William Shapard - (Chapter 1) The Early Years 1741-1762

 

Chapter 1

WILLIAM SHAPARD
THE EARLY YEARS 1741 – 1762

 

William Shapard was born circa 1741 in Stratton Major Parish of King and Queen County, Colony of Virginia. His father, Samuel Shapard, was a planter who had acquired wealth, lands and slaves. His mother, Mildred (Crockford) Shapard, managed the home and children. William had nine siblings (two half-brothers, one full-brother and six sisters) born from 1727 to 1752; William being around the fifth in birth order. The Shapard family lived in Southern King and Queen County between Peptico Creek (now named Goalders Creek) and Matassip Creek (now named Hockley Creek). Their home was in proximity to the Lower Church of Stratton Major Parish, where the family attended services, located near the present-day town of Cologne.

                When William was born, King George II was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and its colonies.  Virginia was under British rule, and, by law, the Church of England was the established church of the colonies in America, of which all residents, including the Shapards, were required to attend weekly, otherwise be subjected to fines. In addition, colonial law of Virginia required all colonists to support the church annually with taxes, called tithes, which funded the efforts of the church and paid the minister’s salary. The Virginia General Assembly, through legislation, partitioned geographical regions of the colony into parishes to serve the civil and religious needs of that population. Each parish had a central church and possibly a few chapels attended by a single minister who traveled to each one on a timely circuit.

                Since 1723, King and Queen County has had three parishes: Drysdale (upper part of county), St. Stephens (middle part of county) and Stratton Major (lower part of county). The Shapard family resided in Stratton Major Parish, in its southern region. Stratton Major Parish was bounded on the southeast by the Poropotank Creek creating the border between King and Queen and Gloucester counties; bounded on the southwest by the York River and Mattaponi River creating the borders between King and Queen, New Kent and King William Counties; bounded on the northeast by Dragon Run River creating the border between King and Queen and Middlesex; and bounded on the northwest by the border of St. Stephens Parish, which appears to be the Heartquake Creek. 

Stratton Major Parish originally had two churches seven miles apart: one to serve the inhabitants living in the upper part of the parish and the other to serve the inhabitants in the lower part.  The ‘Upper Church’ seems to have been built between 1724 and 1729, and is still in existence today, being located near the town of Shanghai in King and Queen County. The ‘Lower Church’ of Stratton Major was built soon after the formation of the parish in 1655. Land patents from the 1600s indicate that the Lower Church was located on a tributary of the Mattasup Creek named ‘Church Run,’ and there was a road already established to the church. The Lower Church is believed to have stood about six tenths of a mile west of Cologne (at Buena Vista). The church yard, which reportedly contains the headstone of John Wedderburn from 1723, lay only an eighth of a mile west of a small stream, presumably Church Run, and forms the headwaters of a branch of the Hockley Creek, which during Colonial times was known as Mattasup Creek. The ruins of the old Lower Church have long since vanished, however, evidence suggests that its foundation was 50 feet by 20 feet with 18 inch thick brick walls. It was later enlarged with the addition of a north wing 22 feet wide by 28 feet long. The church also had a brick porch at the west entrance. The Shapard family lived near the Lower Church, and, without a doubt, this was the church William attended throughout his youth. There were two ministers whom presided over the Lower Church during William’s adolescence: Rev. John Reade was minister until 1744, after which, the Rev. William Robinson assumed the pulpit.

Rev. Robinson was born in Virginia in 1719, and, at the age of ten, was sent to England to receive an education. In 1737, he was admitted to Oriel College in Oxford, England and was ordained a priest in 1743. The following year he returned to Virginia as a missionary to the colony and was received into Stratton Major Parish of King and Queen County until the late 1760s.

The “reader” of the Lower Church was Thomas Lankford from the time of William’s birth until 1757, after which, Christopher Pryor assumed the responsibility. Church services were held on Sundays and Wednesdays, weather providing, and communion was administered to the congregation four times each year. Church attendance fulfilled the required religious aspects of colonial society and also provided an opportunity for social interaction, whereby, business was discussed, news and gossip was spread, and friends came together.     

