Sometimes when we get back to these end-of-line females, their genealogy facts become very tenuous, and we find that we are missing more information than we have.

Sarah Coates, at least we think that the names of Sarah and Coates or Coats go together as one person, was married to the Reverend George McNiel.

She may or may not have been his first wife, and for all we know, Sarah and Coates may not have been the same woman.- although we don’t have any reason to think otherwise, well, except for that pesky little death and taxes issue.  Yes, death and taxes still “get you,” even in genealogy!

Let’s take a look at what we do have.

Joyce Dancy McNeil, now deceased, was a cousin to me on two different lines, McNeil by marriage through her husband, historian George McNeil and through the Wilkes County, NC Vannoy lines in her own genealogy.  Joyce was an extremely thorough genealogist and I was so glad to find her early in my searching.  Sadly, by the time I was able to visit Wilkes County in 2004, Joyce had passed on.

Joyce and George had researched the McNeil family extensively.  I was confused because some researchers listed the Reverend George McNiel’s wife as Mary and some as Sarah.  Joyce told me that there was a deed in Spotsylvania County, VA that George McNiel witnessed, as did a Mary McNiel.  Researchers presumed that Mary was George’s wife.  Indeed, she may have been, but there is no proof of that.  It would be interesting by process of elimination to see who else Mary could have been at that time.  Unfortunately, that deed is not included in the book “Spotsylvania County, 1721-1800, Being Transcriptions from the Original Files,” so I have been unable to verify this information.

To the best of my knowledge, no one has completely extracted the Spotsylvania County records for McNiel, and this should be done.

Unfortunately, we don’t know where they lived in Spotsylvania County.

The next information comes from a letter written by George’s grandson in 1898.  In the letter, he says that George McNiel married a “Miss Coats” in Virginia.  Another source, a pamphlet written in 1905 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Reverend George McNiel’s death (and setting of his headstone), says that marriage occurred in Grayson County, which wasn’t formed until 1793, long after George would have been marrying Miss Coats if she is the mother of some or all of his children who were born between about 1757 and 1782.  In the 1750s, when George would have been marrying, that area, now Grayson County, would have been Augusta County.

It’s also reported that George fled into Grayson County, VA for safety in 1771 after scuffling with the Regulators and after the battle of Alamance.  It was additionally stated that he lived in Moore County, settling there in 1745-1750.  Again, Moore County, North Carolina wasn’t formed until in 1784 from Cumberland which was formed in 1754 from Bladen.  The problem is that we have records for him in Spotsylvania County during this time.  In fact, as late as 1775 he was still purchasing land in Spotsylvania County.  He sold his land in Spotsylvania County in 1778, but unfortunately, his wife did not release her dower rights and sign as well.  For us, that’s a significant lost opportunity.

We do know through church records that George was in Grayson County, but that was in 1800 when he was clearly traveling and ministering as a circuit riding minister.

Joyce also said there was evidence that George’s first child was born before his arrival in America.  If this is true, then that child’s mother clearly did not survive until the end of George’s life.  However, if her name was Mary, and she preceded “Miss Coates” who George is reported to have married in Virginia, then this may be true.  The problem is, of course, that we don’t know when George married Miss Coates so we have no idea which of his children might have been by a first wife, Miss Coates, or yet another wife.

The first child we have any record of is Mary, born in 1757, but how that birth date was attributed to Mary, I have no idea since there seems to be very little information about her.  In the book, Genealogy of the McNiel Clan written by the Johnson Hayes, published in 1934, Mary is shown as being born in 1771 and as having married in 1803 to Henry Miller, but no birth date or other information for Mary is given.

What I do know is that our first record of George McNiel is in Spotsylvania County, in 1757, so we know he was here in the colonies by that time.  Whether he was married upon arrival, or if his first child was born before arrival or in transit, we don’t know.  Daughter Mary was reported to have died in 1850, but I can’t find her in the census.

There is reason to think George may have had three wives, or, I hate to even suggest this out loud, because I do NOT want to start a rumor, but George could have had 4 wives.  Let’s look at the evidence and hints.

In 1782, in Wilkes County, there was a bill of sale between John Stubblefield and Jacob Nichols that was witnessed by George and Sally McNiel.

Miss Coates first name may have been Sarah, known as Sally.

On the Wilkes County 1787 tax list, there were categories for a number of things, including the number of white females.  That number was 0 for George, as it was three years later, in the 1790 federal census.  George’s first wife, whatever her name, had died after the birth of her last child in 1782 but before 1787 and George was single for at least three years, from 1787-1790.  He obviously remarried sometime between 1790 and June 1805 when he died, because he had a wife, Sarah, living at the time of his death.

In 1808, William McNiel was administering the estate of both George McNiel and his wife, Sarah McNiel.

So, what do we have here?

• A possible wife before coming to the US, who could be the Mary who witnessed a Spotsylvania County deed that reportedly exists but that I can’t find.
• A marriage, possibly in Grayson County, to one Miss Coats.
• A possible wife, Sally, in 1782.
• No wife in 1787 or 1790.
• A wife, Sarah, at George’s death in 1805, who died by 1808.

Clearly, in my case, the woman I’m most interested in is the one who was the mother of my ancestor, William McNiel, born about 1760.  Given that this is before George is apparently preaching and traveling, I’m guessing that William’s mother would likely be Mary in Spotsylvania County, assuming Mary was William’s wife – and I’m not at all sure that is a valid assumption.  It’s no wonder that so many descendants have simply given this woman the name of Mary Sarah” or “Sarah Mary” Coates and let it go at that – never mind that it’s very likely wrong on at least two if not three counts.

One thing is clear, William’s mother is not wife Sarah who died just after Reverend George died in 1805, and whose estate was being probated in 1808 – because this wife Sarah was not married to George in 1787 or 1790.  In fact, George could easily have married a Sarah Coats in Grayson County after 1790 when we know he was in fact there preaching.  But why, if this is the case, would that be the only wife his descendants mentioned and not the mother of his many children?

I surely wish this story didn’t have so many “could haves” and questions – but sadly, that is all that I do have or even might have.

Why didn’t any of George’s descendants think to add this tidbit of information – George’s wife, his helpmate?  Even if George had only two wives, or three, or even four – it’s still remarkable enough to talk about.  I find it rather unbelievable that George’s descendants could not even remember the first name of “Miss Coats.”  Lastly, this woman (or women) deserves a medal, not have their names forgotten, because the wife is the one who maintained everything at home while George was out and about preaching, saving souls and founding new churches.  And that wife, if she was a second or third wife, was likely raising his children from previous marriages in addition to her own.

