CHAPTER ONE Elizabeth (Cooksey) Parks Byrd Founder, Greenwood Methodist Church Greenwood, South Carolina 24 April 2022
I. Who Elizabeth Was and What She Did
Elizabeth (Cooksey) Parks Byrd may have been the founder all others turned to for guidance. She had traveled far to her second home from her first and traveled again to her third home. She grew to womanhood on the frontier and by age 20 had married. She was widowed twice and one child predeceased her. For all her adult life she managed Methodist households. From firsthand experience, she understood the value of spiritual and other support the church could provide families. Hezekiah Cooksey and Eliza Grey, also spelled Gray, were Elizabeth’s parents. Hezekiah was born about 1750 in C HARLES C OUNTY , M ARYLAND , where his ancestors had lived since the 17 th century. 1 In the 1770s, he still lived in that county. 2 He enlisted 9 July 1776 in the Maryland militia. 3 At the end of the decade he and Eliza Grey married. Eliza was born in 1752 in Charles County where her father’s ancestors had lived since the early part of the century. 4 1 Hezekiah Cooksey, ID 1018499, Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia’s North Neck Counties (http://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/index.php) : 2 April 2019). Also, Elizabeth Gray, ID 1018502, Early Colonial Settlers of Southern Maryland and Virginia’s North Neck Counties (http://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/index.php) : 2 April 2019). 2 “Maryland, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1772-1890,” database, Ancestry.com (access through participating libraries : 28 March 2019), abstract, Hezekiah Cooksey, 1775; citing Maryland Early Census Index. Also, “Maryland, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1772-1890,” database, Ancestry.com (access through participating libraries : 28 March 2019), abstract, fidelity oath of Hezekiah Cooksey, 1778; citing Maryland Early Census Index. 3 Archives of Maryland: Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in American Revolution, 1775-1783 , v. 18 (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1900), 32; digital image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org : 31 March 2019). 4 “Maryland Marriages, 1666-1970,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4] FMG : 31 March 2019), entry for Hezekiah Cooksey-Eliza Grey, 13 July 1780; citing “Charles County; FHL microfilm 13,148.” Also, Elizabeth Gray, Early Colonial Settlers.
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