A One-Name Study for the BARNUM/BARNHAM Surname
Descendant Charley A. Fuller provided the following story about Celinda (Barnum) Cummings, daughter of Seth Barnum: When they came from back east during the Civil War days, they crossed the Missouri River at Saint Joseph, Missouri, and joined a wagon train going west. They had only about two days travel till they reached what is now Hiawatha Kansas. Celinda's father was running a waystation and tavern there, but her train had the misfortune to meet up with Quantrell and his raiders before arriving. All the men of the train were killed and the wagons were burned and the horses stolen, leaving the women and children alone out there on the prairie. Celinda saved $400.00 that she was carrying by scraping a hole in the ground with her foot and putting the money in the hole and covering it up. She had one little boy (Tommy Cummings). She later married a man named Jake Englehart. She lived the rest of her life in that neighborhood and is buried there in the Old Original Cemetery. [Note, Thomas B. Cummings, Jr. (Tommy) was born in 1863, which would make his age about right for the story told above. However, records indicate that he was born in Hiawatha, Kansas, where his mother Celinda and the rest of the Barnum family are known to have been living since the winter of 1857-58. The $400.00 that his mother supposedly saved from the raiders is worth $6,419 in 2005 dollars, using the Consumer Price Index].
A Research Guide to the Genealogy of the Barnum/Barnam/Barnham Family Worldwide
AncientFaces - Family History Photos
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