Ball&Aut14 - aqwc63 - Generated by Ancestral Quest

Ball and Autrey Ancestry and Related Names

Source Citations

¹Religion for Opal Rae Schaal. "Raised primarly in the Quakers, but for the last 490 years of her life she was a devoted member of the Unity Church in Monterey, California whos headquarters are in Lee's Summit, Missouri."

²SSDI California Death Index. "California Death Index.Opal Rae Schaal Wise Born 6/28/1907: Mothers Maiden name Saunders, Fathers name Schaal, Female, Issued SS# 573-12-6028 in Nebraska Died at the age of 85 years in Monterey, California on 18 July 1992."

Cornelius AUTREY

¹By Jeanne Duff Murphy and Jo Lyon Autrey, Book "Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey and Their Descendants" , 2nd Edition. " Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey and Their Descendants, With a Section on Thomas Norris

by Jeanne McDuff Murphy and Jo Lyon Autrey

CHAPTER I

The Early Autrey Family

The Autreys were French Huguenots. According to family tradition, they left France in the 1500's and moved to Holland. They later migrated to New Amsterdam (New York) with the Dutch, then to Pennsylvania and to North Carolina.

A Cornelius Autrey had moved to Edgecombe County, North Carolina by 1740. He acquired through Granville Land Grants a total of three thousand four hundred ninety-four acres of land by 1762. Part of the land included 376 acres joining Awtrey's Creek and Crowsway Branch; 700 acres joining Autrey's old corner and Autrey's old line and 687 acres on both sides of Autrey's Creek joining Harren Branch. This writer believes that Cornelius Autrey was the great grandfather of our subject but there is no proof in the court records of North Carolina.

This Cornelius Autrey and his wife had nine children, all born in Edgecombe County, North Carolina: Absalom, born 1740; John, born 1741; James, born 1742, William, born 1745; Cornelius, born 1747; Drury, born 1749; Isam, born in 1750; Martha, born 1753 and Sarah, born 1755.

Absalom Autrey, the oldest child of Cornelius Autrey, was the grandfather of our subject. Absalom Autrey married Mary Lucy Naomi Camp before 1770.

There were three Absalom Autreys in the American Revolution from North Carolina. One Absalom Autrey, born in 1750, was in the American Army. He entered the Army in the spring of 1782 in North Carolina and served under Captain McClain. He served three months defending the frontier of North Carolina. He was drafted again and hired a man to take his place for $75.00. He then moved to Sparta, South Carolina and was drafted again. He lived in Henry County, Tennessee in 1832 when he applied for a pension. In 1793 and 1794 another Absalom Autrey served as a scout and spy in the Wilkes County Militia under Brigadier General John Clark. The third Absalom Autrey served as a First Lieutenant in the British Army in Colonel David Fannings Regiment from March 1, 1781 to 30 September 1782. This regiment was determined to be sent to St. Augustine, Florida. The military records indicate the third Absalom Autrey is our ancestor.

By family tradition, Absalom had brothers who served as officers in the American Army. He was reported to have been wealthy before the war and lost his property because he was a Tory. This author found no records in North Carolina to support these claims.

Absalom Autrey and family were living in Moore County, North Carolina by 1790. According to the U.S. Census he had five sons and one daughter. He lived in Buncombe and Rutherford Counties, North Carolina before migrating to the Mississippi Territory.

After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Georgia gave up the claims of her western lands and this land became the Mississippi Territory. When Mississippi became a state in 1817, the eastern half of the territory became the Alabama Territory. Alabama became a state in 1819.

In 1806 or 1807, Absalom Autrey and his family joined thousands of settlers from eastern and northern states migrating to the part of the country that is now Alabama. He settled in the section that is now St. Clair County. Several of Absalom Autrey's sons and their families moved with him. They lived in a two story hand hewn log house that they built near the foot of Blout Mountain. This house stood for more than one hundred years.

Although there were undoubtedly daughters, only sons of Absalom and Lucy Autrey are known: Alexander, Cornelius (born in 1770), Hiram (born about 1771), Elijah, Isaac, William, James, John, George and Enoch.

The court records of Benton and St. Clair Counties show that Cornelius Autrey, Elijah Autrey, James Autrey, George Autrey and Enoch Autrey were living near their father.

Absalom Autrey owned 152 acres of land by the Coosa River at Greensport, Alabama. On 26 May, 1824 he deeded this land to three of his sons: James Enoch and George. Also, he gave these same three sons his furniture, rifles and livestock.

Absalom Autrey and his wife are listed in the 1830 St. Clair County U.S. Census as being between the ages of 80 and 90 years. Their sons, George and James, were living in the next households.

From the story passed down in the family, Absalom Autrey died at the age of 98, the night the "stars fell in Alabama". On 13 November, 1833, there was a large meteor shower that could be seen from all parts of eastern North America. If this was the date of Absalom Autrey's death, he was 93 years old at the time. Absalom Autrey was buried near Greensport, Alabama. Greensport is within two or three miles of the land that Absalom had willed to his sons.

Cornelius Autrey, a son of the above Absalom and the father of our subject, was born about 1770 in North Carolina. He and his family migrated to the Mississippi Territory with his father in the early 1800's.

By the early 1820's, Cornelius Autrey was living in Perry County, Alabama. According to one source, his youngest son, James Henry Autrey, was born in Perry County in 1820. On 23 February 1824 Cornelius Autrey gave his daughter, Alsira, permission to marry Bird Griffin in that county. On 1 December 1826 Cornelius, along with Jesse Green, Ezekial Pricert and John Wiley were appointed by the court to inventory and appraise the property of Thomas Norris. Thomas Norris was the father-in-law of Cornelius' son, Absalom.

Cornelius Autrey and his family had moved back to Benton County, Alabama by 1832. Charity, one of his daughters, married Thomas Jefferson Downing on 8 November 1832 in Benton, County.

On 2 August 1833, Cornelius Autrey bought 152.36 acres of land in St. Clair County from his brothers for $300.00. This land was in Section 13, Township 14, Range 5 West, the property that Enoch, James and George Autrey had inherited from their father in 1824. he sold 80 acres of land in Section 25, Township 14, Range East to Thomas J. McGehee for $250.00 on 25 May 1846. This land was in St. Clair County.

Cornelius and _____ Powers (?) Autrey had sixteen children. Fifteen of them are known: Absalom Autrey, born 11 August 1802, married Elizabeth Norris 22 February 1826 and died 14 February 1885; Polly Autrey born ca. 1804, married James Maharg 23 December 1821; George W. Autrey born ca. 1805, married Mary Ann _____; Alsira Autrey born 1808, married Bird Griffin 23 February 1824; Alexander Autrey born ca. 1809; ____ Autrey born ca. 1811, married _____ Yeager; Elijah Autrey born ca. 1813; John Autrey born ca. 1814; Enoch Autrey born ca. 1815; Charity M. Autrey born ca. 1816, married Thomas Jefferson Downing 18 November 1832, died after 1865 in Van Zandt County, Texas; William Autrey born ca. 1816; Jacob Autrey born ca. 1817; Micajah "Mike" Autrey born ca. 1818; Thomas Autrey born ca. 1819; and James Henry Autrey born 2 November 1820, married Fransina m. Morris 7 June 1845, died 30 November, 1902.

In 1847 Cornelius Autrey went to Perry County, Alabama to see his children. While on the visit he died. It is not known whether he was buried in Perry County or St. Clair County, Alabama. There are conflicting stories.