How many children did she bear in his absence, and was she even able to obtain the assistance of a midwife?  Who would have ridden for the midwife, if George was gone?  While the traveling preacher tends to be venerated, in this case, at least, it’s the name-forgotten wife who stayed at home and held everything together without the assistance of her husband.  She should be celebrated.  She is the unsung heroine of the story.  The fact that her name has been forgotten just makes the irony even greater and the story sadder.

We know that George and his then-current wife had children from around 1757 until the last child was born in February 1782 – although there is a very large gap between Mary born in 1771 and Thomas born in 1782 which could potentially alert us to the death of a wife and a remarriage.  It could also be that several children died, or George was gone much of the time.  It was about 1776 when Baptists began to be allowed to preach freely, which corresponds with the time in which the family legend claims he was ordained a Baptist minister.

We know that George and his wife lived on Lewis Fork Creek, right across the road from where the Elder George McNiel Cemetery is located today.

This satellite image shows the location in more detail, but the cemetery is not visible from the road and a local person would have to be a guide.

When historian George McNiel and I visited this cemetery in 2004, George told me that the Reverend George McNiel and his wife lived directly across the road from the cemetery, in a cabin behind the house that belonged to his granddaughter – which was  in ruins with only the chimney standing in 2004, below.

As we walked George’s land, this misty apparition appeared in a clearing.  Was George or his wife or maybe his granddaughter with us that day?

George’s wife did pass away before 1787, leaving him with this child who was still either an infant or a toddler plus 4 additional underage children, not to mention the older ones still living at home.  This must have been a terribly sad day in the McNiel cabin on Lewis Fork Creek.  George must have wondered what he was going to do.  It’s actually amazing that he did not marry for more than 3 years.  I would wager that his older married children took the younger ones to raise.  He certainly couldn’t do that while visiting, circuit riding and establishing churches throughout the region.  Not to mention, by 1802, George was also the register of deeds for Wilkes County.

Even though her grave is unmarked, George’s wife, mother of his children, probably Sallie, is surely laid to rest in the McNiel cemetery located on George’s land, near where George himself was laid to rest as well, some 20 years later.

Today, the cemetery is overgrown and it’s not evident from any distance that it is a cemetery.  At least the cattle aren’t, or weren’t, allowed to graze in the cemetery.

As you get a little closer, you can make out the ghostly shapes of the abandoned monuments.

In addition to the Elder George McNiel, whose stone, set in 1905, a hundred years after his death, is shown above, several generations have been buried here as well, including son Thomas born in 1782 and several of Thomas’s children.

However, there is one thing we know, concretely, about George’s wife – she was a Baptist – at least eventually.  We have no records of George preaching in Spotsylvania County, but records abound after 1779 – which is while George’s wife was still alive.  In fact, based on the 1782 deed, her name was likely Sallie.

After all of this thrashing around in the mud is done, we actually know very little.  We’re still not sure of George’s wife’s name.  We’ve introduced even more questions in an already tenuous situation.  No one is going to thank me for this article:)

Aside from extracting the Spotsylvania County records, which is now on my to-do list, how else could we unravel this riddle?

DNA

Finding people who descend through all female lines to DNA test is sometimes difficult due to all of the generational name changes.  However, it has been successfully done in other lines, so it’s not impossible

Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mothers to all of their children, but only passed on by the females.  So, anyone who descends from the wife of George McNiel through all females will carry her mitochondrial DNA.  In the current generation, the descendant can be either a male or female.

If we were able to test mitochondrial descendants of the daughters of George McNiel, we could verify that they were all born to the same mother.

Unfortunately, my first problem is that I have no information about the eldest daughter, born in 1757, no information about the children of Elizabeth McNiel and what information I do have about Polly is that she had 4 sons who would not have passed on her mitochondrial DNA.  Not looking good so far, but maybe there is more information to be had, currently unknown – and maybe it will be the descendant families that provide the info.  Fingers crossed.

• Mary Hillary McNiel born 1757 – no further information and it is unknown if this information is accurate or if this person even existed. If so, Hillary could be a family surname.
• John McNiel born 1759 married Fanny Cleveland.
• William McNiel born 1760/1761 died circa 1832 in Claiborne Co., TN, married Elizabeth Shepherd (my line).
• James McNiel born circa 1763 died August 1834, married Mary “Polly” Shepherd.
• Benjamin McNiel born 1765 married Elizabeth Lips.
• Joseph McNiel born 1767 died circa 1855 married Hannah Wilson and Elizabeth Powell.
• Elizabeth McNiel born about 1767 (per an 1857 deposition where she says she is 90 years old when applying for her husband’s Revolutionary War pension and bounty land in Watauga Co., NC,) married in 1785 to Robert Bingham in Wilkes County, NC. Children unknown.
• Mary “Polly” McNiel born 1771 married Henry Miller in1803 in Wilkes County. Four known sons.
• Thomas McNiel born February 1782, died 1865, married Miss Parsons.

George McNiel was a minister.  I can’t believe that his Bible hasn’t turned up in the descendants someplace, complete with a list of wives and children.  You KNOW he had at least one Bible, and probably multiples.  Maybe he wore them out!

Grandchildren

No pictures of George McNiel’s children exist, but there are two photos of his grandchildren.

The Reverend James McNiel, below, born in 1816, was the son of Joseph McNiel and Hannah Wilson.  Joseph was the son of Rev. George McNiel and whichever wife, probably Sallie, he was married to in 1767 when Joseph was born.

A second grandson is also memorialized by a photograph.

George W. McNiel, Sr. was born in 1825 and died in 1914.  He is buried in the Elder George McNiel Cemetery and was the son of Thomas McNiel, born in 1782 and a Parsons woman.  His father, Thomas was born in February 1782, the son of Reverend George McNiel and probably the Sallie who had died by 1787.

A third grandson, Elijah McNeill, son of James McNeill is shown below, courtesy of his descendant, William McNeill.

Was George, above, holding a Bible, maybe his grandfather’s Bible? What other book would be important enough to include in a “formal” dress up picture?

Did any of these grandsons look anything like either the Reverend George McNiel or his wife, whatever her name?

