WILLIAM HUDSON (1827-C1880-1910): HE IS NOT WILLIAM OLIVER HUDSON S/O ABNER HUDSON

There is a brick wall on my husband's tree. A William Hudson b. ca1827 in a) Virginia (1880 response on census in Pulaski Co., IL, or, b) "at sea" a later response by his daughter on the census, or, c) England (1870 response on a census in Evansville, Vanderburgh, Ind. So - which one ? His son will say on census records that he was born in Indiana so no help there!!

Lately, someone has begun tacking on a middle initial or name "O" or "Oliver" and claiming the Pulaski Co., ILL William was the son of Abner Hudson and wife Elizabeth Mason. No documentation or proof provides evidence of this connection. No DNA matches have appeared with my husbands Ancestry tree. Everyone I have emailed with a query "where did you get this information?" shrugs and says "somewhere".

More credible records indicate that William Oliver Hudson, s/o Abner followed his family out of Virginia into Alabama.

WikiTree states: "William was born in 1828. He is the son of Abner Hudson and Elizabeth Mason. [1] He is recorded in the 1850 Census, Culpeper County, Virginia, living with his widowed father, Abner Hudson. In 1855 he is listed in the Perry County, Alabama Census alone. The census of 1860 in Uniontown, Perry, AL, shows his profession as Physician. (William O Hudson, in will filed in 1869 leaves the custody of his daughter, Aurelia, to John L Chambers of Perry County, AL. ) He was married about 1859 to M E Chambers, daughter of John and Mariah. They had a son Jack born in April 1860, and a daughter Aurelia, born 1862. In July 1869 Probate records of his father's estate, names him as deceased, and survived by his wife M E Hudson, and daughter Aurelia, left in the custody of John L Chambers, of Perry County. Aurelia's residence is substantiated by the 1870 census records" .[William Oliver Hudson (1828-) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree]
Surprisingly, this seems the most substantive information yet located concern this man!

So until then, my working theory involves two possibilities.
1. Wm Hudson more c 1827 in Virginia, md in Evansville, Ind and replied to the census with England because there were other Hudson/Hotson's in the area who had come from England a generation before and since. He replied because he was a southerner in post Civil War times when being such was often denied. Many simply went west to avoid answering.

2. Wm Hudson was born in England, or crossing the sea, to arrive, perhaps in Virginia. He married Emily Jane Kane/Cain in 1868 Evansville, then migrated to Pulaski Co., Ill.

When he died is assumed to be southern Illinois with a date between 1880 and 1910 (when one descended thought he remembered hearing of his death at then).

The two men -Wm Hudson and Wm O Hudson - were not the same man, Now, if some DNA will come along to match with my husband's on Ancestry!

Problems with the Terry Tree

Two wrinkles have arisen concerning origins for the man my family line identifies as William Terry (1724-1793) and wife Rachel Manson(c1730-1803) of Botetourt County, Va. Family trees, family histories, family letters along with family lore and official documentation- and now DNA- have all established that this man had a son John Terry who married Esther Brown.

PROBLEMS OF EVIDENCE AND LOCATION:

The man many family trees identify as  a) William Terry, b) William "Trapper" Terry and ,3) "William Terriy", often has a birthdate ranging from 1700-1724, my line believes the 1724 is correct based on activities. 

Some claim he was born at "Elmwood Plantation, Roanoke, Botetourt Co, Va" and others "Terry's Run, Orange Co., Va".  The last is interesting because according to sources consulted Orange Co was created in about 1734 from Spotsylvania Co. His death has been - since about the 1970's fixed at circa 1803 based on dating from various legal documents that mention his children. A legal action by his son Miles Terry named Rachel as William's widow and several children were named in the document dated February 1793. Then an earlier court document filed by his son Jasper (with wife Ruth) to serve as administrator was filed Dec 11 1792.  This appears to mean that William was already dead (hence his wife named a widow).

