Burum and Gallaher Family Papers
This collection houses photographs, correspondence, business records, and other materials documenting the Gallaher and Burum families of Tennessee and their descendants in California and Washington State. Additionally, the collection contains some information about Roane College in the late 19th century.
Dates
- 1850-1974
Conditions Governing Access
Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.
Conditions Governing Use
The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.
Extent
1.5 Linear Feet (2 record boxes)
Abstract
This collection houses photographs, correspondence, business records, and other materials documenting the Gallaher and Burum families of Tennessee and their descendants in California and Washington State. Additionally, the collection contains some information about Roane College in the late 19th century. Most of the materials were collected by Edna Burum Richards to send to her cousin Lizzie Mae Douthitt Ghormley. Many of the photographs include contextual notes on the back handwritten by Edna.
Biographical/Historical Note
Absalom Joshua Burum was born to Henry and Nancy (King) Burum in Tennessee on October 27, 1828. He married Nancy King Gallaher (1832-1911), daughter of George Hamilton and Lucinda Badgett (King) Gallaher, on October 16, 1851 in Roane County, Tennessee. Nancy Gallaher had at least six siblings, including David Houston, Mary Minerva (Gallaher) McCrosky, Albert Hugh, Sarah E. (Gallaher) Browder, Hamilton King, and William T. Absalom and Nancy Burum had 11 known children: Henry Houston (1852-1918), Lucinda Alice (1854-1883), George Gallaher (1856-1932), William Hamilton (1858-1939), Mary Elizabeth (1860-1938), Peter Franklin (1862-1896), Minnie Florence (1864-1943), Wade Freeman (1867-1934), Nancy King (1869-1934), Frances Alberta (1871-1951), and Hugh Pascal (1875-1946). Many of these children eventually relocated to California beginning in 1879. Absalom Burum died on February 1, 1892 in Wheat, Tennessee, and his widow and youngest son moved to California to join their relatives. Nancy (Gallaher) Burum died on May 16, 1911 in Delano, California.
Henry Houston Burum was born on August 24, 1852 in Wheat, Tennessee. He married Amanda Jane Pyott on August 28, 1879 and the couple settled in Dinuba, California. They had at least four children: William Malcolm (1880-1934), Samuel Ernest (1882-1964), Hugh Leroy (1885-1950), and Frank (1889-1974). Henry Burum died in Dinuba on December 18, 1918 and is buried in the Smith Mountain Cemetery.
George Gallaher Burum was born on December 22, 1856 in Tennessee. He married Elizabeth Albertine Young (1859-1940) in 1885 in Tennessee. The couple settled in Visalia, California, where they had at least four children: Donna Lillian (Burum) Edminston (1886-1941), Georgia Alma (Burum) Barrington (1891-1953), Rayford Young (1894-1955), and James Reginald (1899-1953). George Burum died in Visalia in 1932.
William Hamilton Burum was born on May 23, 1858 in Wheat, Tennessee. He married Tirzah Bradley (1862-1944) on November 20, 1884 in Wheat, Tennessee. The couple settled in Dinuba, California where their six daughters, Nannie Lee (Burum) Floyd (1885-1983), Blanche Lillian (1887-1979), Gertrude Stapleton (1890-1944), Willie (1892-1982), Evelyn Elizabeth (Burum) Wynne (1897-1989), and Genevieve (Burum) Scott (1901-1993), were born. William Burum died in Dinuba on February 18, 1939 and is buried in the Smith Mountain Cemetery.
Mary Elizabeth Burum was born on February 12, 1860. She married Richard Byrd Snow on December 24, 1885 and the couple had three children, Mabel Irene (Snow) Salyers (1888-1974), Lucia Emma (Snow) Stowell Wiegand (1890-1981), and Richard Burum (1899-1980). The couple settled in Delano, California, where Richard Snow farmed until his death in 1910. Mary (Burum) Snow died in California in March of 1938.
Peter Franklin 'Frank' Burum was born on April 24, 1862 in Wheat, Tennessee. He migrated to California with the majority of his family in the 1870s but returned to Tennessee to marry Lucinda Martin Watson (1867-1961), the cultivated and educated daughter of a prominent family, on September 29, 1892. The couple had two children, Franklin Percy (1893-1971) and James Henry (1895-1970). Frank died of a ruptured appendix on September 13, 1896, and Lucy Burum and her sons returned to Wheat, Tennessee to live with her parents until her marriage to Frank's brother, Wade Freeman, on August 27, 1902. After their marriage, the couple returned to California and bought Richard Snow's homestead. Percy and Jim farmed with their stepfather until his death. They later relocated to Ducor, California, where they established a wheat farm.
Minnie Florence Burum was born on February 23, 1864 in Tennessee. She married Charles Slayton and the couple had three children, Ruby Alberta (1906-1966), Willis Franklin (1900-1967), and Floyd Richard (1902-1966). Minnie Slayton died on January 14, 1943 in California.
Hugh Pascal Burum was born on March 25, 1875 in Tennessee. Like his brother Frank, he went to California with his family, but returned to Tennessee to court Edith Charlotte Ross (1879-1964) who operated a small millinery store with her mother. The couple married in Oliver Springs, Tennessee on March 15, 1911 and settled in Delano, California. Edith is said to have had quite a letdown when she came to Delano, which was then a pioneer community with only a few houses, a rail siding, a general store, and the ubiquitous saloons. The couple had three children, William Absalom (1912-1977), Hugh Edward (1918-1959), and Nancy Elizabeth (Burum) Ray (born 1921). Hugh Burum died in Delano on May 5, 1946.
Arrangement
This collection consists of two boxes divided into two series:
- Series I: Photographs and Mercantile Account Book, 1850s-1970s
- Series II: Papers, Correspondence, and Other Materials, 1850s-1974 (bulk 1850s-1910)
- Sub-Series A: Business Receipts and Promissory Notes, 1850s-1901
- Sub-Series B: Mercantile Account Statements, 1850s-1890s
- Sub-Series C: Legal Documents, 1870s-1880s
- Sub-Series D: A. J. Burum Correspondence, 1851-1889
- Sub-Series E: Burum Family Correspondence and Other Materials, 1880s-1974 (bulk 1880s-1910)
- Sub-Series F: Burum Family Memorabilia and Other Items, 1877-circa 1900s
- Sub-Series G: Burum Family Genealogical and Reunion Information, 1851-1973
- Sub-Series H: Roane College (Poplar Creek Seminary) Materials, 1879-1900
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository