Information from Johnny Bivins, Jr.: "Elizabeth was a cousin to Sarah Childress Polk, wife of President James K. Polk, 11th President of the United States of America."

*Update*
A researcher named Marjorie Alberta Dennstadt wrote a remarkable work in the "Virginia Genealogist," (volumes 34 & 35 - 1990/91) with an exhaustive history of the Childress family. For now (spring 2017) a link is available here: http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jpcfamily/dennstedt.htm

Dennstadt stated this Elizabeth was likely the daughter of John Childress, b. 20 Apr 1734 in Bristol Parish, Henrico, VA. John later lived at Saylors Creek, Prince Edward County, VA with his wife Ann Osborne.

Based on what we know about the Childress family in America, Sarah Childress Polk was probably roughly a fourth cousin to Elizabeth Childress Jackson. (Sarah was descended from Gracey Childress, b. abt. 1725 in Goochland, Va.) Elizabeth and her husband Francis Marion Jackson are considered very early settlers of Williamson County, TN, and are "First Family" qualifying ancestors.

We have a transcript of a memo left by Francis Jackson upon his death, but Elizabeth's middle name has been transcribed as "Woosman" - this is unlikely, given what's known about the history of Prince Edward County, VA. An educated guess for Elizabeth's name might be Worsham or Woodson - TBA as more information potentially becomes available.

Please see the excellent work by our cousin Gay Morton on the profile of Elizabeth's husband Francis Jackson for more details about the family.

Francis and Elizabeth had eleven children. The older children were born in Prince Edward County, VA and the youngest two in Rockingham, NC.

・Thomas, b. 15 Dec 1789, d. 7 Mar 1866 (Crofton, KY); m. Ruth Hendrix

・Robert, b. 4 Feb 1791, d. 3 May 1877 (Columbia, TN); m. "Nancy"

・Richard Jackson, b. 22 Dec 1792, d. 26 Jan 1870 (Rutherford Co., TN); m. Elizabeth Clark

・James, b. 25 Dec 1794, d. Alabama. Married Angeline Landrum

・John Childress, b. 21 Sep 1796, d. 30 Apr 1883 (Colbert, AL)

・Mary Franklin "Polly", b. 15 Mar 1798, d. 23 Oct 1874 (Rutherford Co., TN), m. Adam Hendricks

・Nancy Osborne, b. 7 Sep 1799, d. 24 Jul 1879 (Shelby, IL), m. Matthew Elam

・Nathan, 11 Jan 1801, d. 28 Sep 1880 (Rutherford Co., TN), m. Indiana Windrow

・William S., 1 May 1802, d. 9 Jun 1879 (Bedford Co., TN)

・Francis II, 31 Jan 1804, d. 1 Mar 1878 (Rutherford Co., TN)

・David, 2 Apr 1808, d. 25 May 1903, m. Polly Wilbanks

Please get in touch if you have any additional information on Elizabeth, who was my fifth great grandmother. Thanks so much to our family researchers and others who worked to locate her grave and to create this memorial to her.