Mary DRAGOO

1751 - 1834  (82 years)

• Name	Mary DRAGOO
  Birth	14 Oct 1751	Staten Island, Richmond County, NY   [1]
  Gender	Female
  Death	24 May 1834	Frederick County, VA
  Notes	(1) Source: "Benner Family Tree," a Public Member Tree on Ancestry.com. (2) Jolliffe, William, Historical, Genealogical, and Biographical Account of the Jolliffe Family of Virginia, 1652 to 1893, Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1893, pp. 195-197: THE Dragoo family is of French Huguenot descent, and came to America with the great numbers of that faith after their dispersion in Europe. Where this particular family first settled in this country is not certainly known. Like all such foreigners, they seem to have been for a long while placed at a great disadvantage, compared with their neighboring English emigrants, and were not able to acquire much property. Peter Dragoo was a farmer of Frederick County, Virginia, owning a farm northeast of Winchester some years before the Revolutionary War. His wife was named Mary, and they had several children. In the court records of Frederick County I find, "May 6th, 1773, Elizabeth Jolliffe, widow of William Jolliffe, brought an action against Peter Dragoo, which case she won, and the Sheriff sold 30 sheep and 65 gallons of whiskey belonging to said Dragoo, to satisfy said debt." "March 3d, 1773, Peter Dragoo brought an action against Tristram Ewing by which he recovered quite a large debt with interest from June 14th, 1768. Plaintiff out of the Colony, so John Nevill his attorney paid the debt." "June 7, 1774, William Dragoo recovered a debt from James Tash." This was a son of Peter Dragoo and brother to Mary. "A Mrs. Dragoo was killed by Indians in what is now West Virginia; in 1786, her son a small boy was taken prisoner, and kept twenty years." I am inclined to think this was the widow of one of the sons of Peter Dragoo. Mary Dragoo, daughter of Peter Dragoo and Mary his wife, was born in Frederick County, Virginia, and when a young lady married, in 1774, John Jolliffe, who was afterwards a captain in the Revolutionary army. She is said to have been a tall, graceful, and strikingly beautiful woman. They were married by a Methodist minister, against the wishes of his step-mother, Elizabeth Jolliffe. This marriage seems to have been made in the face of strenuous opposition from his family, but appears to have been strictly a love-match. In letters and even in his will he speaks of his young wife Mary with the greatest affection. She was a woman of great strength of character, determination, and lovable disposition. In her old age, as "Grandmother Steed," she was looked upon with the greatest respect and love by her family, and her death was mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. After the death of her husband, John Jolliffe, in 1776, she married Captain John Steed, who had been a friend of Captain Jolliffe and a very distinguished Revolutionary officer. By her first husband she had two children, John Jolliffe, born February 26, 1775, and William Jolliffe, born September 21, 1776. By her second husband she never had children; he died about the year 1800, she surviving him many years until May 24, 1834. She was entitled to two pensions for Revolutionary services of her two husbands, which were granted by lands in Ohio to John Jolliffe, and lands at Sir John's Run, Virginia, to John Steed. "(No. 825 Warrant.) COUNCIL CHAMBER, June 19, 1788. "I do certify that the Representative of John Jolliffe, deed., is entitled to the proportion of Land allowed a Lieutenant of the Virginia Continental Line for three years' Service. "BENJAMIN HARRISON. THOS. MERRIWEATHER. "A warrant for 2666? acres issued to John Jolliffe, Heir at Law to John Jolliffe, decd. "June 14, 1788." "(No. 886 Warrant.) COUNCIL CHAMBER, June 18, 1788. "I do certify that Capt. John Steed is entitled to the proportion of Land allowed a Captain of the Virginia Continental Line for three years' service. "BENJAMIN HARRISON. THOS. MERRIWEATHER. "A warrant for 4000 acres issued to John Steed, June 14, 1783." "(No. 4917 Warrant.) COUNCIL CHAMBER, Dec. 12, 1798. "John Steed is entitled to the additional proportion of Land allowed a Captain of the Continental Line for the 7th year's service. "JAMES WOOD. SAML. COLEMAN. "A warrant No. 4917, for 666? acres issued unto said John Steed on the 14th of September, 1799, and delivered to H. Dunscomb." "Lewis Walker, as administrator for the estate of Elizabeth Jolliffe, brought a suit against John Steed as guardian of John Jolliffe, his step-son, the year 1784." Mary Dragoo was a consistent and valued member of the Methodist Church, as was her second husband, Captain Steed. After his death she made her home with her eldest son, John Jollife, at Clear Brook Farm, in Frederick County, Virginia.
  Person ID	I31794	Frost, Gilchrist and Related Families
  Last Modified	17 Apr 2024

  
  

  Father	Peter DRAGOO,   b. 7 Jun 1726, Staten Island, Richmond County, NY d. 1774, Frederick County, VA (Age 47 years)
  Mother	Mary Ephraim MARLETT,   b. 1724, Staten Island, Richmond County, NY d. 1774, Frederick County, VA (Age 50 years)
  Marriage	1746	Staten Island, Richmond County, NY
  Family ID	F13818	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Capt. John JOLLIFFE,   b. 18 Jun 1751, Frederick County, VA d. 6 May 1777 (Age 25 years)
  Marriage	7 Apr 1773	Frederick County, VA
  Family ID	F13819	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	17 Apr 2024

  
  

  Family 2	Capt. John STEED,   b. 1746, Monmouth County, NJ d. Jun 1800, Hampshire County, VA [now WV] (Age 54 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1781
  Family ID	F13820	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	17 Apr 2024

  
  

• Sources

  Details: Details: Details: Details: Details: Details: Details: Details: Citation Text: (1) Davis, Eliza Timberlake, Frederick County,Virginia, Marriages, 1771-1825, Smithfield, VA: 1979, p. 7: Jolliffe, John & Mary Dragoe (spinster) April 7, 1773. Surety, ??? John Rogers.