Ann "Nancy" Middleton Mitchell

Ann Middleton “Nancy” CRAIG was the fourth of eight children born to Captain Robert CRAIG (a revolutionary war veteran) and Jeanette “Jane” DENNY. Nancy was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on March 11, 1786. Not much is known about her early life except that she came from a very close-knit, Christian family. She and her father were especially close and we have a few heart-felt letters written to her by him. The CRAIGs were also of Scotch-Irish descent.

It is unknown how they met, but John and Nancy were married on July 26, 1808 in Washington Co., Virginia by the Reverend Dr. Stephen BOVELL.

The MITCHELLs set up their home in Abingdon, Virginia where they had seven children; William King (1809), Robert Craig (1811), Sarah Harriet (1812), Anna Amanda (1814), Louisa Henderson (1816), Leonidas Watkins (1818), and James Bourne (1821). Nancy was a well-educated woman of her time. She composed her own music (hymns) and kept careful notes on her posterity in her Bible. It is because of this Bible (given to her by her father, Robert CRAIG), that we know so much about this family.

Two months after their last child was born, John MITCHELL died in Abingdon on August 30, 1821. It seems his death was ‘expected’ as he had time to write/update his will in 1819 (two years before). In his will, John was quite fair. Children from his first wife (Elizabeth KING) had already received an inheritance from their wealthy uncle, William KING. John wanted all of his children to be on ‘equal footing’ and therefore left his estate to his wife, Nancy, for the benefit of their common children. John MITCHELL was buried in Sinking Springs Cemetery there in Abingdon. No headstone still exists.

In 1824, Nancy married Dr. Stephen BOVELL – the minister who married her to John MITCHELL years before. Together they had one daughter, Margaret Jane BOVELL (1825). We are not sure to what extent, but Nancy may have raised children from her husband’s (John MITCHELL) first marriage, her six children with John and her daughter from Dr. BOVELL.

On Monday, Sept. 26, 1836, Nancy (age 49), Stephen BOVELL and their children left Clover Hill near Abingdon for a new life in Missouri. They traveled by wagon--covering about 20 miles a day depending on the condition of the roads. Nancy kept a detailed journal of the trip, noting every town, county and state along the way, the weather, and the hospitality of the inn keepers where they stopped for the night. After two long months of traveling, the family eventually settled on Dark creek near Huntsville in Randolph County, Missouri.

Nancy CRAIG-MITCHELL-BOVELL died less than a year after arriving in Missouri. She passed away on July 12, 1837 on their rural farm outside of Huntsville at the age of 51.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 11 2021, 3:44:48 UTC