Rachel WELLS, Minister^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14]}

1720 - 1771  (51 years)

• Name	Rachel WELLS  [15]
  Suffix	Minister
  Born	3 May 1720	All Hallows Parish, Anne Arundel, MD, USA   [15]
  Christened	12 Jul 1721	Davidsonville, Anne Arundel, MD, US   [1, 16]
  Gender	Female
  Died	23 Dec 1771	Bush River, Newberry County, South Carolina, USA   [2, 15]
  Buried	Newberry, Newberry County, South Carolina, United States of America   [15]
  Person ID	I1121	Ancestrees
  Last Modified	8 Jul 2022

  
  

  Father	Joseph WELLS,   b. 30 Sep 1697, Queen Anne's Parish, Prince George's, MD ,   d. 27 May 1758, Cane Creek, Orange, North Carolina, United States  (Age 60 years)
  Mother	Rachel MARSH,   c. 7 Jan 1825, Tottington, Lancashire, England ,   d. Aft 1721, Westminster Parish, Ann Arundel, MD, USA
  Married	1719	MarylandD USA
  Family ID	F303	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	John C. WRIGHT, *,   b. 4 Nov 1716, East Nottingham, Chester, PA, USA ,   d. Between 17 Sep 1789 and 8 Jun 1790, Bush River, Newberry, SC  (Age 72 years)
  Married	Abt 1737	Hopewell M.M., Frederick, VA, USA
  Children	1. William WRIGHT,   b. 2 Jan 1738, Monocacy Valley, Prince George, MD ,   d. 1793, Orange County, North Carolina, United States of America  (Age 54 years)   2. Mary WRIGHT,   b. 24 Jul 1739, , Prince George, MD, USA ,   d. Bef 1789, Cedar Grove, Orange County, North Carolina, United States of America  (Age 49 years)   3. Joseph WRIGHT,   b. 12 Dec 1740, , Prince George, MD, USA ,   d. 8 Jan 1794, Newberry County, South Carolina, United States of America  (Age 53 years)   4. Margaret WRIGHT,   b. 12 Nov 1742, , Prince George, MD, USA ,   d. 13 Nov 1822, , , SC, USA  (Age 80 years)   5. Charity WRIGHT, Minister,   b. 13 Nov 1742, , Prince George, MD, USA ,   d. 13 Nov 1822, , Warren, OH, USA  (Age 80 years)   6. Rachel WRIGHT,   b. 10 Nov 1747, , Prince George, MD, USA ,   d. 2 Sep 1790, , , SC, USA  (Age 42 years)   7. John WRIGHT,   b. 12 Dec 1748, , Prince George, MD, USA ,   d. 18 Nov 1797, , , Tennessee, USA  (Age 48 years)   8. Sarah WRIGHT,   b. 23 Dec 1749, Cavor Creek, Orange, NC ,   d. 18 Nov 1789, Bush River, Newberry, SC  (Age 39 years)   9. Hannah WRIGHT,   b. 27 Sep 1751, Cavor Creek, Orange, NC ,   d. Aft 1822, Orange, Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States  (Age 71 years)   10. James WRIGHT,   b. 28 May 1753, Cane Creek, Orange, NC, USA ,   d. 19 Oct 1812, , Clinton, OH, USA  (Age 59 years)   11. Susanna WRIGHT,   b. 16 Apr 1755, , Orange, NC ,   d. 31 Jul 1830, West Milton, Miami, OH, USA  (Age 75 years)   12. Elizabeth WRIGHT,   b. 15 Dec 1756, , Orange, NC ,   d. Abt 1826, , Frederick, Virginia, USA  (Age 69 years)   13. Nathan WRIGHT,   b. 7 Oct 1758, , Orange, NC ,   d. Aft 1805, , Newberry, SC, USA  (Age 47 years)   14. Thomas WRIGHT,   b. 8 Aug 1761, Newberry, Newberry, South Carolina, United States ,   d. 30 Apr 1835, , Randolph, IN, USA  (Age 73 years)   15. Keziah (Kerial) WRIGHT,   b. 1763, , Newberry District, SC ,   d. Bef 1789, Miami, Ohio, United States  (Age 25 years)   16. Isaac (Joel) WRIGHT,   b. 13 Jun 1764, Bush River M.M., Newberry, SC, USA ,   d. 20 Feb 1844, New London, Howard, IN  (Age 79 years)   17. Barbara WRIGHT,   b. Apr 1766, , Newberry, SC ,   d. 1789, Miami, Ohio, United States  (Age ~ 22 years)
  Last Modified	8 Jul 2022
  Family ID	F6841	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  dna thru lines (1).png (At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.)

