Landrum Generations & Book

CHART OF DESCENT:
Eleven Landrum Generations

The name Lendrum, originally Scottish, eventually changed to Landrum in the U.S. There are undocumented tales/traditions indicating that the first Lendrums in Scotland were members of the Clan Comyn (later Cummings), a prominent and powerful family said to be descended from Charlemagne. In 1305, John "the Black" Comyn feuded with Robert the Bruce to claim the empty Scottish throne. Bruce famously stabbed Comyn in the throat on the altar steps of a church built by Comyn's grandmother. Bruce then defeated the Comyn clan at the Battle of Inverurie, and he went on to fame as a renowned warrior in Scotland's battle for independence from England. The main Comyn line died out, but related clans took on different surnames to avoid association with the defeated Comyns. The name "Lendrum" was taken from a place called The Bloody Butts of Lendrum(1) in Aberdeenshire. 

William Lendrum
b. before 1634
presumably born and died in Scotland

John William Landrum
b. ca. 1634
m. Mariam Margaret Johnson
presumably born and died in Scotland

The first recorded Landrums in America are two brothers, James and John Lendrum. There are conflicting records about two James Lendrums. Some Say James Sr married Rachel Ramsey in Ireland, some say James II married Rachel Ramsey in VA. Rachel's Irish marriage is listed here, as reportedly verified at the Irish church in person by descendant Amanda Landrum Wilson ca. 1865. 

James Lendrum (SR?)
b. Aberdeenshire, Scotland, ca. 1659
m. Rachel Ramsay in County Clogher, Ireland,

in the ancient St. Macartan's Cathedral
Possibly involved with the Ulster Plantation settlement in Ireland?
d. in 12/18/1739 in Essex VA

James Lendrum (II?)
b. Essex Co VA, 1703
m. Mary Ann Browne, 8/10/1696, in Essex VA
d. 10/8/1788 in Essex VA

The Rev. Francis Lendrum Sr.
b. Essex Co VA, 9/19/1739
m. Sarah Wrenn, ca. 1764-65, in King George VA
d. 1808 in Louisa VA

Reuben S. Landrum
b. Fluvanna County VA, 5/31/1777
m. Martha 'Patsy' Bibb in Louisa VA in 1801
Her father fought in the Revolutionary War.
d. 5/22/1848 in Clark Co KY
Moved to Kentucky, lived at Fort Boonesborough in 1810,
then moved to Pilot View area nearby, in Clark Co.
See Boonesborough details and photos below. 

The Rev. Reuben Washington Landrum
b. 3/15/1811 in Clark Co Ky. 
d. 10/19/1895 in Lost Creek, Breathitt Co KY
First Landrum ancestor born in KY, probably at Fort Boonesborough.
Became a Methodist circuit rider, settled in Breathitt County.

Reuben Samuel Landrum
b. 6/10/1837 in Breathitt Co KY
m. Maletha Jane Hagins in 1871 in Breathitt County KY
d. 10/15/1900 in Breathitt Co KY

Albert Sidney Landrum
b. 1/9/1880 in Breathitt Co KY
m. Laura Back, 2/3/1909 in Breathitt Co KY
d. 5/23/1952 in Dayton OH
bur. at Noctor/Quicksand, Breathitt Co KY
Hagins Cemetery

Ollie James Landrum
b. 7/8/1912 in Breathitt Co KY
d. 11/9/79 in Fayette Co KY
bur. at Noctor/Quicksand, Breathitt Co KY
Landrum Family Cemetery

James Alan Landrum
(Mona's brother)
b. 7/22/1945, Richmond, KY
d. 10/23/1931, Richmond, KY
see info on his book, below

Footnote (1):  "The Lendrum farm is situated between Turriff and Fyvie in northeastern Aberdeenshire. Turriff is 38 miles northwest of the city of Aberdeen and the Lendrum farm itself measures about 250 acres in the parish of Monquhitter about four miles south of Turriff. Numerous farms in Aberdeenshire are known by names which they have borne for centuries. The land in this area has been cultivated by man continuously from the Neolithic age six to eight thousand years ago.

