General Notes

[basham.ged]
1850 Census Crawford County Arkansas  Family 33
1860 Census Crawford County Arkansas  Page 103 Family 676
1870 Census Crawford County Arkansas  Page 5 Family 34
1880 Census Crawford County Arkansas  E D 46 Sheet 15
1900 Census Crawford County Arkansas  E D 59 L 33
1910 Census Young County Texas  E D 275 Sheet 338
Birth Marriage Basham Document No 19
Info From Gerald F Basham Correspondence
Grandpa was a small wiry man, bald, and wore a mustache much of the t
im e. For as far back as I can remember he carried strychnine tablets f
or h is heart and he liked his toddy. When they lived in Arkansas they ma
de the ir own peach brandy. It was a common household item. Mama says th
ey all dr ank it but never in her recollection did she ever see one of h
er family dr unk. I remember the egg nogs and beer we used to have at o
ur family get to gethers before we left Texas. Never after we reached Colo
rado. It was a b it of a problem to get whiskey for Grandpa's toddies. Pa
pa used to bring h im a bottle from Clayton when he was freighting. Grand
pa was still sp ry at 68 when he came out here. He suffered a stroke whi
ch rendered him he lpless for about three years before he died.
He lived with Uncle Tom most of the time but by chance he was at Unc
le He nry's when the stroke hit him and again when he died. Grandpa sold h
is cla im to Lloyd Brown for $15 per acre. We thought that was a fabulo
us s um at that time. I don't know that he actually realized that mu
ch o ut of it as he took some cows in on the trade and Mr. Brown was a pre
tty g ood trader. Later he bought a half section of land adjoining Uncle T
oms ho mestead and this land was his final estate. It was not sold until D
ust Bo wl Days when the US Government bought a lot of land in that area. M
ama han dled the transaction as she was the only heir left in this count
y. I thi nk she got just about enough out of it to pay for a small stone f
or Grandp a's grave at Campo, and to buy herself a kitchen cabinet whi
ch is now stor ed in our garage.
I don't remember Grandma Basham very well. I recall at her house s
he f ed me what she called best bites. This was warm cornbread crumbs wi
th butt er. I also remember the pretty little gloves and mittens that s
he knitt ed for us of black yarn with bright color trims. Hers was the fir
st dea th I really remember. We were all gathered around her bed, Grand
pa kneeli ng beside her. Right at the very last she kissed Grandpa good-b
ye and w as gone. This was two days before my tenth birthday. It was at h
er funer al that automobiles came into my memory. There were both horse dr
awn and m otor vehicles in her funeral procession.
Written in 1972 by Lillian (Thornton) Collings Granddaughter of Thomas J
ef ferson Basham