Carved in Stone

Alice H Drummond (1880 - 1929) was the daughter of Jacob N. Drummond (abt. 1845 - 1893) and Ann Rebecca (Long) Drummond (abt. 1847 - 1923) in Shenandoah County, Virginia.

Shenandoah County, Virginia

Alice was buried with her parents. At the bottom of their combined gravestone was "Grandmother Nancy Long". Nancy Long was the mother Ann Rebecca (Long) Drummond, that was clear.

But what wasn't clear was trying to find any documentation on this family.

Ann and Jacob Drummond's kids, in later years, give Ann's last name as "Long" on marriage records.

But this started to unravel once I found the actual marriage record document for Ann and Jacob.

Marriage record of Jacob Drummond & Ann Rebecca Carryer, 10 January 1867.

Here are the names of Jacob and Ann, clearly showing the surname of Carryer, which is also sometimes spelled Carrier (in other records):

They were both from Shenandoah County, Virginia:

Interestingly, here are Ann's parents:

Clearly, her mother was Nancy. It looks like her father's name was Jacob, as it has very similar handwriting style to her husband's name, above.

It looks like they were married at Ann's mother's house (Nancy's house):

But how do we really know if this is the correct marriage record? How do we know that Long was Carryer / Carrier?

And why is Ann's father's name crossed out in the marriage record?....

Oh. What if... Ann's father had died before she got married? The clerk would have asked who her parents were. Someone would have answered, "Jacob & Nancy". Then they would have corrected themselves, saying that her father, Jacob had passed away. 

If that's the case, then can we find further records of Nancy Carryer / Carrier?

It turns out, we can!

Exactly 2 years later, on 10 January 1869, Nancy Carrier married Levi Long.

Marriage record of Levi Long and Nancy Carrier, 10 January 1869.

They were both from Shenandoah County, Virginia, both 52 years old, and both widowed:

It was even announced in the Shenandoah Herald newspaper on 14 January 1869:

Shenandoah Herald (Woodstock, Virginia), 14 January 1869

So, yes, it seems that Nancy, whose maiden name unfortunately is still unknown (her parents aren't listed on the marriage record), had married Jacob Carrier aka Carryer, they had Ann Rebecca Carrier, who then married Jacob Drummond, all in the Shenandoah Valley. 

No wonder that the grandchildren had called their grandmother, Nancy Long. That's all they ever knew growing up, and may not have realized that that was Nancy's second marriage.

The lesson learned is to be careful about making assumptions on women's surnames. Even when carved in stone. Multiple marriages could throw you off course. Later generations might not have it right, either.

This discovery would also be the key to unlocking a tangled web of relationships in the Shenandoah Valley. But that's another story.