Hiram Marcum
Hiram C. Marcum (~1812 – Feb. 2, 1864) was a Buffalo man who died during the Civil War. He was the father of Julia Marcum, who rose to fame after losing an eye and a finger defending her family when Confederate soldiers showed up to arrest and hang her father. He was the uncle of Union soldier George Marcum, who was killed by Confederate soldiers on his farm.
Biography
Born about 1812 in what was then Campbell County, Tenn., Hiram C. Marcum was the son of Arthur Markham III (1757-1832) and Anna Bransgrove (1778-1851).
His parents married in 1794 in Washington, Va., then moved to present-day Scott County, settling on Smith Creek near Buffalo. Hiram’s siblings included Joseph Marcum, John Marcum, George Washington Marcum, Arthur Marcum, William Marcum, and Lavina Marcum. There were others, as well.
Arthur Markham III was first married to Frances Howard Stowers in 1781 in Prince Edward, Va.
John Arthur Marcum (1812-1905), Hiram’s brother, settled in the Pine Creek area of what is now Oneida. There is some confusion, as online genealogy sources list different sets of parents for John A. Marcum. Ancestry.com lists his parents as Beverly Marcum and Elizabeth Ward — who did, indeed, have a son named John, but never moved to Tennessee. Others list his parents as Arthur Markham III and Anna Bransgrove. The latter is almost certainly correct. In her memoirs, Julia Marcum — Hiram’s daughter — lists George Marcum, who was the son of John Arthur Marcum, as her cousin.
Hiram married Permelia Huff (1812-1865), the daughter of John Huff and Prudence Chism. Their children included Julia, Didama, Minerva, Martha and Claburn.
Civil War
Hiram Marcum was listed in the 1860 slave schedule as owning a single slave, a 1-year-old girl. Nothing is known about this slave. However, Marcum was extremely pro-Union, and served as a pilot during the war, guiding men from East Tennessee to the Tennessee-Kentucky border as they made their way north out of the Confederacy to join the Union army.
Julia Marcum, Hiram’s daughter, later wrote: “Hiram Marcum was for freedom of our nation and its liberties for the people. In the year of 1861, the secedents declared war against the North. Father stood for the Union and its principles.”
Hiram Marcum, his daughter wrote, was “a farmer, lived on his farm, made a living and was a happy, law-abiding Christian man and also his family. He stood for the flag, the freedom of America, and its perfect laws.”
When Scott Countians voted against secession by a margin of 541-19, the largest in Tennessee, Hiram Marcum was among the 541.
Guiding soldiers north across the state line made Marcum a marked man in the eyes of the Confederacy, and a regiment of Rebel soldiers encamped at Buffalo Creek in late 1861 with orders to capture Marcum.
Julia Marcum would later write that her father had received word that the Confederate troops intended to capture and hang him, so he had taken to spending nights in the woods near his farm to avoid the troops.
It was on Sept. 7, 1861 that the soldiers arrived at the Marcum farm. They busted through the door and demanded to know where Marcum was, threatening to kill his wife and daughters and set fire to the home. In a struggle that ensued, 16-year-old Julia was stabbed with a bayonet, losing an eye and a finger. However, she killed the soldier with an axe.
Marcum emerged from hiding when he realized his family was in danger; however, the severe injuries to the teenaged girl inside the home convinced the Confederate troops to leave. Julia was feared to be mortally wounded, but made a recovery, and would go on to become the first woman in the U.S. to receive a pension as a war combatant.
Soldiers returned to the Marcum farm in January 1862. This time, George Marcum — Hiram’s nephew who was a soldier in the Union army — was killed. George was on furlough, and was attempting to slip through Confederate lines to rejoin his regiment in Kentucky. He was hiding in the barn when the Confederate soldiers arrived. Julia raced from the home in an attempt to warn him, and was nearly struck by a soldier’s bullet. George was mortally wounded and died shortly thereafter.
The last incident convinced Hiram Marcum to enlist in the Union army, and the rest of his family left Scott County and moved north to Kentucky.
After the war
Marcum served in Co. H of the 13th Tennessee Cavalry. He contracted smallpox and died in Nashville on Feb. 2, 1864. He never saw his family again after leaving Buffalo Creek. He was buried at a military cemetery in Nashville.
The family farm on Buffalo Creek was sold by Scott County to satisfy unpaid property taxes. Most of the family never returned to Scott County.
However, Hiram’s daughter, Didama, married Dr. Lafayette Sproule, who served as Scott County’s second superintendent of schools.
Permelia Marcum died in 1865 near Somerset, Ky.
Julia Marcum was a school teacher and died May 9, 1936 in Williamsburg, Ky.
Hiram’s brother, George W. Marcum, continued to live on Marcum Creek near Smith Creek and helped stable the horses of brothers Frank and Jesse James when they were in Scott County after the war, though they weren’t well-known outlaws at that time. According to historian Esther Sharp Sanderson, the graves of George Marcum and his wife on Marcum Creek were raided after their deaths because it was believed that gold paid to them by the James brothers had been buried with them.