References/Contacts for The Early Autrey Family

American Militia in the Frontier Wars 1790-1796, Murtie June Clark
Autrey and Allied Families - Bertha Ellen Beall
Autrey Bulletin, (Alabama Association) (have copies)
#5, Pages 10, 15, 16, 20
#19, Pages 34, 35
#25, Page 13
Benton County, Alabama 1840 U.S. Census
Calhoun County, Alabama, N. R. Murray
Greenville District of North Carolina 1748-1763, Vol. I - M. M. Hofman
History of Steel, Alabama and St. Clair County - Vivian B. Qualls
Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files
I Recall - Hugh Awtrey (have copy of book)
Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War - Murtie June Clark
Meet Our Ancestors - V. Mayo Bundy (have copies of his books)
Moore County, North Carolina 1790 U.S. Census
Old Records of Estates & Administrations, Benton (Calhoun) County, Alabama
Perry County, Alabama Orphans Court, Book A, Page 208
Perry County, Alabama Marriage Book of 1820, Page 66
St. Clair County, Alabama 1820, 1830, 1840 U.S. Census
St. Clair County, Alabama Deed Book A, Pages 27, 28
St. Clair County, Alabama Deed Book C, Pages 1, 19
St. Clair County, Alabama Estate Record, Deed Book B, Page 143
St. Clair County, Alabama Marriages 1819 - 1853 - McGuaire
St. Clair County, Alabama Marriages 1819 - 1899 - Rubye Sissom."

Mrs Cornelius AUTREY

¹Family Ordance taken from the Family Search.org. "Listed as Mrs. Cornelius Autry. This is not my Documentation but taken from the IGI in FamilySearch.org."

John AUTREY

¹By Jeanne Duff Murphy and Jo Lyon Autrey, Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey and Descendants. "nethttp://www.joautrey.com Web Site
http://www.joautrey.com Jos Front Porch.".

²DEath Date from IGI.

Jesse CONWAY

¹Military and Pension Record for Jesse Conway. "Military and Pension Record.". "State of Illinois, County of Madison. On the fifth day of September 1832 personally appeared before the county commissioners, ____ court for the County of Madison, now sitting, Jesse Conway, aged 71 years, who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath make the following declaration so as to obtain the benefits to the provision made by the Act of Congress passed June 1832. That he enlisted in the Army of the United States in the year 1777 with William Buchanan and was commanded by him and Lieutenant Joseph Drake and Ensign Ephraim Drake at Reed Island in the State of Virginia in the spring of 1777 and in June marched under the command of Colonel Bowman to Boonsborough where he was under the command of Colonel Boon, and was in the service eighteen months, in the fall of 1777 the fort was besieged by the Indians who kept up the seize for nine days and nights, when they were compelled to retire in great loss. Soon after this he was discharged and returned home to Reed Island, and in the next spring or the spring of 1779 he returned to Harrodsburgh and enlisted in the company commanded by Captain Isaac Ruddle, Lieutenant Casper Casner, other ensign's name is not recollected, and Colonel Bowman, and stationed at the fort on Licking River and served till the 24th of June 1780 when the fort was taken and the whole garrison made prisoners and the fort was burnt by the British and Indians. The British was commanded by Captain Bird. He with the other prisoners were taken to Detroit and kept there till the general peace was made when they were sent to Fort Pitt and there discharged in the year 1784, having been four years prisoners. He declares that he served more than two years in the war of the Revolution. He hereby relinquishes every claim whatsoever to a pension or an annunity except for the present, and he declares that his name is not on the pension roll of any agency of any state. Sworn and subscribed this day and year aforesaid. Jesse (X) Conway. And the said court does hereby declare their opinion that the above named applicant was a revolutionary soldier and served as he states. Remarks: Jesse Conway was allowed pension on his application executed September 5, 1832, at which time he was living in Madison County, Illinois, aged 71 years. Married November 7, 1825 in Madison County, Illinois, Margaret Renfro. Died October 9, 1840 in Greene County, Illinois. Transcribed from original

Elizabeth Conway everett@bwsys.net."

²Jesse Conway. "Elizabeth Conway has photo."

Jesse CONWAY

¹Military and Pension Record for Jesse Conway. "Military and Pension Record.". "State of Illinois, County of Madison. On the fifth day of September 1832 personally appeared before the county commissioners, ____ court for the County of Madison, now sitting, Jesse Conway, aged 71 years, who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath make the following declaration so as to obtain the benefits to the provision made by the Act of Congress passed June 1832. That he enlisted in the Army of the United States in the year 1777 with William Buchanan and was commanded by him and Lieutenant Joseph Drake and Ensign Ephraim Drake at Reed Island in the State of Virginia in the spring of 1777 and in June marched under the command of Colonel Bowman to Boonsborough where he was under the command of Colonel Boon, and was in the service eighteen months, in the fall of 1777 the fort was besieged by the Indians who kept up the seize for nine days and nights, when they were compelled to retire in great loss. Soon after this he was discharged and returned home to Reed Island, and in the next spring or the spring of 1779 he returned to Harrodsburgh and enlisted in the company commanded by Captain Isaac Ruddle, Lieutenant Casper Casner, other ensign's name is not recollected, and Colonel Bowman, and stationed at the fort on Licking River and served till the 24th of June 1780 when the fort was taken and the whole garrison made prisoners and the fort was burnt by the British and Indians. The British was commanded by Captain Bird. He with the other prisoners were taken to Detroit and kept there till the general peace was made when they were sent to Fort Pitt and there discharged in the year 1784, having been four years prisoners. He declares that he served more than two years in the war of the Revolution. He hereby relinquishes every claim whatsoever to a pension or an annunity except for the present, and he declares that his name is not on the pension roll of any agency of any state. Sworn and subscribed this day and year aforesaid. Jesse (X) Conway. And the said court does hereby declare their opinion that the above named applicant was a revolutionary soldier and served as he states. Remarks: Jesse Conway was allowed pension on his application executed September 5, 1832, at which time he was living in Madison County, Illinois, aged 71 years. Married November 7, 1825 in Madison County, Illinois, Margaret Renfro. Died October 9, 1840 in Greene County, Illinois. Transcribed from original

Elizabeth Conway everett@bwsys.net."

²Jesse Conway. "Elizabeth Conway has photo."

John CONWAY Senior

¹Descendents of John Conway Senior born abt 1710 through 1730. "
Descendants of John Conway - June 24, 2003 by Margaret R. Bates http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/b/a/t/Margaret-R-Bates/GENE12-0001.html

