The Children of John and Esther Brown Terry, Perry County, Indiana

This line is very substantiated and verified due to early work by descendants Lula Terry Elliot, New Wray, Ruth Terry Preston, Dennis Terry and others. The descendants of the Perry Co., Indiana group of younger children were especially detailed in their history.  The older children, as they often did in that time, launched off and led lives often distant to their parents in that pioneer era. Yet, they retained some connection with their extended family and friends through letters and visits.

            John TERRY (1760-1842) married Esther BROWN 2 Feb. 1781 in Botetourt Co., VA. The first two or so years of their marriage was in Botetourt County, Va. At the time of his father's death it believed that several family members were making a move (1793) and by the time the estate is being settled and all eight children are settling their shares of land circa 1804-1809, John identifies his residence as Anderson Co., Tennessee. A John Terry can be found on Hawkins County, TN records for 1789,1793,1800, and 1801 (as can records of a John Martin, who it is believed was the spouse of John's sister Rachel Terry Martin). Various other court records of the county and time reveal the presence of a John Terry.

It is believed their children were:

                a.      Josiah TERRY (b.1780-1868) (Proven via DNA; I-02). He opted to return to or remain in Tennessee. He had 13 children. He was born in Va and died in Wayne Co., Ky. He md #1 Nancy THOMAS. Apparently were living in Anderson Co., TN when they had son Joseph (1806-1863) md Minerva Stephenson; William (1808-?) md Ithema Payton and had 4 children (Josiah, Wm, Nancy J, Mildred A. . He md #2 Nancy STEVENS (d/o of Edmund Stevens), they had 11 children: Martin (1820-?) md Nancy Thompson, 2 sons; md #2 Sarah Davis and had three sons; Rachel (1821-1890) md Richard Smith and had 17 children; James (1823-?) md Tilda (Polly or Pop) Smith d/o Isaac and Matilda Elliot and had 8 children; Esther (1825-?) md Thomas L Phillips; Alsie (1827 - 1871) md Jonathan Phillips had five children with Esther; Edmund (1830-?); Milton  1834-1904) md Jane Thomas and had 10 children; Nancy (1836 - md Ely Roysden; Themie (Ithema) 1839-1909, md Jackson Smith; Josiah Jr. (1842-1911) md Johanna Roysden, and had 9 children.

               b.     William TERRY (1785-1869) md Barbara ENNIS (Proven via DNA; I-02). William  and John Jr. apparently followed the parents into Indiana, with William possibly moving into Gibson Co. on land originally purchased by Miles for his father and then later William purchased his own land, as did John. When they leave in the 1830's it appears they may have sold the land back to family.

               c.      John TERRY  Jr(1790-1848) md Nancy ENNIS (Proven via DNA:I-02). see above

               d.     George Freton TERRY (twin- 1788-c1865)

             e.     Haden TERRY ( twin-1788-?after 1809). He is listed on the 1809 tax list of Wayne Co., TN.

             f.      Elijah TERRY (1791 TN-?). Left Wayne Co., KY with brother Josiah around 1815 when their father went to Perry Co., Ind. Found on the 1850 Scott Co., TN census with a wife Sary, sons ELijah Jr., Marion, and Calvin (who became a Baptist minister). He had daughters Helen, Naomi, Emily, Easter and Serepta. According to divorce records of Wayne Co., Ky (1828) Elijah left that county one night with one Sally Rice Foster, wife of a Charles Foster. They went to Scott Co. and lived.

               g.      Daniel TERRY (1791-?)   . He was listed on the 1818 Campbell Co., TN tax list along with Josiah, Elijah and a John Jr. It is the general area of earlier Hawkins, that became Campbell Co. and contains the area where Onieda, Scott Co., now sits.      

              h.    Jasper TERRY  (b. TN/KY (some question about him; reference to notes about him being a brother but so far the text of those notes or the rationale are unclear)

                i.      Esther TERRY (John WHITE) (1798-?)

                j.      Elisha TERRY (7 Jan 1816 -?) md Salley Small.

                k.     Rachel TERRY (1804-1867) md Thomas Sandage April 15, 1821.

                l.      Elias TERRY (10 Sept 1807-?) md Eleanor Sandage, September 18, 1826.

               m.     Miles TERRY  (11 March 1809- ?) md Nancy A. Baswell.

                n.    Thomas TERRY (1814-1853) md Polly Bradshaw.

