Where Can I Find Elizabeth McGraudy Thompson?
Neshaminy Warwick Presbyterian Church Cemetery
Where Can I Find Elizabeth McGraudy Thompson?
The first of the first-generation Thompsons and the matriarch of the family, Elizabeth McGraudy Thompson, can be hard to find. Many know that she is buried at the Neshaminy Warwick Presbyterian Church in Bucks County PA (Bristol Road in Warminster PA). Some family members have tried with little success to locate Elizabeth’s grave site. However, in 2024 the sleuths of Barbara, Jeffrey, Emma, and Jack Thompson tracked down the final resting place of this brave woman to whom our family owes much.
Elizabeth McGraudy was born in 1695 in the lowlands of Scotland; moved with her family to N/Ireland; married Hugh Thompson in 1719 in County Tyrone Ireland; gave birth to sons Hugh, Robert, William, and John Thompson; lost her husband Hugh around 1730-35; courageously left Ireland 1735/1740 (with her four children!), along with her brother Samuel McGraudy, on a rickety sailing vessel for a 6-8 week voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to an unsettled landmass called America.
Family lore has that when she was about to board the ship, her elderly father pleaded with her not to go, but finding that her mind was made up, “poured out an earnest prayer to God to preserve her and her family from the perils of the sea and a life in the wilderness among wild beast and without the accustomed environment of a civilized life”(Wilson-Thompson Families Genealogy 1916, page 162). Elizabeth died in 1768 in Bucks County at age 73.
Below are pictures of Elizabeth’s gravestone, the first taken about 1916, the second 2024. More information about the Neshaminy Warwick Presbyterian Church can be found under Historic Properties.
(W-T Family Finding Elizabeth McGraudy Thompson Word file)
This is a drawing of the original Neshaminy Warwick Presbyterian Church. Several McGraudy, Wilson, and Thompson family members are buried in the church cemetery, including 1st generation Elizabeth McGraudy Thompson (1695-1768). Below is a picture of the church's chapel adjacent to the cemetery. Both the drawing and the picture are from the church's website.
