Ideas on the Ancestry of

James E. Balkcom (b1807 in NC, d1887 in AL)

James E. Balkcom is currently a major brick wall in tracing ancestors of Oklahoma Balkcoms.  Evidence of lineage is pretty solid going back to James but there is little in the records to identify his parents.  Based on an extensive look at NC, Georgia, and Alabama records, along with published opinions about his ancestry, I propose here that there are only two realistic candidates for his parents.

Accepting that census records are accurate in identifying James' birth location as North Carolina, I identified using all available records the Balkcoms who lived in the state between 1790 and 1820 and ruled out those who are unlikely candidates.  This left only two options for his parents.

First, a summary of early records of James E. Balkcom:

•          Born 1 Jan or 7 Jan 1807 in NC, according to several census records;

•          First official record of James is in 1827 court records of Sampson County, North Carolina, naming him as serving on a road crew along with Wiley Balkcom.  James had very close ties to Wiley throughout his life.  Wiley was the son of John and Hester Balkcom.  He was born in Duplin Co, NC and lived there and in Sampson County until 1835;

•          The 1840 Federal Census places James and Wiley and their families in Lowndes Co, GA;

•          Census records show very close ties between James Balkcom and Daniel and Elizabeth Murphy, who seem likely to have been close relatives of James' wife Mary.  Daniel and Elizabeth Murphy were also born in NC, probably Duplin County;

•          James' occupation was farmer, and in at least one census identified himself as a hatter.

I have assumed the following:

•          Most likely birthplace in North Carolina was Duplin, Sampson, Johnston, or Edgecombe County (this because James had very strong ties to Duplin County; the Balkcom’s in Duplin County lived close to the Sampson County line, apparently having land straddling the two counties; and, many other southern (Georgia, Alabama) Balkcom’s had ancestors in Duplin, Johnston and Edgecombe Counties);

•          Published records including census, marriages, court records, and tax lists have identified all  Balkcom’s living in those counties.

Balkcom’s known to be in these counties in 1800, 1810, or 1820 (by census unless otherwise noted):

 Possible Parents of James E.

            Many of those in the list above can be easily ruled out as parents.  At the time of the birth of James E. in 1807, John Balkcom was no longer living, and Uriah could have been no older than 11.  This leaves as candidates Seth, Ichabod, William, and Bennett.  Bennett's children are named in his will so he is not considered further.  I have a lot of work to do on William of the 1820 census so he cannot completely be ruled out.

Seth is recorded on Johnston County Tax lists until his death in 1816.  He married in 1808, shown by a marriage bond:

Bride: Sally Elliot
Groom: Seth Bawcum
Bond Date: 17 Nov 1808
County: Johnston
Record #: 01 022
Bondsman: Ichabard Balkcum
Witness: E. Sanders
Bond #: 000066973

“Sally” was according to the Baucom book actually “Sarah”, who in 1820 was in the census of Jones County, GA (“Sarrah Balkham”, age 16-26, with 2 males u10 and 2 10-16).  Bondsman “Ichabard Balkcum” is Ichabod, and he was also in the 1820 Jones Co, GA census (“Ichabod Balkham” age 26-45, with females 1 over 45, 1 26-45, and children 4 males u10 and 2 10-16).  “Alexander Balkham” age over 45 was also in Jones Co then.  This shows a link between Ichabod, Alexander, and Seth.  The Baucom Family book calls them brothers, and calls John in Duplin County a fourth brother, all sons of Ichabod Balkcom and Sarah Boyd.

             So, back to the question of James’ parents.  Seth and Sarah are candidates although they married in 1808, nearly two years after James' birth.  Unfortunately Seth does not appear in census records so there is no record of family size or ages.

