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Of Terry Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania by C.F. Heverly, 1913 Retyped and Submitted by Dick McCracken |
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Parshall and Uriah Terry (cousins) were lineal descendants in the fifth generation from Richard Terry, who emigrated from England and settled in Southold, Long Island, N.Y., in 1640. From here the family seem to have scattered, some settling in Orange County, N.Y., and others in Connecticut.
Utriah Terry was born October, 1728, on Long Island. He married for his first wife, Abigail Case, and removed to Wyoming. He, with his family, was at Forty Fort at the time of the battle, after which he went to Orange county, N.Y. After the war he returned to the Wyoming Valley. Abigail, the eldest daughter of Uriah and Abigail (Case) Terry, married Jonathan Terry, her second cousin, a son of Parshall. Uriah Terry was the school-master, moralist, theologian and also the poet laureate of Terrytown, Wyalusing and all this section of the country. His poem on the death of Washington carries sublimity in every stanza, and was and is well worthy of the hero whose death it commemorates. He was a man of faith and an elder in the Wyalusing Presbyterian church. In his old age, he married a second wife, by whom he had one son, Ichabod, who married Lucilla Metcalf and settled in Rush, Susquehanna county. Mr. Terry died June 29, 1804, aged 76 years, at Terrytown, where he is buried.
Parshall Terry, born August 8, 1734, near New London, Conn., and his brother, Nathaniel, were among the 117 Connecticut settlers, who came to Wyoming in 1763. Wyoming suffered from the Indian troubles, which then existed, and on the 15th of October of that year Nathaniel was shot and killed by an Indian. Parshall soon after made his way back to Connecticut, which journey he made no less then 20 times. He was also in Wyoming in 1773, and was made one of the directors for the town of Kingston, under the plan of government adopted by the Susquehanna Company. He, with his family, including Jonathan Terry and wife, and Uriah Terry and family, were inmates of famed Forty Fort, the night after the Indian battle and massacre at Wyoming, July 3, 1778. He afterwards with other fugitives made his way over the mountains to the Delaware river. Leaving his family at Stroudsburg, he went East to obtain assistance to remove them to a place of safety. Here his wife died and was buried. On his return, he took his children, one an infant, to Sugar Loaf, near Newburg, N.Y., where he remained until the close of the war, when he returned to his farm in Wyoming, afterwards removing to Terrytown. He was a tailor by occupation, and could make a coat in a day and often did it for a dollar. About the year 1794, he built a small grist-mill on the Major Terry place, the first in the town. He was an enterprising, go=ahead man of genial temper, a devout Christian and elder in the Presbyterian church. He died May 15, 1811, in his 77th year. He had children: Parshall, Jonathan, Joshua, Nathaniel, Nathan, Deliverance, Deborah, Remittance and Lydia.
Jonathan Terry was born June 13, 1758. The greater part of his early life was spent in the Wyoming Valley, where he gave his heart and hand to the cause of liberty. In 1786 he removed to Wyalusing, and the next year (1787) built a house at Terrytown and moved into it, thus becoming the founder of the village and the first permanent settler in what is now Terry township. He purchased a tract of 600 acres, which he occupied during life and has since been in the Terry family, now the home of descendants of the fifth generation. In 1806 he constructed his mansion in the woods, yet in an excellent state of preservation (see transcriber’s note). A few years after Mr. Terry had settled at Terrytown, there came also his father, Parshall Terry, father-in-law, Uriah Terry, brothers Joshua, Nathaniel and Nathan, and sisters with their husbands: Deliverance, wife of Israel Parshall; Deborah, wife of Major John Horton; Remittance, wife of Lebbeus Garner, and Lydia (unmarried). The three brothers, and Mr. Parshall and family soon left Terrytown, going to Palmyra, N.Y. Garner and family removed to Canada and Major Horton remained in the place. Jonathan Terry was a brave and typical pioneer. He was a man of genial nature and social qualities of a high order. He filled various offices of trust and responsibility, and was for nine years a Justice of the Peace. In the latter capacity, he was gifted with a remarkable happy faculty of persuading litigants to settle their difficulties amicably. In 1778, he married Abigail Terry. He died, 1833, aged 75 years. His wife, born March 22, 1757, died July 8, 1849. Their children were: Jonathan, Abigail, William, Nathaniel, Mary, Uriah, Nathan, Ebenezer, Hiram, George, Deborah.
Jonathan, born February 23, 1779, married Polly Crawford, had a family of 17 children, moved to Michigan, where he died June 13, 1868.
Abigail, born July 2, 1781, married Edmund Dodge, had two children who died young; she died September 7, 1809 at Terrytown.
William, born October 26, 1783, married Nancy Sherman; died September 3, 1860, at Terrytown. Children: Abigail, Uriah, Nelson, Susan, Emily, Jane, Lydia, Zilpha, William, Nancy, Mary, and one dying in infancy.
Nathaniel, born October 2, 1785, married Sarah Franklin; died December 16, 1862, as Terrytown. Children: Miner, Hiram (died young), Matilda, Rebecca, Maria, Elizabeth, Mary, Ann and Lucretia.
Mary, born December 5, 1787, married Eben Horton; died March 26, 1873, in Terry. Children: Jason P., Nathaniel, Hiram, Ebenezer, Adell, Eunice, Julia, Jane and Lydia Ann.
Uriah, born October 24, 1789, the first child born in Terrytown, never married; died August 22, 1823.
Nathan, born October 9, 1791, married Belinda Preston, and had children: Preston, Davis D., Uriah and Deborah; moved to Michigan, where he died.
Ebenezer, born January 9, 1794, married Susan Sherman, sister of William’s wife, and had children: George, Ann, Rebecca, Hiram, Deborah, Warren, Mehitable and Uriah; removed to Illinois, where he died.
Hiram, born January 17, 1796; died October 5, 1805.
George, born March 11, 1798, married first Deborah Elliott, and had one child, Abigail; second marriage to Abi Gray, one child, Jonathan; third marriage to Martha Knott, two children, Eben G. and Nathan W. Mr. Terry died September 25, 1878, at Terrytown.
Deborah, born June 11, 1801, married first Gilbert Chamberlain;
second Thomas Ingham; died July 8, 1859, without issue.
Source: Pioneer and Patriot Families of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, 1770—1800; by Clement F. Heverly, Editor of the Bradford Star, author of "Our Boys in Blue," History of the Towandas, Sheshequin and various Historical works; Vol. I; Towanda, PA; Bradford Star Print, 1913. Reprint 1994 by Murrelle Printing Company, Inc.; 201 W. Lockhart St., Sayre, PA 18840, for the Bradford County Historical Society; pp 146-149.
Transcriber’s Note: In 1933 the house was in the possession of Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Welles. Today, it is owned by Allen F. and Sally Schmoll, Jr. No attempt has been made to determine an unbroken chain of ownership of this property.
Transcribed by Dick McCracken; Towanda, PA.
September 13, 2000
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