Sarah Ryburn

b. 29 December 1788, d. 18 March 1873
FatherMathew Ryburn1,2 b. 26 Aug 1753, d. 6 Mar 1818
MotherJane Beattie1 b. abt 1760, d. 21 Aug 1814
Birth29 Dec 1788 Sarah Ryburn was born on 29 Dec 1788 in Washington County, Virginia.3,4 
Marriage24 Dec 1813 She married William Davis, son of (?) Davis, on 24 Dec 1813 in Washington County, Virginia, according to Washington County marriage records.5 
28 Dec 1813  However, their daughter Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett created a journal during Sarah's lifetime in which she recorded her parents marriage date as 28 Dec. 1813.6 
  Sarah's older sister Jane married William's twin brother John in 1820. 
Legatee22 Feb 1818 Sarah's father mentioned her in his will, written in February 1818, five years after Sarah's marriage. He left her a Negro boy named Sam and a share in the property left after specific legacies were made to his sons.2 
Anecdote  The following is taken from Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett's journal:

"My mother's place of residence and all of her people was in [the] Glade Spring neighborhood before she was married, all Presbyterian. After her and Father were married they lived on a small farm within 3 miles of what was called Kings Salt Works, 5 miles north of [the] Glade Spring Neighborhood, lived there until the children were grown and married (some of them) and sold out there with [the] intention of moving West but backed out and bought Father Moffett's farms down the valley north of Abingdon and lived there until he died..... then mother and the rest moved to Carroll County in the fall. Father was buried in the place that [he] died on, beside the dead of the Moffett family."7 
ChildDeathApr 1845 Sarah's first few years in Carroll County were not easy. In April 1845 she lost two of her sons within a ten day period. William died of typhoid fever at age 16 on April first and ten days later his brother John died of cancer at age twenty-seven. Two month's earlier her 28 year old daughter lost her husband. 
Cens-Sum  Sarah settled in Freedom township with her only surviving son Mathew assuming the role of head of the family. Living with them was Sarah's widowed daughter, Eleanor Davis McCoy and her four children. Living nearby were Sarah's four married daughters including Mary Jane (Davis) Moffett.8,9 
  For some years Sarah lived in what was described in an 1850 letter as the "old place". This was most likely the cabin Garner and Mary Jane Moffett lived in when they first settled in Carroll County.10 
Anecdote24 Feb 1870 On 24 Feb. 1870 Mary Jane, by then herself a widow, wrote this about her mother:

"Sarah Davis, my deare mother, is still liveing and liveing with me, her age being 81.... 5 of her children liveing in Carroll Co. IL, haveing moved from Va some 25 or 6 years ago.... she is quite smart and can read and sew and knit as well as she ever did and can do a great many other things".3 
Cens-187020 Jun 1870 A few months later the census enumerator preserved a glimpse of Sarah and Mary Jane's household. Mary Jane's son John and his family were also living with them; John was enumerated as the head of the household.11 
  They all lived on the land settled by Mary Jane and Garner Moffett years earlier. Enumerated next to the family was John Wolfe, on whose land many family members were buried. Three years later Sarah would also be buried there. 
Death18 Mar 1873 Sarah died on 18 Mar 1873 at age 84 of dropsey.12,13 
Burial8 Oct 1881 She was interred at Lanark Cemetery in Carroll County, Illinois on 8 Oct. 1881, having been previously buried at Wolfe Cemetery, also in Carroll County. Sarah's sons, John, William and Mathew are buried nearby.13,14 

Related Links and Images:

See Mary Jane's Journal for images and text from the journal of Sarah's daughter, Mary Jane (Davis) Moffett. Sarah also contributed to the journal
Davis monument at Lanark Cemetery15
Find Lanark Cemetery on the Carroll County map (also accessible via the Misc. Locations link in the menu bar at the top of any page).

