MySource:Srblac/Jeanne Crews E-Mail: Re: John Sears and Ruth Orrihood

Scott, Ruth Orrihood (I have it spelled Orahood but there are variations) born 1801 and died 6 March 1855 in Hardy Co., VA married John Sears born 1795 and died after Ruth did. I have 8 kids for them--

Ann Jemima,
John (b. abt 1832),
Catherine (b. abt 1833),
Israel (1836-1900 married Harriet Tamar Gawthrop),
Alexander (b. abt 1838),
Ann (b. abt 1841),
Abel (b. abt 1844),
and one more, unknown, born about 1846.

This information came from Cheryl Cretin's website on the Orahood/Orchard family.

I think Cheryl has Israel Sears as an unknown, too. At her site, you'll find more about Ruth's line, but I'll tell you that she was the daughter of Joshua Orahood and Catherine Norman and they had 9 kids. Joshua was the son of Alexander Orahood and his wife Ethalen.

There are quite a few of us researching the descendants of Alexander and Ethalen. As far as anyone's been able to discover, Alexander was the first one to use the name "Orrhud/Orrahood/Orihood". A few branches have carried down the oral tradition that Alexander came from Scotland. And since the name Orahood doesn't occur anywhere else in the world, it seems that for whatever reason, Alexander made it up. Some claim that he was trying to live in Virginia without being detected as a Scotsman. But of course, nobody knows for sure. And no one knows what the family name was before he came to the new world. Apparently Alexander lived in Chester Co., PA in the 1750s and 60s, tax lists say "Alex Arahad". He may have married there; his wife possibly was Ethliw Martin. They lived in Hardy Co., VA as early as 1779 and owned property along Lunice Creek, which is now part of Grant Co., WV, just southwest of Maysville. According to Hardy Co. records, after Alexander and Ethalen died, Joshua's siblings deeded him 189 acres on "Loonie's Creek". Two of the brothers, Thomas and Caleb came to Ohio. Caleb is my 5th gr grandfather. Another of Joshua and Catherine's daughters, Abigail, married Venis Riggleman and is mentioned in a Riggleman history. Apparently the author talked to Ulysses Morris, a Riggleman researcher, and he said "Mr. Morris says that the Orrahood Settlement where Abigail was from was above Mt. Hebron United Brethren (now United Methodist) Church near Maysville, WV. Above the church next to the mountain before you get to Comer Road, there is a cemetery where Abigail's people are buried."

Well, I was in that cemetery last November and didn't find any of Abigail's people. There are some older stones that can't be read anymore. It's possible that there was at one time another family cemetery, I guess, but I'm sure I was in the one referred to in the book because the church is still there. There ARE a lot of Keplingers there! In fact, I think someone told me that the cemetery was on Keplinger land. There are Feasters, too, but you probably know that. Do you know anything about the history of the cemetery?