My ancestor, William McNiel, was born about 1760, so he is most likely to share a mother with James McNiel born in 1763 or Joseph McNiel born in 1767 than with Thomas born in 1782 – although all three of these men could clearly have shared the same mother.

We don’t have the answers to all, or even many of these questions today, but maybe, just maybe, someday we will.

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Mary is one of those ancestors whose life, what we know if it, is told mostly through the lives of those around her – specifically, her husband and children.  We don’t know who Mary’s parents were and were it not for one court note in particular, even her name would only be found in legend.  In this case, the legend of her name and the name Mary in the court notes match.

Mary was the wife of John Harrold.  She was born sometime around 1750, probably someplace in Virginia, and she died in 1826 in Wilkes County, North Carolina.

Based on a combination of the birth year of her son, John, based on census records and his tombstone, we know that Mary had at least one child by 1782, which puts her birth year at 1762 or earlier.

A potential record that mentions one Mary and John O’Harrell in Botetourt County suggests she may have had two children older than John.

The Botetourt County court record on March 11, 1779 tells us the following:

“The court doth allow Mary O’harrell, wife of John O’harrell, a soldier in the Continental Army, 30 pounds for the support of herself and two small children.”

Based on records of soldiers who served, there was no John O’Harrell and there was only one John Harrold or any similar surname who served from Botetourt County.  That would be Mary’s husband John  – so it’s likely that the John and Mary mentioned in 1779 are our John and Mary.

We know from John’s service record that he was discharged in June of 1779 after serving for 3 years, so his service began in June of 1776.

If Mary has two small children, we can presume they have been married at least 5 years, so that would mean they were married before 1774.  If the two children were born before he left in 1776, then they were likely married by 1771 or so, pushing Mary’s birth year back to about 1750 or slightly thereafter.  John is believed to have been born about 1750 based on these same records, so her birth about the same time makes sense.

If this is the case, then Mary has become nearly destitute by March of 1779 and had to rely on the county for money.  This may well imply that either her family was not from Botetourt County or they were gone, or destitute as well.

If this is our Mary, we don’t know who these two children are.  There is no document that gives us a list of her children, and the ones we do know are based on a variety of circumstances, not the least of which is that John Harrold is the only Harrold male in Wilkes County after he appears there around 1800 – so emerging children of that surname would be his.

We find John Herrald on the 1790 census for Iredell County, NC, but his wife’s age is only given as a hash mark in the “free white females” category.  By 1790, they had 3 males under 16, 1 male over 16 (John) and 4 females.  Six children means they have been married about 12 years, more or less, so by 1778 or earlier.  Given that John was gone for 3 years, followed by another 18 month stint in the army, they were probably married 4 years or so earlier than the 2 years multiplication by child suggests, so by 1774 or so.

Given that John’s discharge in 1779 says he is going home to Botetourt County, we can probably presume that is where they lived before the war, and likely where both families were from.

The challenge is that John’s Y DNA doesn’t match the other Harrold (by any spelling) families in Botetourt County.

So, given that we have all of our proverbial ducks in a row, we know the following:

1750ish – Mary born

1774 – Mary married by this date, possibly as early as 1771, possibly in Botetourt County, VA

June 1776 – Mary’s husband leaves for the War from Botetourt County

March 1779 – Mary obtains assistance from the county for herself and 2 children.

June 1779 – John is discharged after 3 years service and returns home.

1780 – John enlists for a second term in the Revolutionary War in August, leaving Mary at home with 2 small children and probably pregnant for another child.

1782 – John is discharged in February, returning home to Botetourt County just in time for spring planting.  Mary must be extremely relieved.

1782 or 1783 – son John Jr. is born in Virginia.

About 1784 – Mary has daughter Sallie.

1785 – John and by inference Mary are on the Iredell County, NC tax list.

About 1785 – Mary has daughter Elizabeth.

About 1785 – Mary has son Alexander.

1790 – Mary and John are living in Iredell County, NC according to the census and have 6 children.

About 1790 – Mary has son William.

About 1790 – Mary has daughter Charlotte.

1794 – Mary and John have probably moved to Wilkes County, because John is mentioned in the court notes regarding a transaction with one Robert Powers involving 75 pounds of indigo.  This was not registered in court until 1804, so they might not yet have lived in Wilkes in 1794.

1796 – John files in Wilkes court against one Thomas Adams against whom he obtained an execution order in Iredell County.  They do live in Wilkes County by now.

1797-1799 – Mary’s son, John, married about this time.

1800 – Mary and John are enumerated in Wilkes County in the census under the surname Harral.

We know that in 1790, John and Mary have 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls, the boys being under 16.

In 1800, their children are reported as:

• 1 male under 10 (William born about 1790)
• 1 male 10-15 (Alexander born about 1785)
• 2 female 16-25 (Charlotte, Elizabeth and/or Sallie)

We show three females in 1790 and I have three daughters listed, but only two are shown here and none are known to have married until after 1800.  So, there is a discrepancy.

In 1790, their son, John Jr., is living next door and is listed as age 16-25, putting John’s birth between 1775 and 1784, which is consistent with the information we already have.  He has a wife and one female child, suggesting they have been married between 1 and 3 years.

Both John and Mary are over the age of 45, which means they were both born before 1755.  Given that Mry’s youngest child, William, was born about 1790, Mary could have been born slightly before 1750.  Women often bore their last children at the age of 42 or 43.

1801 – John patents land on Harrold Mountain

1803 – Daughter Elizabeth married Reuben Carter whose land abuts that of John Harrold, at least until Reuben loses his land.

1805 – Mary’s daughter Sallie marries Jessie Turner before 1805 and they leave for Breathit County, KY.

1806 – Mary’s daughter, Charlotte, married Koonrod Dick.  They were in Simpson Co., KY before 1825.

1809 – Mary’s son, William and Mary McDowell, daughter of their neighbor, are married by Jacob McGrady, the Baptist preacher.

1810 – Son William departs for Claiborne County, TN.  This is likely the last time Mary sees her son, although she lives another 16 years.  She probably never meets any of her grandchildren by William.

It must have pained Mary greatly to see her children marrying and leaving Wilkes County, one by one.

1810 – The 1810 census shows John Harrold, with one male living with him, age 16-26, plus his wife.  Both John and Mary are shown as over age 45.

