In the early days of the settlement of the American Colonies, before the Revolution (1775-1783) over half of the immigrants to arrive in the Colonies south of New England were indentured (bonded) servants.

Many of the servants were transported criminals. From the English point of view, transporting felons to America as servants was a humane an sensible solution to the crime problems. For others who lacked the means or money, desired to come to America, the master paid the price of passage across the Atlantic and guaranteed them food, clothing and shelter in America. In turn the servant agreed to work without pay for a term of usually three to five years. At the end of that time the master was responsible for giving his servant a chance for a fresh start in the world. After fulfilling their obligation and becoming a free man, were entitled to make claim to fifty acres of land for their services.

In 1663, 13 out of 30 members of the House of Burgesses, the Virginia Colonial Legislature, had come to the colony as servants. Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln, both had ancestors who were servants.

We do know from records available that there were a number of Lanham families in Prince Georges County, Maryland prior to 1708. Among those who came from England as indentured servants were:

The village of Lanham, Maryland, just east of Washington D.C., commemorates the early Lanham immigrants. It is said to have been named for one BENTON LANHAM. However; according to Paul Trueman Lanham a Lewis Lanham settled in the area in 1812. One of his sons, Trueman Lanham I, married Mary Ann Beall. He acquired about 600 acres including most of what is Lanham, MD. Trueman’s second wife, Mary Ellen Tucker of Riva, MD sold/gave land to the Baltimore-Potomac railroad in 1868 for rail right of way and in 1873, 1.97 acres was set aside for the LANHAM Station.

Lanham Centennial Souvenir book (1972).

In order to better visualize the times and conditions of our early pioneer forefathers, we include a brief history of Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Texas and Oklahoma, so that you can imagine some of the hardships they endured as they moved westward, traveling on foot, horseback or wagon on land and rafts and flat bottom boats on the rivers.

When Prince George’s County was first formed, its boundaries were the Pawtuxet River on the East, the colony of Pennsylvania on the north and the Potomac River and the distant Blue Ridge Mountains on the west. Prince George’s County gave most of the land for the building of the nation’s Capital, the District of Columbia in 1791.

Thomas Lanham and Sarah, conveyed to John Hawkins Jr., a merchant, land called "Sandy Thickett", 26 March 1739, for 1200 pounds of tobacco. Many legal papers in these early days in Prince George’s Co. mentioned the name of John Hawkins Jr.

John Hawkins, Justice of the Peace in Madison County, Ky. took depositions from both Thomas and his brother Stephen in 1836, reference to Revolutionary War Service by Thomas Lanham. He stated he had known them both for many years, indicating the families had been together in Maryland.

The Baxters, Fowlers, Sappingtons, and Thomas Lanham, went from Maryland after the War to Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia), then to Boonesborough, Kentucky (Virginia at that time). Most of the Sappingtons went on west to Illinois and Missouri, where John Sappington established a Trading Post in Missouri and the present town of Sappington is located just south of St. Louis. There were several Lanham families in Missouri, in the early 1800’s especially in the area where Daniel Boone lived and died in 1825, and in the St. Louis area. We know some of these Lanham’s came from the Thomas and his brother Stephen Lanham, of Madison, Kentucky in addition to our direct line, Sylvester Lanham, who went to the Platte Purchase in Northwest Missouri, and then to Dallas, Texas, where he was one of the early pioneers and settlers.

According to a national name data bank, in 1981, there were just over 2,500 Lanham families in the U.S. By 2006 the number is over 3,000. Kentucky has the most Lanham families, followed by West Virginia, Texas, Ohio, California and Indiana.

This information on the Lanham Family and associated families as presented has been compiled from information from family members and relatives, census reports, visits to numerous cemeteries, cemetery records and other items and books of factual interest in addition to records and information from several Historical and Genealogical Societies, from the various states.

When Oran Stroud Lanham first created this information back in 1984, he had already put some 13 years of research into the endeavor. He did not have a computer nor did he have access to the Internet. He researched the data from census reports, books, and visits all over the eastern seaboard, records search, and relatives. He typed the initial content on a Royal typewriter and used carbon paper for additional copies. The original published book was about 130 pages in length, and some twenty copies were mailed to various libraries.

Oran Stroud Lanham’s efforts have left our family a legacy of understanding and pride in the Lanham Family and in particular Our Lanham Line.

After Oran’s death in 1991, his son Clifford W. Lanham picked up the mantle and continued the Lanham search as it related to our line and some of the relatives. Kevin also began helping. See the revision history for details of changes and authorship.

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