Sara (Lee) Elliott (1721 - bef. 1785)

Born 1721 in Ireland

Descendants

Died before 1785 before age 64 in Ireland

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Biography

Keep in mind, all who read this, that we have done only the compilation of several records which are quoted here: We did not write this and are not claiming the credit for it. Keith and Sue Elliott

Faithful StewardTHE ELLIOTT FAMILY

The origins of this family remain somewhat blurred, as to exact descent, and this author believes that this was intentional, on the part of our ancestors, who were either themselves survivors of the shipwreck of the Faithful Steward, or members of the family in some way. I am enclosing four different versions of the shipwreck handed down to descendants of the various different branches, and you will note that they all contain enough similarity, that there should be no doubt about the basic facts.

The Faithful Steward sailed from Londonderry, Ireland early in 1785 said to be overloaded with passengers and their accumulated goods for the condition of the ship. The passengers were nearly all related. There were various Elliotts, Stewarts, and Lees who were all cousins to each other, some 200 in all. On 01SEP1785 the ship was wrecked on the Delaware coast, 30 miles south of Delaware Boy. Of the four versions of the story, one is written by a descendant of a survivor, William ELLIOTT; one is written by a descendant of a LEE who was drowned; another by a member of a cousin's family, whose grandfather had missed the boat and had to take the next one, and the fourth appears in a paper read at the ELLIOT reunion of 1923. It tells about the wreck from the version of a surviving sister, Margaret ELLIOTT. One Lee descendant had inquired of Lloyds of London and did find evidence of the wreck. Lloyds notes read: "November 28, 1785 - The Faithful Steward, Capt. MC CASLAND, Londonderry to Philadelphia, is totally in the Delaware and 200 people drowned."

The reader will note that in none of the accompanying versions are the names given of those who drowned, only the survivors! This is true, whether it is a LEE version, ELLIOTT version, or STEWART version. The one LEE version written by a great-grandson, mentions his grandfather by name, and his grandfather's grandfather, but omits that of his grandfather's father, who was drowned. In my research, I have also found an unusual number of marriages between ELLIOTTs, STEWARTs, and LEEs, as well as ELLIOTT-ELLIOTT, LEE-LEE, and STEWART-STEWART. Because of these two facts, I firmly believe that the surviving members of the three families, in grief at losing so many all at once vowed to keep the names alive by mixing the bloodlines so thoroughly through intermarriages and by all of them naming their own children after the names of those who drowned, that we descendants cannot untangle the lines to ascertain exactly who we are descended from! Therefore, we have the names: Hugh, John, William, Simon, Andrew, and sometimes James, Charles and Thomas depending on how many sons each family had, but always the first five. Women's names are Isabel, Mary, Sarah, Eleanor, and Elizabeth. These same names appear in all LEEs, STEWARTs, and ELLIOTTs, until more recent generations who were not aware of the custom, or the shipwreck and its consequences.

From the ELLIOTT version of the story, the brothers Simon and William survived the wreck by swimming ashore with doubloons in their teeth. Their older brother, John, was already here, having come on the Lazy Mary in 1784. It appears that Margaret ELLIOTT, wife of Thomas ELLIOTT, was a sister. She and her husband and family did not emigrate until 1790. John ELLIOTT settled in Hamilton Co.,OH, near present Cincinnati, where he built a stone house now preserved as a historic site. It is thought to be the oldest building in the Miami Purchase area. John's family members gradually migrated westward into IN, IL, etc. Simon settled in IL and never married. In 1806 William migrated to Muskingum Co.,OH (Salt Creek Twp.). In 1790, Thomas and Margaret ELLIOTT came to the USA and settled in Jefferson Co.,OH, Cross Creek Twp. Their children are named in his will of 1819, as William, Mary, Simon, Ann, Elizabeth, Charles, John, Thomas and Andrew. The children of William of the shipwreck were: Andrew, John, Simon, Elizabeth, Isabel, James, Mary Jane, Sarah Ann, William, Charles, and Eleanor. Only Andrew remained in Salt Creek Twp.; the others migrated to IL and IA. James and Charles died in Muskingum Co.,OH. The children of John of the shipwreck were: Simon, Elcy, Sarah, Isabel, William, and John (may have been others who died in infancy). We cannot deduce the names of those who died by these names, however, becausesome would have been ELLIOTTs, some STEWARTs, and some LEEs.

I will continueto search, but would be content if I could discover the names of our Hugh'sbrothers and sisters, regardless of his parents' names. My reason for this is that there were other ELLIOTTs in the same vicinity as ours, and I deeply suspect a relationship. One, in particular, Francis ELLIOTT, who is not included as a son of Hugh according to Charley ELLIOTT's data. (Charley W. ELLIOTT was the oldest son of Ulysses S., who was the oldest son of John and Eliza LEEDOM ELLIOTT. Copies of his data were sent me by his gd, Bernice DAWSON. He had compiled this data over 40 years ago [he d.1948] so had access to more memories than we have today.). Francis was b.1798, but died in 1838, too soon to appear on a census that listed birthplaces. My reason for suspecting Francis to be a brother of Hugh, if he was not a son, is that he appears on census and the 1833 Muskingum Co.,map (in section 21, NW, which was later purchased by Hugh, and owned by Ulysses in his time.).