The Lendrum farm has had its present name from at least as early as the eleventh century when the Battle of Lendrum was fought there. This was a bloody three-day battle between the forces commanded by the mormaer(earl) of Buchan, 'the Thane of Buchan,' and the army of the usurper, Donald Bane, 'Donald of the Isles,' brother of King Malcolm Canmore. The decisive third day of the battle was fought in a six-acre field which tradition covers with gore. The field is located in Monquhitter parish in Aberdeenshire. The mormaer of Buchan prevailed and Donald, after losing most of his forces, was forced to flee. Down to at least 1793 it was firmly believed locally that 'corn' (i.e., grain) grown on the 'bloody butts of Lendrum' could not be reaped without strife and bloodshed among the reapers."

Source: https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/landrum/1041/   

Excerpts from 

Amanda and Her Cousins:
A Genealogy of the Landrum Family in Kentucky, 

by James Alan Landrum

Rueben Landrum, b. 5/31/1777 in Fluvanna Co., Va., fifth child of the Reverend Francis Lendrum Sr., married Martha “Patsy” Bibb in Va. On 4/7/1801…. In the fall of 1810, a wagon train came from Va. through Cumberland Gap and on to Fort Boonesborough. The group consisted of four children of the Rev. Francis Lendrum Sr., and their extended families. The oldest son, James, with his wife and ten children and widowed mother, Sally Wren Landrum, brother Reuben Landrum, brother Thomas Landrum, and their families led the way. Quoting from the papers of Charles Milton Landrum Jr.:

“Fort Boonesborough, besides being a place from which to fight Indians, had been in existence about thirty-five years. It had become a trading center and contained many ‘land speculators’ who were selling farms to these immigrants from Virginia.”

The threat of Indian fighting was still very real as this was the time immediately leading up to the War of 1812 with Britain. The British and Indians, led chiefly by Tecumseh of the Shawnees from the Ohio country, were already conducting raids in Kentucky that would soon blossom into full-scale war on the frontier.

“Squire Boone, Daniel’s brother, was a good friend of Reuben Landrum. While their families remained in the safety of Fort Boonesborough, Squire Boone and Reuben Landrum, after wintering at Boonesborough, set out to find the land that suited them best. There is no record to tell us how long they searched, but we do know that when they found the open meadows and lots of available building timber, they immediately realized their search had ended. These lands which the two men found were about ten miles east of present-day Winchester and some thirty-eight miles from Boonesborough. The great meadows were divided between Squire, taking one half, and Reuben, taking the other half. The community became known as ‘Buckeye’ and later as Pilot View.*

* One hundred forty-seven years later, my sister and I – Judy Kay and James Alan Landrum – began the fifth and seventh grades at Pilot View School, never knowing the family history of the area!

end quote from Amanda and Her Cousins ***********

Although the Landrum families that came to Boonesborough in 1810 arrived much later than the time of Daniel Boone and the original settlers, Reuben is still considered to be one of the first families of Boonesborough, and his name is engraved on the marble monument standing today just outside the rebuilt Fort Boonesborough:

   
Monument at the fort

"In recognition of the Fort Boonesborough Bi-Centennial Commission. 1775-1975 for their contribution to the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the founding of Fort Boonesborough."

Names of original settlers includes "Landrum, Reuben" 

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Reuben and Patsy’s son, Reuben Washington Landrum, was the first Landrum born in Kentucky, by family tradition at Fort Boonesborough itself, or possibly at their new home in Clark County. Reuben, Patsy, and a few others are buried there in unmarked graves. Unfortunately, we do know that Reuben and Patsy held two enslaved people, named in Reuben's will as Cager and Sylvia. 

When you turn off I-64 onto the Mountain Parkway heading east, the land is between the 7 and 8 mile markers, on the left. Pictures of the Landrum land and graves at Pilot View are available from Mona Landrum Proctor.  In the 1970s there were some rocks remaining from the original cabin's fireplace, and the presumed location of a few graves was found nearby. We’ve been driving right by it all these years…

There is more in the book about this family, including excerpts from a book by Reuben Washington’s brother, William Bibb Landrum, Life and Travels of The Rev. Wm. B. Landrum, published by the Southern Methodist Publishing House in 1878 as a centennial contribution for the hundredth year of Methodism in America. (Both brothers, Reuben Washington and William Bibb, were Methodist circuit riders.) Electronically reproduced in 2002, the entire text of Life and Travels... is widely available online. KYVL archives also hold a transcript of a letter from Reuben to his brother Thomas, Reuben’s will dated 4/7/1848, a current-day diagram of where the Pilot View homeplace was located, and photos of the original Landrum family bible that belonged to Reuben and Martha.