Person:Sarah Keith (5)

Research Needs

Evidence to support the birth of Sarah Keith in Bedford County is needed. While many say she was born here, no direct evidence to to confirm this seems to have been located. Given her connection to the line of Benjamin Borden (of Borden's Grant in Old Augusta), it would be reasonable to find Sarah's parents in Bedford County. Direct evidence showing them there, and in particular showing her father, Nichodemus Keith there, would go a long way to establishing her POB as Bedford County. If in fact she was born in Bedford County, then we might expect that her husband Samuel Cowan, was from this same area. Descendants of Samuel and Sarah show the Seven Cowan Brothers YDNA signature, and other Seven Brothers are known to have been in this area by 1734. If Samuel can be shown to be there as well, then we may be able to tie him into one of the other Seven Brothers lineages in that area. Significantly, the YDNA signature for descendants of Person:David Cowan (1) is an exact match for that of Samuel's descendants. David, who eventually settled in the Castle's Wood area, and later in Sevier County TN, is known to have settled in adjacent Albemarle County near person:Michael Woods (1). Michael's son Archibald married the daughter of John Gass and Margaret [Cowan], in Cumberland County PA. The Cowan's, Woods, and Gass families came to Albemarle, and Bedford counties about 1734. Sarah Keith's husband may have been among these family lines.

Footnotes

1. ↑ From Michael Cole, personal communication with WM Willis, 4 May 2011:
   
   I have searched for irrefutable documentation that Sarah (KEITH) COWAN was born in Bedford County, Virginia. I really cannot explain how genealogists (well before I was one) recorded that "fact." There are multiple sources which make the claim, but none provide proof. I do know that her BORDEN grandparents lived in Bedford County, Virginia, and it appears that "everyone" reports that Sarah's mother was born in Bedford County. Many KEITHs were also documented to have been in Bedford County during that same period.