Elizabeth Susanna Vance (1794 - 1873)

Born 1794 in Russell, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 7 Apr 1873 at about age 79 in Logan County, West Virginia, United States

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Biography

Elizabeth Vance lived in Appalachia, in West Virginia.

Parents:
Abner Vance 1760–1819 Susannah Howard Vance 1767–1860

Siblings:
Tabitha Vance Browning 1782–1864 William Harvey Vance 1789–1853 Richard D Vance 1792–1850 Abner Vance 1796–1888 James Vance 1799–1872 Rhoda Vance Elkins 1811–1881 Sarah Vance McCloud 1811–1867

Children:
Nancy Vance Hatfield 1813-1895 Sarah Vance Taylor 1818-1902 James M. Vance Sr. 1832-1888

Horton Murder and Rumored Affair:
There is debate as to why Elizabeth’s father, Abner, shot and killed Dr. Lewis Horton. One popular version states that it was because Dr. Horton had “ruined” her reputation with the affair.

However an examination of the records, including an account by the judge of Abner’s first murder trial (Judge Peter Johnston), indicates that the shooting of Dr. Horton was accidental and that the intended target was Dr. Horton’s brother, Daniel Horton. At the time of the shooting the two Horton brothers were on horseback next to each other with their backs towards Abner Vance. The bullet hit Dr. Lewis Horton in the back just below the shoulders.

Both Horton brothers had confronted Abner Vance in their respective capacities as Justice of the Peace (Daniel) and Constable (Lewis). Abner Vance and Daniel Horton had been involved in a dispute over various matters including “a charge of breech of the peace” that Daniel had sworn out against Abner Vance and his sons, John & James.

Dr. Horton lived for 6 days after being shot before he died. During this time Abner went into hiding. When Dr. Horton died Abner was charged with Murder while Abner’s son Richard & daughter Elizabeth Susannah were both charged as accessories after the fact. The record states “Susannah Vance, spinster” not “Susannah Vance, wife” or “Mrs. Abner Vance”. “Spinster” being the term for an unmarried woman. Judge Johnston dismissed the charge against Susannah but allowed the charge against Richard to move forward.

As Dr. Horton laid on his deathbed he drew up his will. The unmarried man made mention of a child he had with a woman named Wilson. He did not mention Elizabeth Susannah Vance or any children he might have had with her. This lends credence to the belief that Dr Horton and Elizabeth did not have an affair nor had children from this alleged affair.

There is no mention anywhere in the records of either Daniel Horton’s elopement with Betty Vance, and, in fact, in 1817 Betty already had two daughters, Nancy and Sarah, and was quite possibly pregnant with a third. So while the actual cause of the animosity between Vance and the Hortons is not clear, an elopement with Abner’s daughter Betty almost certainly doesn’t play a role.

We know one more fact about Betty Vance that makes her involvement in the Horton affair unlikely. DNA research on the part of various Vance descendants, coupled with local knowledge passed down through the families, has shown conclusively that some, perhaps all, of Elizabeth Vance’s children were fathered by John Ferrell. John Ferrell was an early settler in the Tug Valley (his family was closely connected with the Hatfield family). He owned a mill near the current town of Matewan, West Virginia, and it was he, not her father Abner, who apparently bought (or helped buy) land for Elizabeth and their children on the Kentucky side of the river (we’ve seen copies of the deeds). So it was John Ferrell who brought Elizabeth and her children to the Tug Valley, who set them up on land just up the river from his own home, and who continued to take care of her, as far as we can tell, until his death.

Real Estate Transactions:
On 26 October, 1847, Elizabeth sold 50 acres in Pike County, Kentucky to Valentine Hatfield for $1.^[1] Valentine Hatfield is the brother of William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield.

On 11 February, 1848, A notable land transaction took place between Elizabeth and Randolph McCoy the patriarch of the McCoy clan. Elizabeth sold Randolph McCoy land for $300. One of the survey lines mentioned in this grant is a "conditional line between John Ferrell and Elizabeth Vance". This sale would indicate that Elizabeth was moving to live with her son James.^[2]

Elizabeth was living with son James and family and is listed with them in the 1850 and 1860 Logan Co., Virginia, census. Currently, there is no documentation that has been found that shows John and Elizabeth being legally married.

Sources

1. ↑ Pike County, Kentucky, Deeds, v. C-D 1845-1858, pg. 175, image 93, FamilySearch, not indexed. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKX-NQQR-V?i=92&cat=111955
2. ↑ Logan County, Virginia (West Virginia), Deed books, Grantor, Deed book C, pg. 337, image 208, FamilySearch, not indexed. Elizabeth Vance to Randolph McCoy. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSGJ-N3MQ?i=207&cat=73287

• The Letter of Judge Peter Johnston Relative to the Trial of Abner Vance written to Virginia General Assembly citing the Vance trial as the need to expand and enhance the temporary insanity defense.
  
• "United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH54-X26 : 7 December 2021), Elizabeth Vance, Logan, Virginia, United States; citing , NARA microfilm publication , (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll ; FHL microfilm .

• Logan County, Virginia (West Virginia), Deed books, Grantee, Deed book B, pg. 256, image 100, FamilySearch, not indexed. Andrew Ferrell to Richard and Elizabeth Vance. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4Y-W5V4?cat=73287

• Logan County, Virginia (West Virginia), Deed books, Grantee, Deed book B, pg. 356, image 215, FamilySearch, not indexed. John Ferrell to Elizabeth Vance. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4Y-W5C2?i=214&cat=73287

• Logan County, Virginia (West Virginia), Deed books, Grantee, Deed book C, pg. 259, image 215, FamilySearch, not indexed. Elizabeth Vance to Richard Vance. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSGJ-N3S9?i=168&cat=73287

• Logan County, Virginia (West Virginia), Deed books, Grantor, Deed book C, pg. 371, image 225, FamilySearch, not indexed. Elizabeth, Mary and Richard Vance to Hiram Williamson. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSGJ-N314?i=224&cat=73287

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8DC-PGQ : 23 December 2020), Elizabeth Vance, Logan, Logan, Virginia, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZBJ-29Y : 18 February 2021), Elizabeth Vance in entry for James Vance, 1860.

• Source: S40 Title: OneWorldTree Publication: Location: www.ancestry.com; NOTESource Medium: Ancestry.com

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42430540/elizabeth-horton

Notes