“Threads of Ancestors: Telford – Ritchie – Mize: A Link Among the Days Which Binds the Generations Each with Each,” authored by Leila Ritchie Mize and Jessie Julia Mize, explores the intricate tapestry of family lineage and migration across continents and centuries. Tracing roots back to Alexander Telford Sr., who settled near Rockbridge, Virginia around 1760, this book delves into the journeys and settlements of his descendants across the United States. Highlighting the Scotch-Irish origins of these families, the authors meticulously draw upon an extensive array of sources, including family Bibles, historical records, and personal diaries, to provide a detailed account of the Telford, Ritchie, and Mize families. Their narrative not only charts the genealogical paths of these families but also illuminates their substantial roles in the historical and cultural development of the regions they inhabited. This work stands as a testament to the enduring bonds and shared heritage that link successive generations, forming a foundational piece for both family members and historians interested in the Scotch-Irish contribution to American history.
Alexander Telford, Sr. and his family immigrated from Ireland to land near Rockbridge Virginia during or before 1760. Alexander Telford, Jr. (1760-1844), was born near Rockbridge, Virginia, served in the Revolutionary War, married twice, and moved to Ohio, settling in Miami County. Descendants and relatives lived in Virginia, Ohio, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and elsewhere.
The families discussed in this book are largely of Scotch-Irish, the freedom-loving hardy Scots who in order to escape religious persecution in Scotland settled in rugged northern Ireland eventually migrating to the American colonies where their contribution was to be made in braving dangers, subduing the wilderness and building the greatest democracy of the world.
The early records of these families are found in Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New England.
The authors maternal grandfather, George Brown Telford, and his son, Reverend Robert Eugene Telford, began collecting Telford data more than sixty years ago. Her grandfather kept a diary from 1838 to the end of his life in 1887 from which many facts have been obtained.
Her chief sources of information were Family Bibles, old wills and deeds, Church, state, county, War Department, Pension Bureau, Historical society, library, land grants, and private records, newspaper clippings, genealogical books, tombstone and cemetery inscriptions.
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Telford and Allied Families
The name Telford appears in the Valley of Virginia in the records of Augusta County, from which Rockbridge County was cut in 1778, as early as 1740 with the settlement of Hugh Telford at Falling Spring. The county records do not show anything further of Hugh Telford.
In 1753 a family group of Telfords came from Ireland and settled in Augusta County, now Rockbridge, not far from Lexington. This fact is stated by John Telford on his Revolutionary pension application made in Blount County, Tennessee, in 1832, the year of his death. He was a son of Robert Telford who died in Rockbridge County, Virginia, in 1791 and Sarah his wife. The first white settlement was made in Augusta County in 1737, and the county was created in 1738.
This family formed a part of the settlement of Scots, also known as Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, who established themselves in the Valley of Virginia prior to the Revolutionary War, many of whom settled on the Borden tract which was opened for settlement from 1740-1780. In the 1750’s we find Alexander Telford, Robert Telford, James Telford, David Telford, John Telford, and Jeremiah Telford, all of whom seem to have had families and were contemporary. These were probably brothers and tradition says were sons of Alexander Telford, Sr. of Tyrone County, Ireland. They lived near each other and helped each other in business affairs, signing business papers for one another, marketing products, and transacting business together. Among their neighbors were Reverend John Brown and Colonel Charles McDowell. I shall give an account of these early Telford families as far as I am able to secure records.
Table of Contents
Part I. Telford and Allied Families
Early Telfords in Virginia 1
Family of Alexander Telford, Senior 6
The Robert Telford Family of Anderson County, South Carolina 11
The Telford Family of Banks County, Georgia 15
Bible Records. Robert Telford – James Telford 17
Descendants of George Brown Telford 20
The Rucker Family 40
Meaders-Garrison Information 43
The Turk Family 46
The Johnson Family 48
Family of James Harvey Telford, Senior 50
Family of Reverend William Brazelton Telford of Florida 52
Family of Samuel Stewart Telford of Florida 55
Family of Robert Carlyle Telford of Little Rock, Arkansas 56
Telford – Lemon Lineage 59
Telford – Brown – Duff – George – Miller Lineage 60
Brown and Burdine Families 63
Ancestors of Joseph E. Brown 64
Burdyne (Burdine) 71
Family of William and Margaret Fleming Brown 73
Family of Hugh Porter and Violet Mackey 74
Sterrett (Stirratt) 76
James and Mary Thomas Wilson – Simpson – Telford 79
William and Mary Thomas of Laurens County, South Carolina 86
Telford Family of Chester County, South Carolina 91
The Family of John Joseph Telford of Louisville, Kentucky 95
Telfords of Argyle, Washington County, New York 96
Telfords of Tennessee, and Descendants of Robert Telford, Sr. (d. 1791), Rockbridge County, Virginia 98
Part II. Ritchie (Richey) and Allied Families
The Name and Family of Ritchie 103
Immigrant America 104
Ancestors – The First Hundred Years in Ritchie Families in Pennsylvania and Virginia 105
James Ritchie Family – Virginia to South Carolina 109
William Stewart Family 112
Caldwell Family – Captain John Caldwell and Descendants 115
Caldwells of Georgia 122
Two Hundredth Anniversary of Cub Creek Church, Virginia A. 124
William Richey and Wife Mary Seawright 125
The Richey (Ritchie) Family in Georgia 126
Grandchildren of Jacob Sanford and Sarah Cornelia Telford Ritchie 131
Bible Record of James. Washington. Richey 140
Family of John Richey, Son of James Richey, Junior 141
Family of Elizabeth Richey and Redmond Grigsby 146
Eli Wyatt Ritchie and His Descendants 150
Descendants of Robert and Mary Stewart Richey 152
Bible Records – Alexander Ritchie (Senior) Texas Family 154
Ritchie – Martin Genealogy – Jacob Martin in South Carolina 156
Family of Abram Martin – Brother of Thomas Martin 158
Catherine Martin – Wife of Jacob Martin 159
Thomas Martin – From Virginia to South Carolina 163
The Family of Charles Martin 164
Martin – Moorman 167
Martins of Antiquity l68
Family of Reverend James Jackson Wilson and Mary
Martin Wilson in Georgia 169
Family of Reverend James Wilson and Sarah Richey Wilson 172
Descendants of Robert Morrah 173
The Family of James and Agnes Dunn 174
Record of Samuel Dunn and Mary McGee in lndiana 178
Dunn Lines from James and Moses Dunn in Indiana 180
The Seawright Family – James Seawright in South Carolina 184
Children of Andrew and Margaret Richey Seawright 187
Family of John Seawright 188
Family of Ebenezer Wilson Seawright – Son of John Seawright 190
Early South Carolina Seawrights 192
Part III. Mize and Allied Families
The Mize Family – James and Jeremiah Mize in Virginia 197
Henry Mize in Georgia and Descendants 198
Family of Clarkson (Clackson) Mize 202
Bible Record of John and Sarah Maxwell Mize 204
Family of William Sterling Mize 204
Family of Thomas Benjamin Mize 207
Family of Francis Goss Mize 207
Family of John Madison Clackston Mize 208
Miscellaneous Notes – Granville County, N. C. 208
Miscellaneous Mize Information 209
The Mackie Family – Thomas and Rosannah Mackie North Carolina to Georgia 211
Family of William Mackie 215
Powell Family Information 215
Allbright – Fleming Family Information 217
Samuel Mackie and His Descendants 218
Family of John and Elizabeth Scott McKie 222
Land Records, Revolutionary War Service and Colonial Records – Mackie 223
The Clark Family – Abbeville County, South Carolina 224
Children of William and Mary Clark 225
The Maxwell Family – Thomas Maxwell – Virginia to Georgia 227
William Maxwell and Jane Higginbotham Maxwell 228
Oliver Family 229
Thomas Jackson Maxwell 231
James Madison Maxwell 231
Riley Newton Maxwell 232
Benjamin Franklin Maxwell 233
Jeremiah Maxwell 233
Family of Calvin Taylor Storey and Martha Maxwell Storey 233
Family of Sarah Maxwell Mize – Reverend Marvin Maxwell 234
The Higginbotham Family – Jacob Higginbotham Amherst, Virginia to Elbert County, Ga. 235
Family of John and Frances Riley Higginbotham 235
The Scott Family – North Carolina to Georgia 238
Family of James Scott, Senior 240
John Scott of Madison County, Georgia 241
Family of Thomas Jefferson Scott 243
James Scott, Junior – Madison County to Chattooga County, Georgia 244
Miscellaneous Records – Scott 246
The Milliean Family – Family of Andrew Milliean, Senior 247
Family of John Milliean, Senior 249
Milliean Records in Jackson County, Georgia 250
The Cleghorn Family – William and Lettice Cleghorn – North Carolina to Georgia 251
Family of William and Lettice Cleghorn 254
Cleghorns in Georgia – William Cleghorn, Jr. John Cleghorn – James Cleghorn 254
Part IV. Additional Bible and Family Records
Hebron Presbyterian Church 259
The Burns Family – From William and Margaret Mitchell Burrns 260
William Neal and Related Families 263
Family of Joel and Jane Chandler 264
Family of William and Jane Fleming Ashe 265
Bible Record of William Harvey Turk 267
The Long Family 269
The Owen Family 270
Notes About the Book
- viii, 273 p. : port.
Surnames
Allbright, Ashe, Brown, Burdine, Burdyne, Burns, Caldwell, Chandler, Clackson, Clark, Clarkson, Cleghorn, Duff, Dunn, Fleming, Garrison, George, Grigsby, Higginbotham, Johnson, Lemon, Long, Mackey, Mackie, Martin, Maxwell, McGee, Meaders, Miller, Millican, Milliean, Mize, Moorman, Morrah, Neal, Oliver, Owen, Porter, Powell, Ritchey, Ritchie, Rucker, Sanford, Scott, Seawright, Sterrett, Stewart, Stirratt, Storey, Telford, Thomas, Turk, Wilson.
Source
Mize, Leila Ritchie and Jessie Julia, Threads of ancestors, Telford – Ritchie – Mize: a link among the days which binds the generations each with each, Athens, Georgia : University of Georgia Press, 1956.
