Pheby Mottice is a mystery woman, largely because we do not know her maiden name. If we only had that information we could track down a lot more about her. I conclude that she was born about 1774 and died about 1823, and I explain below how I came up with that hypothesis.
What we know is mostly inferred, and the only reference to her name is in the historical session records of the Waynesburg Presbyterian Church. On August 31, 1821, the congregation of Waynesburg Presbyterian was formed with Peter being one of the founding elders and "Pheby his wife" was named.
Peter and Pheby had been in the area for a number of years already. According to Stark County historian E.A. Heald in his "Stark County Story", "Among the early settlers who came to the township [Sandy] before Waynesburg was founded were . . . Peter Mottice and family . . . most of these by 1810."
Evidence exists to suggest that they moved to Sandy township around 1806. Ohio Land Records show that Peter purchased property in the Osnaburg area on April 8, 1806. Although these records are sparse, the entry for this date indicates that Peter's current residence was Jefferson Co., OH.
So it seems as though Peter and Pheby were moving westward, along with many others at the time. Jefferson Co. and its major town, Steubenville, were a typical route the early settlers used to move into Ohio from the east. The main east-west route at the time was the old National Road (now Route 40) that passed through Washington County, PA. Many settlers traveled from the east to Washington, PA, then southwest following the Ohio River or across the Ohio River into Jefferson Co., Ohio. Peter and Pheby did the latter.
But when did they leave western Pennsylvania? Did they meet there, or in Jefferson County? Where were they married? Charles D. Mottice believes they moved to Jefferson Co. in 1802 after having married in Pennsylvania. These seem like reasonable assumptions based on a couple of other facts we have.
The first fact places Peter in western Pennsylvania in 1794. His obituary states that he was born in 1772 in Morris County, NJ. In 1794, he was 22 years old and enlisted in the Second Regiment of the New Jersey Militia. What did any state militia have to fight at that time? The Pennsylvania Insurrection of 1794 -- better known as the Whiskey Rebellion. And its center was the area around Washington, PA.
According to New Jersey records, Peter enlisted as a Private for 3 months on Sept. 10, 1794 and was discharged on Dec. 24, 1794. His commander died in western Pennsylvania.
So this is pretty strong evidence that places him in western PA at the right time. It is reasonable to assume that he stayed there after his discharge, even perhaps because he met Pheby there.
And the second fact that we know would put his marriage soon after the time of his discharge. One of Peter and Pheby's daughters, Margaret, was married in 1816. Although we do not know anything more about Margaret, we can guess that she probably did not marry before the age of 16, and probably not before she was closer to 20. She was therefore probably conceived no later that 1800, but perhaps even 1796 or earlier. This would make Peter and Pheby's marriage probable around 1795.
I have searched church and public records around Washington, PA for some evidence of Pheby, or her marriage to Peter, but to no avail. According to census records, their oldest son John was born in Pennsylvania in 1800, so that is additional evidence they married east of the Ohio.
What else do we know about Pheby? We know that she was present with Peter in 1821 (at the founding of the church), but by 1826 Peter had married a second wife, Mary Sibert. Did she die in the intervening years, or were they divorced? Since divorce was a rarity in those days, I think its safe to assume she died. Moreover, Peter continued to serve as an elder of the church, which would have been unlikely in the event of a divorce.
If Charles D. Mottice's history is to be believed, and Peter Mottice took a mistress prior to marrying his second wife, Mary, then I would infer that Pheby passed away closer to 1821 than 1826. Then, if we assume that she was of similar age to Peter, and probably a few years younger, we can reasonably guess that she was born around 1774 and died around 1823, passing away at the relatively tender age of 49.