Generation No. 1
1. JOHN1 CONWAY was born Bet. 1710 - 1730 in (Dublin, Ireland?), and died 04 Dec 1801 in Millersburg, Bourbon Co, KY. He married ELIZABETH BRIDGEWATER Abt. 1751 in Henrico Co, VA (perhaps another daughter, see note). She was born 1735 in (England?), and died 30 Jul 1809 in Millersburg, Bourbon Co, KY. Notes for JOHN CONWAY:The Samuel Conway family Bible gives dates for the children of John Conway, and some information beyond, but primarily concerning his own family through marriages first to Elizabeth Clemmings/Clements, and second to Margery (Ackles) Miller. John Conway was a teacher (thought to be a Latin scholar) born in Ireland in the years between 1710-1730 (from census). Other records show that John was born variously in 1723, 1731, or 1732. DAR records simply record "ca. 1730." The Conway family came to Virginia with the emigration commonly known as that of the "Irish School Masters," in about 1728. (The problem with this, of course, is that John would have been age 2-8 years old at this time.) Mia Fleegel's notes say that a brother (name unknown) may have come with John to America. They were in southwest Virginia prior to the outbreak of the Revolution. Samuel Conway is said to have manufactured powder for the Virginia Troops used in Lord Dunmore's War at the Battle of Point Pleasant. Henry C. Ogle in 1903 and again in 1912, gives a detailed narrative of the Conway family to George Pohlman, Jr. in a series of letters. It is he that advances that John Conway was an immigrant from Dublin, Ireland. This apparently comes from no other source. John Conway, Sr. was Ogle's great grandfather, and John Conway, Jr. was his grandfather. He is also the advocate of 4 sons and 6 daughters (the Samuel Conway Bible lists 4 sons and 5 daughters) of John and Elizabeth Bridgewater Conway. Mrs. Julia Ardery of Paris, Kentucky, concluded that John was probably an uncle of Miles Withers Conway and brother of Thomas C. Conway and probably did not emigrate from Ireland. Elizabeth Bridgewater lived in Spottsylvania County, Virginia, and she and John Conway married in Henrico County, Virginia, about 1751 or 1752. In 1775, John Hinkston and other settlers built fifteen crude cabins on a broad flat ridge above the South Fork of the Licking River, along an old game trail from McClelland's Station in Scott County, to Lower Blue Licks. This site is presently located in Harrison County. In the winter of 1776-1777, Simon Kenton and Thomas Williams helped build a blockhouse at the station. Indian threats caused the station to be abandoned shortly after. Isaac Ruddell enalrged and fortified the station in 1779, and after that, it was alterlately called Ruddell's or Hinkston's Station. A number of Pennsylvania Germans lived there and at nearby Martin's Station. (extracted from 1957 article by Nancy O'Malley) John resided first in Spottsylvania County, Virginia, then to Kentucky in 1779, where he moved to a location in what is now Bourbon County, on Licking Creek. 24 Jun 1780 "I do certify that John Coway found himself and John Conway Junr. John Conway and Joseph Conway Soldiers in Actual Service Meat from the 10th day of March 1780 till the 24th day of June being 107 days and likewise Meat from the 10th day of April till the 24th day of June being 76 days Each -- James Trabue Coms. Kentucky Riddell's Station 24th day of June 1780 (George Rogers Clark Papers, Draper Collection, University of Wisconsin, Reel 5, p. 388) In June 1780, John Conway, his wife, and six of their children sought refuge from the British-incited Indians at Ruddle's Station, and were captured by Indians. They endured a two-month march to Detroit and held in captivity four years. This incident is more fully described in the notes for Rhoda Long Ground, and is quite well documented in several publications. During the raid, about 20 inhabitants were killed at the site. The bones of the victims were later gathered and buried in a mass grave covered with stones. The site was included in Hinkston's 1400-acres settlement and preemptive grant, filed in 1784, and is marked by a stone monument. The ledger of Thomas Smith, a merchant at Detroit, has been preserved in the Burton Historical Collection of the Public Library, Detroit, Michigan. The ledger carries entries relating to the prisoners. One such entry says, "Mr. Conway, a prisoner from Kentucky, taken by the Indians." The ledger contains three entries: 16 Jan 1783 - 8-1/4 lbs. tallow at 3'6; 15 lbs. port 30'; 2 pr. buckles 24' 23 Feb 1783 - 3 yds flannel 8'; total 1' 4" 28 Feb 1783 - To cash paid Wheeler 1'4" Total for the account was 6 pounds, 10 shillings, 10 pence. The ledger of John Askin of Detroit, another merchant, has 15 entries covering the period of 11 Aug 1783 to 8 Jun 1784. Purchases by the Conways covered a wide range of articles, including "sundries," nails, an agze (?), tobacco, rateen, a pair of temple spectacles, a pair of pins, a pair of women's shoes, 10 lbs. of sugar, and 33 lbs. of sugar. The total of this account was properly balanced by credits, some of which was the return of certain tools, including 2 pettiaugers, a saw and some files. The last entry in the ledger was 8 Jun 1784 at which time the storekeeper paid John Conway 4 pounds, 4 shillings, and 11 pence cash. The saw and files were returned on the same date. This seems to indicate impending plans for departure from Detroit. The Conways were released in 1784 and made their way back to Kentucky, where they found their land was lost and taken by squatters. Jefferson County, KY: page 190, "Old Kentucky Entries And Deeds," Jillison: Conway, John Jr., 1000 acres, Book A, p. 37 , 29 Apr 1780, Conway Settlement Conway, John, 400 acres, Book A, p. 252, 13 Jan 1783, Beech Fork Conway, John 400 acres, Book A, p. 333, 20 Jan 1784, Pottenger Crk. Fayette County, KY: John Conway had 1779 claim for Kentucky land which gave him "right to claim 400 acres and preempt 1000 acres." Land was granted, 1400 acres, on two grants, in 1784. This was in two parcels: 30 Sep 1784 - 400 acres Virginia Grant on Hinkston Fk., Fayette County, KY Book 6, p. 369 30 Sep 1784 - 1000 acres Virginia Grant on Hinkston Fk., Fayette County, KY Book 8, p. 313 Fayette County, District of Kentucky: Patrick Henry, Esq., Governor of Commonwealth of Virginia, affixes seal on 14 Aug 1786 (year of our Lord) (11 Aug 1786) (of the Commonwealth) to land patent of John Conway. Conway is granted land in the District of Kentucky for 2 pounds sterling a tract of land 400 acres, surveyed 13 Sep 1784, on the waters of Hinkson's Fork of Licking, bounded on the south by the Buffalo Road from Riddle's Station to the lower blue licks, at an ash and walnut running from thence north 75 degrees east 284 poles to the box elders and two honey locusts in the line of Henry Thompson's preemption, thence with said line north 15 degrees west, 254 poles (crossing a small creek and passing his corner) to a box elder and hickory, thence south, 75 degrees, west 254 poles to a hoop-ash and cherry tree, thence south 15 degrees 254 poles (crossing a small creek) to the beginning. (Book 6, p. 369.) (Note that in this day, "Right of Settlement" laws allowed a person to receive from the State of Virginia 400 acres of unsettled land, if they were to clear out an acre, cultivate it, and live there for a year. At the end of that time, they received a patent for the 400 acres.) An additional 1000 acres on Hinkston's For, was granted 30 Sep 1784 in Fayette County (Book 8, p. 313). John Conway built a substantial home on this tract of land. The author of an article which appeared 4 Nov 1936 in the Palmyra Missouri, Palmyra Spectator, states that he/she visited the place and spent a night in this old home which was built in 1790. It was then occupied by great grandson, James M. Conway, and he said that he expected to remain there until his death. The author described the house as built of walnut logs and covered with cedar shingles that were fastened on with pegs instead of nails. All nails used were hand made and were very few in number. Most of the casings were fastened with wooden pegs and even the doors were made without the use of nails. All the boards used in building the house were whip-sawn. The fireplace in the home was enormous, and would take a log six feet in length. From one side to the other, the fireplace was 9 feet and extended into the room more than two feet. The house was located about 4 miles from Millersburg, Kentucky, to the east. The visit was made late in May, 1918. About a quarter mile from the old home was the family burial ground. In order to visit the cemetery, it was necessary to walk through a field of wheat, where the half-acre cemetery is located, surrounded by a fock fence about four feet high, covered with vines and surrounded with briars. Only rough pieces of limestone indicated the position of the graves of John Conway, his wife, and some of his children. Sources vary as to the exact description of the area where they died. Some accounts list Millersburg, in Bourbon County. Others say Campbell County. For Elizabeth, still other sources list Fayette or Nicholas County. The Fayette County location is the land granted to John Conway in 1786, which is now located in Bourbon County. Part of the confusion is that this area underwent changes in county and even state/territory names. Kentucky in 1776 was organized as a separate county of Virginia, and in 1780, it was divided into three counties. In 1787, John Conway is witness to a deed in Bourbon County, Virginia (later Kentucky). On 1 Jun 1792, Kentucky was admitted as a state to the Union. Virginia has a similar geographic history. From 1634, beginning with the parent county, York County, all the following Conway sites were actually in the same location: Greenbrier Co, VA (now WV); Spottsylvania County VA; Montgomery County VA. Bourbon County, KY: John Conway paid tax in 1791 and 1793 . DAR application papers have been obtained for National No. 499025 (Anna Jablonsky) for John Conway and National No. 182277 for Elizabeth Bridgewater Conway. Both services are for their capture at Ruddle's Station in 1780. DAR papers of Lillian Miller Pohlman of Macon Co, MO, on the line of John Conway show the following children (the papers are dated 29 April 1922): Drusilla b. 11 Jan 1753 md. (?Basil Wells?) Mary b. 14 Jan 1755 Samuel b. 23 Oct 1756 md. Elizabeth Clemmons John b. 10 Aug 1758 md. Anna Sutton 14 Apr 1790 Elizabeth b. 16 Apr 1760 md. William Daugherty Jesse b. 17 Dec 1761 md. Hannah Tharp May 1789 Joseph b. 14 Dec 1763 md. Elizabeth Caldwell 23 Feb 1792 Nancy b. 28 Jan 1770 Sarah b. 25 Jun 1773 md. Nathaniel Underwood. Noted is the following "One of these daughter married William Daugherty's brother, think his name was Joseph Daugherty, one married a man named Long." This seems like an attempt to bring the Bible records and Ogle's repeated statements that there were 6 daughters, into alignment. Another DAR member whose papers are said to be identical is Nettie Bratney Glore (national number unknown). Halderman Papers, Add. Mss 21, 843, Microfilm Roll A-765: Page 289 lists "Return of Prisoners sent from Niagra and Arrived at Montreal this 4 Oct 1782" and includes Jno, Eliz, and Jesse Dougherty, date 24 June 1780, Virginia. Note that Jesse Daugherty, son of William and Elizabeth (Conway) Daugherty, was born in captivity. There is not enough information in this source to really identify these three people. Burial is listed in "Revolutionary Soldiers Buried in Missouri" (Houts, 1966), p. 56 Notes for ELIZABETH BRIDGEWATER:Four of the sons of Elizabeth Bridgewater as well as her husband, served in the Revolutionary War. The following Bridgewater marriages were found in Kentucky: Bridgewater, Eliias to Ruany Palmer 16 Nov 1813, Shelby County Bridgewater, Eliza to William Blankenship 19 Apr 1827, Madison County Bridgewater, Isaac to Milly Akers 16 Jan 1816, Shelby County Bridgewater, Levi to Betsey Burnett 31 Dec 1805, Nelson County Bridgewater, N. to P. Page 3/5 Feb 1814, Barren County Elizabeth Bridgewater Conway died, according to Henry C. Ogle, a great grandson, of a cancer on her forehead. She was living at that time with her son, John Conway, Jr. Burial is listed in "Revolutionary Soldiers Buried in Missouri" (Houts, 1966), p. 56. Mia Fleegel's notes indicate that Elizabeth died of cancer and died in Nicholas County, Kentucky. Marriage Notes for JOHN CONWAY and ELIZABETH BRIDGEWATER:LDS Records show the marriage as occurring in 1752 in Henrico County, Virginia. Information in an 1894 article by Fannie Daugherty stated that Dulcina Conway married a Mr. Long of Virginia, another sister married his brother, and another sister married Basil Wells. Since it is known that Drussella(r) married Basil Wells, and that Mary married John Long, it is assumed that if Dulcinea/Dulcina was not confused with Drusella(r), she either married another Long, brother of John W. Long, or married John Dougherty. So the two sisters in question are Nancy and Dulcinea (if the latter exists). However, since this child was not entered into the Samuel Conway Bible, it is uncertain whether this is accurate. This child is said to be older than Sarah "Sally" Conway. Since Sarah is herself 17 years younger than Samuel, it is possible that a child was omitted in his Bible record, particularly if she had traveled away from the family. There are ample gaps in the children of John and Elizabeth (Bridgewater) Conway to accommodate more children. Henry C. Ogle, in his 1903 narrative, states that two Conway sisters married Long brothers, two Conway sisters, Elizabeth and another, married Dougherty brothers (Elizabeth married William, the other married John). Dulcina married Basil Wells (note this conflicts with other information), Sally married an Underwood. Mia Fleegel cites Joseph Mann when listing children: Drusillear, Mary, Samuel, John, Elizabeth, Jesse, Joseph, Nancy and Dulcinea. Children of JOHN CONWAY and ELIZABETH BRIDGEWATER are:
i. DRUSELLA2 CONWAY, b. 11 Jan 1753, Virginia; d. Bef. 1800, Kentucky; m. BASIL WELLS, Unknown; b. Abt. 1766; d. 26 Aug 1834, Gallatin Co, KY.