                Both Upper and Lower Churches were abandoned in 1768, upon completion of a new and much larger parish church, named ‘Corbin’s Church,’ which was positioned in a central location, midway between the two older buildings. The old Upper Church eventually became a Methodist house of worship, and the Baptists were the last to use the old Lower Church. The location of the new church was one mile north of the town of Shacklefords, on present-day highway 14, just south of Wolf Pond Road. Corbin’s Church was the most elaborate and expensive house of worship ever constructed in the Colony of Virginia; the dimensions being 80 feet long and 50 feet wide with 27 foot high walls of three foot thick brick. The main doorway entrance on the west side was 6 feet wide by 16 feet high. The windows were 5 feet wide and 13 feet high. The floor was flagstone. Seating was arranged by geography: those from the Lower Church would sit on the north side, and those from the Upper Church would sit on the south side. Women and men were seated separately. In the New Church the women were seated on the sides of the church and the men in the center. The church had a mahogany organ adorned with gilt pipes.

Although William had left King and Queen County by the time Corbin’s Church was constructed, his mother, step-father and sisters Frances and Mildred all attended and had been granted established seating in family pews. His mother and step-father, as well as, his sister Frances and her husband were assigned to pew seven. His sister Mildred was assigned to pew three (see illustration).  

Around 1783, the new church was abandoned due to the disestablishment of the Church of England after the American Revolution and colonial distaste for the state mandated Anglican religion. After the abandonment of Corbin’s Church, William’s mother returned to services at the old Lower Church of Stratton Major, which by then was known as Ware’s Church and occupied by the Baptist denomination.

  

              In addition to attending church with his family, William spent the days of his early childhood playing outside with his siblings, exploring the creeks and fields, fishing, swimming and helping out with the chores suitable to his age. He was most likely educated by either his mother or a private tutor at home with his siblings, learning to read and write and some basic math. His father would periodically take him on the horse and wagon when he ran errands to town or the courthouse; and William would have had great memories of these adventures, especially seeing the boats and activity around the York and Mattiponi rivers. William’s maternal grandfather, John Crockford, Sr., lived on a 300 acre plantation near the Shapard home and the family would visit him often.

An interesting facet of William’s childhood was that his father and maternal grandfather owned slaves, and from the beginning, William was exposed to slavery as a natural and ordinary way of life. William’s father provided for all his slaves, in terms of food, shelter and clothing. He had the tailor who worked for him cut and make all their clothes. The Shapard slaves had their own quarters near the main house. They worked and lived sided by side with Mr. and Mrs. Shapard and the children, and even attended church with them on Sundays. Mr. Shapard had a slave named June who worked with him in the smith’s shop. June acquired a talent for smithing and would eventually be willed to Mr. Shapard’s son, Robert, who may have pursued the blacksmith’s trade as an apprentice. As a child, William developed an innocent relationship with the slaves, especially the house servants as part of his “black family.”

Normally it is very difficult to trace the events of slaves, however, a few of the Shapard slaves are very well documented. When William’s uncle, John Crockford, Jr., died in 1742, he was about 24 years old and had no wife or children. He did not have a last Will and Testament, yet was in possession of two slaves: a female named Beck and her son named Swaney (See Prologue for additional information on these slaves). Inheritance laws at the time stated that if a man, without wife and children, died intestate then his property was to be dispersed to his siblings. William’s father, Samuel Shapard, took temporary possession of the slaves for one year, until Mrs. Shapard and her sister, Mary Faulkner, could decided whether to sell the slaves or divide them. However, slaves were considered valuable property and were vital to the functioning of colonial society, especially in an agricultural area like King and Queen County. William’s grandfather, John Crockford, Sr., owning a large plantation nearby, laid claim to the slaves and removed them, in 1744, from the Shapard house. Mr. Crockford declared that he had inheritance rights, as well as, claimed that he had actually purchased the slaves, and that his son, John Crockford, Jr., simply had loan of them. William’s father and his uncle, Jacob Faulkner, consulted with an attorney and found that John Crockford, Sr., could not claim them via inheritance, as the law did not provide for this, nor could he claim them as his property as there was no title in his possession. Despite these findings, William’s father decided to let Mr. Crockford have use of the slaves so not to incur his resentment by bringing a lawsuit against him.

About the year 1747, when William was approximately six years old, his grandfather permanently returned the slave Beck, who was pregnant, to the Shapard house, where she delivered a baby girl they named “Young Beck.” William and his siblings, no doubt, would have marveled at the baby.  Both Young Beck and Old Beck remained at the Shapard house for the next five years, becoming an integral part of William’s daily society during his youth.

