This is a copy of the email I sent to the couple who used to have the Elsey Family Association for 18 years (until 2002).   If anyone reading this has any stories that have been handed down through the family or any other information with regard to how Edward & Sarah met their demise, I would really appreciate you sharing it with me!


Carol,

One story that has been told to me by an Elza cousin, Roger Elza (a minister & Civil War reenactor), has really piqued by curiosity!

There is no one, living or dead,   in my Elsey/Elza lineage that has ever been able to explain how Edward Elsey and Sarah Thompson died.   I know you are aware that the only record we have that would cast any light on the time of death of either Edward or Sarah is the legal guardianship of their youngest child, Thompson.   We know by that record that by December 1821 Edward was deceased (no mention of Sarah at all) and that Levi Coberly was named the legal guardian of Thompson Elza.   

Roger Elza relates to me that the story handed down in his particular line of the Elsey/Elza family is that both Edward & Sarah were killed by Indians during an attack!   I have done a lot of reading about the Indians fighting in this part of West Virginia and beyond but have never come across anything about any Elseys in these publications/stories.

This family story would seem plausible as the demise of Edward and Sarah is not documented in any other way besides the aforementioned court record in regard to Edward & Thompson.

Did you ever hear any stories of any kind during the time you all had the Elsey Family Association?   I will continue to search but am really intrigued by this story of Edward & Sarah's deaths.

Thanks,

Margaret Kerr Beckwith
Elkins, West Virginia
(304)636-6440
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