So now things seem to make sense. The Hales were prominent in the area. Nicholas (III) Hale was a founder of Bedford County and appointed as county justice in two adjacent counties. On the other side, the William Burgess family had several land holdings and at least one slave. Like most of the settlers they were religious. Thomas Jefferson had only a few years before Keziah’s birth written the legislation for Virginia to remove the Church of England (Episcopal) from the official Virginia State religion. The Great Awakening was building steam having been started just after the American Revolution.
In addition, the church was the center of religious and social activity, sometimes being the only meeting place for several miles on the frontier. In 1817 Armstead was himself, bonded, this meant that Keziah was unable to support him herself. He was a bastard child who was so poor that he had to be indentured for support. By 1820 Millie Smith had also had a son (probably) out of wedlock, Sampson Smith. His grandfather had pledged his war pension to Sampson’s support. By 1827 Armstead and Millie were married. He was a poor bastard son of a mother herself born out of wedlock and indentured all her childhood-and she was disgraced by having a bastard child. They were a pair - perhaps the only ones in the area carrying such social stigmas. It is not surprising under the circumstances that she was 11 years his senior. Sampson the, stepson, was just 10 years younger than Armstead.
We will probably never really know much more about the circumstances, but by conjecture its not hard to imagine based on what we now know, that by 1830 or so Keziah her young sons Sperrill and Oliver, Armstead and Millie and Sampson might need a new chance on life. We know that by 1834 they had made the long trip to Barren County, Kentucky.
In addition, the church was the center of religious and social activity, sometimes being the only meeting place for several miles on the frontier. In 1817 Armstead was himself, bonded, this meant that Keziah was unable to support him herself. He was a bastard child who was so poor that he had to be indentured for support. By 1820 Millie Smith had also had a son (probably) out of wedlock, Sampson Smith. His grandfather had pledged his war pension to Sampson’s support. By 1827 Armstead and Millie were married. He was a poor bastard son of a mother herself born out of wedlock and indentured all her childhood-and she was disgraced by having a bastard child. They were a pair - perhaps the only ones in the area carrying such social stigmas. It is not surprising under the circumstances that she was 11 years his senior. Sampson the, stepson, was just 10 years younger than Armstead.
We will probably never really know much more about the circumstances, but by conjecture its not hard to imagine based on what we now know, that by 1830 or so Keziah her young sons Sperrill and Oliver, Armstead and Millie and Sampson might need a new chance on life. We know that by 1834 they had made the long trip to Barren County, Kentucky.
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