Our American Family - Person Sheet
Our American Family - Person Sheet
NameSarah BRAKEBILL 47
Birth Date22 Nov 1799
Birth PlaceSullivan County, Tennessee
Death Date24 Dec 1847 Age: 48
Death PlaceBlount County, Tennessee
Burial PlaceBlount County, Tennessee, Eusebia Presbyterian Cemetery
FatherPeter BRAKEBILL , 178 (1760-1844)
MotherKatherine ROREX , 179 (1760-1850)
Spouses
Birth Date12 Aug 1799
Birth PlaceAugusta County, Virginia
Death Date4 Dec 1855 Age: 56
Death PlaceBlount County, Tennessee
Burial PlaceBlount County, Tennessee, Eusebia Presbyterian Cemetery
OccupationWar Of 1812 Soldier,
MotherElizabeth DOLE (?-)
Family ID963
Marr Dateca 1819
ChildrenWilliam (1826-1916)
 James H. (1824-1875)
 Martha (1830-1911)
 Mary Ellen (1836-)
 Elvira (1837-)
 Elizabeth (1837-)
 Sarah (1841-1849)
 Dryden Dole (1844-1865)
Notes for Sarah BRAKEBILL
Birth date is too close to other children at original date of Nov 22, 1799.

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  "In the late summer heat of 1786, Archibald Scott, a Virginian, traveled into the wilderness, a righteous man on a righteous mission.  He was accompanying settlers, ministering whatever comfort a man of the cloth could afford on a frontier that could at times extract harsh realities, especially along the Great War Path trail used by friend, foe, and felon coming to or from the back country. 
    As the small pioneer group wound its way into what is now Blount County, they stopped to worship near a large beech tree, taking refuge under its shielding branches.  Here Scott, a Presbyterian minister, began to preach.  He called the place “Eusebia.”  It is a Greek word, and the old minister told his flock of settlers that this meant “reverence toward God.”
    Not far from the War Path, he located a camping ground in the clearing underneath the wide-spreading beech.  Close by was a spring.  The farmers and settlers who had been there for a year or so before the arrival of Scott were pleased to see the religious man many had known in Virginia.
    One of his first duties was to give proper burial to women who had died.  The men had fashioned coffins of wagon boards.
    Some five or six years later, another Presbyterian minister arrived in Eusebia.  Gideon Blackburn, tall, lanky, unafraid, marched in with a company of militia from Jefferson County.  Blackburn meant to stay until he not only established a Presbyterian Church but also put the flock in religious shape.  He was a man who meant business.
    There were roughly forty families in the Eusebia community at the time.  They paid Blackburn $130 a year to serve as their preacher.  By 1794 he was the minister of the Eusebia community and the Presbyterian Church.
    The first log church was built, and Blackburn set up prayer business.  The Bogle family, from a distinguished line in Ireland, and the McTeers, whose roots reached into Pennsylvania and the early American colonies, were just a few of the Scots-Irish families Blackburn found sitting in his congregation.
    There were others, such as the Houstons, McClungs, McAnallys, Creswells, McCroskeys, Malcoms, McCallies, and McMurry families.
    Robert McTeer’s fort was just down the road, not too far away, which was reassuring, but Blackburn was also a large presence on the frontier.  He preached his sermons with a loaded musket at his side and a shot pouch over his shoulder.
    Being a pioneer minister, Blackburn spent hours writing his sermons.  He was not about to let a single word go unturned, and when he began preaching, you might as well sit a spell, for Gideon Blackburn was a preaching man with fire in his bones.  His sermons routinely lasted two-plus hours.
    Once, he kept fifteen hundred people in awe in a driving rainstorm.  That sermon went for almost three hours in the church graveyard.  On another occasion, Blackburn heated up the pulpit in a three-and-a-half-hour sermon.  By 1810, Blackburn had moved on.  He wandered deeper into Indian country.  He went, as he said, to become a missionary to the Indians.
    Eusebia Presbyterian Church in Blount County, established by Scots-Irish, was one of the earliest settlements in East Tennessee.  Its graveyard’s oldest stone is that of Joseph Bogle, who died on September 16, 1790.
    The graveyard is the site of Scott’s old church campground, and the beautiful brick church that sits there today, started in 1930 and completed in 1936, is a direct descendant of the first church established by pioneer ministers Scott and Blackburn.
    As you look out from the church cemetery- where so many old gravestones are eroded, roughened by time and gray-green with weathering- you gaze across rolling farm country into the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.
    Here in this magnificent setting, it is easy to understand why a mighty man of the cloth could get himself wound up on a late summer day, and preach from early dew to evening dusk" (Brown, p. 19-21).

