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72 colony, and Mrs. Bledsoe was always a constant and able assistant to her husband. On the night of the 20th of July, 1788, their home was attacked by Indians, and Colonel Anthony Bledsoe was killed. This sad loss was followed by the death of both of her sons at the hands of the Indians, her brother-in-law, a cousin, as well as many friends and earnest supporters of her husband in his work. Bereft of every male relative, almost, and her devoted friends, Mrs. Bledsoe was obliged to undertake the care and education of her little family and the charge of her husband's estate. Her mind was one of almost masculine strength, and she discharged these duties with remarkable ability. Her death came in 1808, but her life of privation, hardship, and Christian courage has placed her among the pioneer mothers and distinguished women of America.

Among the pioneers from the banks of the Yadkin in North Carolina who crossed the mountains to seek new homes in the valley of the Holston, was Samuel Sherrill with his family consisting of several sons and two daughters. One of these daughters, Susan, married Colonel Taylor; the other, Catherine became the second wife of General Sevier. With the family of Sherrill came that of Jacob Brown, from North Carolina. These two families were intimately associated, and intermarried later. Colonel Sherrill took an active part with the Bledsoes against the Cherokee Indians, in 1776. In the attack on the fort, one of the men seeking shelter was killed. A story is told of Miss Sherrill, who was distinguished for her nerve and fleetness of foot. When scrambling over the stockade in her effort to gain an entrance to the fort, she found she was being assisted by some one on the other side. The savages were gaining so rapidly and were then so close upon her that she