Nancy Spessard was given 20 years on earth, an all-too-brief amount of time. She was one of 14 children born to John Spessard and Catharine Stover in Frederick, Maryland. Nancy was born in the Spring of 1816; being the eldest daughter, she probably worked hard helping her mother with her younger siblings. Her grandfather was the patriarch of the Spessard family in America, Michael Spessard, who emigrated from Germany and was a participant in the American Revolution. A series of tragic events unfolded beginning in the summer of 1829, when far away in the Shenandoah Valley a house belonging to George and Dollie Kretsinger went up in flames. George and Dollie perished while trying to save their belongings and left all twelve of their children, including 16 year old Samuel Kretsinger, orphans. The youngest children, including Samuel were parceled out until they were of age to marry or move on. Samuel, when old enough, moved to Washington County, Maryland in 1830 and became interested in the United Brethren Church and converted to that religion. He also met 14 year old Nancy Spessard. Their relationship could be likened to star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet: they were both young, became intimate, and Nancy became pregnant with Samuel's baby. On her 15th birthday, May 20, 1831, Nancy gave birth to a daughter, Mary Katherine. The teenagers did not immediately marry for unknown reasons. Nancy and her baby lived with her parents, John and Catherine Spessard until her marriage to Samuel Kretsinger in 1834 when she became 18. Samuel and Nancy had two years together as husband and wife, and she bore another child, a boy named Samuel after his father, but the infant died soon after birth in 1836. Sadly in November of 1836, Nancy's brief life also ended. She and her infant child Samuel were buried together in the United Brethren Cemetery. Nancy's daughter, Mary Katherine was raised by her Spessard grandparents. Mary Katherine's father Samuel left the area, later settling in Kansas where he was a minister and circuit rider. He re-married and was the father of many children.