Second Generation

4. William W. DURHAM was born about 1830 in Indiana.^1,4,5,6 In the 1860 Census for Newton County, Missouri (Lost Creek), Martha Bell, age 18, is listed in the household of William W. Durham and wife Sarah.

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Information provided by Marty ??? - Rootsweb
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=19247&id=I0008

As written on 3x5 notepaper by Ira W. Roberts - transcribed verbatim

I was born Sept. 17, 1901 on my fathers 24th birthday (John W. Roberts) Daton Twsp 3 mi SE of Daton (Now Racine) Missouri.
His father (Frank Roberts) and mother (Mary E. Roberts) Frank a civil war vet. Union - Mary E. father name Durham (Bill) a full blood Irishman - owner of a large land holding in western part of Newton County, Mo. Wife - part indian - enough to be entitled to her share of Indian allotment land - but Great Grandpa Durham forbid. He gave or donated the land for the site of the town of what is now Seneca Missouri.
He was a carpenter of some renown (said to have possessed the largest set of tools west of the Alliganies) He also was an accomplished leather tanner and apparently jack of all trades.
At the beginning of the civil war with only a few neighbors in that area of Mo. Most of them sympathetic with the South - He professed like sympathy while tanning leather and saddle and boots and lay-ing in provisions for his wife and 13 children. When ready he went to Kansas and joined the Union Army along with his brother.
Learning of this, his neighbors consisting of the Sparlings - Buzzards and other locals - formed a raiding party and came in by night, stole all supplies - ran off all cattle and live stock and burned their cabin while Grand mother Durham and 13 children (Grandmother Roberts was 13 years old at that time) hid out in the timber and made it to sympathetic neighbors until Great grandpa Durham could obtain a furlough and come home - rebuild the cabin and restock the larder.
This happened time after time although after the war these same bushwhackers became integrated into the family circle through marriage and many of them are now our rela-tives.
At one time when Great grandpa Durham and his brother came home to help replenish the family larder. They both were out in front of their cabin without any firearms when a group of horsemen rode up and called them out to the gate - After a brief conversation the leader yelled 'Dou-gan Boys` and at that signal the other horsemen took off but the leader started firing at Great grandfather Durham and his brother - killing his brother but missing Great grandpa Durham.
At another time when Great grandfather Durham was home to replenish his family larder his bushwhacker friends(?) surrounded his cabin at night and demanded he come out or they would burn him out.
It is said that he opened the door and stood behind it and shouted that if they came after him he would get them one by one. So they set fire to his cabin and when he came out to fight it out with them they riddled him with buckshot and left him for dead. However his sympathetic friends and relatives put him on a horse and took him 16 miles to Neosho Mo. to the nearest doctor who removed all but 17 of the buckshot (one of which grazed his windpipe) which he carried to his grave.

Newspaper unknown: DIED, At his home 2 1/2 miles south of Seneca, Jan. =
25th, 1894, of la grippe (?), William W. Durham, aged 64 years, 4 months =
and 17 days.

Mr Durham was a well known and prominent man in Seneca and this section =
of the country. He was by profession a surveyor and has run many a line =
in Seneca and Newton county. He was born at Indianapolis, Ind., Sept 8, =
1829; at the age of 18 moved to this state, and married at 20 to Miss =
Melissa Bell, who survives him. He has been a resident of Missouri, =
with the exceptionof five years in Kansas about the time of our civil =
war, and has lived in Seneca and vicinity 20 -25 years. He has been a =
member of the Baptist Church for mor than 40 years and was a christian =
gentleman, kind neighbor, and generous friend. He funeral was preached =
at the Baptist Church in this place, on Friday afternoon, and the =
remains interred in the Seneca Cemetery. Peace to his ashes

September 2000: Doug and Dee Lankford now live on this property
523 Peoria St
Seneca, MO 64865
417-776-3338
ddkkland@netins.net

"The Durhams, who lived near the present Bethel Church, went to Fort Scott (Kansas) for safety. When they returned, everything was gone. The barn was the only building not burned. They lived in the loft until they could build another house." [Little Town on the Border/Seneca, Missouri/Volume 1
It is noted that Nelson Durham was born about 1863 in the state of Kansas. [Source: Chapter 5 Civil War at Border Village.

The last one in this list is the one I have a copy of in my files and it
shows John's wife andchildrens names plus William W and Sarah as a
separate entry. By the way, if you don't already have this info, Lost
Creek township was changed to Dayton township and then renamed again to
Racine a long time ago - about 1880 I think.

William W. DURHAM and Sarah Melissa BELL were married about 1850 in Newton County, Missouri.³ Sarah Melissa BELL was born about 1831 in Tennessee.^1,4,5,6 William W. DURHAM and Sarah Melissa BELL had the following children:

17	i.	Mary DURHAM was born about 1851 in Missouri.4
18	ii.	Martha DURHAM was born about 1854 in Missouri.4
19	iii.	Samantha DURHAM was born about 1859 in Missouri.4
20	iv.	Sarah DURHAM was born about 1861 in Missouri.5
21	v.	Nelson D. DURHAM was born about 1863 in Kansas.5
22	vi.	Margaret J. DURHAM was born about 1866 in Missouri.4,5
23	vii.	Paralu DURHAM was born about 1866 in Missouri.5,6