Notes for DRUSELLA CONWAY: Death date is speculated based on the fact that Bazil and Nancy Wells are found as founding members of Mill Creek Baptist Church in Harrison County, Kentucky in September 1808. (See also notes on Basil Wells and Nancy Conway)

Notes for BASIL WELLS: Basil Wells and wife lived in Bourbon County, Kentucky, but were apparently in Pendleton County, Kentucky by 1821. He was appointed guardian for Ruth Boner, daughter of Charles Boner 19 Mar 1821 in Pendleton County, Kentucky. John, Basil, and Benjamin Wells arrived in Gallatin County, Kentucky in the 1820s, where Bazil is said to have died in 1834. His son, John, left Gallatin County at about this year or just previous for Illinois, and later migrated to Missouri, possibly following his Conway uncles and cousins. A timeline for Bazil Wells, sent by Fred Westcott (fredwes@interactive.net) in December 1999: Bazil/Basil/Bas(s)ell/ Barzillai/Bassel/Bazel Wells: Bourbon, Harrison, Pendleton, Gallatin Counties, Kentucky, 1785-1834 (marriages need further verification) 1750 - Bazil Wells b. possibly as early as 1750 1770 - (abt) Bazil Wells m 1. Drusilla Conway (b 11 Jan 1753 VA) 1785 - Virginia Petition #31 with William Steele, John Welch for ferry across Kentucky River (Fayette/Lincoln counties) 1786 - Bazil Wells m. 2. Nancy Conway (b. 1770 VA) on 6 Jun 1786 Bourbon County, Kentucky (source, Hughes, email Pat Vorenburg, stevevxx@tiac.net 21 Jan 1999) 1787 - Bourbon County, Kentucky, Tax List B (next Benj. Wells, near James Furnace, Reuben Underwood, John Conway, Wm. Marsh, David & Sam'l Tharp and others) 1788 - Bourbon County, Kentucky, Tax List 1788 - Virginia Petition #55 (also Benj. Wells et al), Bourbon County, Kentucky, south of Main Licking 1789 - Bourbon County, Kentucky, Tax List 1789 - Virginia Petition #66, Bourbon County, Kentucky 1790 - Bourbon County, Kentucky - pd. 600 pounds for 6 wolves' heads 1792 - Bourbon County, Kentucky, Tax List 1793 - Bourbon County, Kentucky, Tax List 1793 - July, proved deed of Nathaniel Massie 1794 - (No tax found) 1795 - Bourbon County, Kentucky, estate of Benjamin Wells, signs with Dorothy Wells. 1796 - Bourbon County, Kentucky, Tax List 1797 - Bourbon County, Kentucky, Tax List 1797 - Harrison County, Kentucky, Tax List 1798 - (No tax list available) 1799 - Harrison County, Kentucky, pay one day's court attendance as a witness, court trial of Isaac Levi, charged with stealing wheat. 1799 - Harrison County, Kentucky, Grand Jury duty 1799 - 1816 - Harrison County, Kentucky, Tax List 1808 - Bazil, Nancy Wells; James, Asinor Furnish, and Clemmons Charter members of Mill Creek Baptist Church, Harrison County, KY 1809 - Harrison County, Kentucky, Estate of John Wells (also Nancy Wells, James Furnace) 1812 - Harrison County, Kentucky, August, Sale Bill on Estate of Michael Ritter 1816 - Harrison County, Kentucky, Tax List. Does not appear in this county after. 1817 - 1819 - (No reference found in Harrison or Pendleton Counties) 1820 - 1823 - Pendleton County, Kentucky, Tax List 1820 - Pendleton County, Kentucky, US Census, page 18, near Henry Daugherty, Charles Boner 1820 - Pendleton County, Kentucky, made guardian of Ruth Boner, daughter of Charles Boner 1821 - Pendleton County, Kentucky, appraised estate of James Nolan. 1821 - Pendleton County, Kentucky, bill of sale on estate of Isaac Lockwood 1823 - Pendleton County, Kentucky, Delinquent Tax List - "removed to Gallatin Co." 1824 - Gallatin County, Kentucky, Tax List 1825 - 1828 - (not found on Gallatin County, KY tax list) 1829 - Gallatin County, Kentucky, Tax List (last tax record found) 1834 - Gallatin County, Kentucky, death 26 Aug 1834 (reference Hughes, email Pat Vorenburg, stevevxx@tiac.net, 21 Jan 1999) 1840 - Gallatin County, Kentucky, US Census, Nancy Wells living alone, age 60-70

