John Blankenbaker's Germanna History Notes

Note 1893

(continued from previous Note, Nr. 1892)
Isham Tatum and his first wife, Rachel Garrett, were the parents of nine children:

Mary,
Nathaniel,
Tabitha,
Robert,
Isham, Jr.,
Rachel,
Nancy,
Ebenezer, and
Ira.

There were some marriages between Tatums and the Germanna people.  Two of these were George Bumgarner, who married Polly Tatum in 1810, and Joel Bumgarner, who married Frances Tatum in 1828, both in Madison County.  From the dates, these would seem to be the second or third generation from Isham, Sr. ( if they were his descendants).

Germanna descendants are more likely to encounter Isham Tatum's name as the minister who married their ancestors.  Some of these include:

Roman"> In Culpeper County:

Nicholas Yager & Anne Wayland, 22 Dec 1785
George Glore & Elizabeth Mauck, 5 Jan 1786
Ephraim Fry & Mary Huffman, 2 Nov 1786
Nathaniel Yager & Betsy Hudson, 4 Nov 1789
John Crigler & Salley Hume, 25 Dec 1789
Moses Wilhoit & Anna Hume, 25 Dec 1789 (compare to Salley Hume, above)
John Yager & Margaret Wilhoit, 3 Nov 1791

Roman"> In Madison County:

Aaron Utz & Polly Fray, 13 Dec 1808

Isham Tatum wrote his will in May of 1844, when he was apparently very feeble for he signed the will with a simple X.  The will was not probated until 1850.  In the will, he freed a number of his slaves when he died, and then some were to be freed when his wife died.

His real estate holdings were extensive.  Deed books in Madison County show that he bought land from Richard Gaines; William Clark; Zacharias and Caty Hufman; John and Rose Wayland; Henry Hill, Jr.; and Sarah Gillison and her two daughters.

The final disbursement of Tatum's estate was not filed until February 1868.

"He was for eight years a laborious pioneer in the new and hard fields of Virginia . . .  At the time of his death . . . he was the oldest Methodist preacher in the United States, if not in the world."