Daniel Dampier's First Wife & Mother of His Children Was Betsy Scruggs???
If you aren't on the list to receive "The Buccaneer" then you should be.Contact Suzanne Dampier McCathey and send her some money ($8.00 per year) for postage and copying costs.You get a lot for your money and you never know when new information will surface that will help you in your research.The following is just such an example.
We received our copy of the Dampier Family Genealogical Newsletter, "The Buccaneer", yesterday which featured a front page article by Jim Dampier, a Baptist minister, trout fisherman and devoted Dampier researcher.
The article on Rev. Jim Dampier's report states, "The long standing view that Elizabeth Pitts was the first and only wife of Daniel Dampier, R.S. (1757-1847) probably has it's foundations in the statement by Folks Huxford in Volume Six of Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, page 66, that Elizabeth Pitts, daughter of John Pitts, R.S., was Daniel's wife.It was the accepted position by many that she was his only wife and mother of all of his children.However, in the DAR Patriot Index, page 174, Daniel's first wife is listed as 'unknown' and according to the records of the John Floyd Chapter of the DAR of Homerville, Georgia, Daniel married Elizabeth Pitts about 1796."If true, Elizabeth Pitts would not be the mother of Daniel's children.
Jim's reports continues with, "For several years I have concentrated much research on early church records, particularly early Baptist records in South Carolina and Georgia.Daniel involvement with the development of the Newington Church, a branch of the Black Swamp Baptist Church in South Carolina and his membership in the Little Ogeechee Baptist Church in Oliver, Georgia, where Reverenc William Cone was the first pastor, prompted me to look in this direction.With the help of archivist, researchers, Baptist historians, personal friends on staff in Baptist libraries and archives and through my own research, I was able to locate the following information.In Early South Carolina Baptists, written by Charles P. Williams, D.D., and published in 1832, page 97, states, 'Although little information has been found thus far concerning this wonderful period of God's guidance and enlightenment for our Baptist brethren, Rev. E. Pugh maintained a notebook of early records from associational letters and minutes that provides information on the Three Rivers or Bethesda congregation.'"
"Dr. Williams states in a letter from the Bethesda Church, dated 1778, that appears to be a letter to the Charleston Association and referring to the Bethesda Church, there are reported six baptisms, three weddings and one funeral.No one was reported as excluded from the congregation.One of the weddings reported was that of Daniel Dampier and BETSY SCRUGGS.Considering that these were reported in a church letter of 1778, these events would have occurred in 1777.Based on this evidence, it appears that Daniel was first married to Elizabeth Scruggs sometime in 1777, and that she was the mother of his children.Soon after this marriage and, according to Huxford, after the birth of his first son, John, Daniel moved from the Barnwell District to Georgia and settled on Brier Creek."
"Additional historical records reveal that Rev. Evan Pugh was a prominent Baptist minister and leader during this period and that the Bethesda Congregation was meeting as early as 1763 in Granville County, South Carolina, in what would later become the Barnwell District.The Bethesda Church was also known as The Three Runs Church rather than the Three Rivers Church as it was called by Dr. Williams."
That is the end of the article in "The Buccaneer".
Suzanne and/or Reverend Jim Dampier, may I have a copy of this letter?Will you please post the letter on this forum for all to read?This is valuable information and something I am sure we all need/want to know more and see for ourselves.
As far as I know, there isn't a marriage record for Elizabeth Pitts and Daniel so we do not have a year of marriage.If Becky Scruggs died before her children were grown and Elizabeth Pitts finished raising Becky's children, that might explain why people in later years only knew about Pitts and related this information to Huxford.
What is known about Becky Scruggs?
Documentation is the key to our knowledge.If the DAR states that Daniel Dampier's first wife is unknown then I believe it.The DAR has taken great steps for several years now to make sure that lineages are correct and authenticated by documentation.
We need the same on this forum.Please share your sources of information. We all need more facts and I want actual documentation.I can have a postage paid, addressed return envelope and check as payment for your cost of copying in the mail by the next business day.
More Replies:
-
Re: Daniel Dampier's First Wife & Mother of His Children Was Betsy Scruggs???
James Dampier 8/11/03
-
Re: Daniel Dampier's First Wife & Mother of His Children Was Betsy Scruggs???
Pat Dampier 8/03/03