  
  

• Notes

  CD-100 says that Rachel's mother is named Rachel. This apparently comes from a Quaker baptismal record dated 12 July 1721 at All Hallow's, listing her father as Joseph Wells and his wife Rachel. In the Southern Friend, V. XVI, 1994, Richard Kelly states that the entry in the All Hallow's book was in error and they simply repeated daughter Rachel's name by accident. He also finds error with the date of birth listed for her in Quaker records as occurring on 3(May)/27/1720. This would have been before Joseph and Margaret were married. (C-575) The Cane Creek Quaker record states she was the d. of Margaret Swanson and Joseph Wells, but this could be explained by the fact that she had only known Margaret as her mother, and gave her name without being concerned for the genealogy of it. This record was made sometime after 1758 which was 38 years after Rachel's birth. (C-1553, D.J. Rowe) In any case, Rachel was born while her father, Joseph Wells, was farming land in Anne Arundel Co. belonging to his brother's stepson. The Cane Creek Monthly Meeting record was also in error in stating that she was born in Prince George, Maryland. Rachel was a fairly well noted frontier Quaker minister before the American Revolution. She became a Quaker when she married. This is significant. Her parents moved into the faith several years after her marriage. She would not have been baptized Quaker and this where the controversy lies in Quaker Records. The Quaker Baptismal record would have been created after she was an adult and is therefore not first hand information. It is entirely possible that her mother was Margaret Swanson instead. She came from radical Puritan and Catholic stock who sought religious freedom in the tolerant Maryland under Lord Baltimore. Several of her ancestors were of armorial families in England. (C-575, p. 35) Rachel and her husband moved to Orange County, North Carolina from the Monacy Meeting, Prince George Co., Maryland about 1749. They helped found the Cane Creek Meeting in Orange Co., North Carolina. She with Abigail Overton Pike and several others rode on horseback to the Little River Quarterly Meeting in Peruimans in 1751 to seek permission for Cane Creek's Monthly Meeting status. This was granted by them on the sixth month, 31st day of 1751. Cane Creek held their first monthly meeting on the tenth month of 1751 wherein fifteen certificates of removal were submitted. (C-1663) She was the center of a major controversy in this region during the movement known as the Regulators. She committed the offense of defending her daughter, Charity, against false charges of "carnal knowledge" with Jehu Stuart". She later apologized and this was accepted by her Quaker Meeting until she applied to remove to Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1763. Some of the members doubted the sincerity of her apology and thought her certificate should not be granted. She was then disowned by the church. A principle, outspoken well known liberal Quaker of the time, Hermon Husband, was caught up in the feud defending her. Due to his violent reaction, he was disowned in 1763 and moved north back to Pennsylvania with his family after the decision was appealed to the Quarterly and Yearly Meetings where only his disownment was not reversed in Feb. of 1764. Rachel was granted her removal at the 1764 yearly meeting. (C-575) The Cane Creek meeting back in North Carolina mentions her kindly at her death 23 12m 1771, aged about 52 years as "a friend of the Ministry, wife of John, one of the first beginners of a meeting at Bush River." (C-646, 966)

  
  

• Sources

  [S2793] United Ancestries Linked Pedigrees CD 100 (Automated Archives). [S702] Richard M. Kelly, The Maryland Ancestors of Rachel Wells THE SOUTHERN FRIEND: JOURNAL OF THE NORTH CAROLINA FRIENDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY; Vol. XVI Spring-Autumn 1994, Numbers 1-2 p. 35-63. [S532] John Wright-Rachel Wells family group sheet supplied 9 Sept. 1995 by Lewis Wright lwright@tcgcs.com (C-610). [S712] Wright, Lewis to Linda Coate Dudick Letter dated Sep. 7, 1995 at lwright@tcgcs.com In possession of Dudick at 648 Ulverston Dr, Gahanna, OH 43230. [S2489] Bush River Quaker Records (on Microfilm housed in Columbia, SC, Archives and History Library). [S723] Westcott, Fred, Email dated 2000 from fredwes1@mindspring.com. [S728] Weeks, Stephen B., SOUTHERN QUAKERS AND SLAVERY. [S732] Markley, Vivian, Email from vivm2007@woh.rr.com (ca 2013). [S3266] Ancestry Family Trees, (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.), 1,1030::0., Ancestry Family Tree (Reliability: 0). [S197] Maryland, U.S., Births and Christenings Index, 1662-1911, Ancestry.com, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Date:2011 Place:Provo, UT, USA), 1,2565::0. (Reliability: 0). [S237] U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, Ancestry.com, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Date:2014 Place:Lehi, UT, USA), 1,2189::0., Guilford College; Greensboro, North Carolina (Reliability: 0). [S3347] U.S., Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, Vol I, Ancestry.com, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Date:2013 Place:Provo, UT, USA), 1,3753::0. (Reliability: 0). [S272] Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy. Vol. I: (North Carolina Yearly Meeting), 1,48129::0. (Reliability: 0). [S3234] U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, Yates Publishing, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc Date:2004 Place:Provo, UT, USA), 1,7836::0. (Reliability: 0). [S208] U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current, Ancestry.com, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. Date:2012 Place:Lehi, UT, USA), 1,60525::0. (Reliability: 0). [S713] Wells, Joseph, CD-ROM 102.