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Black Sheep Sunday -- MARGARET STILL

Today Margaret would not be considered (by most) to be a black sheep. In 1807 however, Margaret got pregnant out of wedlock, according to my (now late) great aunt HELEN STILL WEBSTER. Aunt Helen said that her father told her that his grandmother (Margaret) got pregnant. No one knows who the father was. It is uncertain if Margaret knew or if that part of the story just did not get passed down. Anyway - Margaret's father put her up on a farm near Goosetown in Chester County, PA. That is how the family came to be in East Fallowfield Township, Chester County, PA.

What I do know about Margaret:
* 1788 born in Pennsylvania (1850 US Census)
* 1807 got pregnant at age 19 and got placed out on a farm in Chester County, PA.(as per family story)
* 3 May 1808 son GEORGE DAVID STILL was born in East Fallowfield Township, Chester County, PA.
* 24 July 1822 son DAVID STILL was born in East Fallowfield Township, Chester County, PA.
* 2 February 1829 she bought a messuage and two tracts of land in East Fallowfield Township, Chester County, PA from the Kennedy family.
* 1850 Census shows her living with son David and his family.
* 1872 MARGARET STILL died. She is buried in the Hephzibah Baptist Church Cemetery in East Fallowfield Township, Chester County, PA.

That indiscretion that would have labeled her a Balck Sheep back in 1807 simply proves her challenging today!

Comments

  1. Julia, IBSSGJanuary 17, 2011 at 2:02 PM

    "...she bought a messuage and two tracts of land..."

    For other readers' information: I didn't know what "messuage" meant, so I looked it up ---

    Main Entry: mes·suage
    Pronunciation: 'mes-wij
    Function: noun
    Etymology: Anglo-French, probably alteration of Old French mesnage dwelling house, ultimately from Latin mansion- mansio habitation, dwelling, from manEre to remain, sojourn, dwell
    : a dwelling house with the adjacent buildings and curtilage and other adjoining lands used in connection with the household
    Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law.

    It's a new term to me: guess my family went messuage-less.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Genealogical GemsJanuary 25, 2011 at 5:04 AM

    Don't feel bad Julia. I had to look that one up initially too.

    ReplyDelete

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