Jesse Oldham ²

  General Notes:

U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 about Jesse Oldham
Name: Jesse Oldham
Gender: male
Birth Place: VA
Birth Year: 1733
Spouse Name: Elizabeth Simpson
Marriage State: of KY

"moved to North Carolina before the Revolution, and lived for a time on t he Yadkin River, not a great distance from the Guilford Court-House. (Mill er, p.478)

1775 Madison Co, KY
Jesse Oldham came to Boonesborough in 1775 where he raised a crop of co rn with Nathaniel Hart

4 October 1787
Caswell Co., NC Deed Books 1777-1817
Book F, pp. 178-179
Jesse OLDHAM and his wife Elizabeth of Caswell Co. to Thomas HORNBUCK LE of FAIRFAX CO., VA, for 220 pounds, 403ac -- 2 tracts, one convey ed by Richard SIMPSON, the other by the State on the south fork of STON EY CREEK including plantation where OLDHAM lives adj. Thomas BRINSFIELD, S IMPSON, Tyree HARRIS, HEWES' corner.
Wits: William HORNBUCKLE, Simpson HARRIS, Thomas BRINSFIELD.

"Jesse was married a long time before the war, and had a number of gro wn children, and several married ones, when he came to Kentucky from the Y adkin River with Colonel Daniel Boone, and was with Colonel Boone and Cap tain William Twetty at Twetty's Fort, or the Litle Fort, when attack ed by the Indians...." (Miller, p.473)

FAYETTE COUNTY KY RECORDS
By Michael L. Cook & Bettie Cummings Cook.
Jesse Oldham & First Kentucky Corn Crop
Volume 1..Page 187 & 188..
Deposition of JESSE OLDHAM, aged 72 years (taken at an improvement of Nath aniel HART, deceased, in Madison County, on March 3, 1802, before Robert C aldwell):
Deponent came to KY from NC in the year 1775 [Note by Staples: one of t he five brothers in Battle of Guilford Court House; he was also in Twitty 's Fort when Indians attacked same] at which time he passed by the blue li cks and from thence near the improvement to Twitty's Fort and the tra ce he travelled was then called and known by the name of Boone's Trac e. In the year 1775 he together with Nathaniel HART and others plant ed a crop of corn at Boonesborough. He came out to KY again in the spri ng of 1779 at which time he together with Nathaniel HART and others rais ed a crop of corn at Boonesborough and in the same year raised a crop of c orn at this improvement and also at the deponent's improvement which li es near to this place on the creek. He has never known or heard this impr ovement called by any other name than Nathaniel HART'S improvement.

Question by complainant:
Have you not always understood that Nathaniel HART obtained his settleme nt and improvement by virtue of the improvement?
Answer:
Yes I did; I was not here when the Commissioners sat and never saw the cer tificate until today.

Question by defendant:
Did Nathaniel HART and you raise the crop of corn in partnership?
Answer:
No, his corn for himself and mine for myself.

Question by same:
Was not there a contract between you and Nathaniel HART, that if you nev er came to the county he was to claim both claims?
Answer:
Yes, he was.

Question by the complainant:
Was not Nathaniel HART to clear out your claim on the halves and if you ne ver came to KY he was to have all of it?
Answer:
He was so. My claim and Nathaniel HART'S claim were two separate and dist inct claims. I did not expect to get more than 400 acres of land and th at for raising corn in 1779.

Question by defendant:
What do you suppose is the distance between Nathaniel's HART'S improveme nt and yours?
Answer:
I suppose it may be about a mile.

Question by same:
Was there any improvements at this place when you first came to KY in 177 5?
Answer:
Not as I know of.

Question by plaintiff:
Did not Nathaniel HART leave his negroes at Boonesborough in 1775 to ma ke his crop of corn?
Answer:
I cannot tell.

Volume 1..Page 191 & 192..
Desposition of JESSE OLDHAM (taken at his own house in Madison County on J anuary 7, 1805, before John Wilkerson, a single magistrate): That Silver C reek and Hart's Fork of Silver Creek, Boone's old trace, Squire Boone's st ockfield tract, and Nathaniel HART'Ss improvement on Boone's old trace we re places of great notoriety and well known in KY in the year 1779. Th at Boone's old trace was marked out in the year 1775 and was the road lead ing from Boonesborough and the upper parts of KY through the Wilderness, w hich was generally travelled. That Nathaniel HART'S improvement was with in sight of Boone's old trace and must have been well known to every pers on travelling or passing along that trace as there was a considera ble qua ntity of corn made at it in the summer of 1779.

Volume 1..Page 257..
Deposition of JESSE OLDHAM (taken December 1, 1810): States that Nathani el HART and I married sisters. Boone's old trace was marked out in year 1 775 and was the road leading from Boonesborough and upper part of KY throu gh the wilderness and it was then generally traveled.
Volume 1..Page 261..

Deposition of EDWARD WILLIAMS (taken at house of Nicholas Anderson in Mont gomery County, on May 14, 1804):
He set out from Boonesborough in the month of June 11, 1779 to go to VA a nd encamped the first night on waters of Silver Creek in company with a nu mber of others and that Nathaniel HART and JESSE OLDHAM set out at same ti me for the settlements but were obliged to go out of their way for a hor se that was bit by a snake and did not join the company until that evenin g. That when the said HART and OLDHAM set out from Boonesborough they app ointed to meet the company at said JESSE OLDHAM's improvement at the cree k. That they all set out together the next morning and passed by Nathani el HART'S improvement and said HART informed deponent and company th at it was his improvement and there was a present at Boonesborough when Na thaniel HART laid in his claim before the Commissioner's for his settleme nt and preemption, and the said HART informed this deponent that he had ob tained his certificate for this improvement on Silver Creek.