Some claim and have added that to the FindaGrave record that he died in Surry Co., North Carolina and they describe him as Wm "Trapper" Terry who married a Cherokee woman they label a "Princess" Elizabeth or Esther Harris Terry Parker Sanders (all my Native American friends confirm are probably shaking their heads at the princess business; most concur they had no such title). The one revised FIndAGrave has William as an elderly man up and traveling to Surry Co., NC and there dying and being buried in a Terry Family Cemetery. I have no doubt there might be a Wm Terry buried there but feel confident he will turn out to be one of the eastern VA Terry group with a Haplogroup of I-01. They had several Williams fighting in Native conflicts, fighting in the Revolution, and they made have made their living trapping and using the coastal waterways for trade.  Some of the this group may require a vast new database of DNA before they are satisfied with any tree. 

Others hold to a death in Botetourt County, Virginia, United States.  That is most likely since he died probably October or November of 1792 in Botetourt Co., Virginia. No grave has been documented as his in Botetourt County, Va or elsewhere. 

Note: Here is where some DNA would really be useful to untangle the line of this alleged "Wm "Trapper" Terry who married the Native American Woman in  North Carolina. I can accept "A" William Terry may have done just that, but there were several large clusters of Terry's, including one group that landed in Virginia, one that trickled down from Pa and NJ and another that may have drifted in from NC.  

The DNA will be helpful to see if this group belongs to the G Haplogroup of Jasper Terry and Mary Morrison or the I-02 Haplogroup of Wm and Rachel Manson Terry, Jasper Terry and Mary Hart and John and Ester Brown Terry.

SOME OTHER PROBLEMS NOTED:

A marriage between a  William Tirrey, and Keziah (Hale) Tirrey. This gets repeated -ad nauseum -  but there is no evidence provided when it is shared. Where does the information come from? A family Bible? A public or church record? There has to be some proof before this can be accepted in any manner whatsoever.

The Boteoturt Co,, VA Wm Terry's wife was a "Rachel Moredock". Again, absolutely no evidence or documentation is offered to support this. There, however a marriage record at the historical Christ Church in Philadelphia of a 1759 marriage between a William Terry and a Rachel Manson. If this was a second union for William, as some birthdates suggest, the first marriage was made when he was young.

The same is true for a marriage of a Thomas BROWN and a Mary TERRY. It keeps getting listed but the records I have seen show no place, no date and without those the claim there relate to the parents of Esther Brown Terry mean nothing.

For some odd reason, again no supporting evidence, Wm's son, father of my ggggrandfather William Terry who married Barbara Ennis, John /Esther Brown Terry has had "Burris" slipped into his name. No evidence, no proof and an apparent story that may have had its genesis in the marital line of a descendent of John's younger son. In fact, the only Burris connection is through the son of Josiah, son of John and Esther, whose first marriage produced two sons (William and Joseph). Joseph married a woman whose grandmother was a Burris. Absolutely no connection to John Terry son of William Terry.

The next data is full of details but empty of references or cited sources:  The claim is that William Terry (pick which one) had the occupation as a Fur Trader and he was a Roanoke/Southern Tuscororan Soldier.    Some claim either he or just his alleged first wife or both had an ethnicity of Tuscorora; and Old Cheraw . Others have fleshed out the information - again  no source - that his was named William John Terry, fur trapper/trader, surveyor, soldier.  Given land right, by the late 1700's, the old Terry Plantation was made up close to 1,000 acres. The property located where Roanoke, Virginia was later established. His farm was named Elmwood.

A little about "ELMWOOD":

A 2010 article from my old blog "Family Face", "ELMWOOD: TERRY HOME OF BOTETOURT CO., VIRGINIA"

"According to many researchers this house was the home of the Terry's in what is now Roanoke, VA. It served as the recreation offices of the city in 1944 and later the main library but was demolished in 1964 as the and the libraries grew ( public library). The area is known as Elmwood Park. The last Terry to reside there on South Jefferson Street was the town's first millionaire, Peyton L. Terry. According to one source, Peyton acquired "Elmwood" in 1868 after the Civil War. Other sources indicate he was the son of a Stephen Terry and there had been a "Elmwood" in Pittsylvania Co.. Continuing research will clarify the connection as valid or just a really good story.