1812 – Mary’s son, Alexander marries about this time and shortly thereafter, leaves for Breathit County, KY.  This is likely the last time Mary sees Alexander.  She likely never sees any of Alexander’s children either.

The 1820 census reflects John and Mary’s age the same way.  Now John and Mary are living entirely alone, all of the children gone and married.  They are living beside John Herrald Jr. who has 9 people in his family and one slave.  These grandchildren, Mary probably sees daily!

John Sr. dies in 1825 and Mary follows in 1826.  We know Mary’s name, positively, because of an allowance made to her in January 1826 from John’s estate, which was probated in October of 1825.  However, by October 1826, just a  year after John’s death, Mary’s estate sale was held – so she died sometime between January and October of 1826.

I hired a historian to retrieve John and Mary’s estate inventory and sale information, both, from the North Carolina archives in Raleigh, with absolutely no luck.  I know they existed at one time because they are referenced in the court notes complete with book and page number – however – Wilkes County says they no longer have any of those records and they are at the archives in Raleigh, and Raleigh says they never received those books from Wilkes.  And then there are those persistent rumors that the staff decades ago in Wilkes County decided to have a bonfire with the old records that no one would need anymore.  This just kills me, because Mary and John’s estate inventory would give us the most personal glimpse of their actual lives that we could get from the vantage point of where we sit today, 190 years removed – unless there is an unknown family journal or Bible hanging around someplace.  And I’m not holding my breath for that.

One of my close friends and I were discussing a week or so ago how much our descendants would be able to tell about us personally if they were building the scaffolding of our lives from only public records.  She and I concluded that while they would find the “big pieces” so to speak, like birth, marriage, death, children’s births, and moving – they would never know anything about us personally.  Meaning what we are like.  No one would know that I love color, for example, whether it be in summer flowers or quilts.  That I hate to cook, love dark chocolate, and do quite a bit of charity work.  They would have no idea of my profession, my career, my education level, my degrees or my political or religious leanings.  All of those things that make me uniquely me would be absent.  However, if they had an inventory listing from my estate sale, there would at least be clues.  I so wish we had Mary’s estate listing.

Mary is credited with saying that when she died, she wanted to be put up on the bluff on top of Harrold Mountain so that she could fly back to sweet old Ireland.

Since she doesn’t have a marker, perhaps they did.  Harrold Mountain bluff is shown above.

Mary is likely buried beside John Harrold, her husband, on Harrold Mountain.  Furthermore, we know about where that is, and she is either buried under the chicken house with John (above), or she is buried with son John in the Harrold/Brown Cemetery.

Perhaps old John is buried with John Jr. in the same cemetery, shown on the map below on Harrold Mountain.

Given that both sons William and Alexander leave Wilkes County, it makes sense that John Jr. would obtain William’s land upon his death.  It looks very much like he did, in part because John is buried on the land Old John owned.  So, it’s entirely possible that John Jr. lies in the same cemetery with both of his parents.  In that time and place, that’s quite unusual – often generations didn’t stay in the same place long enough for multiple generations to live, grow old and pass on.

I’ve tried to reconcile the census documents with John and Mary’s children, reconstructed from the records we do have:

Note that a James appears once in an 1805 Wilkes County record, but never appears again. If this James is John’s son, then he would have had to be one of the two oldest children AND living on his own or not in John’s household by 1790.  Unlikely, but not impossible

These birth years are all estimates, with the exception of John whose birth year is on his tombstone and in the 1850 census, and William who gives his age in a deposition and in the census as well.  Other birth years are estimated by marriage date which is estimated by the age of the oldest child when not available in official records.  Long way around, I know.

The bottom line is that Mary and John are one child short in 1800, but for all we know, one of the daughters was living elsewhere.

Mitochondrial DNA

To the best of my knowledge, no one who descends directly from Mary through all females has yet DNA tested.  These people would carry Mary’s mitochondrial DNA.

Mary reportedly had three daughters.  However, there is some discrepancy in the 1800 census when only two daughters are shown.  Of course, one could have been slightly older, one could have been visiting or living with a relative – we don’t know.

However, if people who descend from either 2 or 3 daughters test, and their mitochondrial DNA which would be descended directly from Mary match each other, then we now they share a common ancestor.  There is always the possibility as well that Mary was not John’s only wife.  There could have been 2 different Mary’s as well – the one in 1779, assuming that is the right family, and the one who died in 1826.  There is no oral history of anything like this, but it’s always a possibility.

Secondly, we could tell a lot about Mary – meaning her haplogroup and where her closest matches are found in the world.  In other words, we could probably confirm that Mary was indeed Irish!

If you descend from Mary Harrell through all females to the current generation, where either males or females will work, please let me know.  There is a DNA testing scholarship waiting for you!

Mary’s female children are as follows:

1. Sarah or Sallie Herrell, born about 1784 and married Jesse Turner about 1805  in Wilkes County. They moved to Breathit County, KY and had daughters:

• • Susannah born about 1806 – nothing more known
  • Elizabeth “Mama Bets” born February 1813 and married her first cousin, Thomas T. Herrell. They had daughters Sarah born in 1841, Elizabeth born in 1845, Nancy born about 1846, America born in 1850 and Jemima born in 1852.

2.  Charlotte Herrell born about 1790, married in 1806 in Wilkes County, NC to Koonrod Peter Dick. They moved to Simpson County, KY and had daughter Mary Dick. They probably had other children as well, but I have found no records.

3.  Elizabeth Herrell born about 1785 married Reuben Carter in 1803 in Wilkes County. They moved on to Maury County TN and then, reportedly, to Crawford County, MO. Nothing is known about their children.

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I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase the price you pay but helps me to keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.

Thank you so much.

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Elizabeth Shepherd was born July 23, 1766 in St. George Parish, Spotsylvania County, Virginia to Robert Shepherd and Sarah Rash.

We are extremely fortunate to have the Robert Shepherd Bible pages, still in existence in 1991.  A sixth great-grandson of Robert and Sarah Rash Shepherd was kind enough to copy and transcribe them, and they have been sitting in my “to do” file, which became a “to do” pile, long enough.

The cousin who so graciously sent the pages also said that he couldn’t capture the entire page in the copy because the pages were bound in the Bible.  He provided the transcription following each page – taken from the original Bible.

