We do not know very much about Sarah or Sallie Bolen who married Timothy Roark about 1796 or 1797. We do not know when or where they married, we do know that their first child, James, was born 9 Oct 1798 in Claiborne County, Tennessee.
The story, passed down through the family goes something like this: The 11 year old Timothy was a captive of the Indians for seven year. At about age 18 he escaped and took two white women with him. He married one of women that had escaped with him, Sarah or Sallie Bolen. I just leaned from Ina Mae Sandefur, of Kokomo, IN that the other woman who escaped with Timothy was Sarah's sister, Lucy Bowling. Lucy Bowling married James Eastridge and they also settled in Claiborne, County, Tennessee.
Another story, this one with some documentation says that the James Roark family was massacred when James and this two oldest sons where out hunting on 18 Mar 1780, a snow had fallen and in Indians were not expected. The Shawnee were in the area and had been caught in the snow storm, taken shelter for the night under an overhanging rock. They found the Roark cabin the next morning and attacked, killing everyone inside, (Mrs. Roark and seven of her children). One child, a girl, was taken captive. James and his sons returned late in the afternoon and found the results. They tried to pursuit and were unable to follow the trail.
James became an Indian hater and would travel many miles to assist other pioneers in defending they cabins from Indian attacks. It has been reported that James and one sons, John, were killed defending the Bottoms Blockhouse in present day Floyd County, Kentucky. They other son is unnamed and what happen to him is unknown, lost in history. He could have been captured and later escaped, or he could have lived and walked away and settled in some place, like the area around Tazewell, Claiborne County, Tennessee.
It is believed that our Timothy was either the one taken captive at the cabin or the unnamed son that survived the Floyd County, KY battle. Anyway there is record of a Timothy Roark wha was a member of a jury in Tazewell County, VA in 1800. I can not explain how he could be living in Tazewell County, VA in 1800 and his son born in Claiborne County, TN.