General Notes

[basham.ged]
1850 Census Pontotoc County Miss  Page 73 Family 274
1860 Census Cherokee Nation Okla Delaware Dist
1880 Census Wise County Texas  E D 132 Sheet 10
Letter From Arlene Mills Dated Jun 12 1985
Info From Sandra Gray Correspondence
Wesley Houston Basham was born as the third child of Zedekiah Bash
am a nd Sarah Frost while the family was living in Mississippi.  His moth
er Sar ah is believed to have died when he was about 7 years old. He was t
oo you ng to serve in the Civil War but according to family history, we
nt along a nyway.  His father, Zedekiah, is believed to have died during t
he Civil W ar while helping pick up the wounded.
Wesley Houston Basham probably accompanied his father to the Civil Wa
r. F amily history recounts that his family had moved to Texas while he w
as go ne to the Civil War, but Wesley did not know where they had mov
ed t o.  As he crossed the Red River, on a ferry and the ferry landed on t
he Te xas side, someone wanted to cross back to Arkansas.  The operator as
ked We sley if he would like to cross again and he crossed again.  The ope
rator a sked if he was related to the woman who crossed with him, but Wesl
ey had n ot noticed her.  Asked if she looked like him, he said no, but t
he baby s he was carrying looked exactly like you. Wesley told the ferry o
perator th at he had 3 sisters someplace, but did not know where.  The ope
rator ask ed him to describe one of the sisters.  When he did, the operat
or told h im "That's my wife, if you will come to supper with me, I can sh
ow you a ll 3 sisters tonight."
When some of Wesley's friends joined the Confederate Army he was too y
ou ng to enlist, but he was allowed to go with his friends when they we
re mar ching to another place.  As they passed each house, Wesley would a
sk for s ome food, just anything, for a sick friend, such as eggs, chicke
n, butte r. By the night meal, he had gathered a lot of food. Informati
on provid ed by Sandra Gray Great-grand-daughter of Wesley Houston Basham