I am struck by the beauty of these Bible pages – the lovely calligraphy style handwriting.  I’ve also noted that the handwriting is all the same, including the death information for Robert – except for the 1858 death note about Sally.  Given that Sally is the only child with a death date, and there is also a rather illegible note about her name that looks like it notes someone’s mother – I’m surmising that this Bible was a copy of Robert’s original Bible that was passed down in the Sally Shepherd family line and her death date was of course added sometime after her passing.

The identical handwriting is a dead giveway (pardon the pun) and nobody so far as I know can record their own death after the fact – so this isn’t Robert’s handwriting.  If we had the front page of the Bible, we could look at the date the Bible was printed and I’m sure it would be after some of these events occurred.  That doesn’t diminish the value of the Bible, just lets us know more about the provenance of the information it holds and alerts us that transcription mistakes could have occurred – since the information we’re seeing has been copied, at least once.  But, I must say, copied beautifully and in the old style where the s looks like fs. Known as the long s, this practice fell out of practice in printing in the first part of the 1800s but lasted in handwriting into the second part before dying entirely.

Based on the script, whoever figured and recorded Robert Shepherd’s death date in 1817 is likely the transcriber of the rest of this document.  Given that the calculations are in the margin, this Bible was likely in use at that time, so perhaps the earlier information had already been copied into this Bible.

Just take a look at this beautiful script.

Marriages:

Robert Shepherd and Sarah Rash were married in Spotsylvania County Virginia by James Mcrea Church Parson on October 1, 1765.

Robert and Sarah aforesaid removed from Spotsylvania County Virginia to Reddies River Wilkes County, North Carolina on the 7^th of December Annoque Domini 1777.

For all the world, it looks like something was written on the right hand side of the paper too, and has faded to the point where it is no longer legible.

Births:

Robert Shepherd son of George and Elizabeth Shepherd was born in Spotsylvania County and State of Virginia June 17, 1739.

Sarah Shepherd formerly Sarah Rash and daughter of Joseph and Mary Rash was born in Spotsylvania County Virginia State 23^rd of April Annoque Domini 1748, and is now the espoused wife of Robert Shepherd aforesaid.

Their Genealogy born in Spotsylvania County Virginia

1. Elisabeth Shepherd born July 23^rd Anno: Dom: 1766
2. James Shepherd born on March 8^th A:D: 1768
3. Ann Shepherd born on the 8^th of March A:D: 1770
4. Mary Shepherd born on January 17^th A:D: 1773
5. Agnes Shepherd born on the 8^th of February A:D: 1775

Their following children were all born on Reddies River Wilkes County No. Carolina

6. Rhoda Shepherd born on the 23^rd of March A:D: 1777
7. John Shepherd born on the 26^th of August A:D: 1779
8. Sally Shepherd born on the 27^th of February A:D: 1782 Died November 1858
9. Fanny Shepherd born February 13^th 1785

10. Rebekah Shepherd born on the 26^th day of September in the year of our Lord 1787

Deaths:

Robert Shepherd father of the aforementioned family deceased June fifth one thousand eight hundred and seventeen 1817 – at his own house on Reddies River, Wilkes County, North Carolina State where to he removed and settled with his family from Spottsylvania County Virginia December 7, 1777.

After 17 days illness with his old disorder the Stone and Gravel and after residing about 40 years in the aforesaid spot.

Aged according to this record exactly seventy seven years eleven months and seven days, subtracting elven days for his Old Stile birth.

Sarah’s death date is not recorded here, but I think we have evidence of when it occurred in the notes.  Sarah was born in 1748, and on this last page,  in the upper right hand corner, someone was subtracting 1748 from 1829.

Moving to Wilkes County

According to their Bible, “Robert and Sarah aforesaid removed from Spotsylvania County to Reddies River, Wilkes County, NC on the 7^th of December annoque domini 1777.”

I don’t know if they left on December 7^th for Wilkes County, or arrived on December 7^th, 1777.  Looking at the notes about the births of their children, it appears that Rhoda was born in Wilkes County in March of 1777 – so there is a conflict in the record.  However, given that this Bible is a copy of the original, perhaps a transcription error occurred.  Perhaps December is when they found a place to settle permanently in Wilkes County.  Regardless, they were moving about that time.

Hopefully December is when they arrived, as the 340 mile trip, on today’s roads, would have taken more than a month in a wagon in 1777, and certainly in December and January, snow and cold weather could be encountered.  It’s actually quite remarkable that the date of their journey is recorded in the Bible.  It was obviously seen as quite a turning point and major event in their lives.

Elizabeth would have just turned 11 that summer, old enough to help care for the younger children on the journey.  She was the oldest child.  Her parents, like normal pioneer parents, had a baby about every other year, so by 1777, Elizabeth had 5 younger siblings to help care for.

While Spotsylvania County had at one time been the frontier, in 1777, the county was more than 50 years old.  Wilkes County, however, was indeed the new frontier, with lots of available land, opportunity and adventure galore.  Land was almost free for the taking plus a little sweat equity.  Ok, if you’ve seen those mountains…a lot of sweat equity.  But back in Spotsylvania County, they hadn’t seen the mountains of Wilkes County – but they surely had heard about the land grants.  In fact, staking out land is just about the first thing new settlers did.

Robert Shepherd entered land in 1778 near the ford of “Readys River” on John Shepherd’s line.  On the same day John entered land on Deep Ford of Reddis River.

The Shepherds lived in what is known as the Reddies River and Purlear section, west of North Wilkesboro about 12 to 14 miles.  John Shepherd’s entry number 64 claimed 405 acres at the Deep Ford of the Reddies River.  Robert’s entry was next for 200 acres.  The Reverend George McNiel, William McNiel’s father, was also a neighbor.

The http://www.danielprophecy.com/map.html website shows the location of the various Shepherd land.  Notice Vannoy road and old Highway 16.  You’ve seen these same roads in the Elijah Vannoy story.  Elijah married Lois McNiel, daughter of Elizabeth Shepherd and William McNiel.

Sometime prior to 1784, Elizabeth Shepherd married William McNiel, the son of Reverend George McNiel, probably in Wilkes County.  You might have noticed that this was in the middle of the Revolutionary War, and in many counties, not much was getting registered about that time, including marriages.  Their first child, at least the first child that survived, arrived on October 26, 1784, which would suggest that they were married probably sometime in 1783 or maybe early 1784 – although unsourced family history shows the marriage as occurring in 1781.

