Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Barham, R. Francis, 1912 

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RAYNER FRANCIS "FRANK" BARHAM

  Rayner Francis Barham was born September 7th, 1835 and died December 16th, 
1912, aged 77 years, 3 months, and 9 days.

  During the years immediately antecedent to the Civil War, he was a student 
at the Barn Tavern Academy, an institution in which many of the brightest 
young men of Southampton the surrounding counties were prepared for the 
University of Virginia and the colleges of the State.  He left that school 
when the war began and enlisted in the Southampton Cavalry, which afterwards 
became a part of the 13th Regiment of Cavalry.  Later he was transferred to 
one of the Infantry Companies from this county, was captured by the enemy and 
at the time of Lee's surrender was in prison at Point Lookout.  On his return 
to his native home; he addressed himself with assiduity and unfaltering 
industry to the cultivation of his estate and no one either by activity or 
example contributed more to the reestablishment of the county and State than 
did he.

  In 1870 he made a Master Mason in "Door to Truth Lodge," then located at 
Barn Tavern, now known as Sebrell, and in the same building wherein he had 
pursued his studies.  When that Lodge gave up its Charter he was its Senior 
Warden.

  In 1880 he affiliated with Boykins Lodge No. 64, and after filling all the 
other elective offices, was its Worshipful Master for several terms.  When 
Courtland Lodge was chartered in December 1889, he was one of the charter 
members, and after occupying, by election, the places of Junior and Senior 
Warden, was made Worshipful Master for one term, and declining reelection was 
made Treasurer of the Lodge and held that position until his death.

  For more than twenty years he was a Justice of the Peace, in Boykins 
Magisterial District, and it may be safely said of him that during that period 
no one in the county or state surpassed him in the fidelity and intelligence 
with which he discharged the duties of that office.

  Frank Barham, in traversing the path of life always kept on the sunny side. 
No cloud obscured his horizon.  Brightened by the beacon of a smile, he 
piloted his barque through disturbing elements and won his was to safe 
anchorage in that harbor whose recompense is rest, and where placid waters woo 
the weary to repose. Faithful in al things, he made duty his watchword, and 
whatever the occasion, and from wherever came this call, he always responded 
to every summon, and without ostentation or display gave unstintedly of his 
time and means to the alleviation of suffering and distress.  A communicant of 
the Protestant Episcopal church in Courtland, he was always in attendance at 
religious services, although he lived many miles away.

  His Masonic brethren can attest his remarkable record as a Mason, both with 
respect to his presence at every communication, and the loyalty and zeal with 
which he kept inviolate his obligations, and sorrowed that any should forget 
or set aside the tenets of our order.

  During the Masonic year last past the shafts of the dread archer - death - 
sped repeatedly, and took from our Lodge many of our beloved brotherhood, and 
while we mourn bitterly the severance of fraternalities, there is an added 
sense of personal bereavement to each of us, when the realization comes that 
the voice, always attuned to joy and gladness, is stilled on earth forever, 
and that our hill no longer resounds to his merry laughter.

  In token therefore of our sorrow and of the loss so deeply felt, be it:
  Resolved 1st, That in the death of Brother Barham, Courtland Lodge No. 85, 
A.F. and A.M., has sustained an irreparable loss and our order throughout its 
vast realm, will miss his activities and the influence of his counsel and 
labors.
  Resolved 2nd, That the Lodge wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty 
days.
  Resolved 3rd, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to the family of 
our deceased brother as some faint evidence of the love and respect which we 
born to our friend and comrade, and also as a mark of the sincere sympathy we 
entertain for each member of his grief stricken household; that these 
resolutions be spread upon our records, and a copy sent to The Tidewater News 
for publication.

W.P. Gillette
E.L. Marks
Jno. N. Sebrell, Sr.
(Committee)
Courtland Lodge No. 86, A.F. and A.M.


Rayner* Francis "Frank" BARHAM, Justice of the Peace, Confederate veteran, 
b. 7 Sep 1835, Southampton Co., d. 16 Dec 1912, Capron, 
interred in the BARHAM-SIMMONS-TURNER family cemetery*, Bethlehem Crossroads, 
"The Tidewater News" (Franklin, VA), May 2, 1913 

*The cemetery list gives Raynor. 
   Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project, 
   Miscellaneous Cemeteries, Vol. 8 (VIII-41): 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/cemeteries/miscvol8.txt 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), 
and re-formatted by File Manager. 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/b650f3ob.txt