From "Witherspoon Family History" by Evelyn Potter Park:
Drusilla, daughter of John and Margaret (Kennedy) Witherspoon, was born June 23, 1821 at Frankfort Springs, Pennsylvania. Died Nov. 30, 1895 at Tacoma, Washington. Died suddenly of a stroke. and was buried in the Tacoma Cemetery. She had lived at 4617 S. 46th Street, Tacoma. She married James Morehead in 1841, the son of Alexander Morehead and Nancy Agness Gibson, daughter of James Gibson. Drusilla was named for her mother's very dear friend, Drusilla Edgington.
Drusilla and James lived for a while in Hancock County, West Virginia and then in Steubenville, Ohio while James worked on building a bridge across the Ohio River. While they were there gold was discovered in California in 1849. James determined to seek his fortune there, and was elected Captain of a wagon train that crossed the plains to California in 1849. Drusilla and the children moved back to Frankfort Springs to live near her parents while James was gone. However James did not return, and they never lived together again. After her parents grew older and needed help with their care, she moved into her parents home. After both parents died she and the two youngest children went out to Illinois where her sister Mary lived and where her daughter Margaret Ann had gone to teach school and later married.
She and her son, Washington Worth Morehead, bought a little farm there in Mercer County, Illinois, but sold it in 1873 and moved to Clay County, Kansas. In 1890 her son sold that land and moved his family, including Drusilla, to Washington State.
Note from Darrell Brown:
Census records confirm that by 1850, Drusilla and her children had moved back from Ohio and were living in Frankfort Springs, and that by 1860 she and her son had moved in with her parents. During that time she made beautiful quilts, two of which she eventually gave to the two granddaughters she raised when they later married. Drusilla's mother died in 1860, and her father in 1867, after which she moved to Illinois with her son Washington. She's not recorded anywhere in the 1870 census, which suggests she was traveling at that time, no longer in Frankfort Springs and not yet in Mercer County, Illinois, but she must have arrived well before October, 1870, when her daughter Clemmie married.
The farm Drusilla bought in Illinois is shown on an 1874 plat man as having ten acres in the SE quarter of section 5 of Eliza township belonging to "D. M." It was just north of the farmland where the Miller Cemetery is located. Judging from the 1870 census (in which Drusilla and family are nowhere mentioned), Drusilla's daughter Margaret Ann and her family were living on this farm or somewhere near it. Later in 1870 Clemmie married John Reed, who lived on the farm next to them.
The farm Drusilla bought in Kansas was the SE quarter of section 4 of Garfield (Peach Grove) township in Clay county. Evidently Clemmie went with them, because her son Arthur was born in Kansas in Feb, 1874, but she came back that year to Illinois.
In 1874, Margaret Ann and family left Illinois and moved to Wise County, Texas, to live on the farm of her father, James Morehead, while Clemmie and her husband Joseph Reed remained on the farm in Illinois.
Drusilla died intestate. The registry of deaths in Tacoma records the date as 30 Nov 1895, and cemetery records show she was buried the next day in Tacoma Cemetery. Her only surviving child was her married son Washington, who lived thirty miles away in Yelm. But it was not until July of 1902 that he initiated probate. At that time he filed an affidavit claiming Drusilla died on 15 November 1898. Most likely he gave this later date to place her death within the statute of limitations for probate. Drusilla's estate consisted of two adjoining lots of real estate, and these were awarded to her son Washington.
Drusilla, daughter of John and Margaret (Kennedy) Witherspoon, was born June 23, 1821 at Frankfort Springs, Pennsylvania. Died Nov. 30, 1895 at Tacoma, Washington. Died suddenly of a stroke. and was buried in the Tacoma Cemetery. She had lived at 4617 S. 46th Street, Tacoma. She married James Morehead in 1841, the son of Alexander Morehead and Nancy Agness Gibson, daughter of James Gibson. Drusilla was named for her mother's very dear friend, Drusilla Edgington.
Drusilla and James lived for a while in Hancock County, West Virginia and then in Steubenville, Ohio while James worked on building a bridge across the Ohio River. While they were there gold was discovered in California in 1849. James determined to seek his fortune there, and was elected Captain of a wagon train that crossed the plains to California in 1849. Drusilla and the children moved back to Frankfort Springs to live near her parents while James was gone. However James did not return, and they never lived together again. After her parents grew older and needed help with their care, she moved into her parents home. After both parents died she and the two youngest children went out to Illinois where her sister Mary lived and where her daughter Margaret Ann had gone to teach school and later married.
She and her son, Washington Worth Morehead, bought a little farm there in Mercer County, Illinois, but sold it in 1873 and moved to Clay County, Kansas. In 1890 her son sold that land and moved his family, including Drusilla, to Washington State.
