9. SARAH2 CONWAY (JOHN1) was born 25 Jun 1773 in "Sally", and died 19 Sep 1845 in Sangamon Co, IL. She married NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD 14 Feb 1793 in Bourbon Co, KY. He was born Unknown, and died Unknown.
Notes for SARAH CONWAY:
Sally was "adopted" by the Indians who captured her family at Ruddle's Station, and was returned to KY from captivity at age 15.
Henry C. Ogle's 1903 account says that at the time of the capture, Sally was a little girl of 6 years and was wearing a nice little sun bonnet of which she was very proud, In crossing the river, one of the Indians jerked it off and threw it into the river.
Several of the Indian women who accompanied their husbands on the march to Detroit were kind to the white women, providing them blankets and giving them provisions. Several small children were separated from their parents and scattered about among different tribes of Indians. Sally was "adopted" by an old Indian and his wife who had no children.
It was only when a white man who had been a boy when captured was able to escape 9 years later, that the family learned of Sally's whereabouts. At that time, her brother, John Conway, Jr., returned to Detroit and located her about 40 miles west of Detroit. He bought his sister from the old Indian by the payment of 40 silver brooches.
Sally lived with her father until her marriage to Nathaniel Underwood. When he abandoned her and their infant son, Reuben, she and Reuben returned to her father's house. After her father died, her brother, Jesse, assumed charge of the household, and she helped care for his family. Jesse's wife's health had failed after the birth of her youngest child, and "Aunt Sally" became a second mother to her children.
When Reuben was grown and married, she lived with Reuben, relocating with him to Sangamon County, Illinois about 1830. Reuben died there about 1840, but his mother lived five years longer.
Notes for NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD:
According to John Conway Jr.'s daughter, Elizabeth Conway Ogle (as related by Henry C. Ogle in 1903), Nathaniel Underwood was a "worthless kind of man, and after about 2 years of marriage went off and left his wife and infant son, Reuben."
One descendant of this couple is Torre Thompson (torrance@televar.com), who wrote in July of 1998.
Marriage Notes for SARAH CONWAY and NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD:
Marriage record can be found in Kentucky Historical Society publication, "Marriage Records: 1786 - 1800," Vol. 22
Child of SARAH CONWAY and NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD is: