Agnes (Shepherd) Sizemore (abt. 1750 - 1836)

Born about 1750 in Cherokee County, North Carolina [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 27 Nov 1836 at about age 86 in Avery County, Kentucky [uncertain]

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Biography

This profile represents Agnes, the wife of George "All" Sizemore of Kentucky.

That George Sizemore had a wife named Agnes or Aggie is supported by two death records of their children in Perry County, Kentucky -- Winnie Sizemore Bailey and Edward Sizemore -- both listed on the same page. ^[1]

Previous versions of this profile suggested, without source, that her maiden name might have been Cornett.

That her maiden name was Shepherd and her nickname was "Aggie" was reported in an interview with her granddaughter, Polly North:

"I am 85 years old, was born in this county [Perry]. My father was a Wilder, my mother was Rhoda Sizemore [daughter of George and Aggie]. The first preacher I ever heard was Chenault, a Baptist and he preached on Cutshin. William Mattingly was the first school teacher. I remember he taught when I was a child. My grandmother's maiden name was Aggie Shepherd. I remember to have heard my grandfather Sizemore say to her 'Damn-an-it Shepherd I can't stand you much longer.' "^[2]

A previous version of this profile attached Martha Arrington as a mother, without source.

Others have claimed she was daughter of William Shepherd and Unknown Roda.

Until we have reliable sources for her origins, she remains detached from any parents.

We seek reliable evidence that Agnes and George married about 1770 in Cherokee Nation, Tryon County (now Mecklenburg), North Carolina.

She died on 27 Nov 1836 in Leslie County, Kentucky, USA.^{[citation needed]}

Her Find-a-Grave Memorial states, without source that she died in 1839. ^[3]

Her place of death on her find-a-grave memorial is Leslie County, Kentucky; but her place of death recorded in death records is Avery County, Kentucky.^{[citation needed]}

COMMENTS ABOUT THE INTERVIEWS BY JOHN DICKEY HIMSELF:

"Felix Begley tells me that old Aggie Sizemore, the wife of "Old George of All", used to roast terrapins alive as the Indians used to do. Other things he told me that I am sure she was the Cherokee instead of Sizemore. Old Aggie wanted to take a skull which was found under a cliff, for a soap dish."

Update: Joy Wright King reports that mtDNA from female descendants of both Georges reveals no Native DNA markers,^{[citation needed]} disproving the theory that George's wife was Native.

Children

Documented:

1. Winifred Minerva (Sizemore) Begley (abt.1772-1855), b abt 1776, based on age at death; m. William Begley; d 1855 Perry Co., Kentucky^[1]
2. Edward "Ned" Sizemore, b abt 1778, based on age at death, supposedly in Shenandoah Valley, Virginia;^{[citation needed]} d 1855/6 Perry Co., Kentucky^[1] In the 1856 Mortality List for Clay County, it is shown that George and Agnes' son Edward died November 27, 1856, at the age of 78.^[4]
3. Rhoda Sizemore; m. Wilder^[2] Find-a-Grave says 1784-1829.

A previous version of this profile included the following for which we seek supporting documentation:

• William Sizemore (detached)
• James Sizemore (uncertain)
• John "Rockhouse" Sizemore (Find-a-grave says 1770-1850) (uncertain)
• George Gulden "Goldenhawk" Sizemore (Find-a-grave says 1783-1864) (uncertain)
• Susan Sizemore; find-a-grave says 1784-1862 (uncertain)
• Sarah "Sally" Ann Sizemore (uncertain)
• Henry Sizemore; find-a-grave ays 1790-1871 (uncertain)
• Ruth

Research Notes

Family Legend

We seek the origins of this legend.

Family legend states that Agnes Shepherd was a full-blooded Cherokee who had been taken accidentally from her village when a white raiding party, intending to rescue a white girl who had been kidnapped by the Indians, mistook Aggie for white and "rescued" her as well.

Her husband, George Sizemore, is said to have been the half-breed son (born about 1750) of a white woman and a Cherokee Indian Chief. These stories have no official records to back them up, but there is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that they are at least partly true. Which part though is a matter for debate. What we do know, based on official records, is that Agnes and George did exist. That they likely emigrated from North Carolina or Tennessee to Kentucky around 1800. They did have several children.

George "All" and Aggie settled in what is now Leslie County, owning most of the land opposite the townsite of Hyden. This land was later owned by son John and wife, Nancy who built the first home in this section now known as Hyden. In 1842 John sold the property to James Lewis." ^[5]

According to the official Leslie County, Kentucky website:

"Hyden, Kentucky, the seat of Leslie County, was founded in 1878 and named for state Senator John Hyden (1814-1883), then a state senator from Clay County and one of the commissioners appointed to establish Leslie County. The first settlers to live on the land at the mouth of Rockhouse Creek on the Middle Fork of the Kentucky River, where the town of Hyden is located, was the Sizemore family. John Sizemore sold the land to the John Lewis Family. The land was later donated to the county and Hyden was founded there on the site of John Lewis' farm. Hyden is served by US 421, Kentucky 80, and the Daniel Boone Parkway. The Hyden post office opened in 1879 with Leander Crawford as Postmaster." ---- Agnes is the lady on the right side" ^[2]

There are two legends that try to explain the marriage of George "All" Sizemore to Aggy Shepherd. The first, a raid by Indians of a white man's camp where two little white girls were kidnapped from a wagon train. In retaliation, The girls' kinsmen (Cornett) followed and raided the Indians' village and freed them, but in the process, they "mistakenly" abducted an Indian female child, who was later given to William Shepherd, one of the raiding party, adopted her and she was called Agnes. According to legend, one of the rescued females had already been impregnated by the Chief. The product of this rape is George "of all" Sizemore. Agnes thought to be a Creek Indian, and George, a large, hairy fellow, part Cherokee, and a prizefighter, were brought up and married. George lived in both the white man's world and the white top Cherokee tribe through out his life.

