Since we strongly suspected that Margaret and Eley were buried on the family farm in Princess Anne County, the next logical step in our search was to find the current owner of the Bryant farmland. We found her! She is a 90-year old woman who lives in a modest ranch home across Blackwater Road from the property. Her name is Doris (family name, Frost), and she was born in the original farmhouse which had been located across the street (our family's home?) where there is now a barn owned by another family.
Here is how we found her:
Terry invited three of us, including my sister and a mutual friend, to meet her for breakfast on Monday, Sept. 25th at the Redhead Bay Cafe very near the location of the old Fletcher farm in Pungo. The mutual friend is a member of the Princess Anne Historical Society, and she had a particular interest in the history of lumber mills in the County. After breakfast Terry suggested we go for a ride and see the family properties that had taken so much effort to find three years ago.
We first drove across the Pungo Ferry bridge toward Blackwater Road, pointing out the Fletcher property. Turning left on Blackwater, we saw the old Blackwater Store and the pond where the lumber mill must have been. Heading back in the other direction, I pointed out the 40+ acres that was once the Bryant farm, now all soybean fields.
A man was out in his front yard across the road. His house and fields took up the triangle at the corner of Blackwater and Head of River Roads where Blackwater Road had once been straightened. We got out of the car and approached him. He wasn't friendly at first. He even challenged the story we told him. But then his wife (?) came out and she was more interested in helping us. They told us that "Doris" is the current owner of the property and lives right across Blackwater Road... and... look! She's home right now, waiting for a ride to go somewhere. Hurry and catch her!
We drove immediately to Doris' house and got out of the car. The front door was open and Doris came right out. She soon warmed up to us and told us about being born in the old farmhouse there. We explained that we were searching for graves. She assured us that she has walked every inch of that property and there are no graves. We thanked her and told her that she had saved us a lot of trouble and satisfied our curiosity.
I remember seeing the name "Frost" on an old map. Next step is to follow up on that lead.