When William’s father, Samuel Shapard, died, he willed his slaves to his children, yet, lent the use of them to his wife for her lifetime. About a year later in 1752 or 1753, William’s grandfather lost a number of his slaves, either to disease or by being sold to satisfy debts. Mr. Crockford asked his daughter, Mildred Shapard, to loan him Young Beck and Old Beck, of which she did, confident that he would return them as her property. Over the following years, William’s mother remarried and moved with her new husband, John Townley, to a more distant part of the county, making it difficult for her to visit her father. Mildred’s sister, Mary Faulkner, however remained nearby and tended to her father, as his health eventually dwindled. When Mr. Crockford died in 1757, he had all but written his daughter, Mildred, out of his will and gave the slaves, of which he did not own, to Mildred’s sister, Mary Faulkner. William’s mother filed a lawsuit in order to reclaim her property, of which the court agreed; and on August 13, 1759, Old Beck and Young Beck were returned to William’s mother. The court also ruled that Old Beck’s son Swaney was to remain the property of Mary Faulkner, thus, finally officially dividing the slaves between the rightful heirs of John Crockford, Jr.

Shortly thereafter, in 1760, William’s step-father, John Townley, sold the two Beck slaves to Richard Shackelford for £82 (pounds), of which legally he could not do, as the slaves were the property of the Shapard children and he merely had the benefit of them through his marriage to Mrs. Shapard. Mr. Shackelford had possession of the slaves until his death in 1774 or 1775, however, during his possession Old Beck died. In his last Will and Testament, Mr. Shackelford willed Young Beck to his son Zachariah Shackelford, upon whom a lawsuit was brought in 1784, by the three surviving Shapard daughters: Sarah Vass, Mildred Burch and Frances Crittenden, to finally recover their property and her increase. At the time of the lawsuit, Mr. Shackelford claimed to be in possession of Young Beck and her increase of two children: Philitia being about 10 to 13 years old and Beck being about 6 years old. 

In addition to having slaves among their family, William’s father occasionally had apprentices that lived with them. One of these, in particular, was Robert Pollard who came to live with the Shapard family, in 1743, when he was 13 years old. Robert was legally bound and apprenticed to William’s father, and remained with the Shapard family until he was 18 to 21 years of age. After his apprenticeship was over, Robert remained close with the family and may have continued on as an employee for Mr. Shapard.

In the year 1747, at the age of twenty, William’s eldest brother, Samuel II, left their home in King and Queen County and moved sixty miles west to Goochland County, Virginia. His parents, no doubt, equipped him with a horse and wagon and

numerous sundry items to better him for his migration.  Once in Goochland, Samuel II resided in the northeast section of the county on the Tuckahoe Creek, near the home of Mr. John Price and his wife, Hannah. Over the following year, Samuel II began courting Mr. Price’s daughter, Elizabeth, and in the summer of 1748, they were married. He was the first of William’s siblings to marry. As a wedding present, the newlyweds received a slave that was over the age of sixteen. In addition, on July 18, 1748, Mr. John Price divided one hundred acres out of the tract upon which he lived on the Tuckahoe Creek and deeded it to Samuel II and Elizabeth for their new home. As time passed, Samuel II added an additional 86 acres to his land, that bordered the Hanover and Henrico County lines.  In 1756, Samuel and his wife sought new opportunities and moved to Henrico County, Virginia, purchasing 258 acres of land on the branches of Deep Run Creek. A year later, Samuel II sold all of his land in Goochland County to his brother-in-law, William Price, who, in turn, sold the same land to Samuel II’s brother John Shapard in 1759. Samuel II’s wife, Elizabeth Shapard, died between 1773 and 1781. Samuel Shapard II died in 1781, before

November 19^th, at the age of about 54 years, apparently a wealthy man. Samuel and Elizabeth had eight children whom survived to adulthood: Mildred married William Coutts on September 28, 1775; Elizabeth married Joseph Duvall on September 24, 1773; Mary married Charles Cottrell on September 4, 1777; Frances married Thomas Shoemaker on November 19, 1781; Susanna married Peter Cottrell on November 6, 1778; Hannah married Shadrack Walker on April 12, 1783; Samuel married Mary Allen on December 3, 1787; Reuben married Sarah Cocke on April 24, 1793; and William married Fanny Shaw on July 9, 1797. Interestingly, all three of Samuel Shapard II sons eventually spelled their surname as “Shepard,“ due to the fact that they were “infants” (under 21 years of age) at the time of their father’s death in 1781, and may have lacked the education to spell their surname.