Peyton Leftwich Terry of the Pittsylvania Co. Va area, was the descendent of Steven (1805-), son of William (1777-1815), son of Stephen (1750-1802), son of Zachariah (1725-1767 and all in the same Pittsylvania Co., Va area) who may have been the son of a James Terry (dates and location unknown). His wife, Mary Terry, wrote a book, "Big Lick Homefront: 1861-1865" written in 1898.

Although connection to this home is still possible due to many unanswered family history questions. from the information about the last Terry resident (who may or may not have named it), it would appear that there is no clear connection to the Peyton L. Terry of Elmwood and the line of this page."

The group that built Elmwood was apparently from Pittsylvania Co., Va. 

Terry's Run, Orange Co., Virginia:

The Tierry/Terry theory runs rampant with the claim that William Terry father of William/Rachel Terry line was born in 1700 in "Terry's Run" in Orange County, Virginia, the son of a "gentleman" and physician born in London. Records indicate that Orange County was created in 1734 from Spotsylvania co., Va.

Between 1781 and 1792 three male Terry's marry and are recorded in the book Annals of Southwest Virginia, p. 525 (available free to view online HathiTrust).  In 1781 John Terry marries Esther Brown, in 1782 his brother Miles Terry marries Hannah Horton. In 1782 a Stepen (Stephen) Terry marries an Alice Biggs.  This last group , I believe, represent a family that migrated into the are from about 1760 but more seriously about the time the line of William Terry-Rachel Manson Terry are migrated outward to other counties and territories (KY, TN, IND, etc.). The information on this page, I believe, describes their line. See: Terry Families of VA - Botetou - Genealogy.com

A family of Terry are in North Carolina and Halifax Co., VA with names Stephen, Matthew, Champs, etc. and they, from will information, represent another group.

The Annals mentions a William Terry with a wife Elizabeth in 1798 (April 6) who sold land to Isaac Renfro on the Little River in Botetourt Co., Va.

AGAIN - the DNA will be incredibly important in untangling these lines. Having my father's DNA return with the I-02 haplogroup was incredibly enlightening since others have done theirs and the link is proven from my father to John and Esther and upheld with Wm and Rachel. Others with the same haplogroup include a line going up into Pennsylvania and New York. Still some untangling to do but the DNA is a guide.

Further, I have had no "hits" on my own DNA information related to any group claiming the "Trapper " William Terry story.

So, look for the evidence, or add a statement as to why your link should be accepted because others will not be as discerning or questioning. 

THE DNA SHOULD TELL THE TALE: Origins of Barry Co., Missouri Terry Families

Note: There appears to be a clear correlation between the Terry family of Barry County, Missouri (Wesley Sartin Terry, John King Terry, Martin Terry, William Terry, John Terry, William Terry,,,with wife Rachel ...) and Terry's who migrated on the ship The James in 1635. These three men - brothers or cousins - settled primarily in Long Island first, then drifted into Flushing, and then into Bucks Co., Pa. One group - directly related to the Barry Co., Mo line - moved into Virginia (same locales with shifting names of Fincastle, Augusta, Montgomery) with some then moving toward frontier bounty award lands in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana. Finally, into Arkansas, Missouri, and Texas and all points west.

DNA should provide some clear guidance to linking family lines. My brother did his DNA and it firmly placed our line in the descent from a group in Botetourt Co., Va with links back to Bucks Co., PA. This line - my own - from Barry Co., Missouri was revealed to have a Paternal Haplogroup of 12a2.  

According to the Family at DNA (Terry - Results | FamilyTreeDNA) my line of Terry should be clear.

