LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-L Archives

From: <>
Subject: ELLIOTT Find!
Date: Sun, 28 Dec 1997 18:29:20 -0500

I think maybe this note did not make it through to the list at large, and
so I'm forwarding it. Read it! What a GREAT story!

Shari Handley, LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-L listowner and host of:
Somerset MDGenWeb - http://www.rootsweb.com/~mdsomers/somerset.htm
Wicomico MDGenWeb - http://www.rootsweb.com/~mdwicomi/wicomico.htm
Handley's Eastern Shore MD Genealogy - http://bay.intercom.net/handley/
Lower Delmarva Genealogical Society - http://bay.intercom.net/ldgs/
--------- Begin forwarded message ----------
From: "Mike Hitch" <>
To: "LOWER-DELMARVA-ROOTS-L" <>
Subject: ELLIOTT Find!
Date: Fri, 26 Dec 1997 18:07:09 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <001901bd126d$3ff1fa40$>

Here's a little genealogical adventure I had today (12/26/97) which
should
interest Eastern Shore researchers.

It was a very nice day for late December on the Eastern Shore of Maryland
with a high temperature approaching 60 degrees. Most folks were jammed
into
the stores and malls doing after Christmas shopping. However, I was in a
genealogy sleuthing mood. My interests had been piqued the previous day,
on
Christmas, when talking to each of my Grandmothers they had given me some
clues to check out in relation to our family history.

My grandmother Hitch (nee Hamilton) had told me of an old family cemetery
on
a farm about a mile away on Meadow Bridge Road. She had heard of it from
a
Mrs. Stevenson who now owns the farm and, knowing that I frequent
cemeteries
(an affliction common among us genealogists), she arranged for me to go
and
visit it. I trekked over there and up a long lane about 0.35 miles back
in
the field to a small cemetery. It had three headstones of the McGrath
family who were not direct ancestors of mine. However, I diligently
copied
down the information to add to the cemetery records Shari Handley has
been
collecting on the Internet (Shari, I will get these and others to you
soon!).

Another lead I had gotten the day before concerned an Elliott ancestor of
mine on my maternal side. His name was Benjamin Elliott whom I had been
able to piece together limited information from Census records and an old
obituary in the Salisbury Advertiser. From these I had figured his
birthdate to have been sometime in 1808 and his death as March 16, 1883.
I
had no clue as to where he was laid to rest. I had had a conversation
with
my grandmother Wiltbank (nee Elliott) about her paternal line and she
gave
me some good information about where the Elliotts had lived just east of
Delmar, MD/DE.

I also consulted my 1876 maps of the Eastern Shore of Maryland and found
the
residence of a B. Elliott on the east side of Delmar sitting back from
the
old road that used to be used by the stage coach in its north-south
route.
The residence was situated very close to the Delaware state line. Using
this record, I extrapolated where the location might be on a modern map
and
set out looking for it. I headed up the old road now called Stage Road
that
parallels U.S. Route 13 about 1/4 mile to the east. I found an old
Nichols
Family cemetery not far south of the Delaware line and conjectured that
my
Ben Elliott might be there. He was not, but again I jotted down the
cemetery records for inclusion on the Internet.

I then ventured further up Stage Road until I hit Line Road that actually
is
the MD/DE line for quite a few miles east of Delmar heading towards the
ocean. I headed east on Line Road looking off to the south hoping to see
an
old farmhouse or something that may have been Ben Elliott's residence
back
in 1876. There were no houses - just a wide-open field. However, back
in
one of the fields just a little east of where Stage Road came into Line
Road, there was a tell-tale clump of brush sitting way back about 200
yards
from the road. I slowed down to look for an access road that might lead
me
back to that brush pile. All I could find was a temporary and very muddy
dirt land that had been used by the tractors and other farm equipment
that
had harvested the crops earlier in the fall. Putting my Explorer into
four-wheel drive, I headed across the field.

When I reached the brush pile (which is exactly what it was) all I saw
initially was some overgrowth of small trees and a thicket of briars. It
also looked as if the farmers had used the area to pile up old dirt and
debris from the farm. Basically, it was a mess! I stopped and got out
with
my trusty Boston Terrier, Yaz, to do some exploring. Anyone who has been
to
the Eastern Shore knows of what we locals call "bull briars". They are a
thicket of green vines loaded with long and very sharp thorns. This
place
was overgrown with them!

I started into the area which measured about 40' by 25' and spotted what
looked like to be an old tombstone that had been toppled over. On it was
the inscription "Polly Elliott, born December 19, 1811, died October 23,
1870". This was no doubt Benjamin Elliott's wife Mary (Gordy) Elliott!
I
was really excited as I had not been able to find any record of where the
Elliotts were buried from the usual sources (Tatnall and Hudson for
Delaware
cemeteries and Jacobs for Wicomico County, MD). This cemetery had
evidently
been remote enough to miss getting into the records and I had found it!
However, I wanted to locate my Elliott patriarch, Benjamin so I did some
more snooping. Not far away, under some old leaves and briars I found
another toppled tombstone that was smashed into numerous pieces. I
pulled
each piece out into the field and put the five largest chunks together
like
a big, heavy puzzle. The old marble revealed the following inscription:

"Benjamin N. Elliott
Born December 17, 1808
Died March 16, 1883"

My great-great-great-great grandfather Elliott had been found! I was
delighted to have finally found his resting place after more than seven
years of searching! I had also determined his exact birthdate and his
middle initial which I had not known previously. For me, this was the
mother lode that us genealogists are continually seeking.

The unfortunate thing was the condition of the cemetery. To say it was a
mess is understating its horrible condition. Furthermore, the back part
of
the lot had been piled up with dirt probably covering up other graves in
the
cemetery. Also, the tombstones had evidently been toppled and broken by
careless use of farm equipment in the area. To borrow another Eastern
Shore-ism from my grandmother, it's a "cryin' shame" that the old
cemetery
had been allowed to deteriorate so over the years. I'm glad I found it
when
I did for I do not expect it to be there in a few years. I expect it to
go
the way of many of these old farm family cemeteries and either plowed
under
a field or bull-dozed to make room for a new housing development. This
seems to be an unfortunate consequence of modern-day progress. It should
also serve as a wake-up call to historians and genealogists everywhere to
get out there and record these historical landmarks before they do indeed
disappear. I'd like to hear from anyone else who is doing research on
the
ELLIOTT line and also invite a discussion of the plight of these old
cemeteries.

Mike Hitch
Bowie, MD

--------- End forwarded message ----------

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