Elizabeth’s husband, William McNiel, was also from Spotsylvania County, Virginia, enlisting in the Revolutionary War from there in 1777.  Did she know him before they moved to Wilkes County?  It’s quite likely she did. It’s probable that the Reverend George McNiel recruited a number of Spotsylvania County families to undertake the move to Wilkes County.

Life in Wilkes County

The first church established on the Reddies River was located on the crest of Deep Ford Hill.  The name was derived from the fact that the original road leading from New River in what is now Ashe County to the Yadkin Valley crossed the Reddies River at the foot of this hill, and that the ford at this crossing was unusually deep – thus the name Deep Ford Hill.

This Baptist church was established as early as 1783 according to the records of the Flat Rock Church.  The Reverend George McNiel was the preacher and the Shepherds made up most of the congregation along with their immediate neighbors, the Rowlands, Judds and others.

The Abstract of the Reddies River Church Membership 1798-1889 by Paul Gregory shows that charter members that were members in 1798 include Robert Shepherd and wife Sarah along with Robert’s brother John and his wife Sarah and their black woman, Grace.  It does not include William McNiel or his wife, which is probably a good indication they were living in Ashe County by this time, or that the original membership, even though listed in 1798, was actually from an earlier date.  The actual title says “Charter Members” but the date on the page is 1798, which could mean that these are the charter members still attending in 1798.  I have seen in other churches where they listed charter members, almost as a retrospective, at a later date

It is also mentioned that some of the Reddies River people buried their dead at the church, probably not much later than 1825.  There is no exact census of this cemetery and it may very well simply have been the Shepherd family cemetery.

I visited George McNeil in Wilkes County in 2007 and he was gracious enough to show me all of the early family cemeteries and homeplaces.  George and his wife, Joyce, then deceased, are both my cousins on different family lines, and I had known them through genealogy research for more than 20 years.  It was wonderful to meet George, but sad to have missed Joyce with whom I exchanged pen and ink letters for years.  George and Joyce spent much of their married life visiting the various Wilkes County cemeteries and cataloging the graves.  What a wonderful legacy to leave.

George took me to the location of the Deep Ford Church and cemetery, across the road from the church.  Nothing remains today of either, sadly.

According to George, the location of the Deep Ford Church was at the intersection of Shingle Gap Road and NC 16 and the cemetery was directly across the street where a trailer today sits on the former cemetery.  Locals recalled seeing the original stones when George McNiel was doing the cemetery census.

Years ago, probably 40 now, the landowner used the gravestones to construct a chicken house.  Yes, a chicken house.  Then, he later bulldozed the chicken house including all of the gravestones into the creek.  Would it be evil of me to hope they have all haunted him?  I just so desperately wanted to go wading in that creek to see if I could find those stones.

This is the land where the mobile home sits where the cemetery once stood, and across the road the church was located about where the gas station sits today.

What we do know is that Elizabeth’s father, Robert Shepherd died on June 5, 1817 and was buried in this cemetery.  In addition, Robert’s brother John died on June 11, 1810 and is buried here as well as is Elizabeth’s mother who died sometime after 1816, possibly in 1829.  Sadly, Elizabeth would have already been in Claiborne County Tennessee when her parents died, although she would have stood here to bury her uncle, John, knowing full well that her parents would one day rest here too.  If Elizabeth did marry William McNiel in 1781, then she may have buried a child here as well, as their first known child was born in 1784.

William McNiel first shows up on the 1786 Wilkes County tax list and is living 3 houses away from his father, George McNiel.  William and Elizabeth own no land until 1792. In 1792-1793 they own 60 acres, but then go missing from 1794-1796.  In 1797, they have 530 acres and are now living by Nathaniel Vannoy.

When I originally found William McNiel living beside Nathaniel Vannoy, I thought sure I had hit pay dirt, because Elizabeth’s daughter, Lois, married Elijah Vannoy about 1807 and we didn’t, at that time, know who Elijah’s father was.  As it turns out, Nathaniel Vannoy was not Elijah’s father, but his uncle.

The book “Early Settlers of Reddies River” by Paul Gregory tells us that Elizabeth’s family lived on Deep Ford Hill, but that William McNiel moved either before 1800 or about 1803, depending on which of his statements you use, to what is now Ashe County and then to Claiborne County, TN about 1810.

It’s obvious that William McNiel and Elizabeth moved around a bit.  Was she pleased with that arrangement, or did she just want to settle in one place and be done with it?  I’m guessing she had her hands full with a new child arriving every other year and the last thing she wanted to do was move back and forth over the highest mountain range within hundreds of miles.

They last record we have of William and Elizabeth in Wilkes or Ashe County is in 1810 when they deed land to Elijah Vannoy and his wife, their daughter, Lois.

Judging from these two deeds from Wilkes County Deed Book GH, Elizabeth and William moved back from Ashe County in early 1810 and then sold that land to their son-in-law, Elijah Vannoy the last day of the year.

Page 178 – February 3, 1810 from James Steward and William McNiel of Ashe County NC for $200, 150 acres on the waters of the North fork of Lewis Fork, it being the place where William Yates now lives.  Signed by James Steward and witnessed by Alexander Brown and Thomas Brown.

Page 175 – December 31, 1810 between William McNeel and Elijah Vannoy for $250, 150 acres on Boller Creek, a fork of Lewis Fork, place where William McNeel now lives.  Witness John Forrester and John Forrester Jr.  Signed by William McNeel

Apparently at that time, Lois and Elijah were not planning their migration to Claiborne County, or they probably wouldn’t have purchased the land from her parents.

Perhaps there were discussions wherever people gathered, at the church, at the mill and at the courthouse, about Claiborne County, Tennessee, because what I would term a massive exodus of Wilkes County residents occurred about this time, with many settling together in the northern part of Claiborne County, near the Lee County, VA border.  Some spilled over into the part of Hawkins bordering Claiborne and the Lee County border.  This area could have been called “Little Wilkes.”  Eventually, all of this land would become Hancock County in Tennessee

Claiborne County, Tennessee

By about 1811 or so, William McNiel and Elizabeth Shepherd McNiel would leave Wilkes and Ashe County forever, moving to Claiborne County, Tennessee.  Elizabeth, now age 44 or 45 would have her last child about the time they set out on their journey.  Elizabeth’s oldest child, Lois, would already have been married to Elijah Vannoy for 3 or 4 years by this time and they would accompany Elizabeth and William.

