Mary Elizabeth Deckard

Warning

There has been substantial confusion as to which Samuel Vance Jr. Mary Elizabeth Decker was the daughter of.

She is the daughter of Samuel Jr. b. 1749, and his wife Margaret Laughlin, b. 1757. She is given a birthdate of 1760, however, which simply cannot be correct. given the dates as known.

I suggest her true birthdate is actually 1773.

See her husband's Find-A-Grave listing (#43305704) for documentation of his marriage to her. See curator's note about her parentage.

--Terry Teford Cooper

Notes

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65270621/johannes-jacob-deckard

Washington County, Virginia was formed from part of Botetourt County, Virginia in 1776, leaving a smaller Botetourt County. I have done extensive on-site research in both counties, and the 1780 county marriage records are still on file. But I found nothing in the marriage records, church banns, or marriage bonds regarding the marriage of Jacob Deckard. Records were available, but Jacob's name was not in them. This poses the question as to how, and if, the DAR information was properly documented with valid records.

Samuel and Margaret Vance lived in Abingdon, Washington County, Virginia, where their lives are well documented in authentic records. According to those records, Samuel Vance and Margaret Laughlin did not have a daughter named Mary or Mary Elizabeth. But they did have a daughter named Elizabeth who was born about 1798. eighteen years after the the 1780 date that Jacob is said to have married. This Elizabeth Vance married Abraham Bradley and died before 1820.

Some researchers claim that before he married Margaret Laughlin, Samuel Vance first married Agnes Penquite and had daughters named Elizabeth and Mary. But these daughters would have been only seven and ten years of age in 1780, when Jacob is said to have married. And too, the dates and location of this Samuel Vance raises questions as to this being the same Samuel Vance who married Margaret Laughlin in 1778 in Washington County, Virginia.

I have researched all the Mary Vance's of record I could find, but have located no Mary Vance that fits into the timeframe and locality and no Mary Vance whose spouse is unaccounted for. But I agree with Dr. Percy Deckard on one point. The records both he and I observed show the name of Jacob Deckard's wife as Elizabeth. Virginia and Indiana land deeds, as well as Virginia baptismal records, all give her name as Elizabeth. However, Elizabeth who remains a mystery.

Samuel and Margaret Vance were prominent citizens in Abingdon, Virginia, and that is why their lives are well documented. The couple are buried with well-marked tombstones at Sinking Springs Cemetery in downtown Abingdon. According to local records, the tombstone engraver misspelled Margaret Laughlin's name as Laughlan. Then, the information in Dr. Percy Deckard's book, from DAR application # 195379, misspelled the already misspelled name as Laughland. And ever since, many armchair researchers have continued to pass the doubly misspelled name along as Laughland. But the errors do not stop there.

Dr. Percy Deckard's book, on page 528, says that Samuel Vance, who married Margaret Laughland (Laughlin), was a colonel in the "Revolutionary Army". But the documents on record in Abingdon, Virginia make it clear that the Samuel Vance who married Margaret Laughlin was a civil servant in some sort of judiciary capacity and registered in the local Virginia Militia for call to duty as needed, which occurred three times. He served as a supply sergeant during a stint in Lord Dunmore's War against the Shawnee Indians, at the Battle of Point Pleasant, and at the Battle of King's Mountain. However, his pension was drawn as a wartime civil servant rather than as a sergeant.

The Samuel Vance in the Virginia Militia who made colonel lived in Augusta County, Virginia and was married to Sarah Bird (Byrd). He was made a colonel in the Virginia Militia by court action in Augusta County immediately before the British surrender at Yorktown. He was given command of troops and sent to Yorktown at the surrender to usher British captives to the arranged quarters. For further reference that Colonel Samuel Vance is not an ancestor in the lineage of Jacob Deckard see SAR membership # S1882.

Taking Dr. Percy Edward Deckard's book as gospel and failure to thoroughly research the added claims of family researchers has allowed unfounded information to creep into Deckard genealogy. And with the handy availability of the internet, the misinformation is beginning to abound far and wide. I would hope to leave as clear a record as possible of my lineage from Jacob Deckard, Senior. But it increasingly appears that half-truths, exaggerations, fantasies, and fictitious stories are spreading faster than substantially documented facts. My vexation does not end with me. I am also concerned for you and your descendants. How sad that future generations will be left with glorified fiction!

Ron E. Deckard

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Indiana Patriot Graves - Indiana State SAR

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Sep 12 2021, 15:36:26 UTC Contributor: Lois Hendricks (48497587) • [email%C2%A0protected] No dates w/o Johann Suggested edit: Elizabeth Deckard (born Vance) was born in 1760, at birth place, Maryland, to Samuel C. * Vance, Jr. and Agnes or Agness Vance (born Penguite). Samuel was born from Circa December 10 1728 to Circa 1749, in Wrightstown, Buck Co, PA or Ireland. Agnes was born from Circa March 16 1730 to Circa May 16 1730, in Wrightstown, Buck Co, PA. Contributor: Lois Hendricks (48497587) • indianalucy hotmail.com
• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Mar 27 2024, 18:31:23 UTC
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65270531/mary_elizabeth_deckard
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/43305704/johannes_jacob_deckard
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/65270621/johannes-jacob-deckard