POINDEXTERHISTORY

Elizabeth Pledge Poindexter

On Oct. 27, 1991 a new headstone was placed on the grave of Elizabeth Pledge Poindexter by the Jonathan Hunt Chapter of the DAR, Surry County, North Carolina to honor her as a Patriot of the American Revolution.

Elizabeth was born in Goochland County, VA in 1740, the daughter of William and Betty Pledge. Elizabeth married Thomas Poindexter Feburary 12, 1760 in Goochland County, VA. Thomas Poindexter died on February 9, 1816. Elizabeth and Thomas are both buried on a bluff overlooking the Yadkin River in Surry County, NC.
Thomas and Elizabeth had 12 children. They were: Ann Radford, Frances A., William, Martha Milner, Thomas, Elizabeth P., Mary W., John G., Archibald Pledge, Sarah/Sallie, Robert A. and Dorothy or Dollie Poindexter. Thomas was a Capt. in a company of Revolutionary soldiers in the North Carolina Militia. Elizabeth Poindexter also gave Patriotic Service in the Revolutionary War.

There were skirmishes along the Yadkin River that brought the enemy (Tories) close to the Poindexter home. Elizabeth sewed letters in her young daughter’s petticoat and sent her through the enemy lines. On Oct. 14, 1780, a few miles down the rivers, the Whigs met the Tories in the “Battle of Shallow Ford”.

The new stone was dedicated in the yard of the Kay Alley home on Apperson Road, East Bend, NC. The home is located on the original Thomas and Elizabeth Pledge Poindexter land and has been in the family for more than 200 years. After the dedication ceremony the new headstone was moved a mile back into the woods and placed on Elizabeth’s grave.

Source:
“Poindexter Family History Book”, 4th Edition, by Dorothy Knox Brown and Nealon Agee–1996.

"It was a most fearsome fight between the Tories - those colonists loyal to the King - and the Whigs, also colonists."