Memorials › Sarah Jane "Sally" Billings Eastep
Sarah Jane "Sally" Billings Eastep
13 Aug 1844 – 3 Oct 1939
| Birth | 13 Aug 1844 |
| Death | 3 Oct 1939 |
| Cemetery | Crandall Cemetery Crandall , Kaufman County , Texas , USA |
| Added by | Blue Rose Of Cairo on 04 Aug 2006 |
| FaG | https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15152301 |
Bio
No one can pass by this gray granite tombstone without noticing the distinctive words "A Confederate Courier", which are inscribed upon it. After one sees the tombstone it is almost impossible not to stop to visit Sarah Eastep for a moment to contemplate exactly what the unusual phrase on her tombstone could possibly mean. It has drawn the attention of hundreds of visitors, many of whom contact local historians & genealogists for info about the grave. Was Sarah Jane really a Confederate Courier? For whom did she carry dispatches? Was her life ever in danger? All questions for which we have no answers. ARTICLE SOURCE An Update to the bio courtesy of "Bev": Sarah Estep / Eastep was born Sarah Jane "Sally " Billings on 13 Aug 1844 in NC, daughter of Charles and Lydia Billings...On 9 Jan 1861 Sarah married Soloman Crouse, born 1845 - son of Jacob A. Crouse and Nancy Fender. He was killed in battle during the Civil War in May 1864 while serving the Confederate States Army in Co F, 22nd NC Infantry. After his death Solomon's belongings were returned to Sarah by another soldier of the same company as Solomon - Jacob W "Jake" Estep...On 14 Jan 1866 in Allegheny Co NC Sarah Jane married Jake Estep....The tombstone on Sarah's grave was probably made and placed there in the late 1940's or early 1950's. No one knows who had it made and placed on her grave.... ∼ Daughter of Charles and Lydia Billings. Born in 1844 in Alleghany County, North Carolina. Her Parents moved to West Virginia when she was around 2½ years old. In the second year of the Civil War she married Solomon Crouse, who had been her sweetheart since she was 12. To be with her husband, Sarah served the Confederacy as a courier. My aunts told me stories over the years that she shared with them about delivering packets containing messages on horseback from camp to camp. Solomon Crouse died during the war in 1845 and Sarah went on to marry Jacob "Jake" Eastep, on Jan. 14, 1866. He was a friend of both her and Solomon, who also fought during the Civil War. They headed to Texas in 1872 by covered wagon. Jake drowned during a flood on May 7, 1877. Sarah never remarried and went on to raise their 6 children by herself, supporting herself by weaving, sewing and taking in boarders on occasion. One cousin recalls her sitting in a cane bottom chair by the fireplace and either dipping, chewing and at times smoking a corn cob pipe. What an amazing woman! Sarah is my great grandmother. Note: Before moving to Texas I find the spelling of the name as Estep, not Eastep.
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Family
Parents
Spouse
Siblings
Children
- John Letcher Eastep 1866–1942
- Curtis LaMont Eastep 1868–1942
- Cyntha Alice "Al" Eastep Curlee 1870–1918
- Ettie Lou Eastep Yant 1872–1961
- Mirttie J Eastep 1877–1908
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