There is a very interesting story about how this caravan of settlers got to Tennessee.  Elijah Vannoy’s daughter said they traveled by flatboat and the journey took two years.  This story is told in detail in the Elijah and Joel Vannoy stories, as Joel, Elizabeth’s grandson, was reportedly born during this journey.

We know William made it to Claiborne County and lived to at least 1816 because he witnessed a deed.  This William McNiel has to be the husband of Elizabeth because their son, William was only born about 1810 and there were no other McNiel families, by any spelling, living in that region.

In 1816 Levi Carner sells to George McNiel a tract of land lying on the North side of Powell Mountain near Mulberry Gap containing 69 acres for $525.  Signed in the presence of William McNiel, James Anderson and Burrell G. Sullivant.

I’m fairly certain that Elizabeth’s husband, William, was gone by May of 1823 when William Inglebarger sells land to Neal McNeal and the transaction is signed by his mother, Elizabeth, his uncle, John McNeil and Joel Fairchild.  None of the witnesses can write and all signed with an X, including Elizabeth – so she cannot write.

Unfortunately, there is no 1820 census for Claiborne County, and by the 1830 census, shown below, William McNiel was gone.  Elizabeth McNiel is listed on the census however, living adjacent her son Neal or Niel or Neil, depending on how the name was spelled that day.  The last name was also spelled in a wide variety of ways, and Neal and McNeal, first and last name spellings, don’t always match either.

Elizabeth also lives just a few houses away from her daughter and son-in-law, Elijah and Lois McNiel Vannoy, spelled Vernoy here.

In 1830, Elizabeth is a widow.  There are no records of any deeds showing that William McNiel purchased land.  It’s worth noting that Elizabeth also lived adjacent Eli Davis, because Elijah Vannoy’s son, Joel, would marry Phebe Crumley and in 1840, Phebe’s father, William Crumley (the third) is living beside Eli Davis.  This family that makes up my ancestors is being woven together in place and time one strand at a time.

Also note that Elizabeth lives 2 houses from Josiah Ramsey.  We’ll need that in a minute too.

I wonder if William McNiel passed away about 1816, because Lois’s son, William is born about 1816 and she may have named the child after her father if he was ill.  The last sighting we have of William is when he witnessed an 1817 deed.  Given that William never owned land, he would very likely have qualified as an impoverished Revolutionary War veteran and might have applied for benefits in 1818, were he alive.

In 1840, Elizabeth is no longer listed on the census, nor is a woman of her age listed living with any of her children.  Elizabeth passed away sometime between 1830 and 1840.  I’m inclined to think she passed away between 1830 and 1832, because I have never been able to find any records that she applied for a Revolutionary War widow’s pension.  That act was passed on June 7, 1832 and while these people may have been distant and lived back in the mountains, applications were being drafted and sent from this area within a month of that legislation.  The grapevine was a powerful communications medium, especially when it involved either juicy gossip or money.

Never Underestimate Your Cousins

When I published the story about Joel Vannoy, my lovely cousin, Dolores wrote to me and asked how I knew the land on Mulberry Creek, across from the “bridge house” was the exact land Elijah owned?  To anyone familiar with this area, the house with the bridge in front, crossing the creek between the house and the road, is a landmark.  There is only one house fitting that description.

I explained to her that cousin Dan had found the land based on the stream in Elijah’s land grant survey, and then the homeowner had Elijah’s original land grant from the state of Tennessee.  Dolores said she wondered, because the Ramsey family eventually came into possession of that land.  Nothing more was said, because while Dolores and I are cousins, it’s not through the Vannoy or McNiel lines or her Ramsey line.  Those lines did intermarry later, but are not our common ancestors.

Then, a couple weeks later, I happened across a piece of information that seemed important.

Niel McNiel’s land abutted that of Josiah Ramsey.  Josiah Ramsey is noted at being the progenitor of the Ramsey line in Claiborne/Hancock County, and, there is an old Ramsey Cemetery.  Now, the Vannoy Cemetery is “missing,” soooo, I had to ask Dolores if she knew exactly where the Josiah Ramsey Cemetery is located.  Sure enough, not only did she know where it was located, she sent me more than I asked for, including some important puzzle pieces for me that she didn’t even know she had.

Since William McNiel never owned land and Elizabeth is living beside son Niel in 1830, it occurred to me that I should see if I could locate the land that Niel patented in several land grants.  Sure enough, I did, and it’s just a couple miles north of Elijah Vannoy and Lois McNiel Vannoy’s land on Mulberry Creek.

Cousin Dolores sent two documents of primary importance.

On this map, note the Thomas Chapel Church, lower left, the Liberty School and Bales Gap.  They are and were important to finding locations on present day maps.  Josiah Ramsey’s land is noted as well.

On the 1830 census, Elizabeth McNiel and Niel McNiel live between Josiah Ramsey and Eli Davis.

On this map, Ramsey researchers have overlaid the Josiah Ramsey lands.  Two areas are of particular importance

First, Neil McNeil’s land, abutting Eli Davis, is shown on the upper right.

In the lower left, Daniel Rice’s land is shown where it would abut Elijah Vannoy’s lands, which confirms yet a third way that we indeed have located Elijah’s land correctly. Given that in the 1840 census, William Crumley (the third,) whose daughter Phebe would marry Joel Vannoy, son of Elijah Vannoy, is living dead center between Eli Davis and Littleton Brooks, we now know exactly where he was living and we can see how close he lived to Joel Vannoy’s land that abutted Elijah’s land.  Whohooooo…my lucky day!

Now, where is this land today?

I mapped the location where Elizabeth Shepherd McNiel would have been living next to Niel McNiel on present day Turner Hollow Road at the far right end of the blue line.  At the far left end of the blue line, where the red balloon is located is near where Elizabeth’s daughter Lois McNiel lived on Mulberry Gap Road with her husband Elijah Vannoy.  Keep in mind that they would likely have taken the “back way since Rebel Hollow and Turner Hollow intersect and it looks like Joel and Elijah Vannoy probably owned the land between Mulberry Gap Road and the back side of Rebel Hollow Road.  The actual address of the Vannoy property is across the road from both 7321 and 6979 Mulberry Gap Road, today.

To go from Neal and Elizabeth’s to Joel and Lois’s you had to pass the Ramsey land and mill located about where the “8 minute” box is located on the blue line.

