John (Johnnie) J. Basham (April 12, 1875 — October 10, 1897)

John J. Basham and Ada C. Miller died young; Johnnie at twenty-two and Ada a decade later at thirty-one. Luckily for all of us, they had a child first. Unluckily for us, there are few records showing their existence because of their young deaths. Little family lore exists about them because their sole child, Johnnie Ethel Basham, also died young, at twenty-five.

Johnnie first shows up in the public records in the 1880 census. It shows him as a five-year-old son in the household of James H. Basham and Mary A. Basham in Renfrow in Butler County, Kentucky. James was a farmer, and Mary was "keeping house." Also in the household were his sisters, Mary J. Basham (age ten) and Jenette Basham (age seven), and his brother, George W. Basham (age one). Johnnie, his parents, and his siblings all were born in Kentucky.[1]

The 1890 census does not mention them. And by the time of the 1900 census, Johnnie was already dead. However, the 1900 census for Warren County, Kentucky, shows Mary again. She was twenty-two years old and had been remarried for two months to George Basham. Presumptively, this is George Washington Basham, Johnnie's younger brother. The record shows that Ada and George had a 2-year-old daughter, Johnnie E. Basham, who was established as the stepdaughter of George Washington Basham. She had no other children, living or deceased. (This census record seems to show her first name as "Adar.")[2]

She had another child with George. The only evidence of this is a small newspaper clipping in the papers of Doile Dennis Reeves said: