FAMILY TREES: TRACKING SOME EARLY TERRY LINES

Thursday, July 22, 2021

TRACKING SOME EARLY TERRY LINES

In a Partial History of William Terry and his Descendants 1724-1981 by Lula Terry Elliot (copy of was received from early Terry researcher Harriet Terry (who lived and died in Pratt, Kansas) there is ubiquitous family crest page. Do not get me wrong; I have great respect for Lula's work. I lived in Clayton, New Mexico where she lived for awhile, even spoke with the reporter who did the article on her included in the work, but a lot of her work was based on records that were obscure, hard to access and with a tree with a lot of the limbs uncharted. It is- and was - a crucial stepping stone to the history of those named Terry in the places and periods she explored. It - like several other works - tended to make some assumptions that are proving incorrect or incomplete.

A lot of work from the period of the 1960's to the 1980's proved to be that because people became aware of their history with the Bicentennial coming and many a tree hunt began searching for a revolutionary hero. Everyone was, I think, seeking reflect glory as lessor known people of the same names were often discarded in the process. They were "forgotten Americans" - those who missed, avoided, or ran from getting themselves recorded (or taxed) or were not viewed by a status conscience era as valuable to a region's history - but important to the process of nation making as much as those who rose to stellar heights.

As for the page in question, for those unfamiliar, those are generic (and often random) pages containing collections of people with the surname being researched. They are added because they "could" be or "might" be connected to the searcher. The information was a type sold and used to enhance family histories, a walls with plaques and certificates, by trying to attack a name to people of renown, people of quality, and social rank.

They are not unique to any particular surname but use a paint ball approach (hit the wall with a big enough blast of history and something is sure to catch). Note - some aspects of the early records of this line , as presented in this book, are open to corrections due to some more recent discoveries.

On page 7 of the Elliot work is just such a page decorated with a crest and arms. (there is no evidence the crest and arms actually connect to any of the lines presented but that is another issue with these types of pages in histories or on webpages. They are the equivalent to genealogical "filler." ) On that page several lines are included and few actually connect (via current DNA) with many of the relatives and descendants of that same William Terry.

In brief, after claiming the name is Anglo-Saxon and said to be derived from several forms of the name, there is mention that people of that name have been found in several English and Irish locations. These include Cumberland, York Huntington, London Buckingham, Oxford, Somerset and Chester in England and Cord in Ireland.

"Among the early records" - again there is no evidence of connection of any group to any location via known family trees at the time this work was put together. Since that time, however, DNA work has begun to clarify many of the lines of descent and cluster families more accurately than previous interpretations of relationships had done.

A David Tirrey, Cumberland County, England 1273
Richard Terry of Huntingtonshire and Geoffrey Terri of Oxford shire about 1273
Johannes Tyree of Yorkshire, England in 1379. There is a later John Terry of Yorkshire with a DNA Haplogroup of R-BY227213
Petrous Terre of the late 14th century (no source or location given)
A John Terri of London 1524. This John is believed to have married a widow named Elizabeth (nee Gale) Pierpont, was a craftsman, and had three sons: William, Stephen and John. Stephen and John are believed to have migrated to American about 1630. [Recent DNA studies seem to indicate that the lines established in eastern Virginia from this core group share a Haplogroup of I-01).
A William Terry, Esq. Cork, Ireland, early 17th century father of an Ignatius Terry, b.1686.
Aboard a ship during the Great Migration to America, named THE JAMES (sailed 13 July 1635) were three brothers (wills identify two as brothers and one early history of the region where they settled identifies them as brothers; there is a possibility they might have been two brothers and a cousin). These men were : Thomas Terry (1606-1672, Southold, L.I.) age 28 , Robert Terry (1610-1675, Flushing, NY), age 25, and Richard Terry (1618-1676, Southold, Long Island, NY) age 17. All appear, from other documents to have been born in Kent, England. Thomas md a Maria Bigge #1 and a Mary#2 and had children: Daniel, Thomas, Elizabeth, Ruth, and Mary Terry Reeve. Robert md Sarah Farrington and had children: Rebecca Terry Tilton, John Terry, Anne Terry, Thomas Terry (whose descendants populate Bucks Co., Pa.). Richard Terry md Abigail Lines and had children: Gershom, Samuel, Abigail, Nathanial (who married a Mary HORTON), Richard Terry Jr. and John Terry (children named in Richard's will). Descendants of the early Thomas Terry in Bucks Co., PA have been proven to link (with Haplogroup I-02) to Robert Terry of Flushing, NY. These men left wills and other documentations that outline children and wives.
"The American Historical Record states" that a Samuel Terry (1632-1731), who was born in England emigrated to America in 1650 and settled in Springfield, Mass. He was a man of wealth and his descendants include Rev. James Pease Terry who md Mary E, Cady, daughter of Henry Cady (dec of Samuel Cobb of Connecticut General Assembly of 1700. Samuel md Ana Lobdell about 1661 (had children Samuel, Ephraim, Thomas, Mary, Rebecca, Elizabeth and Ana). This Samuel Terry was apparently born in Barnett, near London, England in 1632. He came to American aboard the PYNCHON in 1650 and settled first near Springfield, Massachusetts. He married twice;#1 Ann Lobdell, second wife named Sarah. He removed to CT where he died in 1731 in Enfield, Hartford, CT. Historic Families of American (Spooner, pg259) and First Families of Connecticut and Massachusetts.
According to History of Barrens Co., KY about the "Old Dominion Terry Family" there were "seven brothers emigrated from Scotland to the Colony of Virginia in the early 1600's". Their father was a Scotsman by birth and their mother "an Irish lady of rank."
Brothers James and Thomas Terry of Barnet, near London. Unclear if these are related to the Samuel Terry listed above or a separate family group.
The Quit Rent Rolls of Virginia, 1704 lists Thomas, Stephen, and James Terry of King William County. Note this group has shown up also carrying the Haplogroup DNA of I-01.
Pittsylvania Co., Va shows Terrys as large land owners. Note this group has shown up also carrying the Haplogroup DNA of I-01.
William Terry, born circa 1724 appears in Augusta County, Virginia about 1744 and remains there until he dies late fall of 1792. It is believed the earliest Jasper Terry is the husband of Mary Hart out of Bucks Co., PA who migrated, along with his Hart inlaws, briefly into the area. William's son John Terry, who moved to TN, KY, and then Perry Co., Indiana has had three sons register Haplogroups within I-02 (as did the Jasper-Mary Hart line)..
Jasper Terry, born circa 1730 appears in Augusta/Botetourt County records possibly as early but how early is unclear as there were possibly two men of that name in the region and the records do not clarify which is which. At two times, eastern Terrys (with the I-01 drifted into the same area briefly and latter some stayed). This man, wife assumed to be Mary Morrison, had son Josiah and grandsons, Jasper Morrison Terry and Aaron Burr Terry (all sharing Haplogroup G-02).