Note from Darrell Brown:
Census records confirm that by 1850, Drusilla and her children had moved back from Ohio and were living in Frankfort Springs, and that by 1860 she and her son had moved in with her parents. During that time she made beautiful quilts, two of which she eventually gave to the two granddaughters she raised when they later married. Drusilla's mother died in 1860, and her father in 1867, after which she moved to Illinois with her son Washington. She's not recorded anywhere in the 1870 census, which suggests she was traveling at that time, no longer in Frankfort Springs and not yet in Mercer County, Illinois, but she must have arrived well before October, 1870, when her daughter Clemmie married.
The farm Drusilla bought in Illinois is shown on an 1874 plat man as having ten acres in the SE quarter of section 5 of Eliza township belonging to "D. M." It was just north of the farmland where the Miller Cemetery is located. Judging from the 1870 census (in which Drusilla and family are nowhere mentioned), Drusilla's daughter Margaret Ann and her family were living on this farm or somewhere near it. Later in 1870 Clemmie married John Reed, who lived on the farm next to them.
The farm Drusilla bought in Kansas was the SE quarter of section 4 of Garfield (Peach Grove) township in Clay county. Evidently Clemmie went with them, because her son Arthur was born in Kansas in Feb, 1874, but she came back that year to Illinois.
In 1874, Margaret Ann and family left Illinois and moved to Wise County, Texas, to live on the farm of her father, James Morehead, while Clemmie and her husband Joseph Reed remained on the farm in Illinois.
Drusilla died intestate. The registry of deaths in Tacoma records the date as 30 Nov 1895, and cemetery records show she was buried the next day in Tacoma Cemetery. Her only surviving child was her married son Washington, who lived thirty miles away in Yelm. But it was not until July of 1902 that he initiated probate. At that time he filed an affidavit claiming Drusilla died on 15 November 1898. Most likely he gave this later date to place her death within the statute of limitations for probate. Drusilla's estate consisted of two adjoining lots of real estate, and these were awarded to her son Washington.
From "Witherspoon Family History" by Evelyn Potter Park:
Drusilla, daughter of John and Margaret (Kennedy) Witherspoon, was born June 23, 1821 at Frankfort Springs, Pennsylvania. Died Nov. 30, 1895 at Tacoma, Washington. Died suddenly of a stroke. and was buried in the Tacoma Cemetery. She had lived at 4617 S. 46th Street, Tacoma. She married James Morehead in 1841, the son of Alexander Morehead and Nancy Agness Gibson, daughter of James Gibson. Drusilla was named for her mother's very dear friend, Drusilla Edgington.
Drusilla and James lived for a while in Hancock County, West Virginia and then in Steubenville, Ohio while James worked on building a bridge across the Ohio River. While they were there gold was discovered in California in 1849. James determined to seek his fortune there, and was elected Captain of a wagon train that crossed the plains to California in 1849. Drusilla and the children moved back to Frankfort Springs to live near her parents while James was gone. However James did not return, and they never lived together again. After her parents grew older and needed help with their care, she moved into her parents home. After both parents died she and the two youngest children went out to Illinois where her sister Mary lived and where her daughter Margaret Ann had gone to teach school and later married.
She and her son, Washington Worth Morehead, bought a little farm there in Mercer County, Illinois, but sold it in 1873 and moved to Clay County, Kansas. In 1890 her son sold that land and moved his family, including Drusilla, to Washington State.
Note from Darrell Brown:
Census records confirm that by 1850, Drusilla and her children had moved back from Ohio and were living in Frankfort Springs, and that by 1860 she and her son had moved in with her parents. During that time she made beautiful quilts, two of which she eventually gave to the two granddaughters she raised when they later married. Drusilla's mother died in 1860, and her father in 1867, after which she moved to Illinois with her son Washington. She's not recorded anywhere in the 1870 census, which suggests she was traveling at that time, no longer in Frankfort Springs and not yet in Mercer County, Illinois, but she must have arrived well before October, 1870, when her daughter Clemmie married.
The farm Drusilla bought in Illinois is shown on an 1874 plat man as having ten acres in the SE quarter of section 5 of Eliza township belonging to "D. M." It was just north of the farmland where the Miller Cemetery is located. Judging from the 1870 census (in which Drusilla and family are nowhere mentioned), Drusilla's daughter Margaret Ann and her family were living on this farm or somewhere near it. Later in 1870 Clemmie married John Reed, who lived on the farm next to them.
