Elizabeth (née Titus) (Nixon) Probasco (c.1764 – after 1820) was my 5th-great-grandmother, through her son Jonah Nixon Jr. by her first husband Jonah Nixon (1750-12-28 – 1796-07), son of George Nixon. She likely died in the 1820s, although records are sparse. She is one of my main gateways into Dutch ancestry, being of almost entirely Dutch descent, mostly from the early settlers of New Amsterdam and the surrounding areas.
She was born in Pennsylvania but lived most of her life in Loudoun County, Virginia.
The surname Titus goes back to Dutch immigrant Titus Syrachs de Vries who came to America around 1650. De Vries means “the Frisian”, a clue to his origins. Syrachs was a patronymic (“son of Syrach”), and Titus did not use a surname, so his first name was adopted by his descendants as a surname.
Elizabeth was the daughter of Francis Titus (1742–1811) by his first wife (of two) Margaret Wynkoop (c.1745–1777). Margaret’s mother was Margaret Covenhoven.
Her first husband Jonah was the son of George Nixon. They had five children: George, Ruth, Joanna, Jonah Jr., and Nancy.
After Jonah’s death in 1796, she remarried to Samuel Probasco on 1798-04-20 in Loudoun County. They seem to have had a couple of children, one perhaps named Francis. Samuel and a woman, almost certainly Elizabeth, both aged 45+, are listed in the 1820 census, but neither is listed as a head of household in 1830. They may have both died in the intervening decade, but they could also be absent from the census for any number of other reasons.
The parents of Femmetje Sales (Dutch for Phebe) were English-born John Sales and Phillipa Soale, who immigrated to the Dutch colony.