Sarah Doyal

Seen as child of Peter Cornwell without supporting evidence.

Biography

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kirkland-948

Sarah's parents haven't been proven. There are speculations based on nearby neighbors and wills that her maiden name was either Sarah Kirkland or Sarah Cornwell.

We know she was married twice - first to Reuben Calvert (who died in the Revolutionary War, 1777), and next to Charles Doyal. Her marriage to Charles was an unhappy one, as she left him after ten or twelve years. But most interesting is that we have a record of Sarah's profession, in a time when women were generally only recorded as 'wife of.' She was a skilled physician for children and a midwife, and she taught these skills to Milly, who taught them to her daughter. The three women were best known in their communities for tirelessly tending sick children and acting as midvives. Milly and her daughter practiced in Clay County, Indiana (Sarah practiced in Prince William, VA and later Nelson County, Kentucky):

"Mrs. Millie Cromwell, wife of Nicholas G. Cromwell, who came to Clay county within the year of its organization, locating on Eel river, in Cass township, was the pioneer midwife and physician to children within the territory of the county. Her services were sought both far and near and she responded to calls by day and by night, at all times and seasons. She had been taught and trained to this service by her mother, in the state of Virginia, and practiced it all her life until disabled by an accident a few months before her death. A daughter, Sarah Cromwell, later the wife of John Mills, did the same, both before and after the death of her mother. The services of the mother and daughter in this capacity covered a period of sixty years -- from 1825 to 1885."[1]

Sarah was born April 26, 1741 (needs source) in Prince William, Virginia. She married Reuben Calvert on January 1, 1758, and together they had seven sons between 1758 - 1769, all in Prince Williams. Her husband, Reuben, passed away in Philadelphia, Delaware as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. One story says he accidentally shot himself in the face during his second month. in January of 1777 (only 35 years old), so at some point they moved there.

She married Charles Doyal and had at least one child (Milly) in Virginia before the Doyals moved to Kentucky with several other families, such as the Barnetts. Charles blamed their separation on Sarah's 'variable disposition,' however, this was after her death when he was trying to sue for a part of her estate she had accumulated on her own and left to her children and grandchildren. She did not mention him in her will. She passed away December 27, 1819 in Nelson, Kentucky.

From Descendants of Virginia Calverts (compiled by Ella Foy O'Gorman - Mrs. Michael Martin O'Gorman, 1947), Pg. 89:

http://wvancestry.com/ReferenceMaterial/Files/Descendants_of_the_Vi...

Issue of Reuben and Sarah () Calvert (all born in Prince William County, Virginia):

• 127+ i. Thomas Calvert (m. Mary Emily Gray)
• 128+ ii. Francis Calvert b. (unproved). m1. (unnamed), m2. Margaret Hambrick, see No. 100.
• 129+ iii. Elijah Calvert b. (unproved), m. (unnamed) see No. 101
• 130+ iv. Levi Calvert b. (unproved), m. Veny see No. 102
• 131+ v. Richard K. Calvert b. July 10, 1765, m. Elizabeth Peyton.
• 132+ vi. Reuben Calvert m1. (unnamed, m2. (unnamed), m3 Sarah Haislip.
• 133 vii.

References

• https://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I1021...