Person:Susannah Lamar (8)

Susannah (Lamar) Pigman 1754-1830 probably never aspired to becoming a Kentucky pioneer woman, but like a dutiful wife, she went along with her husband's plans.

She was born in 1754, the daughter of John Lamar and his wife, who had long ago been pioneers in Maryland, and was not settled there, or so she probably thought. As a young lady of 23, she met Ignatius Pigman of Montgomery County, Maryland, and one year after the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, she married him in 1777 and then had a daughter, Rhoda, in 1778.

The Pigmans may have already been avid Methodists, but as early as 1766, Robert Strawbridge had come to Maryland and organized a Society. Then in 1771, Joh Wesley had sent from England, Francis Asbury as a missionary, but his efforts had been badly hampered by the War. Soon after the end of the War, Susanna's husband, Ignatius, was admitted in 1782, as a lay preacher and began his ministery of organizing small devotional groups and societies. Susanna, no doubt, had a hand in all these efforts, attending meetings, preparing meals, and ministering to the sick, while bearing three more daughters, (Anne, Sarah (Sally) and Sidney).

Then in 1874, Susanna very ikely saw her husband off to the first Methodist Conference in Baltimore, where he was officially ordained a Methodist minister, one of 83, to minister to about 15,000 members

In that sae year of 1774, Susannah's father-in-law, Matthew Pigman, died and Ignatius inherited most of his considerable wealth in land, tobacco and slaves. This made life easier for Susanna, who had given birth that same year to another daughter, Mary (Polly).

Following his ordination, Ignatius was busy traveling around Maryland, Virginia and Kentucky organizing and pastoring churches. Perhaps she breathed a sigh of relief when he became trustee and organizer of the first Methodist church in nearby Frederick, Maryland, 29 June 1792. If so, it was not for long.

In his travels in Kentucky, Ignatius saw that it was fertile ground for the spread of Methodism. Kentucky had become relatively safe from Indians after the Battle of Blue Licks in 1782 and people were pouring into the country to settle. He took up patents on considerabley more than 10,000 acres of land and set about selling farms and organizing a migration of his relatives, friends and neighbors to Kentucky.

So, with a dream in their hearts, Susanna with Ignatius and their seven children , another daughter, Philena and son, Wesley, having been added, made the trek from settled lands of Maryland to the wilds of Kentucky, bringing with them the Barnards, Phippses, Stevenses, Hockers, Barneses, Davieses and perhaps others.

Arriving in Ohio County, KY around 1796 or 1797, Susanna saw her daughter Rhoda, married to Stephen Statler 18 June 1797. With the formation of the new county of Ohio, Ignatius registered his stock mark at the first session on July 2, 1799, and continued to sell and buy lands including nearly 4,000 acres from John Adair. In every one of these transactions, Susanna had to assign her dower rights. She must also have been active with Ignatius in helping to establish three new Methodist churches, Goshen, Old Bethel, and No Creek in 1804, and in supporting him, as one of the trustees, in buying a lot for the establishment of the Hartford Academy School, something he never saw fulfilled.

In July 1805, disaster struck the Pigmans. They were sued in Nelson County Circuit Court by John Adair for recovery of the money owed him on the land sale. Whether Ignatius and his son, Wesley, left the county for New Orleans that year because of this, or whether it was the Methodist penchant for moving on is unclear. At any rate, Susanna and her daughters stayed and faced their relatives and neighbors while her sons-in-law, Stephen Statler and Harrison taylor, sold off at auction, the remaining lands at bargain prices to satisfy the suit.

Ten years later Susanna may have learned of her husband's death in an unusual manner. A victory celebration was being held in Hartford for the ending of the War of 1812. The news was late in reaching Hartford as it was in New Orleans, and the Battle of New Orleans was fought January 8, 1815, two days before the news of the end of the War on Christmas Eve, 1814, had reached them. News of the battle and of Ignatius Pigman's death from pneumonia (acquired while aiding Ohio County soldiers) arrived in Hartford during the celebration, which was immediately turned into a memorial service for him.

Susanna lived with her daughter Mary, who never married, until her death 15 years later on September 1830. She was buried in what is now known as the McDowell Cemetery in Hartford, where subsequently Mary, Rhoda and her husband Stephen Statler were also buried. Her daughters, (Annie Mrs. Samuel work), (Sally Mrs. Daniel Morrison) and (Sidney Mrs. Jonn Rice) moveed out of the county. Her son, Wesley, returned from New Orleans, sold his Ohio County Land, and moved to Clearmont , Ohio. Only Rhoda and Philena (Mrs. Harrison Taylor) remained in Ohio county.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Ancestry.com. OneWorldTree (3). (Name: Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA;;)
   Database online.

   Record for Ignatius Pigman