James Burcham

James Burcham, of Taylor township, was born March 31, 1845, in the same county where he now resides and where he received only a limited schooling, remaining at home until he enlisted, November 15, 1864, in the Sixth Indiana Cavalry, later changed to Company F. He served mostly in Tennessee, and was in the battle of Nashville and did scout duty and looked after government property. He was discharged September 15, 1865. He has long been a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and has always voted the Republican ticket.

After the war he lived in his old community for several years and then moved to Taylor township, where he has since resided on a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres, over eighty acres of which are in cultivation. He carries on general farming and stock raising, always keeping a number of horses, cattle and hogs.

He was married to Isabelle Coppin, a native of Indiana, and a daughter of Joseph and Sarah Coppin, natives of Ohio, who came to Greene county in 1861 and located in Richland township on a farm where they both died. The subject has five children living and two dead. They were: Lolo and Georgie, both deceased; Rollin, who married Alma Carroll on September 22, 1894. They live in Taylor township and have the following children: Mary, Brantley, Goldie, James, Minnie and Bales. He is a farmer and works the old homestead for his father. Frank, the fourth son, lives at home; Joseph also lives at home; Almina is the wife of Harley Bucker, of Taylor township; Viola is a teacher, living at home.

The subject is the son of Robert and Sarah (Roach) Burcham, the former of North Carolina and the latter of East Tennessee. Robert came west with his father, James Burcham, in 1818, when the former was only six years old. They secured one hundred and sixty acres of government land in Greene county, Indiana, where James lived until his death.

The father of the subject first married Miss Dobbins. They had four children, namely: John died in infancy; Almins, deceased, who married Levi Hanna; Joseph, who was in Company H, Forty-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry, serving as second lieutenant. He died at Evansville, Indiana; William J. was in the same company with his brother. He was in prison for nearly a year in Tyler, Texas. He returned home and died there. The following are the names of the children by Solomon Burcham's second wife: John died in infancy; James, subject of this sketch; Andrew, contractor and builder at Kelso, Washington; Frances, who married Robert Coppin, of Richland township; Rollin, a farmer, living in Butler county, Arkansas; Henry, a farmer, living near the old homestead; Emily Jane, who is living near her brother Henry; Josephine, who married David Ockerman, of Richland township; Morton, a real estate dealer in Kelso, Oklahoma.

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Biographical Memoirs of Greene County, Ind. With Reminiscences of Pioneer Days, Illustrated (1908, B. F. Bowen & Co. Indianapolis, Indiana) Vol. 2 Pg. 539-41.

Last updated 7.11.2009