On this map, you can see Bales Gap, then to the left you can see where Bales Ford either still does or once crossed the Powell River.  If you look at the Niel McNiel land, you can see that if you draw a line straight right from Bales Ford, it intersects the Niel McNiel upper land at the beginning, about the blue dot on Turner Hollow Road.

Ironically, I see on the upper border of this photo Bartley Hollow which is the land that was owned by cousin Dolores’s family – downstream of the Speak line she and I share.  It seems it’s always a small world in these mountain communities.

On this enlarged area of the property map, you can see the driveway or private road on Neil McNeil’s land.

On this map, you can see where the current day driveway or road occurs on the Niel McNiel map and its branch into the Eli Davis land.

On this map, I’ve noted with arrows the approximate location of the boundaries of both of Niel McNiel’s parcels.

Given that we know that Elizabeth Shepherd McNiel lived by her son Niel, and now we know where Niel lived – we also know where Elizabeth lived – and probably where she died as well.

In fact, this might be Elizabeth’s house.  Family lore says that this is the house that Lois McNiel eloped out of to marry Elijah Vannoy.  However, this story came out of Hancock County, not Wilkes County and this house could be Lois’s parents’ house, but in Hancock County, not Wilkes.

Given that William died sometime after 1816 but before the 1830 census, he had to be buried someplace.  Son George McNiel also lived in this vicinity.  By the 1830s when Elizabeth died, surely there was an established cemetery for the McNiel clan in this immediate area – maybe in conjunction with Elijah Vannoy.  Maybe both families had a cemetery on their land.  In either case, both are now lost, so while we know that Elizabeth was likely buried someplace on this land, or perhaps on Elijah’s land where her daughter lived, we don’t know where that might be.

One thing these Ramsey maps did point out is just how many small, undocumented family cemeteries exist, or existed – and there are surely more that we don’t know about – especially early cemeteries abandoned when the original family moved away.

After Elizabeth’s death both the Vannoys and the McNiel’s would sell their land on Mulberry Creek and move down the road a few miles into Claiborne County on Little Sycamore Creek where they were all living in the 1870s.

A hundred years later, when I first visited the Claiborne County families, all knowledge of the location of the original land in Hancock County had disappeared into the mists of time.

Elizabeth’s DNA

In the Lois McNiel article, I listed her daughters that gave their mitochondrial DNA to their children in the hope that maybe someone descends from these daughters to the current generation through all females.  The current generation can be a male, since women give their mitochondrial DNA to all of their children, but only the females pass it on.

Here, we list Elizabeth’s daughters, with the hope that we can find a descendant whose DNA we can test to add a chapter to Elizabeth’s story.  Where did her maternal line originate?

Elizabeth’s daughters who had female children who may have descendants today through all females are as follows:

• Lois McNiel born about 1786 and married Elijah Vannoy about 1807 in Wilkes County. Lois died in the 1830s in Claiborne, now Hancock, County, TN. She had daughter Permelia born in 1810 who married John Baker and had daughters Sirena and Nancy Jane. Lois’s daughter Nancy also born about 1810 married George Loughmiller and had daughters Mermelia, Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Marty and Lyda. Lois’s daughter Sarah born in 1821 married Joseph Adams and moved to Arkansas.  They had daughters Nancy Jane who married Franklin Skaggs, Rebecca who married William Leroy Throckmorton Bee Boren and Margaret Ann who married John Ward and moved to Oregon.
• Sarah or Sallie McNiel was born about 1784 and married Joel Fairchild in Wilkes County. They moved to Claiborne County where Sallie died on January 2, 1861 and is buried in the Fairchild Cemetery in Hancock County. She had daughter Elizabeth Fairchild born between 1820-1825 who married Samuel McCullough and had daughters Sarah (b 1852), Elizabeth (b 1864), Susan (b 1867) and Cordia (b 1870).
• Mary was born about 1792 in Wilkes County. She married Robert Campbell in 1817 in Claiborne County and died in 1881 in Bradley County, TN. I show only one child for her, Anderson, but I have a very difficult time believing she didn’t have additional children.
• Nancy McNiel born in 1794 in Wilkes County married Alexander Campbell in 1815 in Claiborne County and is shown with only 3 male children. She died in 1839 in Hancock County. She likely outlived her mother, but not by long.
• Elizabeth McNiel born between 1800 and 1810 married Andrew McClary. The 1840 census shows them with 2 daughters, but I can’t find the family in 1850.

If you descend from any of these women through all females, please contact me.  There is a DNA scholarship waiting for you.

In Summary

Elizabeth was an amazing lady, even though we only know her through the records of the men around her, except for the 1830 census.

She saw and lived through two wars fought on our own soil, the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.  Her husband fought in the Revolution, although they weren’t married at that time.  Two of her uncles fought as well, one at King’s Mountain.  Her father was a patriot and provided supplies.

Elizabeth was a young teen at the beginning of the Revolutionary War and a young woman when it ended.  Life must have been interesting, listening to the talk of the war as news trickled in about battles fought and lost or won…and lives lost.  Those who farmed yesterday, fought today and would never come home.  All they could do was pray.

It was during this time that the family moved from Spotsylvania County, Virginia to Wilkes County, NC.  Was the war somehow part of the reason?  Was the journey more dangerous because of the war?  Surely it was, because the Indians had allied themselves with the British.

Elizabeth was involved with the formation of the first Baptist Church in Wilkes County.  Her parents were Baptist, the neighbors were Baptist…Elizabeth was going to be a Baptist and that’s all there was to that!  An entire group of Baptists moved from Spotsylvania County to Wilkes County, along with their preacher, Reverend George McNiel, Elizabeth’s future father-in-law – and Elizabeth was among them.

A few years later, Elizabeth’s sons were old enough to have served in the War of 1812, but I don’t have any documentation that says they did.  This was during the time they were migrating from Wilkes County to Claiborne County – and if it did take 2 years as family lore suggests, that might be why her sons never served.

Elizabeth lived in two centuries and survived in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee with children and without a husband.  She probably buried babies and children, possibly alongside the trail.  She raised ten children to adulthood.

Elizabeth left Spotsylvania County, Virginia and would ultimately live in three states and on two untamed frontiers.  At least twice, she pulled up stakes, packed up a wagon with all of her belongings along with a bounty of children, in the middle of a war, and set out for the unknown.

Indeed, Elizabeth was an amazing woman.

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