2. ii. MARY CONWAY, b. 14 Jan 1755; d. Aft. 1780.
3. iii. SAMUEL CONWAY, b. 23 Oct 1756, Fincastle Co, VA (now Montgomery Co, VA); d. 17 Sep 1830, Marion Co, MO.
4. iv. JOHN CONWAY, JR., b. 10 Aug 1758, Henrico Co, VA; d. 15 Jun 1837, Nicholas Co, KY.
5. v. ELIZABETH CONWAY, b. 16 Apr 1760, (prob Greenbriar Co,) VA; d. 19 Oct 1847, Pendleton Co, KY.
6. vi. JESSE CONWAY, b. 17 Dec 1761, Fincastle Co, VA (now Montgomery Co, VA); d. 09 Oct 1840, Greene Co, IL.
7. vii. JOSEPH CONWAY, b. 14 Dec 1763, Greenbriar Co, VA (now WV); d. 27 Dec 1830, St. Louis, St. Louis Co, MO.
viii. DAUGHTER CONWAY, b. Abt. 1765; d. Unknown.

Notes for DAUGHTER CONWAY: See also notes at the marriage of John and Elizabeth Bridgewater Conway. While Samuel Conway's Bible does not list an additional child, a great grandson of John Conway and Elizabeth Bridgewater, Henry C. Cole, Sr., wrote in 1903 a long account of the family as related to him by his mother and uncle, Nathaniel Conway. In the account, he states that John and Elizabeth were parents of 10 children -- 4 sons and 6 daughters. "The sons," he says, "were Samuel, the oldest, next Jesse, John and Joseph, he being the youngest of the boys. Of the daughters I can now remember the names of only 3 of them, viz., Elizabeth Dulcinea and Sally. She was the youngest of all the children." He continues to relate that Joseph was born about 1765 and Sally 1774, but that he did not know the others' ages. Two of the daughters whose names he had forgotten married brothers named Long. Elizabeth married William Dougherty. Another whose name he had forgotten married John Dougherty, brother to William. Dulcinea married Basil Wells (note that this is contradictory information). Sally married an Underwood. The first 5 sisters married in Virginia; Sally married in Kentucky. Samuel married a Miss Clemons, John married Miss Anna Sutton; Joseph married Miss Coldwell. The last two married in Kentucky.

8. ix. NANCY CONWAY, b. 28 Jan 1770, (See Notes); d. Aft. 1840, Living in Gallatin Co, KY 1840.
9. x. SARAH CONWAY, b. 25 Jun 1773, "Sally"; d. 19 Sep 1845, Sangamon Co, IL.

