William Terry Grave Memorial

Since there is no known grave, and the information on Find-A-Grave has combined several trees, here is the memorial due William Terry.

William Terry, born circa 1824 in Pennsylvania or Virginia. 

Although his parents are unknown, it is unlikely they were a William and a Keziah ??. No evidence of this man or this woman have been found. Many family trees erroneously mix lines from groups in eastern Virginia with those in the Botetourt County area. Recent DNA research has revealed that the eastern group has a large representation of people with Haplogroup I-01; descendants of one of the sons of this William have showed a representation of I-02 and a marked potential link to Terry's in Buck's Co., PA.  The line of a Jasper Terry with wife Mary Morrison, son Josiah, grandsons Japer Morrison Terry and Aaron Burr Terry reflect a totally different DNA : G-02. As more add their DNA to the tabulations the lines of descent will become clearer.

Died: Late fall, 1792, Botetourt County, Virginia. He is mentioned as deceased and there is mentioon of his widow Rachel in a legal document of early spring 1793. 

Grave site is unknown but possibly on his acres along Black Run, a branch of the Roanoke River where he had lived since 1755.

His wife was Rachel.  She was probably Rachel Manson and they married 3 February 1759 in Christ Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

He left a widow, eight children, and a host of friends for his long life and active involvement in the region (as first Augusta County, then Botetourt County). He can be tracked in the county region from 1744 until his death in late 1792. He surveyed roads, land boundaries, worked on road crews with friends and family members, acted as constable, and supplies horses and supplies during the War of Independence.  These are all actions attested to through various historic documents such as Kegley and Chalkley's histories of the region, local court documents, and deeds. 

Court records identify his eight children who received 1/8 shares in his estate. Those same records attest he did intestate and that he lived and died in the county of Botetourt.

Children were:

William Jr. md Patience Cooper

Jasper Terry married Ruth LNU (he may not be the same man that married a Margaret and died in Montgomery Co., VA; more research is needed)

John Terry md Esther Brown

Susannah Terry md Thomas Brown

Miles Terry md Hannah Horton

Mercy Terry md Jonathan Harrison

Rachel Terry md John Martin

Jemima Terry md Ezekiel Boucher , she died 1797.