The second legend is more sparse in detail. The story is that an Indian girl of around 15 was found wandering alone in the forest. The story doesn't say whether she was truly lost, or perhaps abandoned or stolen. She grew up to marry George "of all" Sizemore.

The twist to this story is that Mitochondrial DNA for Agnes Shepherd Sizemore is European, not Native American.^{[citation needed]} That casts doubt on whether she was an Indian at all. What further attacks the legends is that some in the genealogical community question whether both of these tales apply to "Aggie" Cornett (born 1815), wife of John Sizemore (born 1805.) She happens to have the same stories and nothing is known about her background. This might explain why some who retell Agnes Shepherd Sizemore's background often include the possibility that her maiden name was Cornett.

I [who?] lean towards the idea that Aggie Cornett Sizemore was kidnapped as a teen. The supposedly rescued teenaged Indian girl sounds more plausible with Aggie. Until we can find out some more information from DNA studies, no one knows.

"When Kentucky was first being settled, immigrants from either North Carolina or Tennessee headed by a man named Cornett reached the Kentucky River late one evening. They decided to make camp and wait until daylight before crossing the River. They had wives, children, livestock, and equipment with them. After supper, they were sitting around their campfire talking when suddenly Indians dashed into camp and captured two of the little girls. Three of the white men saddled horses and went after the Indians. Late in the night, they caught up with the Indians who were not expecting pursuit and had made camp. The men advanced near enough to see the girls asleep on pallets near the fire. Each man agreed to dash in and grab one of the girls. This they did and got away without a fight. When they came to their own camp the men discovered that they had also captured a little Indian girl. The next morning after crossing the River, the immigrants decided to keep the Indian girl and Mr. Cornett agreed to take her and raise her. In the meantime, in another part of the area, the Cherokee Indians had also captured a white girl. One Indian Chief, seeing her beauty, became desirous of possessing her for his own and took her into his teepee. However, his love was short-lived for the girls brothers made pursuit and brought the girl back to her own people, but under her heart, she carried the child of the Indian Chief. This child was given the name of George All Sizemore. Pleasie Woods (deceased) When George All grew to manhood it seems most evident that he married the Indian girl whom Mr. Cornett raised. George All and Aggy Shepherd thus became the progenitors of the Leslie County Sizemores. Shepherd was Aggy’s Indian name. She was sometimes called Shepherd and sometimes Cornett. Their children were: Henry, John, Edward, George, Sally Ann who married Eli Couch, Minerva (Winnie) who married William (Bill) Begley, Rhoda who married a Roberts and a Wilder, Ruth who married John Jones and Susan who married a Bowling.

DNA

NOTE: Mitochondrial DNA for Agnes Shepherd Sizemore is European, not Native American,^{[citation needed]} casting doubt on whether she was an Indian at all.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Perry County, Kentucky Deaths, LDS Film # 004255376; image 195 (familysearch.org)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Interview with Mrs. Polly North (date?), excerpt from the "Dickey Diaries" ~Reverend John Dickey. We seek the original of this source; can you help us find it?
3. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #25643259 for Agnes (Shepherd) Sizemore
4. ↑ Kentucky, U.S., Death Records 1852-1965 on ancestry.com with image at Death Record of Edward Sizemore
5. ↑ “Of Bolder Men, A History of Leslie County” by Mary T. Brewer, p208-212 / 236 pages (no date); published & distributed by: Leslie County News, Hyden, Kentucky, 41749. (not published recently) Kenneth L. Dyer SIZEMORE

See also:

• 1810 USA Census of Clay County, Kentucky; citing p153 @45+yrs (thought to be the daughter of William Shepherd of Tryon County, North Carolina)

• Kentucky Birth, Marriage and Death Records (1852-1910) citing Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives in Frankfort, Kentucky;

Agnes Sizemore: Kentucky

• "Pennsylvania Archives" in 10 "Series" have been published so far in from 5 to 31v. Ea. Philadelphia and Harrisburg, PA; citing v157 p496

Profiles on other sites:

• Geni.com for Agnes Cornett (Shephard) Sizemore

• Geni.com for her husband, George "Chief of All" Sizemore

• SizemoreFamilyKY family tree on ancestry.com for Agnes "Aggie" Shephard

• Ratliff family tree on ancestry.com for Esther or Agnes "Aggie" (Cornett) (Sizemore) Shepherd

• Connie Abrams family tree on ancestry.com for Agnes "Aggie" Cornett Shepherd (said to be fullblood Cherokee Indian); see gallery for documents posted to this profile

• Vicmadams family tree on ancestry.com for Agnes Cornett Shephard - (Private tree - not viewable)

Below are some ancestry.com stories ...

• Agnes "Aggie" Shepherd-Cornett

• Aggie was a full-blooded Cherokee.

• Aggie Shephard's story

• d: 1820 Ashe, NC; m: 1770 Ashe, NC