1749 - 1820
Chesterfield Co, Va - Tazewell Co, Va
"According to The History of Middle New River Settlements (p 377) [by David Johnston], Richard [Bailey, Elizabeth's eventual husband] was born in England and married Annie Belcher. The former fact has not been proven and the latter appears erroneous. All deeds and other records in which the wife of Richard is mentioned, her name is given as Elizabeth, including a sale of property in Chesterfield County in 1763. Her last name is probably Belsher, as given, since other references also point to the relationship through the Belsher line; however no marriage record has been located." [Netti Schreiner-Yantis, Archives of the pioneers of Tazewell County, Virginia, (Springfield, Va., c1973). "Some descendants of the pioneers" - p. 257 note 6]
So here we have another genealogical mix-up, and one that is probably not going to be un-mixed at this point - at least not definitively. It is generally believed that Elizabeth was the daughter of Richard Belcher and Mary Obedience Clay, and because of Johnston (I assume) people generally refer to her as Elizabeth Ann.
She was born in about 1749, the youngest of 5 - or maybe 9 - children. Her siblings:
Ann b. ~1730 d. 1766/7 m. Peter Blankenship sr (b bef 1725 d aft 1793),
bef. 1762 Goochland Co, Va
Isham b. 1732 Chesterfield d. 1798 Wythe Co - m. 2 June 1759
Chesterfield
m. Elizabeth Clay b. 17 Apr 1735 Chesterfield - 14 children
George, Isham, William, Moses, Richard, James, Sarah, Lucy,
John, Phoebe,
Martha b. 1772/3, Samuel, Jesse
Elizabeth m John D. Barrow, Franklin Co, Va Sep 1841
unconfirmed
Richard 1734 VA m Mary Unknown
Phebe 1737 Bedford Co, VA d. 1813 Franklin Co, Va m. Mitchell Clay
1760 Franklin Co
Thomas 1744
Robert 1746
William 1748
Benjamin 1749
The last four boys are only listed by Walter Bailey (Bailey-Coulter Archives).
She married Richard Paton Bailey in about 1762, and together they had 10 or maybe 12 children:
John b. ~1764 Chesterfield Co. (m. Ann "Nancy" Davidson)
Richard b. ~1765 Bedford Co. (m. 1 Jane Harmon, 2. Isabell Ferguson)
James b. 1766 Bedford Co. (or Fincastle?) (m. Margaret "Peggy Stinson)
Chloe b. ~1765 Bedford Co. (m. David McComas; m? David Lusk)
Elizabeth
Micajah b. 1769 Bedford Co. (m. Naomi "Omy" Shufflebarger)
Reuben b. 1770 Bedford Co. (m. 1. Sarah E. Ferguson, 2. Permelia "Millie" Prince Belcher - widow of Henry Belcher)
Archibald "Archer" b. 1773 (m. Agnes "Nancy" Godfrey)
Naomi b. 1774 Bedford Co. - d. 16 Feb 1860 Mercer Co, Va
Sarah Ann b. 1775 Bedford Co. (m. Samuel Lusk)
Elijah I "Eli" b. 1777 (m. Agnes "Nancy" Clark)
Henry I b. 1782 (m. Elizabeth Peters)
The historian Johnston says there were 10 children, 8 boys and 2 girls; he does not include daughters Elizabeth and Naomi. Walter Bailey (Bailey-Coulter Archives) includes Naomi but not Elizabeth, and also lists another boy, Buren, but gives no dates for him.
According to The Bailey Family, husband Richard was a carpenter. He possibly built a house and dug a well on the land in Chesterfield County, but in 1764 he sold it for £40. He and Elizabeth Ann moved west, to the foothills of the Appalachians, to Bedford (later Franklin) County. A number of their neighbors and relatives moved too (this was common practice). In 1771, he received a patent for 203 acres on both sides of the Maple Branch of the Blackwater River. Later on he added two other parcels - 268 acres on the north side of the Blackwater (surveyed 1778, grant received 1786 - signed by Gov. Patrick Henry) and 445 acres on both sides of the Blackwater (surveyed 1762, grant received 1780 - signed by Gov. Thomas Jefferson).
In 1774, meanwhile, his wife's (probable) brother-in-law Mitchell Clay had received a grant for 803 acres in (then) Fincastle County located on the Bluestone River (or Creek) and in 1780 (according to Johnston) or sometime between June 1782 and April 1783 (according to The Bailey Family), Richard, Elizabeth Ann, and family moved to the area. [Richard was still on the Bedford County tax list for1782, as well as being described as a native of Bedford on a 1782 land deed, so probably The Bailey Family is correct. I think it is likely that some of his sons preceeded him and the rest of the family, and that may be the cause of the discrepency in dates.] They stayed there for the rest of their lives.
Richard died in 1818, Elizabeth Anne in 1820. Both are buried on Leatherwood Farm, South Bluefield (now in Mercer Co, WV). I'm sorry this is so impersonal, but this is all I have.
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contact me at: lee@leesgenes.com
page last updated 12 Aug 2004