Peggy Smith-Hake's
"Window to the Past"
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*Halsey Wickham
Nelson Rueben Wickham
​(Printed in THE MILLER COUNTY AUTOGRAM-SENTINEL in the column, 'WINDOW TO THE PAST', March 1, 2012)
​NELSON REUBEN WICKHAM was born in Pennsylvania on March 25, 1848, one of twelve children born to Halsey Wickham, Sr. (1810-1878) and Nancy J. Manning (1816-1904). Halsey was born in New Jersey and Nancy in New York. The Wickhams came to Missouri in the 1850s from Pennsylvania and settled in Glaize Township near the families of Martin, Robinson, Riley, Massey, Willis, Reed, Wyrick, Witt, Myers, Albertson and Winfrey. Some of the children of Halsey and Nancy were:
1. Mary Selena b. c/1841
2. Morgan b. c/1845
3. Nelson Reuben 1848-1936 m. (1) Sarah Ellen Boyd 1873
​(2) Marzilla B. Grosvenor 1885
4. *Halsey b. c/1851
5. John/Jobe b. c/1854 m. Lurana Prock
6. Joseph Manning 1856-1935 m. Mary Priscilla Hix 1885
7. Adeline b. c/1860 m. Tolbert Wyrick 1879
They also had children named Sanford, Prudence, Nancy, and Agnes. All these children were born in Pennsylvania. During the Civil War, Nelson Reuben Wickham, age about 16, enlisted as a Private in Company G, 16th Regiment, Kansas Volunteers….his father, Halsey, already in his 50’s, enlisted in Company E, 12th Regiment, Kansas Volunteers. I do not know why they enlisted in a Kansas Regiment instead of one from Missouri since both lived in Miller County . Both men returned from the war and came back to their Glaize Township farm.On October 26, 1873, Nelson Wickham married Sarah Ellen Boyd. Their marriage was performed by Nelson A. Davis, a minister of the gospel. Sarah Ellen was a daughter of Mary Ann Boyd of Osage Township . Sarah was born 24 May 1855 and died 23 February 1883 at the age of 28 years. Before her death she gave birth to three children:
1. William E. Wickham 1875-1962 m. Laura A. Hawk 1898
2. Mary J. Wickham b.1877 m. James Ahart 1893
3. Edith Della Wickham 1880-1957 m. John R. Boyd 1895
Nelson Reuben married his second wife, Marzilla Brazonia Grosvenor (1867-1946) on Feb. 26, 1885. They became parents of ten children:
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4. Eddie E. Wickham b. 1886 m. Clara Bilyeu 1906
5. Carrie Wickham 1887-1889
6. John H. Wickham b. 1889 m. (1) Lucy Ann Brumley 1909 (2) Bessie Clark 1911
7. Belva N.Wickham b. 1891 m. Stella Ramsey 1915
8. George Wickham b. 1892 m. Grace Setser 1913
9. Minnie Ethel Wickham b. 1894 m. Perry Ramsey 1916
10. Pearl Livonia Wickham 1896-1897
11. Ilda Wickham b. 1899
12. Claude Wickham b. c/1902
13. Orva Wickham 1906-1911
Wickham Cemetery
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Nelson Reuben Wickham died in February 1936 at the age of 88 years, at his Big Tavern Creek farm, located in Osage Township , a few miles southwest of St. Elizabeth. He had lived on this farm for 62 years when he left Glaize Township and married Sarah Ellen Boyd in 1873. Later the farm was owned by Floyd and Edith (Wickham) Johnson. Nelson is buried beside his two wives in an old family cemetery that still exists on the Wickham/Johnson farm. Sarah Ellen (Boyd) died about 1883 and Marzilla (Grosvenor) lived until May 1946 when she died at the age of 79 years. Other members of the Wickham and Boyd families are buried in the old family burial ground.
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