The record for Levi Burcham is currently accidental combination of two separate men named Levi Burcham. I've been researching the lives of the two Levis, and I'm now I'm working on adding new information and sources for the two men and sorting out their respective wives and children.
It's a big change to a lot of records that I don't manage. So I wanted to use a G2G post here to document what I'm doing and why.
I'm not actually related to either of the Levis. I had been researching my own ancestor, Hannah Stoneman. I kept running into confusion as to whether a woman named Nancy was her sister or not, so I decided to do some digging. Here's what I've learned.
Two Levi Burchams
There were two men named Levi Burcham who were born in North Carolina in the 1770s. It's not known whether or how they were related.
Levi Burcham of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi
One Levi Burcham left North Carolina as a young man. He lived in Christian County, Kentucky, Hickman County, Tennessee, and Tishomingo County, Mississippi. He married twice, first to a woman named Ann and then to a woman named Lucinda.
He had at least five children with Ann - though I've only found evidence for the name of one of those children. He had four children with Lucinda.
Levi Burcham of Virginia
The other Levi Burcham was the son of John and Roseanna Swearingen. He was a Quaker, and he lived his entire life in Surry County, North Carolina and Grayson County, Virginia. He was married to a woman named Nancy.
Nancy Denny or Nancy Stoneman?
There has been mixed information about Nancy's identity. Some trees say that Nancy was Nancy Denny, the daughter of William and Rebecca Denny. Other trees say that Nancy was Nancy Stoneman, the daughter of James and Sarah Stoneman. On Wikitree, we have two separate records, one for Nancy Stoneman and another for Nancy Denny.
After gathering all the evidence I could find, I believe that Levi Burcham was only ever married to Nancy Denny. There was never really a Nancy Stoneman, and her record should probably be merged into Nancy Denny's record.
Here's the evidence (with more details and sources on the profiles):
- A 1985 book by a researcher named John Alderman stated, ""Everyone agrees that [Levi's] wife was Nancy Stoneman (1773-1857), and all the researchers suspect that she was a daughter of the elder James Stoneman, but no one has found the record to prove either proposition." But Alderman doesn't provide sources for the claim, and no sources have been found.
- In an 1822 quitclaim deed, among the heirs of William Denny are listed "Levi Burcham and Nancy his wife." Levi Burcham was married to the daughter of William and Rebecca Denny in 1822.
- It's conceivable that Levi was married to Nancy Stoneman and Nancy Denny at different times, but the evidence doesn't support that.
- Levi Burcham was disowned from the Quaker church for marrying outside of the faith in 1794. Sarah Stoneman was a leader in the Quaker church, and her children born around that time were all Quakers. If Levi had married Sarah Stoneman's daughter, he would have been marrying a Quaker woman.
- A family Bible belonging to Levi and Nancy's daughter and granddaughters seem to indicate that Levi only married one time to one woman named Nancy - he wasn't married to two different Nancys at different times.
- James Stoneman's will clearly lists his children - even his son Joshua to whom he leaves all of ten cents. The will does not mention Nancy.
- I've looked for any evidence of any woman named Nancy Stoneman born around 1773, and I can't find anything at all.
The summary
So - in short:
We need two different records for the two men named Levi Burcham. I've made a record for the second Levi.
The wives and children of each Levi need to be attached to the right man. I'm working on that.
The Levi Burcham of Virginia was married to Nancy Denny. Nancy Stoneman was not a real person - she's an accidental creation of genealogists - and her record should be merged into Nancy Denny's record.
