Bits & Bobs
CHRISTIAN MALFORD COTHAM –
WHERE DID HE GET THAT NAME?
The 1850 census for Decator County, Tennessee, lists a school teacher called Christian Malford Cotham. He moved to Texas sometime after the birth of their son James Clarke Cotham in 1851 (the 1880 census in Fannin County shows James Clarke's birthplace to be Tennessee) as in the 1860 census he resides in Fannin County, Texas.
Christian Malford Cotham was a teacher in Tennessee before the Civil War; and after the war a Sheriff and Bailiff in Bonham, Texas. In 1861, he is listed as a member of the Bonham Mounted Dragoons.
In the 1860 census, for Fannin County, Christian Malford Cotham is aged 43 (born circa 1817) living with his wife Sarah (nee Pugh), same age, and both born in Tennessee. They appear in 1870 census for Fannin County, aged 52 yrs old, but neither appear in the 1880 census. James Clarke and Narcissus with their daughter Margaret M (2 months old) are listed in 1880 census for Fannin County in the household of Dorcas Anderson Brown Cox.
There must have been some family association with Christian Malford as is too much of a coincidence that the village name should be used as the given name for four generations of this line of Cothams. This begs the question; was the name handed down from earlier generations of the family, before his parents Moses Paine (b. 1793 Franklin, Georgia) and Sarah Holigan (b. 1795 Tennessee) or his grandparents Thomas (b. 1754 Tennessee) and Elizabeth Griffin (b. 1753 Tennessee), who once lived there?
Where the Cothams, Holigans or Griffins originally from Christian Malford and the use of the name represents a certain lingering fondness or homesickness for the village?
If you know the answer or have an explanation; please contact Nigel Fairley (nigelfairley@aol.com, Tel: 721278)
Fragments of Christian Malford History:
I am most grateful to Mr Brian Coller for sending the following local history details; taken from the Wiltshire Times of 8 May 1938 on the history of Christian Malford written by E. N. Tuck M.A :
Of the pubs, he writes that the old “Mermaid Inn” was a well-known coaching house. It was then occupied by a tailor. Other old inns were the “Jolly Butcher” (now the Post Office) and “The Rising Sun”. The tailor, Mr Morris, lived at the old “Mermaid” which was on the main road, next to “The Bakehouse”.
The post office in the 1940s was the stone house at the junction of the main road. He remembers a counter on the opposite wall to the door and wooden benches along each side wall, which must have been from when it was “The Jolly Butcher”.
Of the chapel he writes that the congregational cause was started in 1767 when a cottage was bought as a manse and an adjacent Malt House was turned into a chapel. This chapel was later turned into two cottages when the new chapel was built in 1836. The schoolroom was added in 1909. The old manse and the two cottages were burnt down 37 years ago (1901).
Finally, something a little macabre to think of when you next enter the Church. In 1893, the walls of the south porch of the Church were found to be settling. On under-pinning, a coffin made of a hollow oak tree was found under the foundation stones at a depth of four feet. The coffin was crushed by the weight of the stones and broken up on digging new foundations.
If you have discovered any interesting facts about Christian Malford's past; we would be very interested in publishing them on the website. Local Family History, History of Houses as well as general interst facts would all be most welcome. Contact: Nigel Fairley on 721278 e-mail nigelfairley