The Parsons Family of Cecil County, MD, and the Ancestry of James Redus
of Chester County, PA
By Gary Merrill
“They had come to this country because of religious persecution and had built a comfortable home in southern Pennsylvania.” (Feemster, 1978)
Most descendants now believe that James Redus of Chester Co, PA, Wythe Co, VA, and Washington Co, IN was the son of James and Catharine (Parsons) Redus of Cecil Co, MD. Further research in Maryland records, however, confirms that they were not his parents.
According to family tradition, James's parents sailed for England to recover a lost inheritance, but on the return trip, they were lost at sea. The copy of the 1754 inventory of James Redus' estate that George M. Redus sent me 30 years ago is headed “State of Maryland Hall of Records” and rubber-stamped “Jul 02 1975”. This was the evidence that earlier Redus researchers were looking for. It showed that James and Catherine had died, presumably on the way back from England, and gave an approximate date. The date agreed with the statement in Mrs. Ellington's 1902 letter that this all happened “when my Grandfather was 11 years old,” or sometime in the early 1750s. There was also a deed in Oct 1751 by which James and Catherine sold the property in Maryland, as they were preparing to leave.
James Redus' gravestone says that he died on 5 Oct 1821, aged 82 years. 1821 minus 82 equals 1739. Yet there's reportedly a family Bible entry saying he was born in 1744. Most would say the gravestone is more likely to be true, given that it's contemporaneous with the event itself. No one can say for certain who made the Bible entry, or when it was made. Redus researcher Dennis Simpson* explains this by claiming that the stone was ordered some years after James' death, and "the stone cutter was told James' age if he were still alive, when the stone was being cut, instead of his correct age when James actually died." He must have been born in 1744, not 1739 since James and Catherine were married in 1741.
The will of Catherine's father, William Parsons Sr, dated 7 Aug 1716, including property in England as part of his estate. That section of the will reads as follows: "I give & bequeath unto my sd five Children William Parson, Jon Parson, Mary Parson, Margret Parson and Catherin Parson my House with Out Houses and appertenances thereunto belonging, which was left to me by my Grand father, being in the Kingdom of Old England in Blanford in Dorcher, Jan Parker now living in said House and Grounds afores'd. My desire is that itt may be sold and equally divided between my afores'd five Children [listed again] and to be to them and their Heires for ever.”
Dennis Simpson believes that Jan Parker was William's grandfather, who was "still very much alive when William made his will in 1716. William left the property to his children. They would inherit it after William's grandfather died." William says the property “was left to me by my Grand father” and Parker was the current occupant “now living in said House and Grounds.” The will simply direct that it be sold and the proceeds divided among the heirs. It's not known when (or even if) this was done. We would have to go to English records to find the will of the grandfather, or records of the sale, but at least we know approximately where to look, somewhere near Blandford, in Dorset.
The Cecil Co land and probate records are available online and provide a more complete picture of this Parsons family. William Sr is called a “Gentleman” or “Gent.” in the records. He was not a large landowner, but the family was well connected. Tracts of land purchased from Casparus Aug. Herman and his son Ephraim Aug. Herman, the third and fourth Lords of Bohemia Manor, are included in William's will. Casparus was his brother-in-law, and Ephraim was his wife's nephew. William and Mary Parsons were married 2 Nov 1693 at the house of her father, Reynier Willemszen (Williams), in what is now Kent Co, DE. They had six children, but by the 1750s the family was all but extinct. The last surviving grandchild, a son of William Jr, died in 1759.
The final account of William Sr's estate filed by the widow as executrix on 30 Sep 1734 has this added footnote: “NB 3 Daughters & 1 Son lived to be of age, One of the Daughers is since Deced but recd Satisfaction for her portion & Another of the Daughters had her portion as is mentioned in the Deced's Will." The daughter “since Deced” was Mary Jr, who apparently never married. If she received her portion before she died, it's likely the English property had already been sold.
William Parsons Jr was a minor in 1716 when his father made his will. He married Garturett/Gartrick Leroux in 1734 (“Laurux” in the marriage record, but Peter Leroux is named as “Kinn” in the inventory of William's estate.) William died on 1 Dec, and his wife died 26 Dec 1741. They had two sons, Jehue and William. The latter was probably William Parsons who died before 6 Aug 1759, when the inventory of his estate was made. Apparently, he never married. The only record of Jehue is his birth on 30 Jan 1736 (the record says “1736/7”, but that allows only seven months between him and the birth of William on 15 Sept 1737.)
The records of St. Stephen's Church list the birth of a "Kathrin Parsons Daughter of Thos Parsons and Mary his Wife” on 13 Apr 1713. None of the births of William Sr's older children are listed, and no other mention of a Thomas Parsons has been found. Susanna, the eldest daughter, married Henry Linton before 1 Jan 1714, when her cousin Ephraim Herman leased land to the Lintons for 99 years or during their natural lives, and the life of Susanna's sister Mary. By 1734 both Susanna and Mary were deceased.
James and Catherine were married on 15 Dec 1741. James and "Catherine Redus Late Called Catherine Parsons" were named administrators of the estate of William Parsons Jr on 21 Dec 1741. The land sold by James and Catharine in 1751 had been willed by William Sr to his younger son Jon. Jon died without issue, and it then went to his sisters Mary, Margaret, and Catharine. Margaret (also unmarried) died 25 Jan 1739/40. The deaths of Margret, Mary Sr, William Jr, and Gartrick Parsons appear together on one page of the church record.