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Elizabeth BRIDGEWATER

¹History of Elizabeth Bridgewater: Biography, http://frontierfolk.org/conway.rtf
ttp://frontierfolk.org/conway.rtf
http://frontierfolk.org/conway.rtf. "
THE TRIUMPHANT TRAILS, TOILS, AND TRIBUTIONS OF REVOLUTIONARY PIONEER MOTHER, ELIZABETH CONWAY – A BIOGRAPHY TO SHOW THE HUMAN PORTRAIT OF THIS HEROINE OF THE WESTERN FRONTIER.(Paper given by Virginia Walton Brooks (Mrs. Berry B. Brooks, Jr.) at the April meeting of the Memphis Genealogical Society.(Transcribed by Sherida Dougherty from a typed transcription of the article from “Ansearchin News”, Vol. X, January 1963)Elizabeth Bridgewater Conway was native Virginian of English parentage. About 1750-52, she became the wife of John Conway, Sr., a Latin scholar and teacher, who had emigrated from his Dublin, Ireland home to Virginia. His teaching profession caused them to establish several homes in Virginia and Kentucky. Their family Bible owned by Mrs. Berry B. Brooks, a descendent records the names and births of nine of their children. Family tradition tells us that they lived in Spotsylvania County, Va. From the war and pension records of their sons we learn that each of them was born, or enlisted for military service in a different Virginia county. The birth dates of their five daughters and four sons ranged from January 11, 1753 to June 25, 1775, a span of 22 years of childbearing. Yet this sturdy mother lived an additional 34 years, dying July 30, 1809.
Being the mother of nine children involved a busy life of domesticity, plus the fact they made frequent changes in home and locale. It can be assumed the income of a Latin teacher was not a lucrative one, and was inadequate for such a large and growing family. Thus adding extra burdens upon the mother to clothe and feed her family properly.
John Conway, Jr. stated on his pension application, that he was born in Henrico County, Virginia on August 10, 1758. Joseph Conway, the fourth son and ancestor of Mrs. Brooks, was born in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia) December 14, 1763. Jesse Conway enlisted from Red Island, in Montgomery Co. Virginia and Samuel the eldest son, also enlisted from southwest Virginia. John Conway, Jr. was the first of his family to become a “Pioneer of the West”. He served under Capt. William Harrod’s Company in the western country (later Kentucky) in 1777. He returned to Virginia to induce his family to move into the undeveloped frontier of the west. The Conways had moved from Henrico County into western Virginia, beyond the Allegheny Mountains, then onward to reside in the vast wilderness of what we know as Kentucky in 1779.
These freedom-loving Virginians were weary, weary, worn pioneers as they trudged the long and uninhabited trails of the buffalo into the fertile valley of the Ohio River. They moved under the constant threat of surprise attack by stealthy savages as they followed the buffalo tracks, on their exploration of the wilds of the aboriginal terrain to Bourbon County, Kentucky, the far western country. This perilous, arduous trek was hardest on the younger children and courageous mother, who was responsible for their well being along the long trail through the wilderness. They had to provide their own food and shelter along the extended journey into the unknown. The youngest children were four-year-old Sarah and nine year old Nancy. Joseph was sixteen, Jesse was eighteen, John, Jr. was twenty-one and Samuel was twenty-three. The sons had been brought up on the use of arms and the pursuit of game. There were militia posted at different garrisons to guard the frontier settlements. The Conways’ destination was Ruddle’s Station on the upper waters of Licking River, in the present county of Bourbon, in Kentucky. A crude log cabin was engaged while soldiery as a militiaman of frontier western country. He broke the land, planted the crops and protected the fort. These frontiersmen and women came in their strength and determination with ax and rifle to conquer a wilderness. In that early settlement the pioneers were harassed by the Indians who robbed the settlers of their peltry, furs, horses and crops. The Conways were in the wilds, far beyond succor or relief. With frontier-pushing energy they were brought into contact with the savage Indians who represented a figure of terror and possible sudden death. The hard-pressed settlement and outpost was under constant threat of annihilation.
Ruddle’s Station was known as Hinkson’s Station, located on the east bank of South Licking on the buffalo trace, which ran to the Blue Licks.
Here Elizabeth Conway labored under the most harrowing, uncertain, and trying conditions in her new home in the far wilderness, away from family, friends and adequate protection from the Indians and without the necessities of life. To all this was added the constant threat of swift and deadly attack by Indians and crop failure, with its resulting starvation. It was necessary for her to uphold the spirit of her entire family and make the best of her hazardous lot in life on the frontier. Elizabeth and John gave their children the elements of a plain English education, plus a knowledge of Latin. Thus the Kentuckian Conways became Indian fighters and frontiersmen. These brave frontierswomen, Elizabeth and her young daughters were ever alert to the dangers of the wrath of the red men on the warpath, devastating frontier settlements. They must bear their share of the responsibility to defend their home and lives from Indian raids and attacks. The father and four sons had enlisted in the militia to help fight the bloodthirsty Indians who preyed on the settlements.
Early in the spring of 1780, the danger of marauding Indians became so great that these migratory families were obligated to leave their own roughhewn log homes to move into the fort for protection. While the women-folk and children remained within the fort, the men went out daily to work, clearing the land and planting the crops. Alternating this work with acting in the capacity of guards, having their guns read to protect the workers against an Indian attack.
Ruddle’s Station and the Conway family, had escaped the terror of a devastating Indian raid until a peaceful Sunday morning, on that fateful day, June 19, 1780, when Elizabeth and John Conway’s youngest son was scalped by marauding Indians sent by the British. There was no forewarning that this was not to be like any other Sunday at the fort.
Early in the morning Joseph Conway and two of his young boy companions left the fort early to drive in the cows for milking. The cows were found grazing on the opposite side of the nearby river, which was but a shallow stream at this point. The boys started driving the cows back toward the fort, but when they reached the river, they caught a large loggerhead turtle, and carried it back to the sandy beach to entertain themselves by teasing it with a willow twig to make it snap at them. Some of the men from the fort were down at the edge of the water on the near side of the stream washing their hands and faces for breakfast. An Indian, lying concealed in the bushes near where the boys were playing with the turtle, fired on Joseph Conway, wounding him in the side and then rushed out on him and tore off his scalp, broke his skull with his deadly tomahawk, and left the defenseless youngster for dead. His two young teenage friends managed to escape a similar fate and saved themselves. It was done so quickly that the men on the opposite bank of the shallow stream were unable to give any assistance. The alarm was given at the fort; the men hurried out with their guns and scoured the woods, but found no trace of the Indian or his comrades. Swiftly, suddenly and without warning the stealthy red men had attacked 16 year old Joseph with agile and cruel blows in all his native savagery.
After the ravaging disaster of this inhumane attack, young Joseph was rescued, revived and in time recovered from the point of death. Joseph’s head bled alarmingly. The wound in his side was slight compared with the scalping of the head. Back at the fort, Joseph’s mutilated scalp wounds were treated with an application of wads of cobwebs made into a poultice to stanch the blood. Eve though considered unhygienic now; it saved the youngster’s life. Of necessity Elizabeth Conway was well-versed in and heavily dependent upon homemade remedies. In this emergency the life of her youngest son was at stake. Anxiety, grief and fear were coupled with terror as her son’s life lingered at death’s door. He required constant care and attention as he began consciousness and strength. The fort was thus alerted to further attack to follow this display of brutal brazen and barbaric attack upon a defenseless lad. They were aware that the heathen Indian had been a scout for the British and was furnished with firearms and ammunition by the British to raid and attack the frontier settlers.
The frontiersmen and women had not recovered from the shock of the scalping of Joseph, when on June 22, 1780 Captain Henry Bird, Englishman, attacked Ruddle's Station with British, Canadian and Indian army troops with deadly assault. Bravely the men fought to hold back the assault of British soldiers and red hordes sent down upon them by Lord Henry Hamilton at Detroit, the French-Canadian city far to the north. They were equipped with cannon, having cut a road through the wilderness forest for hauling the cannon. The fort was proof only against cannon rifle balls and quite inadequate against cannon attack. Surrender was inevitable. The British commander, Captain Henry Bird, promised protection and safe transport to Detroit to all the dwellers in the fort at Ruddle’s Station on condition that the British would take complete command of the prisoners, which comprised the men of the garrison, their courageous wives and helpless children, including Joseph who was scalped three day previous. It will ever by a blot on the record and integrity of Captain Bird, that he broke his solemn word and turned the prisoners over to the frenzied red men, who proceeded to march the helpless victims over 160 miles to Detroit, with vengeful inhumanity and cruelty. British indifference had amounted to connivance to the capture and handling of the prisoners of Ruddle’s Station.
Although the life of Joseph Conway was held in the balance following his brush with death only three days previously, no consideration was shown for his desperate condition. During the confusion and trouble of this perilous journey to Detroit, no effort could be made to dress Joseph’s scalp wounds, and the weather being hot, green flies and creepers made their appearance. A kind old lady, Mrs. Weisman, among the captives, picked out the loathsome insects and dressed the boy’s scalp and continued to help wait on him until the wound healed. On this long march there were many terrible incidents of cruelty and ruthlessness by the conquerors. History tells us more of Joseph Conway on this merciless march – “He was forced to march barefooted, his feet bleeding at almost every step, with the Indians, from the Ohio River to Detroit. The blood flowed down his back from the raw and unhealed wound in the head. From which the scalp was taken. Still he was able to trudge on amidst pain and suffering by his barbarous captors. A white women, who was also a captive, with the characteristic sympathy and kindness which belongs to her sec, gave Captain Conway a handkerchief, which she tied with womanly tenderness around his bleeding head to protect the gaping wounds from the weather. It was a most humane act and relieved his sufferings greatly during that long, tiresome and tedious march.” (From Darby’s “Personal Recollections”)
