Samuel Markham and Family circa 1926

Rosanna Thomas Markham, Samuel Markham and infant Jessie Mae

Samuel was the 13th child of sixteen, last son born to Monroe Markham and Mary Byrd. He was born 04 Oct 1898 in Caseyville, a rural community in Lincoln County, Mississippi. He married Rosanna Thomas, daughter of Alex Thomas and Roxanne Smith, in 1922.

Hallie Buie shared a tidbit about Samuel in a 1936 letter she wrote to her sister Prential. Hallie and Prential were the daughters of Prentiss Buie who would have been the family's last slave owner if the Civil War had been won by the South.

I have found out that is all right for Samuel Markham to come down here, he has a corn field rented from Estelle and comes to get their corn to have ground. I just don’t know what they could do without him. I hope you will not mention this--he has a mail box and if we need him for anything we drop him a card and he comes right over. He lives on the Adams place. His house is located about a mile from this one. He charges ten cents for bringing things from Mr. Smith’s and twenty cents from Lamar’s, charges for the time and not the size of the package, large or small the same price, he certainly is nice about it. He just happened to come along the day the box came. he said, "Dat box aint hebby."

Samuel and Rosanna's families have been in the Caseyville area since the early 1830s. Rosanna's grandfather, George Thomas, served with the 58th Regiment, United States Colored Infantry, during the War.

Two additional children were born to this union, Velma "China" and Samuel, Jr.

Samuel was a farmer who eventually owned his own land, which remains in his family.

Rosanna died in 1966, Samuel in 1981, and Jessie Mae in 2006.

How does Samuel Markham connect to my family tree?
Samuel Markham was a brother to my maternal grandmother, Alice Markham Marshall.

Photograph Courtesy of Rance Brown and Anita Christopher