Elizabetha (Phifer) Blackwelder (1724 - 1792)

Born 4 Apr 1724 in Hoeffelfinger, Basel, Switzerland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1792 at about age 67 in Cabarrus, North Carolina, United States

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Biography

Betsey's parents are listed as Hans Jacob Pfeiffer and Agnes Moeschinger. At some point, her last named changed from Pfeiffer to Phifer.

Betsey is listed in the DAR records with her husband Caleb. When her husband, son John, & son-in-law John Barringer were imprisoned by the British in Camden, SC, Betsey rode there to try and get them released. She stayed and helped nurse not only other prisoners but British soldiers as well. A number of prisoners died of smallpox and it is believed her son John died of that disease while in prison. When she left the British allowed her to take Caleb and her son-in-law back to NC.

Dates of birth/death are from Betsey's tombstone at St. John's Lutheran Church. Her tombstone has her maiden named spelled as Phifer.

Betsey was buried after 1792 in Saint Johns Evangelical Lutheran, Concord, North Carolina.

• Betsey is not a DAR approved Patriot. Her son Isaac is though if you're using this line.

Notes

Note: {geni:about_me} Heroine of the American Revolution: Rode to Camden, South Carolina through British lines to effect the release of her husband and son-in-law, John Paul Barringer.

Source: The Steele Creek Historical and Genealogical Society Of the Old Steele Creek Township

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

Families of Steele Creek:
Blackwelder

"Caleb married Betsey Phifer, sister of Martin Phifer, who had married Caleb’s sister, Margaret, in 1745. Martin Phifer came to Anson County locating on Dutch Buffalo Creek after first settling on Cold Water Creek in Rowan County. Caleb followed in 1759 with his wife Betsey and children Catherine, John and Isaac. All of these families attended St. John’s Lutheran church which was founded about 1745 in Anson, then Mecklenburg and today, Cabarrus County, NC.

When the Revolutionary War came to the Carolinas, Caleb was age 60, however, he managed to be imprisoned in the English prison in Camden along with his son-law John Paul Barringer and his son John, who died in that prison.

It is said that Caleb’s wife, Betsey, mounted a horse and set out alone for Camden to secure the release of her menfolk and was able to get behind Lord Cornwallis’ lines. Finding sickness at the prison, she stayed to help nurse the prisoners, however was unable to save her son John. She brought her husband and son-in-law home with her. All of Caleb’s sons except Martin and David, were revolutionary soldiers along with John Adam’s two sons, John and Charles. The DAR magazine, Vol. 59, p. 365, states that Caleb Blackwelder was a Revolutionary War soldier buried at St. John’s cemetery. Caleb would have been 61 years old at the time he was imprisoned at Camden. The children of Caleb and Betsy Blackwelder were: Catherine, b. 1755; Isaac, b. 1757; John b. 1760 (died in British prison); Jacob, b. 1763; Martin, b. 1766; Rachel b. 1772; and Daniel, b. 1774. Caleb died on November 17, 1843 at the age of 86 years which is recorded in the death notices of the Charlotte Journal, 1835 – 1851."

Sources

• The Blackwelder Family of Mecklenburg County by Linda Blackwelder/with resources
• Blackwelder/Schwarzwalder Genealogy by Mark Arslan/with resources
• http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89060747573;view=1up;seq=31 This site provides one on the best sources for the Blackwelders and is titled The Blackwelder and Allied Families from Cabarrus to the Land of Illini - A Genealogy of the Descendants of 1722-Caleb Blackwelder-1794 and His Wife Betsey by Deward Charles Williams, Senior, June 1947