and encouragement to develop his voice and musical talents. Mary Markham is a member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union and the First Congregational Church in Ripon.
The Ripon Finch Murder
Probably the greatest sensation in Ripon was the killing of Philip Finch by the Rev. James Wells, December 12, 1884. The cause was a difficulty of long standing and seems that in the eastern states Finch had seduced Wells’ half-sister. Wells came to California and located at Ripon and Finch followed and obtained work in the warehouse; at one time he boarded and lodged with the Wells family. Just previous to the shooting it was reported to Wells that Finch had threatened his life. Wells at this time was teaching the Ripon schools on the main street, located where now stands the First National Bank. About 4 o’clock on the day of the murder, Finch was walking towards the schoolhouse and some of the men on the street remarked, “Now there’ll be trouble.” As Finch came near the schoolhouse Wells came out of the building and walked up to Finch. After a short talk, those watching the affair saw Wells draw a revolver and shoot at Finch four times. Two of the shots took effect and Finch was taken into John T. Bloomer’s store. He was attended by Dr. B. M. Bainbridge but died shortly afterwards. As two of the witnesses of the murder John B. Matthews and Thomas Fredericks ran to the scene, Wells exclaimed, “I am sorry I had to shoot you, boy, you have been following me for years. You seduced my sister and this morning you insulted my family.” Sheriff Cunningham hearing of the murder by telegraph hastened to the scene, arresting Wells and bringing him to Stockton jail. Wells was indicted by the Grand jury for murder, and his trial came up February 25, 1885, in the Masonic Hall as the old courthouse had been condemned as unsafe. He has sold his little house in Ripon to pay his attorneys, James A. Louititt and Wm. Dudley. The prosecuting was represented by the district attorney, Ansel Smith, assisted by Joseph C. Campbell. The jury went to their room on the evening of February 28, and the following morning reported that they could not agree, standing seven to five for acquittal. At a subsequent trial Wells was acquitted.
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