        This John TERRY during his life is in the area of Montgomery-Wythe Co., Va.; Hawkins Co., Anderson, Knox, counties in TN; Perry County, IND.   This is surmised from the presence of a John TERRY in the locales associated with various births and wills.   Also, letters from the period indicate that William TERRY (1785-1869) did indeed have brothers named John and Josiah.  In addition, William will make reference to a family named Martin living nearby being of the “old stock of Martin” – those Martins came from Hawkins Co., Tennessee (where William was born) and there were was   Aunt Rachel who married a John Martin. 

            These all tie together to provide logical areas in which to find the migrating family as they left Virginia. The family figured in areas out of which other counties were formed: Augusta into Botetourt Co. into Montgomery Co. into Wythe Co., all a southwest movement toward the Cumberland Gap and Holston Valley areas which were major entries into the wilderness. T entrance into the area William Terry, son of John, always claimed as his birthplace, the Sullivan-Hawkins Co. areas of Tennessee.  

Following known trails of the day, they would have angled back northwest heading across Kentucky toward the Louisville area and Adair Co. (where it is believed William may hay married Barbara Ennis and they had their eldest son, William.

Finally, they traveled through the area known as Anderson and Knox Counties in Tennessee into those areas when they became Indiana and then to settled in Perry Co., IND.    There is a John TERRY in Hawkins Co., Tennessee the known birthplace of William (1785-1869) in the 1790’s according to deeds of the period. [1]

              This same John TERRY was in Anderson County, Tennessee in 1792 when his father in Botetourt County, VA died.  John subsequently sold his inheritance to his brother-in-law, Thomas BROWN.  This land was in Botetourt County, Virginia, on “Murray Creek” that had been formerly known as Black Creek and was land where William TERRY “deceased” had lived.[2]  

            Earlier origins are hinted at by noting the oral history of the TERRYS of Perry Co., Ind. and those of Barry Co., Mo.     In Lula Terry ELLIOT’s work A Partial History of William Terry and his descendants, 1724-1981, one descendent, Bertha Terry BEATTY cites stories in their family that two brothers immigrated to America in the 1600’s.   One brother stayed in the New England area and the others headed south into Virginia.[3] .  

Interestingly enough, the Terry line in Bucks Co., Pennsylvania, descending through one Thomas Terry has links to a man who died in early New York State and has probable links back to three men (two brothers and a likely cousin) who came from England. The men (Thomas, Richard and Robert? arrived in 1635 aboard a ship called The James in the time of the Great Migration when people were leaving England and Europe as “dissenters” to the religious persecution and economic hardships at home.

              

[1]      Hawkins County, Tennessee Register of Deeds, vol. 1-2, 1787-1906.[microfilm].  In this and the Sullivan County Tennessee records only one TERRY is found, a John TERRY in 1792-1800 in Hawkins Co.

[2]      Botetourt County, VA, Deed Book 8, pg. 602, June 1805. I’m not sure who first proposed the possible connection between the Terry’s of Botetourt Co. and those in Indiana, Tennessee, and Missouri, but I suspect some of the earliest were Nell WRAY and Ruth Terry PRESTON.  As early as 1984, Lulla Terry ELLIOT was noting a connection between her Anderson Co., IN Terry’s and the Virginia group.

[3]       Elliot, Lula Terry. A Partial History of William Terry and his Descendants –1724-1981. (Self-published, no date): 7,9,29-30,130.

[4]       This motif appears in many family tales across a wide range of family lines and may represent the contemporary equivalent of a modern car crash or cancer as mortality factors.

SEE THE ELLIOT AND GEORGE TERRY SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION (bibliography entry this blog.)

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.