Madison County, KY, Will Book B, p.38
"In the name of God, amen. I, Jesse Oldham, of Madison County, and Sta te of Kentucky, being in my perfect senses, do make and ordain this my la st will and testament. First: I give and beqeath my soul to Almighty Go d, that gave it, and my body to be buried by my executors in a christian l ike manner, and as touching such worldly goods as it hath pleased God to b less and endow me with, I give and dispose of in the manner and form follo wing:
Item -- I give and bequeath to my daughter, Amy Burton, one shilling sterl ing, and no more.
Item -- I give and bequeath unto my son, Richard Oldham, one shilling ster ling, and no more.
Item -- I give and bequeath unto my daughter, Mary Ann and George, one shi lling sterling, and no more.
Item -- I give and bequeth unto my daughter, Anna Harris, one shilling ste rling, and no more.
Item -- I give and bequeath unto my son, Tyre Oldam fifty pounds, Kentuc ky currency, and no more
Item -- I give and bequeath unto my daughter, Frances Oldham, one shilli ng sterling, and no more.
Item -- I give and bequeath unto my daughter Sally Burton, one shilling st erling, and no more.
My will and desire is that Jesse Oldham, Elias Oldham, Eady Oldham, Nathan iel Oldham, and John K. Oldham, those five last mentioned children, sha ll have all the residue of my estate, to be equally divided amongst the m, both real and personal estate is my will.
Lastly, I appoint my son, Jesse Oldham, and my son Nathaniel Oldham, my wh ole sole executors, of this my last will and testament.
In witness whereof I have set my hand, seal, this 28 day of Jan 1814, JWA AW OLDHAM (Seal.)
Signed and sealed in the presence of: -- Daniel Williams, Frances Hlly, Na ncy (X) Hally, Betsy Hally.
At a court held for Madison County on the fourth day of April 1814, this w riting was proven to be the last will and testament of Jesse Oldham, by t he oaths of Daniel Williams and Frances Hally two subscribing witnesses th ereto, and ordered to be recorded, and the same has been done accordingl y. (B page 38.) Teste, William Irvine, Clerk.
(Miller, p.479)


W.H. Miller notes (pp.480-481): Mr. Thompson B. Oldham of Burgin, Ky ., is authority for the following statements, viz:
Jesse Oldham and his wife Elizabeth Simpson, had a grand-son towit:
Williamson Oldham who went from Kentucky to Tennessee. He studied law, a nd was licensed to practice and moved to Arkansas, and became Judge of t he Supreme Court thereof, and subsequently removed to Texas, and was a ve ry distinguished lawyer and politician. "Judge Oldham use to correspo nd by letter with Abner Oldham, (father of Thompson), of Madison County, K y., and in one of his letters he wrote "tell Aunt Edith, she is the only w oman in Kentucky who I can say spoiled the Judge of the Supreme Court of A rkansas."
Additional sketch, furnished by Mrs. Rebecca J. Fisher, President fo the W illiam B. Travis Chapter Daughters of the Republic of Texas, Austin, Texa s: Capital. 'State Librarian."

WILLIAM S. OLDHAM
William S. Oldham, was born in Franklin County, Tenn., on June 19, 1813, a nd was a descendant of an old Virginia family. At the age of thirteen year s, he opened a school in mountains of Tennessee, in order to procure mea ns to continue his education. Having followed this caling two years, he ob tained a situation in the office of the District Clerk of Franklin Count y. Judge Nathan Green directed his study of law.

1836
He removed to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he formed a partnership with S .G. Sneed. At Fayetteville, Mr. Oldham soon established an eminent reputa tion, and in 1842, was speaker of the Arkansas House of Representative s, in 1844, he was chosen almost unanimously by the Legislature an associa te Justice of the Supreme Court of Arkansas, and held that position unt il the fall of 1848, when in consequnce of ill healt he resigned, in conte mplation of making his future home in Texas.

1849
In the spring of 1849, he removed to Texas, and located at Austin, ** in 1 858, the Legislature of Texas passed an act authorizing the Governor to re ceive proposlas for the preparation of a digest of all the general statu te laws of the state. The contract for preparing this digest was award ed to Messrs. Oldham and White.

1861
Judge Oldham, was strongly in favor of secession. He was chosen a memb er of the Provisional Congress, at Montgomery, and was subsequently elect ed a senator in the Congress of the Confederate States and held that posit ion until the close of the war.
At the close of the war Judge Oldham, retired to Mexico.

1866
Upon the fall of the empire in 1866, he went to Canada. He returned to Tex as, and having settled in Houston, devoted himself exclusively to the prac tice of his profession.

1868
He was stricken with typhoid fever and died with that disease at Housto n, on the 8th day of May 1868. The Bench and Bar of Texas, by James D. Lyn ch, pages 254-261. ²

Jesse married Elizabeth Simpson, daughter of Richard Simpson, Jr. and Mary Kincheloe, on 21 Oct 1757 in Orange Co., NC.² (Elizabeth Simpson was born about 1740 in Prince William Co., VA ² and died about 1813 in Boonesboro, Madison Co., KY ².)