Richard Lanham, 1789–1852

Richard Lanham was born in October 1789 near Fort Boonesborough, Kentucky, and he died on 29 April 1852. He was one of seventeen children of Thomas Lanham and Patience Sappington, married about 1757 in Kentucky. Richard’s father came from Prince George’s County, Maryland, after being discharged from the Maryland line about 1778/9.

Richard arrived in St. Louis County about 1812. Like his brothers, Hartley and Stephen, he was seeking land in the new territory. He married his first cousin, Sarah Sappington, on 11 September 1814. Sarah was the daughter of Richard Sappington, son of John Sappington Jr. Richard and Sarah had twelve children: Nancy, Cordelia, Bradford, Elizabeth, Margaret, Mary, Elvira, Edwin, Thomas, John, Eli, and Sarah.

Richard resided in St. Ferdinand Township into the 1820s; many of his neighbors were part of the Sappington family. During the mid-1820s, a number of the Sappingtons in the area moved to Boone County, Missouri, including Richard and Sarah, where they too purchased land. Richard and Sarah lived out their lives in Boone County, Missouri. Richard’s agricultural occupation was in tune with the Agrarian Society in Missouri. Richard and Sarah (1790–1866) are buried in New Salem Church Cemetery near Ashland, located in southern Boone County, Missouri.

Author’s note: In the Hartley, Stephen, and Richard Lanham essays, a brother, John Lanham, was mentioned. We have found very little concerning John Lanham. We know he died without a will. Hartley and Stephen were administrators of Richard’s will, the estate, and his children. The COVID pandemic of 2020 and 2021 limited our research to the internet. With the coming of 2022 and the opening of libraries, societies, and historical facilities, we look forward to on-the-ground research in St. Louis County, Missouri.

 (Sources for the above essay include U.S. census, marriage data, books and diaries of the times, land records, and death records.)

Written by Clifford W. Lanham

December 2021

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Last Modified: 30-Mar-2022 12:14