Elizabeth Steele's great-grandson Isaac Studebaker |
What
a wonder it would be to dine with Elizabeth Steele Studebaker, my husband’s 3rd
great-grandmother. Elizabeth Steele
continues to live through the name she has passed down to her heirs, with all six
of her sons carrying her maiden name as their middle name. Her story is discussed and speculated around
the tables of many of her descendants. It conjures up tales of longing and
independence on the frontier.
Elizabeth
was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in 1793. Her husband, Abraham Studebaker, was born
there as well. She must have known him
growing up in the same County. He left
for Miami County, Ohio, when he was only 15 years old, taking out land patents
there in 1805. It appears that he went
back to Pennsylvania to marry Elizabeth in 1813. Abraham then returned to the
Ohio frontier by horseback with his new bride.
The
country was still wild and untamed when they came. The troubles with Tecumseh were fresh in the
minds of the settlers. Living with
relatives when they first arrived, they finally moved to their own land
sometime after 1814. Her husband built a
log cabin where she raised her family of eleven children. This cabin was often
used for services of the German Baptist Brethren Church, to which they
belonged. Six years after she died in
1842, he built a large brick home for his children and his new wife.
Stories
are told that she must have been very lonely, living so far from her family in
Bedford County, Pennsylvania. Her niece
recalled her returning to Pennsylvania alone, by horseback. This trip would have taken more than twenty
days. She left the children at home, the oldest ones, to care for the
younger ones. One story suggested her trip might have occurred in 1836 after the last child was two years old. She is said to have stayed with her family for several months, leaving her husband and neighbors to wonder if she would
return.
So many
questions arise from this story. What was
her trip like? What route did she take? Did she have any of the children with her? Was
she scared? Why did she stay so long?
Yes, she would be a fascinating dinner guest.
First photograph from The Studebaker Family in America, 1736-1976, v. 1, by
Carlock, Faust & Miller, p.188. Second photograph from The Studebaker Family in America, 1736-1976, v. 1, by
Carlock, Faust & Miller, p.57. Third
photograph with permission of the photographer's son, Stephen Studebaker.
Elizabeth's 3rd great-grandson Stephen, at their graves |