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3 - The Price Connection

In the previous tale we located Bazzle Tracy in Waynetown, Indiana, in the 1880s. We discovered that his parents, thanks to the reporting of Hiram W. Beckwith, were John and Nancy Tracy, and that both were born in Maryland.

First we shall turn our attention over to the mother, Nancy Tracy, before we attempt to unravel the mystery of John.

Hiram W. Beckwith also tells us, in his biographical sketch of Bazzle Tracy, that Bazzle is married to Elizabeth Price. Elizabeth was born in Fleming County, Kentucky. In the 1880 US Census, she, like Bazzle, also identifies Maryland as the birth place for both her mother and father. Unlike her husband, the census taker indicated that Elizabeth can both read and write (so she may have been Beckwith's correspondent and source for his information). 
His wife (Elizabeth Price) was born May 8, 1804, and is a member of the New Light church. They were married March 14, 1822, and have eleven children.
Beckwith writes that Bazzle and Elizabeth’s first born child, by then deceased, was named Ann. 

Ann is buried in the Old Pioneer cemetery in Waynetown, which is indeed very old, having been established in 1829. Her gravestone gives her full name as "Nancy Ann, Wife of Dan Merrell." It was not entirely uncommon for a daughter to be named after her mother or grandmother, so could it be that Bazzle Tracy's mother, Nancy Tracy, was also named Nancy Ann?

Gravestone of Nancy Ann, Wife of Dan Merrell
Nancy Ann, Wife of Dan Merrell. Waynetown, Indiana.

Back in Fleming County, Kentucky, where Bazzle was raised and his wife Elizabeth Price was born, is the Poplar Run Baptist Cemetery (or Poplar Creek Cemetery). Today it is about 2 miles west of Elizaville on Kentucky Route 32 where it sits up on a hill surrounded by trees and brush.

Satellite image of Poplar Creek Cemetery

There we find the gravesites of Thomas Price (1774-1838) and his wife Elizabeth Galloway Price (1776-1853). They were both born in Maryland. It seems certain that Thomas and Elizabeth Price are the parents of the Elizabeth Price married to Bazzle Tracy. 

Gravestone of Elizabeth Price Galloway
Elizabeth Price, wife of Thomas Price. Fleming County, Kentucky.

Where things get really interesting is that Thomas Price has a sister named Nancy Ann Price, also born in Maryland, and it appears that the Price and Tracy families show up in Mason County, Kentucky, around the same time in the mid-1790s. Furthermore, as we will see later, Bazzle has a brother with the unusual name of Vezey (or Veazey). Thomas and Nancy Ann Price’s father is also named Veazey, along with one of Nancy's brothers.

There can only be one conclusion: Nancy Tracy is Nancy Ann Price.

Incidentally, this also means that Bazzle Tracy married his first cousin!

And now we can update the family tree with these new connections:




According to genealogical research by Charles L. Crain, Nancy Ann Price was born on May 27, 1776 in Harford County, Maryland, to Veazey Price and (Nancy) Ann Barton.

Next, we shall explore Nancy Ann Price's ancestral lines, both of which have deep roots in colonial Maryland.

Sources

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