In the autumn of 1751, William’s father became ill or was injured. By November, his health was declining and he summoned his trusted friends, Daniel Hayes, Samuel Fleming and John Newton, to come to his bedside and witness his last Will and Testament, which read; “In the name of God, Amen, I Samuel Shepherd of King and Queen County being at present in perfect mind and memory thanks be to God for the same do make and ordain this last Will and Testament in manner and form following, first I give and bequeath my soul to Almighty God who gave it hoping by and through the merits of my ever blessed Savior and redeemer Jesus Christ to have pardon and remission of all my sins and my body to be decently buried at the discretion of my Executors hereafter named and as touching my worldly estate which it hath pleased God to bestow on me I do give it in manner and form following -  Item - I give and bequeath unto my loving son Robert Shepherd one negro boy named June and all my smiths tools to him and his heirs forever – Item  - I give unto my son Samuel Shepherd twenty shillings cash with what he has now in possession to him and his heirs forever – Item – I give and bequeath unto my loving wife Mildred Shepherd all my lands and all the rest of my estate real and personal during her natural life or widowhood and she at her discretion to have power to sell my lands and to divide the money amongst my five daughters Elizabeth Shaperd, Ann Shapard, Mary Shapard, Mildred Shapard and Frances Shapard and if my wife should bring a daughter as now she goes with she to have part of the money the land is sold for[.] and the rest of my estate as Negros and movables to be divided amongst her children at the disposal as she thinks fit. Lastly, I do revoke all other wills by me made here before and this to be my last Will and Testament and I do appoint my loving wife Mildred Shapard whole and sole Executrix of this my last will and testament having hereunto set my hand and seal this 9^th day of November 1751. (Signed) Samuel Shepherd”

The will did not specifically mention two of Samuel’s sons, being John and William. The explanation of why they were not listed was due to the custom of primogeniture; whereby, the eldest male child was viewed as preferential and rightful heir to the most valuable estate, over the exclusion of the younger male children. Despite their names being absent, Mr. Shapard did provide estate for them in the sentence, “…and the rest of my estate as Negros and movables to be divided amongst her [Mildred’s] children at the disposal as she thinks fit.” In addition, the will specifically mentions Samuel’s oldest sons (Samuel II and Robert) due to them being from an earlier marriage and Mr. Shapard desiring to guarantee they received their rightful inheritance through the custom of primogeniture. Mr. Shapard also ensured that his son Robert, who remained with the family during his illness, received a more substantial inheritance than his older brother Samuel II, who had already advanced upon his inheritance prior to his move to Goochland County.

Sorrowfully, William’s father did not survive his illness and he died sometime between the signing of his last Will and Testament on November 9, 1751 and the probate of his estate three months later on February 11, 1752. Mr. Samuel Shapard was a professed Christian, having given his soul to God, and passed from this world among the love and tears of his pregnant wife and children. He was approximately 52 years old. When William’s father died, Anne Clear was the Sexton of the Lower Church of Stratton Major, located near the Shapard plantation, and was in charge of the funeral services. Samuel’s body was laid out and prepared by the family and wrapped in the burying sheet. He would have been laid to rest in a simple wooden coffin, possibly at the burying ground of the Lower Church or on the land of his plantation. There was an austere graveside service with family and friends and a minister, and then guests were invited back to the Shapard home for food and drink and to commune with one another. Samuel’s headstone was commissioned by a local craftsman who inscribed an epitaph adorned with a symbol of death and erected it at the burial site, upon completion, months later.

 If Samuel’s grave was located at the church burying ground, it would have been maintained by the sexton of the Lower Church until the church was abandoned in 1768, after which, the responsibility was assumed the Baptist congregation that occupied the old church beginning in 1772, headed by Rev. Robert Ware. Samuel’s widow, Mildred Shapard, was affiliated with this congregation and, no doubt, she and her children would have visited her late-husband’s grave from time to time. Eventually, however, time erased their presence at his grave, and his marker weathered away with the passing of centuries, concealing, perhaps for the rest of eternity, the hallowed site of Samuel Shapard’s mortal remains in Stratton Major Parish of King and Queen County.  

