Stephenson~Cloyd 1808 Marriage Bond - Amanuensis Monday

Thanks to John at Transylvanian Dutch who originated the Amanuensis Monday meme, providing a framework (and nudge) for transcribing family records, news clippings and other treasures.

During my summer research travels I stopped at the Rockbridge County (VA) Clerk's office and asked to see the marriage bond for my 4th great-grandparents'. They brought out the document, encased in mylar (I hope) and allowed me to handle it carefully and photograph it.

 

Stephenson~Cloyd Marriage Bond

Know all men by these presents that we John Stephenson & Joseph Cloyd are held and firmly bound unto Wm. H. Cabell governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia & his successors in office for the use of the commonwealth in the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars to ___ which payment well & truly to be made we bind ourselves our heirs executors & jointly & severally firmly by these presents Witness our hands & seals the 13th day of Septem 1808  The condition of the above obligation is such that whereas there is a marriage shortly intended to be solemnized between the above bound Stephenson and Elizabeth Cloyd, Daughter of David Cloyd, decd ______
If therefore there shall be no lawful cause to obstruct the same then this obligation to be void otherwise to remain in full force and virtue

J Stephenson {seal}

Jos Cloyd {seal}

Teste William Anderson

Notes: Joseph Cloyd was Elizabeth's brother. Her mother, also named  Elizabeth was still living. John and Elizabeth were married by his maternal uncle, Rev. Samuel Houston, at Natural Bridge. It was Rev. Houston's habit to marry couples outdoors at Natural Bridge. I took the picture below the same day I photographed the marriage bond. The small white dots at the foot of the bridge's arches are people. It's hard to imagine a more majestic setting.

Source: Rockbridge, Virginia, John Stephenson/Elizabeth Cloyd Marriage Bond, 13 Sep 1808; Rockbridge County Clerk's Office, Lexington.  

At the end of the road - Tombstone Tuesday

When I arrived in Washington County, Tennessee after following the same path south as my Scots-Irish Presbyterian ancestors (though far more comfortably and rapidly), I went first to the cemeteries dotting the countryside around the Big Limestone Creek where they settled. 

At Salem Cemetery, located on the grounds of Washington College, I found the fading markers for my 4th great-grandparents John and Elizabeth Cloyd Stephenson and for John's mother, Alice Houston Stephenson. I am a novice gravestone photographer and these are almost impossible to read without ones fingers tracing the letters. I've transcribed the engraving as best I can. Selecting individual photographs will allow you to make out some of the lettering.

              memory of

Elizabeth Stephenson

Born October 15^th 17  

Died March 30^th 18  

aged 61 years &         

             memory of

John Stephenson

Born May 2 th 1779

Died March 24^th 1842

aged _ 2 & 10 months

            memory of

Alice Stephenson

Born August 1_th 1749

Died February 27^th 1832

aged 82 years & 6 months

The Road

By freefotouk

I am home. My genealogy dream trip this summer lasted five and half weeks, covered 4,800 miles (lots of backtracking involved, but I could drive Interstate 81 for years and not mind), stays in 4 states and the District of Columbia, visits to the National Archives, the DAR Library, the Library of Virginia, the Mary Ball Washington Library, the Archives of Appalachia, two courthouses, eight cemeteries, family homes and even living, breathing family members. I had dinner three nights with fellow geneabloggers (completely wonderful!), ate my first Ethiopian meal with my fabulous niece, caught up with a college friend I'd not seen in years, and looked at microfilm until my eyes and brain were completely crossed. I have thousands of images to sort through and assess. But I do believe that's for another day. A la Scarlett O'Hara, I'll think about that tomorrow.

What I have been thinking about is how I was able to travel the distance of my ancestors lives in a matter of hours. My Scots-Irish family migrated south through the Shenandoah Valley from western Pennsylvania to Tennessee over several generations. One morning I woke in Lexington, VA and visited the Rockbridge County Courthouse. I saw the original marriage bond for my 4th great-grandparents, John Stephenson and Elizabeth Cloyd. That afternoon, after driving south on I-81, I visited their graves at the Salem Cemetery in Washington County, TN. I stayed in Jonesborough, where Elizabeth started a school for girls in 1820.

I remember traveling through Virginia before the interstate was built, before cars had air conditioners, when  a hotel swimming pool was rare. It took a full day longer. The roads were curvier (I consumed large quantities of dramamine on those trips), narrower, and far more difficult to drive. From today's perspective it was a difficult trip.

I try to imagine John and Elizabeth traveling down to Tennessee in 1808. They surely traveled the same route I did - the Great Warriors Trail. I wonder if there were ghosts on their road, as there have been on mine.