Phebe McNeil, my 5th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Phebe was born March 12, 1789 to Jonathan and Jane McCord McNeil. Phebe’s mom and dad married in Virginia, between the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains, then moved to the “Western Colony of Virginia”- where they raised their family in current day Knox County, Kentucky. Kentucky became a state in 1792, a few years after Phebe’s birth.

Eight miles south of Knox County is a national park, Dr. Thomas Walker State Historic Site. Thomas Walker was a doctor, farmer, served in the Virginia General Assembly and explored the “Western Colony of Virginia”. At the park there’s “a replica of the first Kentucky home” a cabin, similar to Phebe’s family home.

In Knox County, Phebe married Elbert Howard on October 24, 1811. Phebe and Elbert had 1 daughter and 5 sons. By 1820 they’d moved 250 miles southwest and settled in Lawrence County, Indiana where Phebe’s older sister Elizabeth and Elbert’s older sister Elizabeth lived with their husbands and families.

Phoebe died in June 1826 she was about 40 years old. She’s buried at Old Shiloh Cemetery in Lawrence, Indiana. After Phebe’s death Elbert moved to Lake, Illinois with his 4 younger sons, aged 10, 6, 4 and 2 years old. He married again and was in Floyd County, Iowa by 1855.

Sources

• 1790s cabin replica photo at Wikipedia “By J654567 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,”
• Dr. Thomas Walker State Historic Site
• Kentucky county marriages 1797-1954 at FamilySearch