At the time of Mr. Shapard’s death, his son Samuel II was about 24 years old and living in Goochland County, Virginia. The rest of his children were living at home in King and Queen County. Robert was 19, Elizabeth was 15, John was 13, William was 10, Ann was 7, Mary was 5, Mildred was 3 and Frances was one. Sarah was born in 1752, a few months after his death, having never known her father. Life changed dramatically for this young family. Robert and Elizabeth, being the oldest children living at home, were thrust quickly into the responsibilities of adulthood, and life became painfully hard for a few years after their father’s passing.

About 1753, William’s mother was introduced to Mr. John Townley, who had been widowed by his wife Sarah Edmondson. Mr. Townley had resided in Stratton Major Parish of King and Queen County since the early 1740s, however, his first wife Sarah was from Essex County, Virginia, where she was raised. Due to this connection, John Townely had purchased many hundreds of acres around the Bestland Swamp and Dragon Swamp near the town of Miller’s Tavern. His sprawling estate resided partly in St. Stephen’s Parish of King and Queen County and partly in South Farnham parish of Essex County.  When Mr. Townley was widowed by his first wife, he was the sole parent for his children: John (born about 1737) and James (born about 1739). His teenage children needed the care and stability of a mother, just as the Shapard family needed the financial stability of a father. Circa 1754, Mildred Shapard married John Townley in Stratton Major parish of King and Queen County. Mr. Townley became guardian for the Shapard minors, ensuring they received a proper education and financially supporting them until they either got married or reached the age of twenty-one, whichever came first. In addition, through the right of his new wife, Mr. Townley became the administrator of the estate of Samuel Shapard, whereby, through the estate, he paid all debts and collected the outstanding revenue due to the late Mr. Shapard. He was also responsible for preserving the estate of the late Mr. Samuel Shapard as an inheritance to be administered to the Shapard children upon their marriage or reaching the age of maturity (21 years old).

After their marriage, Mr. Townely moved his new family to his large estate partly in St. Stephen’s Parish of King and Queen County and partly in South Farnham Parish of Essex County, near Miller’s Tavern. It was there that William would spend his teenage years, receiving an education and learning the skills necessary to operate a plantation. He also developed associations, friendships and relationships with the families that lived nearby, including the Wright family and the Booker family. Mr. and Mrs. Townley also appear to have retained the plantation originally owned by Samuel Shapard in Stratton Major Parish, and would return to domicile there beginning in the mid-1760s.

William’s older brother Robert presumably remained in King and Queen County until about 1757, after which he moved to Henrico County, Virginia. Robert’s move there was likely due to the fact that his older brother, Samuel II, had moved to Henrico County a year earlier. Circa 1758, Robert Shapard married Miss Elizabeth Blackwell. Their marriage was fruitful and they had numerous children over the years. Circa 1765, the family moved to Saint James Northam Parish of Goochland County, Virginia, where Elizabeth died in 1773. Robert married Sarah Clarke in 1776. Sarah was probably a widow herself as the terms of their marriage involved an agreement, whereby, Robert promised to give Sarah, and her heirs, full ownership of two slaves and some furniture. Robert died in early 1796, at the age of about 64 years, and it appears that Sarah predeceased him. Many of Robert’s children migrated in the late 1780s and early 1790s to Prince Edward County, Virginia, where they found spouses and settled for a while. Interestingly, all of Robert’s children (Samuel, William B. [Blackwell], Thomas, Elizabeth, Benjamin, Frances and Mildred) were illiterate, which resulted in the loss of their unique “Shapard” surname to the more common “Shepard” spelling in subsequent generations.

In 1755, William’s grandfather, John Crockford, Sr., became too feeble and infirmed to operate his plantation, so William’s brother, John Shapard, moved to his plantation to assist his grandfather, as well as, manage the crops and animals. Since Mr. Crockford’s only son had died years ago, he could not enact the custom of primogeniture, whereby the first born male inherits the family estate. Because John Shapard was the eldest son between the union of Samuel Shapard and his second wife, Mildred Crockford, as well as, being the eldest grandson between Mildred and her sisters; Mildred fought desperately for her son John to inherit her father’s (John Crockford, Sr.) plantation house and land. Unfortunately, the effort backfired terribly and Mildred became estranged from her father at the end of his life. Sometime during July to November of 1757, Mr. Crockford died. He willed to his grandson, John Shapard, “one yoke of oxen two cows and calfs one bed and furniture and one half of my sheep and one half of my hogs.” As far as the rest of the estate, Mr. Crockford willed his land and plantation house to his daughter Mary (Crockford) Faulkner, and willed his other daughter Mildred (Crockford) (Shapard) Townley a pittance of only twenty shillings.

