B. about Mar 1746 in (probably) Virginia
M. about 1766 in (probably) Virginia
Husband: William Sutherland
D. 31 Aug 1834 in Putnam County, Indiana
Many Americans can trace their heritage through people like Mary “Polly” Owen — a Virginia-born woman who lived in several places on the frontier in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. As her husband carved farms out of the wilderness, she managed the household, bore ten children without the help of modern medicine, and lived to a ripe old age.
There is no information about who Mary’s family was, only that she was born in about March 1746 in Virginia; even this is uncertain, but likely to be true. Her name is given as mary — during the 18th century, “Polly” was commonly used as a nickname for girls named Mary. When she was perhaps 20-years-old, she met and married William Sutherland, the son of a King William County tobacco farmer. They settled in Burke County, North Carolina, where on Christmas Day 1767, Mary gave birth to her first child, a son they named Fendall.
What was life like for Mary? As a pioneer woman in the Piedmont of North Carolina, she would have worked hard all hours of the day to prepare meals for her family, supervise her children, and do countless other chores. Her home was a one room cabin, probably with a loft where the entire family slept. On a typical day, she would have milked the cows, gathered eggs from the chickens, tended a vegetable garden, and washed the family’s clothes in a tub in the yard. She may have also assisted on the farm if necessary. And added to her existence was the fact she was pregnant for much of the time.
By 1776, Mary had six children all under the age of about 10. That year, the American Revolution inspired many men to volunteer for military duty, and William was no exception. As he went off to serve, Mary had to handle things at home. Although no detailed records of his service survive, six years would pass before the birth of their next known child, and he was likely away for much of this time. Mary and the older boys must have done all the work on the farm while William was gone. When her husband returned after the war, Mary had four more children, with the last one born in 1787.
For his stint in the Continental Army, William was rewarded with land, and the family left North Carolina for eastern Kentucky in about 1801. Sadly, Mary became a widow within a couple of years when William died in about 1803. For a time, she became the head of her family, and was listed as a Lincoln County taxpayer in 1804. Her children left the nest one-by-one, until only her youngest daughter Nancy was still in the household in 1810. Mary was in her 60s, and it’s believed that she moved in with her son William around this time.
During the 1810s, Mary’s sons Fendall, William and George all relocated to western Indiana, and Mary joined them. The brothers lived in Orange County before 1819, then settled in Putnam County. None of the brothers 1820 or 1830 census listings seems to include a woman of Mary’s age, but it’s likely that she was living with one of them. By this time, the Sutherlin clan was becoming numerous, and Mary was a grandmother and great-grandmother many times over. She passed away at the age of 88 on August 31, 1834. Mary was buried in the Sutherlin Cemetery of Putnam County.
Children:
1. Fendall Sutherlin — B. 25 Dec 1767, Burke County, North Carolina; D. 19 Feb 1834, Putnam County, Indiana; M. Lydia Franklin (1774-1869)
2. William Sutherland — B. about 1770, Burke County, North Carolina; D. after 1 Jun 1830, (probably) Putnam County, Indiana; M. Mary Polly Franklin (~1770-?), 1787, Lincoln County, Kentucky
3. Bethany Sutherlin — B. about 1773, Burke County, North Carolina; D. 1839, Jackson, Tennessee; M. James S. Hawkins (1764-1822), about 1791, North Carolina
4. Millicent Sutherlin — B. about 1775, Burke County, North Carolina; D. 10 May 1852, Bullitt County, Kentucky; M. Samuel Goldsmith (1776-1850)
5. Susannah Sutherlin — B. about 1776, Burke County, North Carolina; M. William Harper (1773-?), about 1798, Burke County, North Carolina
6. Owen Sutherlin — B. about 1781, (probably) North Carolina; D. 1858, Casey County, Kentucky; M. Mary Vandeveer (1785-1840), 22 Nov 1802, Lincoln County, Kentucky
7. Mary “Polly” Sutherlin — B. about 1783, Burke County, North Carolina; D. 22 Oct 1810, Kentucky; M. Jonathan Jones (1782-1853), 7 Dec 1801, Lincoln County, Kentucky
8. Nancy Sutherlin — B. 2 Jun 1784, Burke County, North Carolina; D. 23 Apr 1831, Orange County, Indiana; M. Jonathan Jones (1782-1853), 27 Jun 1811, Casey County, Kentucky
9. George W. Sutherlin — B. 1787, Burke County, North Carolina; D. 1841, Jackson Township, Putnam County, Indiana; M. Elizabeth Miller (1790-1877), 1806, Kentucky
10. Jenny Sutherlin — B. about 1793, Burke County, North Carolina; D. 10 May 1852, Shepherdsville, Kentucky; M. Claiborne Harris, before 1810, (probably) Kentucky
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