There are many families in Newton County who can trace their ancestry back to some of the first settlers of Newton County. Among these ancestors was Daniel Ham.
Daniel E. Ham was born in Bedford County, Tennessee, May 16, 1827, the son of Mary Ham. He married Polly Ann Daniels in 1848. She was born Mary Ann Daniels in 1831 at Shelbyville, Illinois.
The 1850 census showed she had one child, Nancy G., born about 1849. She died in 1852, the same year she gave birth to William Jasper Ham.
Daniel married again in 1855 to Malinda B. Doolin. In 1860 they were living in Union Township. Daniel owned $1,000 in real estate and $1,000 in personal property. On Oct. 1, 1860, Daniel purchased 40 acres from the federal land office in Fayetteville.
During the Civil War, he fought in Company C, 16th Arkansas Infantry (CSA).
In 1870, the value of his Union Township farm had dropped to $800, and he had only $600 in personal property.
The family remained on the farm in Union Township. Daniel died Aug. 7, 1891, and was buried at Lone Hill Cemetery in Limestone.
Malinda died the next year — July 12, 1892, and was laid to rest in Lone Hill Cemetery.
Daniel was father to eight children, two of whom remained in Newton County. Martha Emeline Ham (1859-1939) married William Francis Gillean (1856-1937) and had 10 children. Ulysses Grant Ham (1869-1933) first married Winnie Casey (1869-1932) and then married Pearl Mae Breedlove (1902-1975), and had 10 children, including Rual Custer Ham (1902-1953), who married Goldie Nina Burdine (1909-1996), and had four children.
Barbara LeRoy is the author of “Which Side Were They On?,” a 302 page book listing biographical sketches of the Newton Countians who were involved in the Civil War, available for sale either in the Bradley House Museum or by purchasing online at www.newtoncountyar.com. The book sells for $33.
