Author: Guy Benjamin Barham
The following is derived With permission of Jackie Warfel from a biography originally co-sponsored by the Greene County Historic Sites Board; Local History, Springfield-Greene County Library System and Gold Wing Road Riders Association, Chapter B.

James Barham

James Barham, Jr. was born May 18, 1764 in Southampton County, Virginia to James, Sr. and Mary (Thorpe) Barham. A description follows of his Revolutionary War Service as it appeared in a letter from his pension file:

“…while residing in Southampton, Virginia, he enlisted on January 1, 1781, served as a private under Captains James Whitehead, Davenport, John Taylor, Myurick and Newson; Colonels Blunt, Parker and Merriwether in the Virginia Troops, was at the battle of Petersburg and at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and was discharged by Captain Taylor after having served nine months and three weeks…”

He applied for a Revolutionary War pension on June 24, 1833 while living at Callaway County, Kentucky when he was 69 years of age. He was allowed pension on this application while residing in Trigg County, Kentucky; he later removed to the state of Tennessee, and then transferred from the Kentucky Pension Roll to the Missouri Pension Roll on December 28, 1846 (Greene County Justice Court records, witness: John B. Robinson) as earlier that year he had made his final move to Greene County, Missouri to be near his children. One daughter, Phoebe (Barham) Tatum, and family had moved to Greene County in 1837 and helped to establish Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church. James Barham later applied for a bounty land warrant in Greene County on April 10, 1855, when 90 years old (Witness: Thomas G. McKoin, his son-in-law). In 1860, there was a celebration given in Springfield, Missouri in his honor, as he was the only living Revolutionary Soldier at that time in this part of the county. He was presented with a flag, representing the original 13 states, by some ladies of Springfield.

James Barham reportedly remained in excellent health throughout his senior years. It was said that, at 100 years of age, he could still ride horseback for a distance of more than twenty miles. He still rode into Springfield in 1864, where the County Clerk would help him cash his pension check.

James Barham was one of the last five surviving Soldiers of the American Revolution on the U. S. Pension Roll. By an Act of Congress approved February 27, 1865, signed by President Abraham Lincoln, each of these five surviving soldiers was to receive the sum of $300 annually from the government in addition to the pension they were already receiving. However, Barham died on January 8, 1865, in his 101st year at the home of his grandson, James Robinson, on Leeper Prairie about fifteen miles from Springfield just prior to the passing of this Act, and the government had not yet received notification. He was buried in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. The Rachel Donelson Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution secured a government headstone for his grave, dedicated on Sunday, October 15, 1911. He was the first Soldier of the Revolution to be so honored by this Chapter. The original 1911 government headstone is no longer on the grave, replaced between 1978 and 1982 by Robert Young Barham, a descendant who had arranged to have the Barham family crest, dating back to the 12th Century in England, placed on the reverse of a new headstone. It is not known what became of the 1911 government headstone. The Ozark Mountain Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution marked James Barham’s grave with their organization's insignia. They held a service to commemorate the occasion on August 23, 2003.
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Additional bio submitted by Charles Robert Walker, 171535, AZ Society, Prescott Chapter

James Barham (Jr.) was born in Southampton County, Virginia in 1764 to James (Sr.) and Mary (Thorpe) Barham. He entered the Virginia Militia on January l , 1781, at the age of sixteen, from Southampton County. He served in Whitehead's Virginia Militia in General Nathaniel Greene's division. He was present when Cornwallis surrendered to General Greene. "Three years after the Revolution he moved to North Carolina and lived in Wake (1785-1791), Guilford (1792-1798), and Stokes (1799-1812) Counties.

"In 1860 there was a celebration given in Springfield, Missouri. in his honor, as he was the only living Revolutionary Soldier at that time in this part of the country. He was presented with a flag, representing the original 13 states, by some young ladies of Springfield. "James Barham remained in remarkable health throughout his senior years. It is said that at 100 years of age he could still ride horseback for a distance of 20 miles. It is further stated by filmily members that he never wore spectacles (eyeglasses) and at 100 years of age could shoot game at the distance of 100 yards.

He died at the home of his grandson, James Robinson, on Leiper Prairie, 15 miles west of Springfield in Greene County on January 8, 1865 in his 101st year and was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery. "James Barham was one of the last five surviving soldiers of the American Revolution who were on the U.S. Pension Roll. By an act of Congress approved February 27, 1865, each of the five surviving soldiers was to receive the sum of $300 annually from the government, in addition to the pension they were already receiving. However, Barham died in January 1 865, just prior to the passing of this act,
and the government had not yet received notification. The other soldiers still living in 1865 were Lemuel Cook of Clarendon, New York, age 98; Samuel Downing of Edinburg, New York, age 98; William Hutchings of Penobscot, Maine, age 100; and Alexander Maroney of Yates, New York, age 94.