Showing posts with label Rebecca Mayo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rebecca Mayo. Show all posts

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Oldest Living Revolutionary Widows

As of June 30, 1898 five women appeared on the pension rolls as widows of Revolutionary War soldiers.
Esther Damon of Plymouth Union, Vermont age 84
Nancy Jones of Jonesboro, Tennessee age 84
Rebecca Mayo of Newbern, Virginia age 85
Mary Snead of Parksley, Virginia age 82
Nancy Weatherman of Lineback, Tennessee age 88

I've searched for years for images of these women. Esther Damon appears in volume 1 of the Last Muster Series and I'm aware of newspaper photos of Rebecca Mayo, but photos of the other women may not exist. 

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Missing Pictures: Rebecca Mayo, Revolutionary War Widow

Sometimes the hunt for a photograph is so frustrating! One of the more than 6,000 Revolutionary War widows collecting a pension was Rebecca Mayo of Newbern, Pulaski County, Virginia. She married Stephen Mayo in 1834 when she was just a young woman and Mayo was 77. The Boston Daily Globe ran a story about her on July 6, 1904 (page 6), "Mrs. Mayo of Virginia is a Revolutionary Widow." There were only two widows left at that point, Rebecca Mayo and Esther Damon. Damon's photo and story appear in my book, The Last Muster (Kent State University Press, June 2010). In the Globe article were two pictures. On of Rebecca and the other of her house. Both of these pictures have proved elusive. I can't find them. I'm hoping that someone will see this story and send me a lead. Here's the search so far: The Boston Globe archive at the Boston Public Library doesn't own the pictures. It's likely that this story and the images were picked up from another news source. The Pulaski County Public Library searched their collections, but didn't own them either. The Wilderness Road Regional Museum in Newbern, Virginia couldn't help me. I also tried the Virginia Room at the Roanake Public Library and the Library of Virginia in Richmond. With more than 6,000 widows that could have posed for a photograph, I was trying major sources first before diving into a search for living family members. If you know of another source for these images email me at mtaylor@taylorandstrong.com. It's really annoying to be able to see her face in a newspaper article, but not be able to find the original photograph. Unfortunately, the newsprint isn't good enough quality for book publication. Bookmark and Share
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