An aunt of the author, Miss Gladys Walton, attorney at law, of St. Louis, Missouri, writes, “one of my earliest recollections is that my mother, Louisa Conway Walton, showing me a picture of her grandfather, Joseph Conway, and pointing out particularly the wig that he wore because of his bald and scarred head from the scalping”. (Excerpts from an address she gave July 11, 1934 to the members of the St. Louis Round Table.) I quote further from Gladys Walton, “Between this pioneering Joseph Conway of Virginia and Kentucky, believe it are but two links – my mother and her father”.
Elizabeth Bridgewater Conway, her husband John, her sons, John, Jr. and Joseph, and their three youngest daughters, Elizabeth Conway Daugherty, young bride of William Daugherty, she age twenty, Nancy age ten and Sarah aged 5 years were brutally forced to march along the tortuous journey northward as British captives under Indian command for the British, as prisoners of war, defenders of the fort at Ruddle’s Station. Never were defenseless human beings treated with less humanity consideration, courtesy, nor less protection to their lives' safety as prisoners of war than these pioneers, especially the women and children captives.
By intent and malice the British placed these savages in complete charge of marching the white prisoners to deliver them to the British authority in Detroit at a distance that challenged the durability and stamina of every person on the march. These captives were miserable to the last degree. The old, the ill, the weak and the very young were required to keep the same pace as the men in the conquered party. Some were wantonly massacred by the Indian guards when they grew faint and weary and fell by the wayside. There were no facilities for feeding the captives and no shelter for the many night stops along the way.
Every member of the Conway family, mother, father, two sons, even scalped Joseph and the three daughters, not only survived the march but also survived the four years of cruel and miserable captivity in the cold north country. After this death march to Detroit, the city of the bitter cold weathers, began their long ordeal of suffering and waiting, before finally being released. Here they were confined for four years of agony, privation, hardships and without adequate shelter, food or clothing or consideration.
Five year old Sarah was separated from her parents and “adopted” by an Indian and his squaw as their own child. They never saw her during their captivity. This added heavily to the heartaches and hardships of their confinement. Nine years after their march to Detroit, after the Conways had returned to Kentucky, they were able to get a trace of the whereabouts of their baby girl. John Conway searched and finally found her, now a girl of fourteen, who had endured nine years of life as an Indian. By paying a heavy ransom to her captors, or foster parents of the red race, he was able to return his youngest child to her home in Kentucky, thus the long search and suspense was ended happily.Through prayer and the will of God, Elizabeth Bridgewater Conway, her husband John and their captive children survived the rigors and exposure and indignities of prison life for four years of severe Michigan winters as prisoners of war. The entire family was help captive for four years except Sarah until June 1, 1784, when they were released to find their way back to Kentucky, on their own power, as best they might, dependent upon their own resourceful guidance to survive the long journey back to the western country, far to the south.
During their four years confinement Elizabeth Bridgewater Conway had suffered the same privations as the soldiers who were actually enlisted in the militia. These persons were regarded as prisoners of war, both by the civil and military authorities. The fact that she was able and capable of giving material aid in the protection of the fort is evidenced by the fact that she was strong enough to withstand all the hardships of the journey to Detroit, caring for her young ones, her loved ones, and along the trail to see that they did not fall by the way and get tomahawked by their wild savage captors in charge of the march north. Those who had not kept pace were slaughtered brutally. Besides being a patriot, defender of the fort, and prisoner of war for four years, she rendered material aid for the cause of independence by furnishing clothing and food to her menfolk and those within the Ruddle’s Station settlement. She had urged her husband and four sons to give service in the militia to protect their freedom and win independence from England and King George III. As she could give when Ruddle’s Station was attacked by the British and Indians. She and her family had pledged their strength, support and allegiance to the rebellious colonies against the British. During the four years of brutal captivity in Detroit she had resisted and repulsed the proffered alternative of siding with the captors, the British and fighting on their side. Truly she was a loyal heroine, revolutionary mother, pioneer of the west, who contributed her strength and endurance toward the development, protection and conquest of the new western frontier. For this service the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution gave service to Elizabeth Bridgewater Conway, a patriot, defender of the fort and prisoner of war.
Again, I quote from Darby’s “Personal Recollections”, Captain Joseph Conway, his suffering at the hands of the Indians, Page 81-82:
“The incredible sufferings, privations, hardships and exposure which Captain Joseph Conway was made to endure during his captivity are beyond precedent, and can hardly be described and but for his vigorous constitution he must have sunk under them. On the bleak shores of the Canadian frontier he was detained four years as a prisoner, with no human habitation to protect him from the severity of the weather, and made to endure and to bear all the privations incident to that barbarous condition of life.”
Without their beloved Sarah, the six Conways trekked on foot back to the Licking River, Kentucky, after their release from Detroit. They covered the tiresome journey south by August 1784. What rejoicing and thanksgiving greeted their return as hopes of their survival had vanished with the passing years of the war. Wit the encouragement and aid of friends and comports, the Conways set out once again to build a home and make a new life on the frontier, now won form the British, even though not entirely free from Indian threats and the wilderness itself.
Upon Joseph Conway’s return to Licking River he went out on Harmer’s campaigns against the Indians. I quote further from Darby’s “Personal Recollections��. “He fought under General Harmer, and was in the battle which marked his defeat. Once when the Indians were in hot pursuit he dodged behind a tree and turned and fired and again loaded his gun as he ran, and in this manner killed seven Indians. He also fought under Gen. Wayne, and shared in his victories. The horrors of the border war he witnesses in common with his associated, but he was shot three times. He was tomahawked by the savages and scalped three times.��
Thus a few hundred bold hunters, woodsmen and fighters had held on to western outposts of the great western regions to preserve the Mississippi River basin from the continued British rule. Otherwise this Canadian line would have been established on the Appalachian crest. Before George Rogers Clark��s great victory of the Revolution, in his conquest, the southern border of Canada was the Ohio River.
The land he conquered was settled by Canadian governed from Detroit. It had been conquered from the French only fifteen years before. Clark added this territory to the new nation. From the British empire and hostile Indian hordes, Clark took over a quarter of a million square miles of the most fertile and habitable land on the North American continent; the Ohio Valley to the father of waters, the mighty Mississippi, he gas us Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and the northeast tip of Minnesota, 245,000 square miles. He stretched the United States to the Mississippi River for the victorious thirteen original colonies.
For the next twenty-five years Elizabeth Bridgewater Conway led a less hazardous though active and useful life from 1784 until her death, July 10, 1809. Her husband, John Conway, St. had died May 3, 1801 in Campbell County, Kentucky. Thus we have followed the trails, tribulations, service and the sufferings of the Conway family in their share of winning freedom for the colonies from the yoke of Great Britain, and in the opening up and developing of the frontier. Elizabeth Bridgewater Conway, John Conway, Sr. and Joseph Conway have been accredited by the DAR for their service as patriots, defenders of the fort and as prisoners of war for four years. The war records of the other three sons have been recognized as well. Samuel, the eldest son, was engaged in the manufacture of gunpowder for the army. All five of the Conway men served as militiamen in fighting and protecting the frontier western country, in the service of their country.
We leave Elizabeth and John to their reward, and take up the life of their youngest son, Joseph. Ripley’s “Believe It or Not�� gave an illustrated account of his Indian tortures: ��Captain Joseph Conway, St. Louis, Missouri, Scalped three times, tomahawked three times, shot three times, left for dead three time, recovered and died at the age of 70��. From Darby’s “Personal Recollections�� we gleam, “Captain Joseph Conway was one of the pioneers of the west. He came to Louisiana during the Spanish times, and settled in Bonhomme, St. Louis district, in the year 1796, on the piece of land granted to him that same year by Zenon Trudeau, at the time lieutenant governor of Upper Louisiana. Capt. Conway came to Kentucky in early youth and as soon as he was able to bear arms he took an active and distinguished part in the Indian wars which accompanied the early settlements of that state. Young, brave, and daring, he was associated with Daniel Boone and many of the bold spirits of that time in almost all of their hazardous and dangerous enterprises. Boone came to this country and got his grant of land about the same time that Capt. Conway obtained his. He improved his farm, and cultivated and lived on it for more than thirty years, and up to the time of his death, which occurred on the 27th of December, 1830. “Often when I was a boy, when he would come into the house, would I in my boyish curiosity creep around his chair to get a good look at the back of his head, to see where the Indians had taken off the scalps from his head. Capt. Conway was, in fact, one of the bravest and noblest men that ever lived in the State of Missouri, and of the strictest integrity. He left a name and a fame that commanded the respect and affectionate regard of all who knew him during life. He raised a large family, several of his sons having been honored with positions of public trust, such as judge of the county court, sheriff of St. Louis County, and member of the Legislature, discharging the duties of the various offices they filled with honor and credit to themselves and to the entire satisfaction of the public.”