John Shapard married Miss Anna Dillard, daughter of George Dillard and (___) Ware, circa 1758. John and Anna remained in King and Queen County until 1759, when they moved to Goochland County, Virginia, and purchased the 186 acre farm on Tuckahoe Creek previously owned by his brother, Samuel II. About the year 1763, John and his wife migrated with their slaves to the frontier of Granville County, North Carolina. He eventually purchased lands near the Tarr River and Tabb’s Creek, which he developed for agricultural use. He returned briefly to King and Queen County in 1767, to visit his mother and siblings, before returning to North Carolina. Near the end of the Revolutionary War, in 1781, John and his family left Granville County, North Carolina, for new endeavors, possibly in South Carolina, and finally settled in Franklin County Georgia circa the 1790s. John died in 1806 and was survived by his wife Anna and eight children: Samuel, George Dillard, Peter, Anna Ware Colman, Robert, Anna Dillard Nellums, Betsy Ridgdell, and Clary Burden. Of the sons, George and Peter are known to have been literate, writing their surname as “Shepard.” The other sons have yet to be fully researched.

From the mid-1750s to the early 1760s, William spent a great deal of time at the Townley plantation, located in St. Stephen’s Parish of King and Queen County and South Farnham Parish of Essex County, near Miller’s Tavern. It was there where William came of age and gained his inheritance from the estate of his late father, in the form of land in Stratton Major Parish of King and Queen County and possibly a slave. And as a bachelor of some wealth, William met and began courting Miss Mary Booker of South Farnham, Essex County. Mary was the eldest daughter of James Booker, Jr. (b. circa 1720 – d. 1793), and Elizabeth

(Howlett?) (b. 1726 – d. March 29, 1760). The Bookers had high social standing, “married into the best families, and when they moved to other counties continued to be community leaders with strong religious convictions.” Mary’s father was born in Gloucester County about 1720 and died in Essex County in 1793. He migrated from Gloucester County to South Farnham Parish in Essex County circa 1747, where he established a plantation known as “Laurel Grove,” near the town of Miller’s Tavern in close proximity to the King and Queen County border. Mr. and Mrs. Booker had six children that survived to adulthood: Mary was born on September 4, 1746; Johanna was born on February 25, 1749; Amy was born on August 27, 1752; Lewis was born on May 21, 1754; Elizabeth was born on January 27, 1756; and Ann was born on October 28, 1757.

In 1762, William married Miss Mary Booker in Essex County, Virginia. The wedding was most likely held at her father’s plantation of “Laurel Grove.” Unfortunately, Mary’s mother, Elizabeth Booker, was not in attendance, as she had passed away a few years earlier in 1760. At the time of their marriage, William was 21 years old and Mary was 16 years old. The newlywed couple received a male slave named Phil, either as a wedding gift from Mary’s father or as part of William’s inheritance. After the wedding, the couple appears to have resided in Essex County, yet spent the summer and fall tending to William’s land in Stratton Major Parish of King and Queen County. Shortly after marriage, William became enticed by the adventure of westward expansion, and the opportunities provided by inexpensive fertile lands upon which to gain wealth and prosperity.

Fortuitously, William’s association with the George Wright, Sr., family of South Farnham Parish, Essex County, provided him the connection, in the fall of 1762, to Thomas Wright, who was selling a portion of the land in Cumberland County, Virginia, that had been deeded to him, in 1756, from his father, George Wright, Sr.  Although Cumberland County was about 100 miles from King and Queen County, all three of William’s older brothers, Samuel II, Robert, and John, had already made their way westward or to the frontier. At that time, John was in Granville County, North Carolina, and both Samuel II and Robert were residing in Henrico County, Virginia, which neighbored Cumberland County to the north. It would have been a tremendously exciting time for William and his young bride, to embark on such grand adventure, while at the same time feeling the trepidation of leaving the known for the unknown. Vast untapped country lay ahead of them with the promise of hardships compensated by the potential of limitless opportunity and success for those brave enough to make the journey and give it their all.