Nancy May Oatman

Nancy May (Nance) Oatman was a true pioneer woman in every sense. She came with her parents and siblings into the wilderness of Southern Indiana, arriving in the Spring of 1805. Theirs was only the second family to lay claim to land at what--14 years later--would become Floyd County. By 1832, her husband brought her to Illinois, where theirs was the second family to arrive at what became the town of Eureka. In 1856, after her son Clement was appointed to create the Texas county of Llano, her husband donated 100 acres of land to help form the 250 acres needed to establish that county’s seat—the town of Llano—which was her last home.

But these were only some of the ‘pioneering’ moves she and her family made. Nancy May and her husband had at least six known residences in three different states. Along the way, she is known to have had sixteen children, including two sets of twins:

America & Eliza twins)
Clement and Joseph (twins)
Hardin
John
James R.
George (died young)
William
Simeon
Jesse
Preston (died young)
Theresa (died young)
Ira
Mary Ann
Pleasant S.

Through all this change and adversity, Nancy May remained steadfast in her spiritual life and a support to her husband and sons in their faith. She was said to have been “fluent in quoting scripture,” and was described by her son Pleasant’s wife as “a statesman and historian,” who could recite “whole books she had read in her maidenhood.”

She was enumerated with her husband at Bastrop County, Texas on the 1850 census, and at Llano County in 1860. Their land near Llano was located about two miles directly south of town.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 26 2023, 20:51:18 UTC