Family

William Davis b. Apr 1778, d. 24 May 1842
Children
ChartsDescendants of Mathew Ryburn and Jane Beattie
Last Edited3 May 2011

Citations

  1. [S10] "Journal of Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett", p. 8. Children of Mathew Ryburn and Jane his wife: Elen, Mary, Jane, Sarah, Beaty (oldest son), Ann, Nancy, and Mathew (youngest son).
  2. [S131] Mathew Ryburn will (22 Feb. 1818), Washington Co., Virginia, Will Book 4: 234-235. Lists sons Beatie and Mathew Ryburn, also daughters: Jane Ryburn, Ann Ryburn, Sarah Davis, Nancy Buchanan (mentions her husband as James Buchanan), Eleanor Nichol and Mary McNeille.
  3. [S10] "Journal of Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett", p. 4.
  4. [S5] Elizabeth Kelly Allison, Early Southwest Virginia Families, p. 102-6. This source uses 22 Dec. 1788 and appears to have been contributed by Peggie Shugart.
  5. [S4] D.E. Brown, Marriages of Washington Co., VA 1781-1853, p. 16. William Davis and Sarah Ryburn, 24 Dec. 1813; minister James Harper.
  6. [S10] "Journal of Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett", p. 19.
  7. [S10] "Journal of Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett", p. 28.
  8. [S1029] Mathew R. Davis household, 1850 U.S. census, Carroll Co., Illinois, pop. sched., Freedom township, p. 700 (added script, dwelling 4, family 4, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Nov. 2004, image 8 of 8. Enumeration records: Mathew R. Davis, 24, farmer; Sarah 5_; Ellen McCoy, 33; rest McCoy: Samuel 15; Wm 13; Mary M. 11; Lavinia A. 9; all prev. persons b. VA; Sarah 7, b. IL.
  9. [S1030] Mathew Davis household, 1860 U.S. census, Carroll Co., Illinois, pop. sched., Freedom, p. 871 (added script), dwelling 322, family 311, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Nov. 2004, image 13 of 22. Enumeration includes: Mathew Davis, 35, farmer, real estate: $4,800, pers. prop: $1,245, b. VA; Sarah, 72, b. VA; B. Sebastion, 20, farm laborer, b. OH; Sam McKay, 25, farm laborer, b. VA; Lavinia McCay, servant, 19, b. VA.
  10. [S1894] Eliza F. Pierce (Plum River, Carroll Co., IL) to Julia Adaline Laird (Linneous, Linn Co., MO), letter, 21 Jul 1850; Laird Family Letters, 1849-1864. Letter states, "Mathew Davis and his mother and Ellen Maccoy still lives on the old place....Garner Moffett has built a large brick house up on the road."
  11. [S1031] John Moffett household, 1870 U.S. census, Carroll Co., Illinois, pop. sched., Freedom township, p. 131b (stamped, dwelling 75, family 75, viewed online at Ancestry.com, Nov. 2004, image 12 of 21. Enumeration records: John Moffett, 35, farmer, b. IN; Sarah, 31, b. OH; Lucellue, 10, (f); Frank 5; Edwin 2, baby 2, all b. VA; Mary J., 56, b. VA; Sarah Davis, 80, b. VA; + 2 laborers and 1 servant.
  12. [S10] "Journal of Mary Jane Beaty (Davis) Moffett", p. 18.
  13. [S1027] Lanark Cemetery, Sexton's records. Record states: Sarah Davis, d. 18 Mar 1873 of dropsy, b. Wa Co VA, Resid Rock Creek, Carroll Co, buried 8 Oct. 1881; Note: several family members appear to have been reinterred at Lanark Cemetery in 1881 after having been previously buried in Wolfe Cemetery. Wolfe was a burial ground used by families in the vicinity of Freedom township before the establishment of Lanark cemetery.
  14. [S1026] Carroll County Genealogical Society, Carroll County, Illinois Tombstone Inscriptions Vol. 3, Stone reported to read: Sarah Davis, wife of William, d. 18 Mar 1873, aged 84y, 2m, 17d.
  15. [S1376] Photo courtesy Laura Sielestadt.