In 1776 Kentucky was organized as a separate county of Virginia. In 1780 it was divided into three counties. In 1787 John Conway is witness to a deed in Bourbon County, Virginia (later Kentucky). On Jun 1, 1792, Kentucky was admitted as the 15th state of the union. Since these recollections were written at a later date than their occurrence, the reference is made to their location identification at the time of the account given. In fact these so-called peregrinating pioneers may have lived in the various counties of Virginia, yet never left home! Let us consider the formation of counties. York County, Virginia, of 1634 was the parent of all the counties in which the John Conway, St. family lived, from York down to Greenbrier, erected thus: King William, 1801; Spotsylvania, 1720; Shenandoah, 1722; Caroline, 1727; August, 1738; Montgomery, 1776; Greenbrier 1777. In reality since Joseph Conway was born December 14, 1763, he was born in Augusta County, that became Montgomery County in 1776 and Greenbrier County in 1777. Now Greenbrier is in West Virginia. Since John Conway is said to have lived in Henrico, according to records, in 1758, 1763-4, perhaps his land extended into Henrico. From the August 3, 1779, Montgomery County, Virginia Court: ��Thomas Conway, sum 100 lbs. And his securities in sum of 50 each. John Conway, 50 lbs. Engaged in late Insurrection of this country��. Thomas and John Conway signed. Then John Conway and family leave for Kentucky, joining a party of migrators who left Virginia, and journeyed toward the western country.
On February 22, 1792 in Bourbon County, Kentucky, Joseph Conway married Elizabeth Caldwell, with the consent of her father, Samuel. She was born September 1, 1773 in Virginia, died September 30, 1821 in St. Louis County, Missouri, and is buried in the family burial ground near their homestead. She lies at rest beside her husband and her family on a hilltop, beneath sheltering trees, north of their home, on part of the 400 acres of original land grant that Joseph received in 1798. This valuable land is now located on the city limits of the metropolis of St. Louis. This Creve Coeur Lake Settlement is now known as Chesterfield, Bonhomme Township, St. Louis County, Missouri. The old pioneer home still stands at what is now the corner of Conway and White Roads. On September 20, 1959, the Lucy Jefferson Lewis Chapter, N.S.A.R. of New Madrid, Missouri, marked the grave of Captain Joseph Conway as a Revolutionary soldier and patriot. The ceremony was attended by many of his proud descendants. April 6, 1813 Joseph Conway was again called into the service of his country. This time he was called into the active service of the United States, by His Excellency, Benjamin Howard, Governor of the Territory of Missouri. Again he was facing the British against his homeland. He served in the Infantry with the rank of Captain in the War of 1812. At the age of 49 years he had served in two wars against England, fighting for his young country with vigor and strength.
The challenge to explore the Pacific northwest followed after President Thomas Jefferson bought the huge Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803. President Jefferson tendered to Captain Joseph Conway the command of what we know as the Lewis and Clark Expedition, but he declined the appointment, and the honor went to Lewis and Clark. Joseph Conway felt that his first responsibility was his family and their welfare, so he did not undertake the 1,600 miles exploration up the Missouri River to its source, across the Rockies, with the descents to the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean. Joseph Conway was on hand to give his blessings and good wishes to the small army detachment of thirty-one men in the Lewis and Clark Expedition that afternoon of May 14, 1804. The ��robust, healthy, hardy young men of the Corps of Discovery” set out in a keelboat and two pirogues, not to return until September 1806. For five months the party had outfitted at Wood River, fifteen miles north of St. Louis, where the shifting Mississippi River then received the Missouri River. Everyone was eager to learn the results of the exploration of the Louisiana Territory, but Joseph Conway felt he owed his first duty to his young family of five children, that was to increase to ten. Already he had had far more than his share of adventures.
The Conways were staunch Presbyterians. Joseph Conway gave the land, diagonally across the road from his home, and assisted in furnishing the funds, materials, and construction labor for the erection of Bonhomme Presbyterian Church, which stands to this day. It is said to be one of the oldest and may contend it is the oldest Protestant Church built west of the Mississippi River. Built of sturdy stone, it stands proudly today as a landmark and monument to the Christian principles of the founding Conway Family.
The fourth son of Joseph and Elizabeth Conway was Samuel Conway, born July 25, 1799 and died October 28, 1870, married October 28, 1824, Mourning Baxter, born January 17, 1804 in Madison County, Kentucky, died April 29, 1845 in Missouri. She was the daughter of Green Berry Baxter and Elizabeth Jones of Madison County, Ky. who came to the Territory of Missouri between 1810-1814. Samuel Conway and his brother, Joseph, Jr., both served as sheriff of St. Louis County Court; held a seat in the General Assembly of Missouri and were Deacons in Bonhomme Presbyterian Church, founded by his father and uncle [sic]. During the War between the States the following incident is related of him. The story goes that Samuel Conway had the keys to the Bonhomme Church and wouldn��t let the Yankee soldiers in when they wanted to have services. The soldiers had to threaten to shoot Mr. Conway before he would yield the keys. It delights the loyal Sourthern heart of the author to know her paternal great grandfather, Samuel Conway, was a ��Southern Sympathizer”. Samuel Conway was twelve years old when the New Madrid, Missouri, earthquake of 1811 occurred in which houses in the vicinity of his home were knocked down and the whole country shook from the shock of the quivers that tore the earth asunder and formed Reelfoot Lake in western Tennessee. Samuel and Mourning Conway were parents of nine children.
Samuel Conway died of typhoid fever in the only illness of his life. He lived in changing time in his young nation as is evidenced by the following calculations. Samuel Conway, born July 25, 1799, native born Missourian of Anglo-Saxon parentage, was born in a Kingdom -- Spain (in 1800 Spain returned the territory to France). He was reared in an Empire �� France (France sold the entire Louisiana Territory to the United States in 1803). He was educated and spent his childhood in a Territory (in 1803 St. Louis became the capital of the Upper Louisiana Territory). He attained manhood in this Missouri Territory (became Missouri Territory in 1812). He became a citizen of a state, Missouri (Missouri, the 24th state, came into the Union as a slave state on August 10, 1821; Missouri did not secede from the Union in 1861). All of this, yet Samuel Conway never traveled more than 100 miles from where he was born. He lived out his life on his father��s original land grand farm in Bonhomme District, at Chesterfield, in the Creve Coeur Lake Settlement, St. Louis County, Missouri, where he first saw the light of day. Here he died on October 28, 1870 when typhoid fever took his sturdy life with the only illness he had ever experienced in his many years on earth. He was in his 68th year.
Samuel and Mourning Baxter Conway were the parents of Louisa Conway, born April 24, 1840 on the ancestral place of her father, Samuel Conway. She died June 30, 1895 in St. Louis, Missouri and is buried in Bellefontain. She attended Lindenwood College, St. Charles, Missouri, 1855-57. The Herbarium she created while a student there is preserved to this day by her descendant, the author. The Sibleys founded this ��Female Academy�� in 1827, situated on 138 acres of the highest elevation in the extreme western part of St. Charles, Missouri, then the capital of the new state. From this high vantage point above the Missouri River a beautiful view was commended of the rolling country side from the Linden shaded Campus. On September 3, 1861 Louisa Conway became the bride of Frederick Bates Walton, grandson of Governor Frederick Bates, of Missouri, for whom he was named. His mother, Emily Caroline Bates, wife of Robert Alfred Walton, had cone back to her ancestral home, ��Thornhill��, in St. Louis County, Missouri, to have her first child, the eldest of eight children. To follow prideful tradition Louisa Conway Walton went to ��Thornhill�� to give birth to her eldest surviving son, Allen Walton, one of nine children. Allan Walton was born March 4, 1864 and died May 6, 1919 in Blytheville, Arkansas. He was a world traveler and adventurer. On October 21, 1903 he married the beauteous Virginia Warren Field, of Jonesboro, Arkansas, on her twenty-first birthday. From Jonesboro they went to Blytheville, Arkansas, to make their home. Here he was successfully established in the wholesale grocery business and was a leader in his community. Allan and Virginia Field Walton were the parents of Virginia Field Walton, Born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and reared in Blytheville, Arkansas. She attended the Alma Mater of her paternal grandmother, Louis Conway, Lindenwood College in St. Charles, Missouri. From these sturdy ancestors she derived the stamina to lead an adventurous life of world travel and jet circumnavigations. April 27, 1929 in Blytheville, Arkansas, Virginia Field Walton became the bride of Berry Boswell Brooks, Jr. of Memphis, Tennessee, a renowned sportsman, big game hunter, and world traveler. They were the parents of Virginia Walton Brooks, bor."

²Bridgewater, Elizabeth. "
Text: Stated Elizabaeth Bridgewater was born in Virninia..Parents from England.
Title: Transcription of the Conway Family Bibly from the internet.
Title: Ground Family Newsletter, Oct. 1984
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