Family letters identify a Josiah Terry in Tennessee as a brother to my William Terry.   Again, DNA confirms this - Kit # 90918 Group I-02

0 William Terry b 1724 d 1803
+ Rachel Manson

1 John Terry b 1760 d 07 Dec 1842
+ Esther Brown

2 Josiah Terry b abt 1780 VA
+ Nancy Thomas; m(1) d 1868 Oneida, Scott Co TN
+ Nancy Stevens; m2 (Source- above link)

This group reflects the family of one known ancestor - so again DNA confirms: 

Kit # 90695 Group I-02 =

0 William Terry b 1724 d 1803  
+ Rachel Manson

1 John Terry b 1760 d 07 Dec 1842 (Note someone has added "Burris" to his name without any citations and an unverified story of its source and his parentage). 
+ Esther Brown (The Terry, Brown, and others had strong Pennsylvania ties to Quakerism).

2 William Terry b 07 Nov 1785 d  15 May 1869
+ Barbara Ennis [My Line!!]

3 John Terry b 09 May 1818 d  13 Sep 1898
+ Lucinda King Reed

Other studies and DNA confirm a link from this William and Rachel back to the Bucks Co., PA group. That information confirms a relationship between this William and a Jasper Terry with wife Mary Hart (whose mother was named Miles) through DNA.

Another jasper often tacked on or thought to be the same man, a Jasper Terry with wife Mary Morrison, comes from an entirely different haplogroup: G-02.

This should help to clarify connections and remove some profound mistakes being repeated without any supporting evidence.

ELIZABETH "BETSY" ENNIS, SISTER TO ZACHARIAH ENNIS: CHILDREN OF JAMES AND ANNA ENNIS

Remember that game of "Telephone" where people take what they hear and run with it?  Sometimes family trees are that way. Recently, I have been wading through information that is being added to trees but without any verifications. Evidence, documents, are all things important in genealogy. Yes, not every act with be documented but there should be some chains of evidence via family stories and other sources to give clues. Sometimes there is not but here we will look at one oft repeated story on family lines.

My ancestor never married and had three children. She was from an Irish family in the mid to late 1700's in Virginia and North Carolina so alternative ceremonies might have been used and despite government's interferences, not all marriages were preceded by licenses (or bonds) and recorded in the local government office. For one thing that bond might require anywhere from what would have been 500 pounds to 1000 pounds (and later dollars).  Not all churches accorded the local law the authority to marriage/ Some cultures utilized hand-fasts and similar ceremonies to bind a couple.

Elizabeth ENNIS, known to family as "Betsey", was born about 1770 in (probably) Augusta County, Virginia. Her father was James ENNIS and her mother Anna ---.  Her aunt was Barbara ENNIS who married a David Frazier (thus providing, I believe, the source for Elizabeth naming one daughter Barbara ENNIS). She had numerous brothers, including a Jeremiah, Martin, Elisha or Isaiah, Jesse, Zachariah and others.

In about 1788 she had daughter Barbara Ennis born in Burke Co., NC and who married William TERRY. She dies in the late 1800's in Barry Co., Missouri.

In about 1790, also in Burke Co., NC, she has daughter Nancy ENNIS who married a brother of William, John TERRY. She, her husband and several small children die from a fever in 1848 in norther Arkansas.

In about 1792, also in Burke Co., NC, she has son John Ennis (he will often spell it ENNES) and he will move, along with sisters and mother to Indiana and reside in the same county as Barbara Ennis Terry and her family. It is believed Elizabeth also made that journey and she may have remarried but died before 1850 in Indiana. That is based on stories from several families. John dies in the 1850's there in Gibson Co., Indiana.

Early letters written by William Terry in the 1840-1860's verify many of these connections along family lines as he details and comments much on "connections" (the families, friends, and church leaders they knew).

So supporting the story shared through most of the family line, I can remember hearing the story as a young girl sitting by my father as he told me about his family, is a 1913 letter and another document with witness statements about the family lines as they had been taught them  by their elders.

The 1913 letter has the statement about "Betsey" and prefaces it by stating they are talking about the family of Zachariah Ennis.  "His sister was Betsey Ennis . She never married, but had three children..."