Excerpted from "Marking Time: East Tennessee Historical Markers and the Stories Behind Them" by Fred Brown.  Copyright 2005 by The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, TN.

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Notes for William (Spouse 1)
some sorces list last name as Dennison191

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"In the late summer heat of 1786, Archibald Scott, a Virginian, traveled into the wilderness, a righteous man on a righteous mission. He was accompanying settlers, ministering whatever comfort a man of the cloth could afford on a frontier that could at times extract harsh realities, especially along the Great War Path trail used by friend, foe, and felon coming to or from the back country.
As the small pioneer group wound its way into what is now Blount County, they stopped to worship near a large beech tree, taking refuge under its shielding branches. Here Scott, a Presbyterian minister, began to preach. He called the place “Eusebia.” It is a Greek word, and the old minister told his flock of settlers that this meant “reverence toward God.”
Not far from the War Path, he located a camping ground in the clearing underneath the wide-spreading beech. Close by was a spring. The farmers and settlers who had been there for a year or so before the arrival of Scott were pleased to see the religious man many had known in Virginia.
One of his first duties was to give proper burial to women who had died. The men had fashioned coffins of wagon boards.
Some five or six years later, another Presbyterian minister arrived in Eusebia. Gideon Blackburn, tall, lanky, unafraid, marched in with a company of militia from Jefferson County. Blackburn meant to stay until he not only established a Presbyterian Church but also put the flock in religious shape. He was a man who meant business.
There were roughly forty families in the Eusebia community at the time. They paid Blackburn $130 a year to serve as their preacher. By 1794 he was the minister of the Eusebia community and the Presbyterian Church.
The first log church was built, and Blackburn set up prayer business. The Bogle family, from a distinguished line in Ireland, and the McTeers, whose roots reached into Pennsylvania and the early American colonies, were just a few of the Scots-Irish families Blackburn found sitting in his congregation.
There were others, such as the Houstons, McClungs, McAnallys, Creswells, McCroskeys, Malcoms, McCallies, and McMurry families.
Robert McTeer’s fort was just down the road, not too far away, which was reassuring, but Blackburn was also a large presence on the frontier. He preached his sermons with a loaded musket at his side and a shot pouch over his shoulder.
Being a pioneer minister, Blackburn spent hours writing his sermons. He was not about to let a single word go unturned, and when he began preaching, you might as well sit a spell, for Gideon Blackburn was a preaching man with fire in his bones. His sermons routinely lasted two-plus hours.
Once, he kept fifteen hundred people in awe in a driving rainstorm. That sermon went for almost three hours in the church graveyard. On another occasion, Blackburn heated up the pulpit in a three-and-a-half-hour sermon. By 1810, Blackburn had moved on. He wandered deeper into Indian country. He went, as he said, to become a missionary to the Indians.
Eusebia Presbyterian Church in Blount County, established by Scots-Irish, was one of the earliest settlements in East Tennessee. Its graveyard’s oldest stone is that of Joseph Bogle, who died on September 16, 1790.
The graveyard is the site of Scott’s old church campground, and the beautiful brick church that sits there today, started in 1930 and completed in 1936, is a direct descendant of the first church established by pioneer ministers Scott and Blackburn.
As you look out from the church cemetery- where so many old gravestones are eroded, roughened by time and gray-green with weathering- you gaze across rolling farm country into the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.
Here in this magnificent setting, it is easy to understand why a mighty man of the cloth could get himself wound up on a late summer day, and preach from early dew to evening dusk" (Brown, p. 19-21).

Excerpted from "Marking Time: East Tennessee Historical Markers and the Stories Behind Them" by Fred Brown. Copyright 2005 by The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, TN.

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Research notes for William (Spouse 1)
Last name also listed as Dension.
Last Modified 28 Sep 2020Created 10 Feb 2024 using Reunion on a Macintosh


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