The Families of Elizabeth Betsy Tyler Corbly

Book excerpt: Elizabeth 'Betsy' Tyler was an unknown person in the history of western colonial Pennsylvania. She has been the subject of innumerable stories most of which describe only an event, not Betsy. Her story was first published on August 10, 1785 in the American Daily Advertiser, a Philadelphia daily newspaper owned by Messrs Dunlap and Claypoole. Many other newspapers of the day picked up the story and reprinted it. Her name was not mentioned in any of them. Betsy and John had five children, but only one lived to maturity. In 1782 Betsy and three of her children were massacred by an Indian scalping party. Another daughter died from her wounds later. Her first child, Delilah, was all that was left of Betsy's life. Nothing has been written about Betsy or Delilah until now. This book tells the stories of Betsy's ancestors, her parents and siblings, her life with the preacher John Corbly, and the life and descendants of Delilah, her only surviving child and legacy.