Elizabeth Gochenour

Daughter of Rev. John Roads, a Mennonite preacher who lived with his family near Luray, Va. on the banks of the Shenandoah River. Elizabeth is the heroine in our family as during an Indian attack against her family she managed to grab one of her siblings and escape though a barn while her Father, mother and a brother were killed nearthe house. Two other brothers in a field nearby were discovered by the indians and killed. Elizabeth, probably in her very early teens, took up her baby sister and ran to a barn with and secured the door. An indian pursued her but while he was attempting to gain entry, Elizabeth crawled through a loose board on the opposite of the barn. With her sister in her arms, she ran through an adjacent hemp field, crossed the river and walked safely to a neighbors house. By evening of the same day, Elizabeth had walked 8 miles with her sister to the home of her eldest brother Joseph, who lived in Ida. In this manner she escaped saving herself and sister from certain death and went on to marry Jacob Gochenour Jr. Waylands History of Shenandoah County relates the story and has pictures of the cellar-fort under the Roads home, the rebuilt house and the neaby ford, named bloody ford because one of the boys was shot and killed while wading across the river trying to escape. The picture below shows the Shenandoah River with an arrow pointing to the place known as "bloody ford" where one of Rev John Roads sons was shot.

http://www.angelfire.com/my/sallingerfamily/GrGrandparentsFrank.htm

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Aug 14 2016, 17:30:04 UTC

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Elizabeth married Jacob Gochenour