A further important note is that Zachariah's youngest son, Elisha ENNIS will marry the daughter of his Cousin Barbara Ennis Terry (Matilda Terry Ennis).  Such marriages between 2nd cousins was permitted but any closer relationship was frowned upon. So, had Elizabeth been a wife of Zachariah and mother to Barbara, Nancy and John, the relationship would have been too close for marriage.

The records for the area where Elizabeth "Betsey" Ennis lived suffered greatly from time, battling armies, and mishandling of important historical documents. North Carolina and other early colonies have some surviving "Bastard Bonds" that paint a dismal picture of what faced young women who gave birth outside of the state sanctioned and fee based system. Publicly charged, they faced court, fines, and families, if willing, had to pay hefty fees and bonds. In more distant and remote areas, the traveling preachers of Baptist and Methodists traditions would regularly make their circuit and hold baptisms for births, funerals for those who had died and marriage for those who wished to marry or who had already begun living together. The surviving records of such ministers demonstrate the reality and make clear that if they did not report their actions to authorities or inform local magistrates - the information might be totally lost.

Luckily, also, in the 1920's the Ennis family in Missouri gathered some testimony from oldest living relatives, Some were made into legal documents (avadavat) as the family considered making claims against the Irish estates.  In several documents (such as the one above) a consistent story emerged related to who was related to whom. This 1923 statement from Adeline Ussery, daughter:

"Transcription (uncorrected) from a statement recorded in 1923 from Adeline USSERY, Missouri stating her lineage:

"this is my statement as i hav bin teched about my ENNIS ginerasion JOHN ENNIS my grat grat granfather cam from dublin, irlin back in the coln days hee had one son named JIM ENNIS hee had 8 c children thar names was MARTN, an JOHN an WILLIAM an JIM ZACHRIAR an JESSA an JERAMIR and ELISABETH won girl next is our family ZACHRIAR family

now i will comens on ZACKRIAR our grandfather hee was JIM ENNIS son an he was JOHN ENNIS son hoo com from dublin IrlanZACKRIAR had 8 childrn i don noo wher grandmother (i wont bee shore) borned she cam from Irlan too but wher shee was bornd her ir thair i dont remember

Your grandmother TERA was a ENNIS ELIZBETH ENNIS'S daughter your grandmother's mother was our fathers aunt, WILLIS Your grandmother TERA was Barba ENNIS before she marred wasnt she of the 4 ginrarations sam as you father and min

was 11 childrn in your fathers family thair was 14 in my fathers nams ANNA an MARA an ELIZBETH ARONS boys JAMS and WILLIAM an ZACKRIAR an JHON an ELISA grandmother ENNIS her name bee for marig was ANNA BRADCHAW i think grandfather was bornd in for gina family sevn in the first famly an sevn in the last famly thair was 6 marred 2 of the first childern an 4 of the last family WILLIS ant a herin you i noo it will tak time an trubel i just rit becus i hav som wher to rit to i got a leter from Dow the other day hee sad hee was well but Miles had bin sicj but beter you sad you cedn't barly understand albut WILLIAM ENNIS

You noo your uncl WILLAM was my father an his uncle WILLIAM my fathrs uncle was my grandfather ENNIS'S brothe JAMES ENNIS brother JAMES ENNIS'S son.

MARTN

JHON

JAMES J.R.

ZACHRIHAR

JERAMIRE

JESSA

an BETSA

this in the ENNIS children names of our grat grat gran father."

Note: The "TERA" refers to the husband of Barbra ENNIS, daughter of Elizabeth ENNIS, Barbara's husband was WILLIAM TERRY. These Terry's like many of the ENNIS clan settled in the early 1830-1840's in NW Arkansas and SW Missouri.

So, Elizabeth "Betsy" Ennis, sister to Zachariah Ennis and mother to Barbara Ennis Terry, Nancy Ennis Terry and John Ennis, was outside the mold and does not fit into neat little boxes that defined a woman by her spouse. 

I kind of like that about her.