Individual Details

Said to be the daughter of John Byrd who was "from Spotsylvania Co VA." I have not found a great deal support for this. John's son Henry testified that he was born 1764 in Prince Edward Co. I found the name John Byrd in Fincastle Co as early as 1772 - he was the first court clerk in that new county.

I may have found Elizabeth Harmon in the 1830 census. There is an enumeration for the household of a William Harmon listed next to John B., Richard, James, and Chesley "Ray" and John Adams who were married to Harmon girls. However, this William is marked as age to 10-15 - I suspect he may have been a grandson helping out. The other members of this household were two young girls, 1 age 5-10 and the other 10-15. Then there was an older lady, age 50-60 - Elizabeth Harmon would have been about 59 in 1830. However, on the next page was Elizabeth Harmon with 2 males age 15-20 [Hiram & Charles], 1f age 10-15 [Elizabeth, the only unmarried daughter], 1f age 50-60 - John L. is not present and likely already deceased.

Although many databases give her death as 1837; I believe I found Elizabeth Byrd Harmon living with her son Richard in Carroll Co IL in 1850. She was 79 years old, b. VA, and blind. The 1837 date seems to have come from a deed of the heirs of John L. Harmon, dec'd, which included Elizabeth Harmon, widow, very much alive.

Her mother is said to have been a Sarah, who married William Burch after the death of John Byrd. Probable sisters of Elizabeth included Milard who married Edward Smith. Edward Smith was a witness to the marriage of Elizabeth Byrd to John Harmon according to an online database. Jane Byrd who married Jacob Waggoner is said to be another sister to Elizabeth.

Found online:
Byrd Family Association, The Early Byrds of Grayson County, Virginia and Many of their Descendants (Baltimore, MD: Gateway Press, 1992), pp. 1, 2, 63, 64. "(1787) Dec. 6, JESSE VAUGHN and ELIZABETH BYRD, sur. William Vaughn; consent of parents William and Mary Vaughn, and William and Sarah Burch." This recorded marriage apparently never took place as Elizabeth Byrd married another man, John Lincoln Harmon, three weeks later. Hereinafter cited as Byrds of Grayson, VA.
The Register of Marriages in Montgomery Co, VA, does indeed show both marriages - Jesse Vaughn to Elizabeth Byrd, on the 6th of Dec, 1787 and then John Harman to Elizabeth Byrd, on the 16th of Dec . William & Sarah Burch are listed as parents of both - I wonder if perhaps this was a different daughter that married Jesse Vaughn [there is evidence of close association between the Byrd & Vaughn families] and perhaps either a minister's return was wrong or was copied into register wrong. Online genealogies for Jesse Vaughan say that he married Francis Jones, dau of Thomas & Elizabeth Jones in Montgomery Co. The page of the register copied for me, p.21, all seems to be in the same clear hand - I would not think this is the original but has been recopied, another chance for error.

Volunteer Lookup: A BRIEF OF WILLS & MARRIAGES IN MONTGOMERY & FINCASTLE COUNTIES, VIRGINIA 1733-1831, Anne Lowry Worrell, originally printed in 1932.
John Harman m. Elizabeth Bird dau of William and Sarah Burch (step daughter of William)

Deed Book H; pp 353-354 Marion Co., Indiana
Indenture made March 13, 1837--Elizabeth Harmon, widow of John L. Harmon and William W. Harmon, John B. Harmon, Alexis Jackson, Charles Harman, Hiram Harmon, Chistly Ray, James Harmon, Hiram H. Lewis, Nathaniel P. Walters, Richard Harmon, all legal heirs of John L. Harmon, deeded to Cyrus Cotton--$20--6 Acres of land commencing on section line at middle stake Sections 15 & 10 in west bank of Eagle Crek; south 12 rods; east to high bank on north side of Wray's Branch to line of Charles Harmon's 40 acres of land which he bought from Alexis Jackson, etc; except a small piece of land fenced in as grave yard where John L. Harmon is buried.

In 1850 Richard's mother Elizabeth Harmon appears to be living with the family in Carroll Co IL. She is 79, born in Virginia, and blind.
Richard Harmon, age 57, b. VA. Mary, age 56, b. VA. David, 17, b. IN. Richard M. age 26, b. IN. Elizabeth, 79, b. VA.

Found online:
"Elizabeth died in the home of her daughter, Jene (Harmon) Wray in Illinois at the age of 99 years." By 1870 when Elizabeth would have been age 99, daughter Jane was widowed and living with her son Mark in Knox Co, IL - so I'm not sure Elizabeth lived quite this long. I did not find Elizabeth Harmon after the 1850 census.
An Everton FGS posted on MyHertitage also states she died at 99 years and is buried in the Christian Church Cemetery, Harmon, Knox Co, Illinois. (I found an unincorporated village in Knox Co, named Hermon, and there is a Hermon Christian Church Cemetery. However, 231 interments are listed on FindAGrave - none for a Harmon or Hermon. Chesley "Ray" is buried there - b. 1817, d. 1888 - he would not have been the Chesley Wray, husband of Elizabeth's daughter Nancy Jane as he's the wrong generation, but he could be a son of Chesley Wray by his first wife.

PostIt Note:
Prince Edward,Virginia is the location of her birth
Mt. Carmel, Carroll, ILL. in 1869 is the location and year of her [Elizabeth's] death
Posted by "Andrea" to my WorldConnect database
amelzer2000@yahoo.com

Birth	1771	Virginia
Marriage	16 Dec 1787	Montgomery County, Virginia - JOHN L. HARMON
Death	1869	Carroll County, Illinois

Spouse	JOHN L. HARMON (1767 - 1825)
Child	William W. Harmon (1788 - 1866)
Child	Henry Harmon (1790 - 1826)
Child	Richard Harmon (1793 - 1860)
Child	John Bird Harmon (1795 - 1860)
Child	JAMES HARMON (1797 - 1847)
Child	Nancy Jane Harmon (1799 - 1872)
Child	Mildred\Emeline Harmon (1801 - 1838)
Child	Sarah Harmon (1803 - )
Child	Mary Harmon (1805 - 1880)
Child	Elizabeth Harmon ( - )
Child	Hiram H. Harmon (1810 - )
Child	Charles Harmon (1811 - 1883)

Father	JOHN BYRD ( - 1786)
Mother	Sarah [Byrd] ( - )
Sibling	Richard Byrd ( - 1803)
Sibling	William Byrd (1753 - 1829)
Sibling	Mary Byrd ( - 1805)
Sibling	Samuel Byrd (1758 - 1820)
Sibling	Henry Byrd (1764 - 1859)
Sibling	George Byrd ( - )
Sibling	Mildred Byrd (1766 - 1840)
Sibling	Jane Byrd (1770 - 1820)