The farm Drusilla bought in Kansas was the SE quarter of section 4 of Garfield (Peach Grove) township in Clay county. Evidently Clemmie went with them, because her son Arthur was born in Kansas in Feb, 1874, but she came back that year to Illinois.
In 1874, Margaret Ann and family left Illinois and moved to Wise County, Texas, to live on the farm of her father, James Morehead, while Clemmie and her husband Joseph Reed remained on the farm in Illinois.
Drusilla died intestate. The registry of deaths in Tacoma records the date as 30 Nov 1895, and cemetery records show she was buried the next day in Tacoma Cemetery. Her only surviving child was her married son Washington, who lived thirty miles away in Yelm. But it was not until July of 1902 that he initiated probate. At that time he filed an affidavit claiming Drusilla died on 15 November 1898. Most likely he gave this later date to place her death within the statute of limitations for probate. Drusilla's estate consisted of two adjoining lots of real estate, and these were awarded to her son Washington.
Drusilla, daughter of John and Margaret (Kennedy) Witherspoon, was born June 23, 1821 at Frankfort Springs, Pennsylvania. Died Nov. 30, 1895 at Tacoma, Washington. Died suddenly of a stroke. and was buried in the Tacoma Cemetery. She had lived at 4617 S. 46th Street, Tacoma. She married James Morehead in 1841, the son of Alexander Morehead and Nancy Agness Gibson, daughter of James Gibson. Drusilla was named for her mother's very dear friend, Drusilla Edgington.
Drusilla and James lived for a while in Hancock County, West Virginia and then in Steubenville, Ohio while James worked on building a bridge across the Ohio River. While they were there gold was discovered in California in 1849. James determined to seek his fortune there, and was elected Captain of a wagon train that crossed the plains to California in 1849. Drusilla and the children moved back to Frankfort Springs to live near her parents while James was gone. However James did not return, and they never lived together again. After her parents grew older and needed help with their care, she moved into her parents home. After both parents died she and the two youngest children went out to Illinois where her sister Mary lived and where her daughter Margaret Ann had gone to teach school and later married.
She and her son, Washington Worth Morehead, bought a little farm there in Mercer County, Illinois, but sold it in 1873 and moved to Clay County, Kansas. In 1890 her son sold that land and moved his family, including Drusilla, to Washington State.
Note from Darrell Brown:
Census records confirm that by 1850, Drusilla and her children had moved back from Ohio and were living in Frankfort Springs, and that by 1860 she and her son had moved in with her parents. During that time she made beautiful quilts, two of which she eventually gave to the two granddaughters she raised when they later married. Drusilla's mother died in 1860, and her father in 1867, after which she moved to Illinois with her son Washington. She's not recorded anywhere in the 1870 census, which suggests she was traveling at that time, no longer in Frankfort Springs and not yet in Mercer County, Illinois, but she must have arrived well before October, 1870, when her daughter Clemmie married.
The farm Drusilla bought in Illinois is shown on an 1874 plat man as having ten acres in the SE quarter of section 5 of Eliza township belonging to "D. M." It was just north of the farmland where the Miller Cemetery is located. Judging from the 1870 census (in which Drusilla and family are nowhere mentioned), Drusilla's daughter Margaret Ann and her family were living on this farm or somewhere near it. Later in 1870 Clemmie married John Reed, who lived on the farm next to them.
The farm Drusilla bought in Kansas was the SE quarter of section 4 of Garfield (Peach Grove) township in Clay county. Evidently Clemmie went with them, because her son Arthur was born in Kansas in Feb, 1874, but she came back that year to Illinois.
In 1874, Margaret Ann and family left Illinois and moved to Wise County, Texas, to live on the farm of her father, James Morehead, while Clemmie and her husband Joseph Reed remained on the farm in Illinois.
Drusilla died intestate. The registry of deaths in Tacoma records the date as 30 Nov 1895, and cemetery records show she was buried the next day in Tacoma Cemetery. Her only surviving child was her married son Washington, who lived thirty miles away in Yelm. But it was not until July of 1902 that he initiated probate. At that time he filed an affidavit claiming Drusilla died on 15 November 1898. Most likely he gave this later date to place her death within the statute of limitations for probate. Drusilla's estate consisted of two adjoining lots of real estate, and these were awarded to her son Washington.
Gravesite Details
There is no headstone. On the plot map she is listed as Mrs. D.E. Moorhead.
Family Members
Siblings
See more Moorehead or Witherspoon memorials in:
- Tacoma Cemetery Moorehead or Witherspoon
- Tacoma Moorehead or Witherspoon
- Pierce County Moorehead or Witherspoon
- Washington Moorehead or Witherspoon
- USA Moorehead or Witherspoon
- Find a Grave Moorehead or Witherspoon