Simpson is positive that Susanna and her husband accompanied James and Catherine to England: "At the time of Jon Parker's death two daughters of William Parsons were still living, Susanna Linton and Catherine Redus. They with their husband's went to England to claim this property ... All four people, claimed the property, sold it and returned safely to Maryland together. No one was ever lost at sea.” Susanna was not an heir to the property in England, having already received her portion, as stated in the will. Henry Linton died before 30 Aug 1717 (his inventory and that of Susanna's father were taken on the same day). She then m (2) Daniel Murrain and had two children: Mary, born 1720, and James, born 1723. Daniel died 24 April 1733, leaving a nuncupative (verbal) will, requesting that the Rev. Hugh Jones would “take Care of his Children and all that he had for them.” As a surviving spouse, Susanna would have been the first choice as administrator, had she been living. Mary Murrain (then age 19) is listed as “Nearest of Kin” in the inventory of her grandmother, Mary Parsons Sr (May 1740), and as “Kin” in that of her uncle, William Parsons Jr (Dec 1741). James Murrain died in 1749.
The proof that James and Catherine were not our James' parents is found in the administrator's bond (the first step in the probate process) and in the inventory itself. On 8 Jun 1754, Peter Bayard was made administrator of “the Goods, and Chattels Rights and Credits of James Redus late of Cecil County afd Deceased, during the minority of William Redus - an infant under the Age of Seventeen Years.” “During the minority” means that William was under the legal age to serve as administrator: "no infant can act as such till the age of seventeen years; till which time administration must be granted to some other, durante minore aetate" (Blackstone). The inventory is headed 22 Jun 1754, but the bulk of it appears to have been delayed until 8 Mar 1755 and recorded on 13 Jun 1755. Catharine isn't mentioned by name, but it includes “the Waring aparill of James Redish Wife.” There is no mention in the probate record as to the circumstances of their death.
The estate was valued at £101 6s 3d (about $32,000 today). The inventory lists only personal property ('chattels' are items of personal property, including slaves). Real property (land and the buildings on it) sometimes appears in the records in the form of an “evaluation” of the condition of an orphan's estate. An evaluation was made for 14-year-old William Parsons, son of William Parsons Jr, on 18 Apr 1752. A survey was made of the “dwelling Houses outhouses Lands Orchards and fences on the said Plantation”, giving an estimate of the cost of needed repairs, and the annual income that it could bring. The income would go to support and educate the child. No such evaluation for the orphan William Redus has been found.
The final account of the estate on 22 Sep 1757 includes a small sum (six shillings) “due from the Deceased to Charles Ford for his trouble in securing & taking Care of his Effects and Child.” Young William Redus appears to have died in the meantime, sometime before 13 Jun 1755, when the inventory was officially recorded. The law required that two next of kin and two creditors be present when an inventory was taken, and sign to indicate their approval. In this case, the inventory bears the signatures of the creditors, but explicitly “None of Kinn.” Another indication is that in the inventory of his cousin William Parson, 6 Aug 1759, the space for “the nighest kin” is left blank.
There was never any evidence to suggest how our James Redus got from his supposed origins in Maryland to Chester Co, PA. Mrs. Ellington says that “Grandpa was apprenticed to a Blacksmith and learned the trade.” Simpson says “there isn't a shread of evidence proving James Redus was apprenticed to a blacksmith.” We do have evidence of his occupation, however, from the Chester Co land records. The grantors in the 1790 deed (see below) were "James Redus of New Garden Township in Chester County and State of Pennsylvania Blacksmith and Sarah his wife.”
Mrs. Ellington also says that “Grandpa and Grandma were Quakers,” something her parents would know firsthand. Here again, the land records provide an important clue. James' final deed in Chester Co is dated “the twenty-fifth day of the ninth Month” 1790, and mentions an earlier deed (his first purchase of land in the county) on “the third day of the 12th Month” 1776.” There's also a mortgage on the same property dated “the Twenty-fifth Day of the Eighth Month” 1788. Quakers objected to using the names of the months and days of the week derived from pagan gods, using numbers instead. By contrast, the clerk that recorded that same deed (and wasn't a Quaker) wrote the date as “the 5th of March” 1791.
James first appears in Chester Co tax records in 1768 and left after Sept 1790, so it's likely that all five children of his first marriage and the first three children of his second marriage (Aaron, Catherine, and Hester) were born there. His first marriage probably also occurred in Pennsylvania, since he appears as a "freeman" (taxable, single men) in 1768 & 1770, and an "inmate" (heads of families, but landless) in 1771, 1773 & 1775.
The only reasonable interpretation of the probate record is that James and Catherine Redus had no surviving son named James. Instead, the record shows that at the time they died they had a son named William, then under the age of 17. He survived his parents but appears to have died soon after, most likely by June 1755. No other mention of a William Redus has yet been found. The earliest records we can identify as our James Redus are in Chester Co, Pennsylvania. Any further evidence of his origins is likely to be found there.
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*Dennis Simpson quotes (in italics) are taken from “The Truth about the Early Redus Family” (2021, on this site), and comments on Wikitree “Redus-26” (2010, 2013), and on Ancestry.com.
I am indebted to the authors of the Maryland State Archives website for information on the laws and procedures governing estates and inheritance in colonial Maryland.
© Gary Merrill, 2022
