The Byram Record of Mystery

Name:	Elizabeth Byrom
Age:	33
Birth Year:	abt 1817
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1850:	Union, North Carolina
Gender:	Female
Family Number:	956
Household Members:	Name Age Elizabeth Byrom 33 Mary L Byrom 14 Mary Byrom 70 Ephraim Starner 28

This is the record that is driving me crazy. The 14 year old, Mary L Byram, who is seen living very close to her future in-laws, Fred Jr. and Elizabeth Starnes, is my third Great-Grandmother. While Elizabeth Byram/Byrum/Byrom, at 33, is old enough to be her mother, the 1880 census shows a Martha Byrum whose occupation was "boarding" and who was born in South Carolina in 1810, as being her mother, naming her as F. F. Starnes mother-in-law.  Then there is 70 year old Mary Byram. 

As the name Byram had multiple spellings, I am going to remain with Byram, as I believe it the most likely version in my line. 

The farmer, Ephraim Starnes, who was living with them, can be traced with some accuracy. He married Nancy E Holden and had 4 children, Doctor Franklin Starnes, John Robert "Bob" Starnes, Susan J Starnes and Susan Starnes Craig, before he died in Elmira Prison, New York, in 1865, during the course of the Civil War. 

I am posting this record in hopes that some Byram/Byrum researcher or family member, knows who these ladies are. Was Elizabeth a widow? Was Mary her Mother-in-law? Was Elizabeth actually the same person as Martha and the age wrong. (If the 1880 census was accurate, Martha would have been 40 in 1850). 

Does anybody out there know anything at all about the Byram/Byrum/Bynum family?

An Amazing Discovery: The Brooms

I often am researching a very different family from the one I may be posting about, due to waiting on information or documents to arrive in the mail.

The current object of my research is Gilson Broom. Born in Union County, he eventually made his way to Stanly and appeared on an amazing document of whom the likes I have not seen. I  decided to find out who the individuals mentioned in this document were in an off-chance that I might discover more about the individual the document primarily concerned.

In that document, several times over, was the mention of Mr. Gilson Broom, and in the research of Mr. Gilson Broom, I came upon this fabulous newspaper article from The Monroe Journal, dated January 16, 1912. I am quite certain I am a descendant of the Union County Fincher and Broom families, although I have not yet found any absolute proof. I know that Frederick Fincher Starnes, who spent his early years and even into his first marriage and the birth of his oldest children, in Union County, was one of my second Great-Grandfathers. He lived his most productive years in Cabarrus County, moved after his second marriage to Charlotte, in Mecklenburg County, had land just over the state line on a "Rocky River Road" in Lancaster County, SC and even possibly have been born in Georgia.

Frederick Fincher Starnes married a lady named Mary Louise. There is an older lady living in their home named Martha Byram, Bynam or Broom assigned as his mother-in-law. So Mary Louise, my second Great-Grandmother, may have been a Broom. The name is not altogether legible in the original document. Fincher, as F. F Starnes's middle name, could have been a maternal maiden name passed down the family line, either mother or grandmother or other, and the Finchers were prevalent in Union County in the early days.

Mentioned in the following article are definate ancestors of mine, and many other Stanly County citizens who benefited from these early settlers on the Rocky River which became the Stanly/Union/Anson/Cabarrus counties lines. One of those was Tilman Helms, a direct ancestor of mine.

This article is a gem. Enjoy. I hope someone can find beneficial information from it.