My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography from the book, History of Kentucky, Edition 1 by J. H. Battle, W. H. Perrin and G. C. Kniffin and published by F. A. Battey Publishing Company in 1885.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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O. H. OLDHAM was born February 25, 1841, in Montgomery County, Tenn., and is the eldest of six children (three boys) born to Joel and Mary A. (Hardey) Oldham, natives of Montgomery County, Tenn., and of English origin. Grandfather Jesse Oldham was a farmer, one of the first settlers of Tennessee, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. Mary A. Oldham’s father was Obadiah Hardey, a farmer and from Virginia. At the age of twenty years O. H. Oldham commenced life for himself at farming, which he continued until the war broke out, when he enlisted, in the spring of 1862, in Capt. Faulkner’s company, cavalry, and took part in the battles of Belmont, Shiloh, Fort Pillow, Chickamauga and also in numerous skirmishes; he was an orderly and was discharged at the expiration of his term of service, which was eighteen months, when he returned home and re-engaged in farming. He first settled in McCracken County, where he lived till 1864, when he moved to where he now resides near Barlow City, Ballard County, and where he purchased 160 acres of land; he is now the possessor of 208 acres of land in good condition, which he accumulated by his own industry and perseverance. He was married April 6, 1865, to Miss L. F. Potter, of McCracken County, and daughter of James and Polly A. (Kirby) Potter, natives of Warren County, Ky. He had born to him by this union seven children: Ellen (deceased), Mary J., James H., Richard B., Jacob, Claude and Alva, two last deceased. Mr. Oldham and wife are Baptists. He cast his first presidential vote for Seymour and Blair, in 1868, and still votes the Democratic ticket.

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This family biography is one of 186 biographies included in the Ballard County, Kentucky section of the book, The History of Kentucky, Edition 1 published in 1885 by F. A. Battey Publishing Company.  For the complete description, click here: History of Kentucky, Edition 1

View additional Ballard County, Kentucky family biographies here: Ballard County, Kentucky Biographies

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