BIO: by Karla Todd Sherer

NOTE** Photo of Headstone is courtesy of Jere Cox and taken around 1990's - stone now gone.

NOTE: *Elizabeth's legal surname at death was Bryant due to 2nd marriage but that name is not as well known as her many years of being a Bishop. She is buried as a Bishop with first husband Brinkley Bishop so I use Bishop for her married name here on Findagrave so she can be found.

I recently found this middle name and the spelling appears to be: BURGES so I do not know if that is the correct spelling. I found it on FamilySearch.com and it was typed: (Burges)Burgess. It could have been the Dutch spelling of Burgess as her grandmother Mourning VanPelt, was born in Holland. Elizabeth has a granddaughter named Burgess Marie Bryant after her. Also, Elizabeth's birth date shown here is calculated based on death date on her headstone. I defer to the headstone as other records are estimated dates i.e. Census and Marriage etc.

Elizabeth is the daughter of Eli and Sarah Lewis McMullen. Eli & Sarah are of Scottish decent to my current knowledge. However, Elizabeth was born in America. I currently believe the best record for her birth is Halifax, NC.

Elizabeth married Brinkley Bishop 17 Dec 1823. They were married in Halifax County, North Carolina.

By the 1830's, Elizabeth and Brinkley were well established on their Carroll Co., TN, farm where they raised 11 children that I have verified. Among those children were 5 boys and 6 girls. To my knowledge they are:

William Bishop 1824 – 1850
Sarah Ann "Sallie" Bishop Bryant 1826 – 1880
John Thomas Bishop 1827 – 1904
Lucy Myhand Bishop Jones 1829 – 1888
Elizabeth F. "Eliza" Bishop Jones 1832 – 1905
Joseph J Bishop 1832 – 1869
Letitia M "Lettie" Bishop Bowles 1834 – 1919
Wiley Brinkley Bishop 1836 – 1916
Mary Jane Bishop Bryant 1837 – 1919
Ann Anna Bishop 1841 –
George Leonard Bishop 1843 – 1916

When Brinkley died, they still had children at home and Elizabeth married Zachariah "Rial" Bryant, 19 Nov 1858, in Carroll Co., TN. They were together 10 years before Rial died. Rial is in Bryant Cemetery with his first wife and very likely his 2nd also, located in the Milan Arsenal. Elizabeth is laid to rest next to her first husband and the father of her children, Brinkley Bishop, here in Bishop Cemetery, also in the Milan Arsenal.
Elizabeth is my Gx3 Grandmother.

Rest peacefully - your family has never forgotten you...