Elizabeth Spencer (1730 - 1797)

Born 16 May 1730 in Baltimore County, Province of Maryland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1797 at about age 66 in Maryland, United States of America

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Elizabeth Spencer has German Roots.

Biography

Elizabeth was born in 1730. She was the daughter of Zachariah Spencer and Charity Cobb. She passed away in 1797.^[1]

"Zachariah married first Christian Coob or Cobb on Feb 2, 1728 in Baltimore. [4] They had the following children:

Elizabeth Spencer, b.16 May 1730. Zachariah II, b.13 March 1732. (who later moved to North Carolina) Christian died after the birth of their son Zachariah.

The following information has been written by Hugh McGough and provides an understanding of life for Miles and Elizabeth (Spencer) McGough. Miles McGough was born in Ireland around 1730. He emigrated to America and settled in Maryland sometime before 1752 when he leased 75 acres of land in the part of Baltimore county that became Harford county in 1773. He called this land Mile's Adventure. Around 1753, Miles McGough married Elizabeth Spencer who had been born in Maryland on May 16, 1730. Her father, Zachariah Spencer, occupied land that adjoined Mile's Adventure. Their first son may have been Hugh McGough, possibly born in 1755 or 1756.* Their oldest son mentioned in the real state records of Harford county was John McGough who was born in Harford county in about 1758. On March 6, 1760, Miles McGaugh leased 33 more acres of land called The Valley near Mile's Adventure. In 1787, John McGough, as the survivor of Miles McGough, purchased the land that had been leased by his father, Miles Adventure and The Valley (minus 25 acres that had been sold to Hugh Whiteford), called the whole remaining 254 acres Traveler's Rest, and assigned his purchase rights to his mother, Elizabeth McGough.

• Hugh McGough, however, married Rosanna Crooks, who was born in 1740. Unless Hugh was 15 years or so younger than his wife, he more likely was a brother, cousin, or other collateral relative of Miles McGough.

The land originally leased by Miles McGough was in the Deer Creek Upper Hundred of Harford county, and was about one and a half miles south of the eastern half of York county, Pennsylvania; five miles north of Deer Creek, and less than one quarter of a mile south of Broad Creek. The land is immediately east of the intersection of what are now Maryland state roads #136 (Whiteford Road) and #24 (Rocks Road). The intersection is now known as Five Forks. For a map, see: Five Forks, Maryland, United States.

A Hugh McGough was enlisted in the Maryland militia in Deer Creek Upper Hundred in Harford county in 1775 and was among the men of Deer Creek Upper Hundred who took the oath of the Maryland Association of Freemen in 1776. Hugh McGough served in the Pennsylvania Regiment of Foot in 1776 and 1777. He died in Harford county in 1779. He left a widow, Rosanne Crooks McGough. The probate of his estate was opened on October 4, 1779. Hugh McGough may have been the first born son of Miles and Elizabeth Spencer McGough—even though no genealogist lists him as a member of the family of Miles McGough and Elizabeth Spencer. The records show no other McGough family in Harford county during these years. If so, Hugh was no older than 23 when he died. See my page: Hugh McGough, Soldier in the American Revolution. Even so, it is more likely that Hugh was close to the age of his wife, Rosanne Crooks, who was 39 when Hugh died, and a brother or cousin of Miles McGough.

Children of Miles and Elizabeth Spencer McGough referred to in the last will and testament of Miles McGough, which was made in 1884, five years after the death of Hugh McGough, are their sons John, James, Miles, and Thomas, and their daughter Elizabeth. I have not been able to find a copy of the will and have only an indirect reference to it in real estate documents.

"John McGough, the first son named in documents referring to a will, was born about 1758 and may have moved to Kentucky (but perhaps first to Pennsylvania) in about 1795 or 1796—to the part of Christian county that became Caldwell county, Kentucky, in 1809—and raised a large family there, including sons named Hugh McGough and Thomas Miles McGough.

After John McGough, the next three sons of Miles McGough and Elizabeth Spencer referred to in the will of Miles McGough were: James McGough, born about 1760; Miles McGough (junior), born about 1762; and Thomas McGough, born about 1765. These three sons moved to Cambria county, Pennsylvania, in about 1803, and raised their families there. James and Miles died in Cambria county. Thomas moved his family from Pennsylvania to Belmont county, Richland township, Ohio, sometime before 1820, and died in Ohio. See my page: McGoughs in the 1820 Census of the United States.

Miles and Elizabeth Spencer McGough were the parents of a daughter, Elizabeth, who was born about 1767, married Patrick William Dempsey around 1793, and had at least eleven children. The Patrick Dempsey family is listed in the 1800 census of District 5, Harford county, Maryland: 2 (free white males under 10) 1 (free white male 10 thru 15) - 1 (free white male 25 thru 44) - 3 (free white females under 10) - 1 (free white female 16 thru 25) 1 (free white female 45 and over) (roll 11, page 126). They moved from Harford county, Maryland, to Cambria county, Pennsylvania, before 1807, and later to Perry county, Ohio, and Huntingdon county, Indiana. The histories of these families after they moved to Cambria county are in my page: McGoughs Who Moved from Harford County, Maryland, to Cambria County, Pennsylvania."

Sources

1. ↑ Donald Lines Jacobus, M.A., comp., "The Four Spencer Brothers – Their Ancestors and Descendants," The American Genealogist, Volume 27, pp. 166-167.

• [ http://magoo.com/hugh/miles.html ]