Nancy Ann (née Slane) (Nixon) Pyott (1790-04-24 – 1885-02-22) was my 4th-great-grandmother, being the wife of Jonah Nixon Jr. and the mother of Juliet (Nixon) McPherson. Her parents are uncertain, but she is almost certainly a granddaughter of Irish immigrant Daniel Slane. She remarried after Jonah’s death, at the age of perhaps 33.^ref

Birth

A transcription of her damaged gravestone from a 1977 book^ref reads,

_______ott - _______ 24, 1790; 22 Feb. 1885 - 94 yrs. 9 mos.

Her gravestone is in even worse shape today, so this is probably the best we’re going to get.

The month of birth would be May (if they rounded up from 8 months, 29 days) or April (if rounded down from 9 months, 29 days). The latter seems slightly more likely.

This information may be compared to available census records:

The 1810 census is hard to make sense of, but the only reasonable candidates for Nancy are females in the 16–25 category, which places her birth in 1784–1794. In 1820 there is a “Joel Nixon” which may or may not be an error for Jonah. 1850 is noticeably off and may be an error. The rest are broadly consistent with the 1790 birth, allowing for usual discrepancies.

Nancy’s birthplace is always said to be Virginia in the census, but this was likely because it was not West Virginia till after the Civil War.

In 1880 she reported her parents’ birthplaces as Virginia, for what that’s worth.

Origins

The name Slane is rare, and Nancy lived near a family of Slanes descended from the Irish immigrant Daniel Slane. There is no proof of her parentage, but convincingly abundant circumstantial evidence connects her to this family. For example, there was contact between this Slane family and Nixon families in Hampshire County, Virginia (later West Virginia).

Chronologically, she would have to be a granddaughter of Daniel. Daniel had five sons, who are mentioned in his will proved in 1795. We can consider each as a candidate:

• Hugh, married Mary Largent. His family is fairly well-documented, with eight children, none named Nancy. Nancy could be an unknown child of Hugh, but it is not likely.
• James, married Margaret Largent. His family is poorly documented, and Nancy could be his daughter.
• John, married Phebe Hyatt (or Hiatt). His family is poorly documented, and Nancy could also be his daughter. Nancy named a son John (but this is a common name). John may have had a wife prior to Phebe^ref, but she could not be Nancy’s mother.
• Thomas did not marry till 1792, and had a daughter named Nancy not this person, who married William French.
• Benjamin did not marry till 1801, and his 1841 will does not mention a daughter Nancy.

James and John married Margaret and Phebe in a double marriage on 1786-02-19 in Frederick County, VA. Frederick County is between Hampshire County (where the Slanes settled) and Loudoun County (where Nancy later lived). So, I consider these two couples to be the most likely candidates. Hugh instead moved to Ohio, but cannot be definitively ruled out.

Margaret and Phebe were maternal half-sisters, and Mary (Hugh’s wife) was Margaret’s sister. These women all shared a mother named Margaret or Margery. Some say her maiden name was Stephens or Edwards, and that John Hiatt and James Largent were her second and third husbands; I have not found solid evidence about these details. In any case, this means that Margery is almost certainly Nancy’s maternal grandmother.

Nancy is inferred to be in mitochondrial haplogroup H13a1a1a, which she would have gotten from the elder Margery and in turn passed down to my great-great-grandfather Joel McPherson.

Marriages and family

Nancy married first Jonah Nixon Jr., who died in his 30s. See his entry for their children.

She married widower John Pyott on 1837-03-28 in Loudoun County, Virginia.^ref She became step-mother to his children, but had no more of her own.

See

• Find a Grave memorial.