I did obtain the names of the children of Francis from later census years, living with their mother, but they seem to have disappeared by 1860. Our first official record of Hugh is the 1806 OH tax list, where he appears in Smithfield Twp of Jefferson Co.,OH. He is recorded as owning 77+ acres. He does not appear in Muskingum Co.,OH until the 1820 census. We are not sure when his first wife, Isabel DOUGAN, died. She was apparently still living at the time of the 1820 census. In 1824 Hugh obtained a marriage license in Guernsey Co.,OH for marriage to Mary HILL. The 1830 census records the birth of two more girls, and then 1840 census records one more girl. This census records Hugh and son, John, as living next door to each other (their names follow each other on the census).In 1842 a land deed is recorded in Muskingum Co.,OH turning over that section-15 homestead to John. The material from Charley ELLIOTT states that Hugh and family moved to IA. He also states that Hugh died there, but does not have a date, and is buried in an old cemetary in Burlington, IA. Hugh's son, Thomas, who married Eleanor ELLIOTT, dau. of William of the shipwreck, also moved to IL and to IA. Several of them are buried at Birmingham, IA. I have no way of knowing if Charley's information is accurate, or whether there might have been some mixup between the two cities. From the amount of information that was recorded by Charley it makes me believe that there must have been a family Bible, and in the possession of some of Ulysses' descendants - at one time, at least. If it does still exist, I hope that the owner will permit some of us to copy the data from it and have it certified. I know of no other way to prove that John was Hugh's son. We know it beyond a shadow of doubt, but that is not enough for First Families of Muskingum Co.,OH John is recorded on census and on his death certificate as being b.OH which differs from what we had been told. I do believe this to be so, however, due to Hugh's presence in Jefferson Co.,OH in 1806; John not being born until 1810.

Charley did not have the children of Hugh and Isabel listed in order of birth. I have found all of them on census except one, Jane. If the ages given on the census are correct, the way I have them listed on the family sheet should be correct. Perhapd, in time, we will locate descendants of some of the others. The brother, James, lived next door to John in section 14, NW. He married Elizabeth DICKSON (Betsy) and one of their daughters married a MILLER. The MILLERs at Rix Mills are descendants of theirs.
Charley W. ELLIOTT of the Ulysses S. Branch of John remembers his father telling that John and his father, Hugh, once walked back to PA when John was nine years old. I believe, however, that they were still living in Jefferson Co.,OH at that time, so that would not have been such a long distance. There were several land transactions in Smithfield Twp of Jefferson Co., (near Steubenville and the PA border) involving Hugh ELLIOTT. He must have moved to Muskingum Co. 1819-1820 as he does appear on the 1820 census there. The eldest son, John, was our ancestor. The second son, James m.Betsy DICKSON, sister of our Margaret DICKSON FORSYTHE. They had five c

Of the five children, the oldest, Hugh, was killed in the Civil War, and the youngest, Sarah Nancy, was unmarried. One daughter married a MILLER. Another daughter married a SMITLEY and lived at Rix Mills. The second son, William D. ELLIOTT married Naomi HENDERSHOT, lived near New Concord. They are buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetary.

Eppy ELLIOTT and William WATSON lived in Meigs Twp on the 1850 census and had four children at that time.

Simon ELLIOTT (tombstone spelled Simeon) and Mary had 12 children. They lived near the William HERRONs on the border of Rich Hill and Salt Creek Twps. He, also, was killed in the Civil War.

I have not discovered Jane ELLIOTT and Barton Latta on Census or in any local cemetaries.

Thomas and Eleanor ELLIOTT moved to Morgan Co.,OH and then on to IL. They had 12 children. I am in touch with some of their descendants, now in IA and KS. I have not located Hugh and Rena NOBLE ELLIOTT. There was a second Hugh ELLIOTT from Muskingum Co. who was killed in the Civil War. He may have been this Hugh.

Sources

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/ELLIOTT/1998-10/0909407626

• https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=153896874&ref=acom

• https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/27814346/person/100028394459/facts

• Wenzel, Harry Allen. The Ship Faithful Steward: A Story of Scots -Irish, English, and Irish Migration to Pennsylvania (Yellow Tail Snapper Publishing; 2021)

• Memorial: "Find a Grave," database
  Find A Grave: Memorial #153896874 (accessed 19 November 2022)
  Memorial page for Unknown Lee Elliott (1721-1785); Maintained by Terry in Illinois (contributor 46928999) Burial Details Unknown.