KEZIAH HALE TERRY: ORIGINAL MYSTERY WOMAN

About 20 years ago in the research into the TERRY family line of Botetourt County, Virginia came a claim that the presumed first wife of William Terry was a Keziah Hale Terry. Some mash the names of the second wife to create Keziah Rachael, Rachel Kezia, etc.

The claim is now chosen and added to trees with abandon and no citations as to the sources on which this claim is based included.

At about that same time, a claim of descent of this man from a early line of a James or John Tierry with a wife name Elizabeth Gale Pierpont and whose grave labels him a "gentleman" also appeared and the line was described as John to William I to William 2 of "Terry's Run, Orange Co., Va."and later Botetourt Co., Va. "Elmwood" (an interesting historical location in Roanoake that appears to have been settled by a distantly related eastern coastal area group of Terry's - but that is another story. The DNA reflects a large group of those coastal Terry's fall into a I-01 Haplogroup and the Roanoak groups fall into I-02/I-2a2 and one line in a G-02 group).

Once in Botetourt various legal and historic documents paint a picture of a man William Terry who arrived with a relative of some kind, Jasper Terry around 1744 in the area of Augusta County from which Botetourt County would be carved.

Further legal documents suggest his children to be eight named :

William Jr. with wife Patience Cooper. His will leaves money to son of Miles Terry

John and wife Esther Brown (descendants of this line fall within the I-2a2 haplogroup and have suggested links to William and Rachel Terry)

Mercy and husband Jonathan Harrison

Miles who married Hannah Horton (had has son by name of the child left funds by Wm Jr.)

Jasper (There are an apparent trio of Jaspers in the region at the same time ca 1793-1804: (1) a Jasper with wife Ruth ?; (2) A Jasper with a wife Margaret (based on the name of the step-daughter it is presumed to be Snidow); and (3) the family of a Jasper Terry with wife Mary [presumed Morrison] who have the G-02 group])

Susannah who married brother of Esther Brown, Thomas Brown

Rachel who married John Martin

Jemima who married Ezekiel Boucher and died barely a year later.

One document identifies his wife as "Rachel" and since no marriage records of a William Terry and Rachel in the time frame in the area have ever been found - researchers cast a wider net and found one for a William Terry and Rachel Manson in 1759 in Philadelphia. They disappear from that locale and seem to fit the bill despite the long journey. Colonial roads make a direct connection between Philadelphia and the early Roanoke area (Botetourt region).

When the claim of a Keziah Hale who married a William Terry are examined there is a paucity of records proving any such union took place. There are, apparently, no records of her existence at all! His are equally questionable. Many trees appear to have information inserted to make a match happen.

It is probable that the line of the John Tierry - found on the eastern Virginia, NC, SC and southern realms - came down the eastern seaboard and may connect to that I-01 Haplogroup. That line includes names such as James, John, Champness, Benjamin, Stephen, Nathaniel, a William or two.

The group to which William Terry of Botetourt Co., Va belongs contains a tradition across several lines and generations of names John, William, Miles, Jasper, Josiah, Martin, Thomas.  All names found in the Terry's comprising the large widespread group in Bucks Co., PA.  A group that has a Jasper Terry who married a Mary Hart (whose mother's maiden name is thought to be Miles). This man, along with his inlaws and other family members left Bucks Co., PA and headed down into August Co. Va.

Historical records of the 1740-1760 years reveal the presence of Harts (Thomas, Aron, Miles and others) working alongside that early Jasper and William Terry. Add to this the closer DNA grouping match and it is likely that this is the source of the William Terry as well. A cousin, orphaned child of a dead relative, a troublesome son seeking to make his mark, all provide explanations without evidence but are still viable.

According to the birth date of the Jasper Terry of Bucks Co. (abt 1716) who married Mary Hart, he was possibly a bit older than William (abt 1724).  William in the 1780's is exempted from future taxes due to old age. In that time average death age was aby 40 and if born in 1724 he was mid-fifties when exempted. He dies in 1783 (based on legal documents mentioned his widow). Jasper Terry and Mary may have removed, along with Thomas Hart, to the southeast where it is assumed they died (using the same scale for Jasper as for William he might have died around 1775).

As for a Kezia Hale who is suggested as the mystery wife of William Terry. All the birthdates not supported by other records or family records are guesses (usually based on the belief a person married at a certain age window or would have first birthed a child at a certain age window).  Even the "facts" carved into stone on graves is subject to being wrong.

That being said the only Keziah Hale women found are apparently all taken. They have other husbands for the time period, birth other children or simply do not exist in the right time and place. Plus, they have some documentary evidence to support those relationships, dates, etc. With this "William and Keziah" they appear to be plucked out of thin air to fill a void.

All this brings up back to a mythical William Terry who married a Keziah Hale. Myth it is until some evidence or a solid set of facts are presented to argue for the existence of him and the reality of her and the marriage.

"Show me the evidence!" should be the cry of every family historian. Evidence shared so others can interpret, apply, and mull over previous assumptions or provide counter evidence of a wrong turn in our own assumptions.

Now, with DNA cutting a swath through the forest, the trees are becoming a bit clearer.

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.