The following is intended as a “second edition” of a book I wrote more than twenty-five years ago, Bynum and Baynham Families of America 1616-1850 (Gateway Press, 1983), which organized my research on early Bynums in a format which attempted to identify the descendants of Bynum immigrants to America to roughly 1850. The files below include several corrections and additions to the 1983 book, and include several thousand record citations not in the original book.
- Introduction to the Second Edition of the book — covering the intended scope and improvements on the 1983 edition. Note that the intent is to trace descendants to no more than six or seven generations.
- Origin of the Name “Bynum” in England and its evolution in the United States.
Chapter One: Some Early Immigrants
This Chapter is devoted to pre-Revolutionary immigrants other than the immigrant addressed in Chapter 2. George Banum of Maryland is not treated in this edition, though he did leave descendants who used surnames remarkably similar to Bynum
- John Baynham of Jamestown, was the first Bynum in America, who arrived in Virginia in 1616. Although he left no male descendants, his story is an interesting one. Also included are several pages of record citations for Baynham in Jamestown
- Alexander Baynham of Maryland and Virginia, an early 17th Century immigrant who left only daughters.
- William Baynham of Caroline County: a very brief synopsis written back in 1982 of the first generation or two of this immigrant.
- A brief excursus regarding the related myth of the Duke of Baynham.
- Some Other 17th Century Immigrants named Bynum — from headrights, passenger lists, and other sources.
Chapter Two: John Baynham(1616-1691) of Surry County, Virginia
This chapter is devoted to the first two generations of the family of most American Bynums:
- John Bynum I (1616-1691) of Surry County, Virginia and his two sons John Bynum II (1664/5 – 1715) and James Bynum (1665/6 – c1723) We briefly mention an apparent daughter, Elizabeth Bynum, who is treated more thoroughly in the Appendix below.
- Citations for Bynums in Surry County, covering the period 1663-1750 (about 35 pages) are included as a supplement to this chapter.
- Appendix: Five Theories Explained – Five legends relating to the first two generations which have been widely misunderstood by some family researchers:
1. John Bynum’s wife Rosamond was not Rosamond Blow
2. The Bynum-Blow-Grice Connection Explained
3. Sorting Out the Third-Generation John Bynums
4. The (Bogus) Bynum-Mizell Connection
5. The (Bogus) LeRoy Kramer Genealogy
Chapter Three: The Line of William Bynum (c1690 – c1760)
This chapter continues the line of William Bynum, eldest son of John Bynum II, and the next three or four generations of his descendants.
Chapter Four: The Line of John Bynum (c1695-1775)
This chapter continues the line of John Bynum, younger son of John Bynum II, and the next three or four generations of his descendants.
Chapter Five: The Line of William Bynum (c1690-1746)
This chapter continues the line of William Bynum, son of James Bynum, and progenitor of the most numerous line of Bynums. This chapter is perhaps only 75% completed.
Chapter Six: The Line of James Bynum (c1690-1763)
This chapter continues the line of James Bynum II, son of James Bynum, and the next three or four generations of his descendants.
Chapter Seven: Some Unplaced Bynums
This chapter is not yet written, although it should not much differ from the same chapter of my 1983 book.
Some additional details on my own line
The following papers contain more detail on my own line of Bynums of Chapter Five. They were written more than thirty years ago and although they are more extensive than the equivalent portions of Chapter Five, there may be slight differences in detail.
- Generation 3: William Bynum I (c1690 – 1746)
- Generation 4: William Bynum II (c1723 – aft1800)
- Generation 5: Isaac Bynum (c1758 – aft1840)
- Generation 6: James Bynum (c1788 – 1868)
- Generation 7: John Wesley Bynum (1811 – 1882)
- Generation 8: Daniel Webster Bynum (1832 -1920) One of my great-great-grandfathers.