RACHEL MANSON: 1759 PHILADELPHIA

In the historic and lovely Christ Church of Philadelphia 2 Feb 1759, one William Terry married one Rachel Manson.

The jury is still out for many that this is the same couple who are in Botetourt County, Virginia in coming decades, identified as William Terry and wife Rachel in various court and land records. Some raise their hands and argue it is too far away - too far for travel back then. Well, that has been proven via maps and trails in use right through the area of Roanoke, Va (where William lived) from a very early date (George Washington used some while he was surveying).

William was in Virginia why go to Pennsylvania? Good question. Several obvious reasons emerge. One, that was where the girls were in all probability. If he was looking for a particular kind of wife, he might want to go back to "home" and to the "big city." A larger pond, as it were, for him to select a woman as his wife.

Wouldn't he be a stranger there? Well, good question that has to be answered with a question: how do we know he was stranger to the Pennsylvania-New Jersey- Delaware regions?  Indeed, looking into the family lines of the three brothers who arrived in New England in 1635 (Thomas, Richard and Robert Terry) it is amazing how that after arriving in probably Massachusetts, some drifted into New York (Southold and Long Island areas), and some into Burlington, New Jersey and similar points. In fact the man seen as teh patriarch of the Bucks Co., PA Terry groups actually shared land with his father-in-law Mordacai Bowden along the Delaware in a region that would become part of PA.

If the family letters of William's grandson, William Terry (1785-1869) reveal, there was a strong sense of "connection" among both family but also friends and traveling companions on the various journeys. That may be a family trait passed down through the generations.

One of the original three -presumed brothers - named a son Gershom. That is a Hebrew name about being an "alien" or a "a stranger here" and may reflect the isolation and alone feeling he experienced migrating from Kent, England to North America. A lesson like that might be strong and go through the generations and emphasize "connection" as the anti-thesis to loneliness.

Although not yet proven a connection it is very interesting that one of those brothers had a son who married a woman named HORTON.

William and Rachel Manson Terry of Botetourt Co., Va also have a son (named Miles)who will marry a woman named Hannah HORTON. 

Many of these families traveled together, like planets around suns they kept intersecting and often married 1-2-3-4 cousins thus reintroducing a surname into the mix. 

An intriguing possibility....

Now, as for Rachel Manson.  Many had stated that there were no Manson's in the area of Pennsylvania but that is untrue. There was one line that arrived fairly early with the name MANSSON and melded into another line by taking their name. There were some who arrived mid 1700's and some who had been in the area of New Sweden in NJ and in Delaware early with some apparent dealings with and into Pennsylvania.

Since there are known Terry lines (see paragraphs above) in the area of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. A James Manson is recorded in Philadelphia Quaker Records for 1760 who might prove to be a relative of the Manson group out of which Rachel Manson Terry emerged. It is noted that female descendants have reported finding surprising Swedish and Norwegian DNA in their lines; could this be evidence of the 5-6 generation of a woman with just that background?

A Manson group of a Peter Manson in eastern Virginia (Spotsylvania) has been suggested but -to date - no Rachel Manson found.  There has, however, been a Rachel Mansion b. ca 1730 in Pennsylvania located in a record but more has to be found to see if she is the same one. In Delware in 1791 a Rachel Manson married a John Burroughs in Delaware and there is a Rachel Burroughs in Spotslvania, Va in the 1810 census. So that might account for the eastern VA group but only suggests the name Rachel was in the Manson family - like in so many other families - a popular girl's name.