She was born in Kentucky in about 1768 and married Charles Joseph Rawlins in 1785 when she was about seventeen. Together they had five children.
Her husband and two of her sons enlisted in the military. At the end of their service, the two sons came back, but her husband Charles did not. A long time passed and all trace of his whereabouts seemed lost, so he was believed dead amid reports that he had been killed in battle.
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| They believed Charles had died |
Years later an old neighbor was going through the town in which they lived, and recognized Anastacia. He told the family that after they had moved, Charles Rawlins had come back in search of his family, only to find them gone. He reported to his old friends that he had been very ill and taken prisoner. They informed him that his wife had married again. Grief stricken he went away and was never heard of again.
Learning that Charles was alive was a source of immense grief and turmoil to Anastacia, but with a new family with Noah Phillips, she was in an impossible situation. She wondered if she would be condemned for remaining with her present husband. They decided to seek out Charles, but found no trace of him and she finally convinced herself that she was doing the right thing and remained with Noah Phillips the remainder of her life.
It is believed that like the character Enoch Arden in Tennyson's poem, Charles loved Anastacia too much to disrupt her new life and happiness.