             Ichabod is an interesting candidate.  He was born in 1772 at Bath, Beaufort County, North Carolina.  He and Delany Jarroll (daughter of Isaac Jarroll) were issued a marriage bond on 23 May 1806 in Johnston County, North Carolina.  One year later, on 23 May 1807, he and Nancy Sasser were issued a marriage bond in Johnston County.  He was head of household in the 1810 Johnston County census as shown in the table.  Before 1820 he moved to Jones County, GA, where he lived until past the age of 90.

             My best guess is that Ichabod Balkcom and Delany Jarroll were the parents of James E.  The fact that Ichabod married twice within a year (or at least was issued marriage bonds with two different women) means that something went wrong early with Ichabod and Delany.  The possibilities are that even though issued a marriage bond they never married, or that they married but divorced within the year.  James's birth (1 Jan or 7 Jan 1807) was about 8 ½ months after the marriage bond date for Ichabod and Delany.  It’s possible that marriage was planned because Delany expected a baby, then the plan changed for some reason.  Delany had earlier, in 1805, appeared in Johnston County court records as an unmarried mother, with the father named as Micajah Watson.  Delany would go on to marry a Hall within a few years, and then John Sasser in 1816.

             The close relationship throughout their lives between Wiley Balkcom and James E. Balkcom seems important, as does the relationship between Daniel and Elizabeth Murphy and James and wife Mary Murphy.  It's at least possible that Hester Balkcom, Wiley’s mother, took James E. to raise.  Hester was widowed by John’s death in 1803, but was reasonably stable financially in 1807 based on estate records and size of land holdings.  There seemed to be few options for care of an infant in the immediate family of Ichabod’s brothers - Seth was himself unmarried, and Alexander had financial difficulties and had apparently already moved to Georgia before 1807.  Ichabod’s father was no longer living, and there are no records of his mother after 1890.  Delaney already had a small child. 

            In 1810, Hester had 2 boys under 10 in the household, along with one 10-16 who would have been Wiley.  Since husband John had been dead for 7 years, the 2 younger boys are unlikely to have been children of Hester, and John’s will listed no male children other than Wiley.  One of these boys could have been 3 year old James.

           If Hester did raise James, it would explain a number of things.  First, it could explain how James met wife Mary (Polly) Murphy.  In 1800, John and Hester Balkcom lived next door to Timothy Murphy, who was the brother of an Elizabeth Murphy.  This Elizabeth is thought by some to have been Mary’s mother, but if not is still almost certainly a close relative.

         Finally, in the 1870 census of Dale County, Alabama, James E. listed his occupation as farmer and hatter.  According to researcher Bob Bolkcom, John Balkcom’s occupation was hatter (I haven't found confirmation of this.)

This theory raises a few questions.  It’s not clear why Ichabod and new wife Nancy Sasser would not have taken James to raise after they married, only a few months after James' birth.  Also, Ichabod and Nancy had a son in 1810 who they named James.

An alternative theory helps with these questions.  In 1820, Ichabod and Nancy had an additional boy under 15 in their household in Jones County, Georgia, not accounted for by looking at their known children.  It's conceivable that this was 13 year old James E.  In 1810, Ichabod and Nancy had 3 males under 5 in their household in Johnston County, NC.  These boys would have been sons Henry and John, born before 1809, and one other that could have been either 3 year old James E., or the newborn James, born 3 Sept 1810.  Which of the two it was would depend on the timing of the census that year with respect to the birth of their son James-1810.  This leaves open the question of why they would name two sons James.  This could possibly be explained by family emphasis on the middle name of one of the boys.  It seems though that official records for these two boys later in life used the name James.

As counters to this latter theory, I've found no evidence that James E. had ties to Jones County, GA, where Ichabod and family lived most of their adult lives.

In summary, I believe it most likely that James was a son from the brief marriage of Ichabod Balkcom and Delany Jarroll, or was their illegitimate son if they in fact never married.  I think it's likely that Hester Balkcom raised James along with her own son Wiley and daughter Tombsin, without official adoption.  Research in Jones and Twiggs counties, GA, where Ichabod lived most of his adult life, may be helpful.