William married Mary S. MILLS in 30 Oct or Nov 1800 in Newberry County, South Carolina, USA. Mary was born on 1 Jan 1780 in Bush River, Newberry, South Carolina, USA,; died on 28 Dec 1852 in , Miami, Ohio, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Nathan was married out of the order in 1778 and is in the Bush River MM records for that event on 1778,7,25. He got a certificate to Hopewell in 1793. His wife's name has been listed as Nancy, Elizabeth and Sarah Jay. It is not known for sure which one he was actually married to. It is still believed that he only had one marriage. (C-2034)

He is likely the Nathan Write listed in the 1790 census for the 96th District, Newberry Co., SC living in the same area as Big John Coats (p. 79). He was over 16, had 2 sons under 16 and 4 females in the household.

Nathan married Sarah JAY on 25 Jul 1778 in Newberry, South Carolina, USA. Sarah (daughter of William JAY, Jr. * and Elizabeth LNU) was born on 27 Apr 1762 in ,Orange, NC; died on 2 Sep 1833 in Paoli, Orange County, Indiana, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sarah is also listed as Elizabeth in some sources. Her father might be a Joseph Jay or a James Jay living somewhat near her husband, Nathan Wright in the 1790 Newberry Co., SC census. She married a Quaker, Nathan Wright, and for this was dismissed from her religion. (C-1959)

Listed 2nd in Father's will.

Notes:

Much information can be gleaned about this family from a book by Algie I. Newlin entitled CHARITY COOK, A LIBERATED WOMAN, (Friends United Press, 1981). It is a biography of their daughter, Charity Cook, written and researched by a history professor.

Around 1725, he and his family moved to the northern part of Maryland, Prince Georges Co., MD possibly living at Goose Creek MM, Cecil Co., MD first. Rachel's family lived in Prince George's County and they probably met there. John's only wife was Rachel Wells. Some sources list a second wife named Susannah but this has been disproven. The first half of John and Rachel's children were born in Prince George's County Maryland according to Newlin's book: [UL:Charity Cook, A Liberated Woman:UL].

John's family moved from 1733-35 to Frederick Co., VA and became members of the Friends Hopewell Monthly Meeting according to Lewis Wright. (C-588, 610) Possibly the confusion here comes from the changing names of territories. They lived near Monacacy River a few miles south of Frederick which could have been Prince George's Co., Maryland at the time, but is now known as Frederick Co., Maryland. The marriage records of John and Rachel Wells Wright can not be located, and it is thought by some that they were burned with the Hopewell meeting records. Marriage is therefore approximated as 1737, a year before their first child's birth.

Both John and Rachel were appointed overseers of their respective male and female Monthly Meetings in Monocacy in 1745. They were charter members of the Fairfax MM.

Rachel Wells Wright is a very interesting person of her own right. She was a Quaker minister. This involved travel and stamina on her part. She was a very sturdy woman attested by the trials she endured plus the fact that she had three of her children in just a two year period.

What is even more astounding is that during this same two year period, John and Rachel Wright with 7 young children, William through John Jr. moved to the Cane Creek frontier, soon to become Orange County, North Carolina, which was over a distance of 300 miles. They received their letter to go to what was then Carvers Creek MM on 29-5-1749. They were charter members of of Cane Creek Monthly Meeting in Alamance Co., North Carolina when it was established 10m-1751. (C-575) Six more children were born to them in the Cane Creek area. All thirteen are listed in the Cane Creek records.

John and Rachel often lived in new, rather unsecured settlement areas. It appears that they moved near Camden, Kershaw Co., South Carolina in 1761/1762 to the Wateree Meeting in Camden, South Carolina, later to become the Bush River Monthly Meeting area that they helped establish. (C-250) He sought a land patent for land on Beaverdam on Sep 17, 1769 with an addition joining it in 1786. Parts of both of this land he granted to his son in law Big John. Later, Big John and Rachel then sold it to their son, Wright Coate.

According to Lewis Wright, John was a Ship Captain by trade. (C-610, 615) However, in his will, he bequeathed his shoemaking tools. Medlin's "Quaker Families of South Carolina and Georgia also states that John was a shoemaker by trade. He never tended to live on the ocean either, so I'd say the Ship Captain must apply to some other John Wright. (C-265, 866) John was also a member of the first and second Provincial Congress of S.C. (C-588)

At an ederly age, he lived with his daughter, Susannah. He used to walk to and from the Quaker meetings. The family reunion in 1908 recalled that his daughter prevailed on him to take her horse on one occasion. When the meeting was over, he walked home. When he got there she asked him where the horse was and he replied "Dad, me Sue, I forgot her."

According to this same family reunion provided by Julia Henry, it states that he and his wife had seven sons and ten daughters, 4 of whom apparently aren't in the Quaker records. He attended his grand-daughter, Sarah Cook's wedding in 1785.

He wrote his will on 9/17/1789. He named his wife, his deceased son, Joseph and Joseph's son, John; John and his son; Jesse; Nathan and his son William; his son-in-law, Isaac Hollingsworth which he left his shoe-maker tools, cow and calf; Joab Brooks, son of James Brooks; Joseph Cook, his grandson and son of Isaac Cook; William Hollingsworth, grandson and son of Isaac Hollingsworth; son-in-law Isaac Cook and Isaac's daughter Rachel. The witnesses were Isaac Hollingsworth, John Coate and Charity Cook. His Executor was his son Joseph Wright. His will was written in Newberry Co., South Carolina. (C-866, 2082)

His death was about 1790. He was living with his son-in-law, Isaac Hollingsworth's family, in the 1790 census. Before he died, he supposedly gathered all of his descendants which numbered 144 persons at the time. (C-945)

John married Rachel WELLS, Minister about 1737 in Hopewell M.M., Frederick, VA, USA. Rachel (daughter of Joseph WELLS and Rachel MARSH) was born on 3 May 1720 in All Hallows Parish, Anne Arundel, MD, USA; was christened on 12 Jul 1721 in Davidsonville, Anne Arundel, MD, US; died on 23 Dec 1771 in Bush River, Newberry County, South Carolina, USA; was buried in Newberry, Newberry County, South Carolina, United States of America. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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)

Notes:

He and his elder siblings were not mentioned in his father's will. (C-168b) One of his wives is occasionally listed as Mary Cothran, but this is likely a mix-up with his brother Joseph who was married to a Mary Cothran/Cochran. William Jay served under Zachary Brooks as a private in the Penn. Regiment of artillery, Continental Line, during the Revolutionary War (C-170, 1328). This information is again verified in the DAR lineage Book, Vol. 128, p.92 (c1916). However, this later source differs in a few instances. It states that William Jay was born in 1746 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and died in 1812 in Newberry Co., South Carolina. This birth date and place could be correct but the death date does not fit with William's will administered 28th Feb. 1797 in Newberry Co., South Carolina. Vickie Leimback listed that William II was born in 1744 in Chester Co., Pennsylvania (C-611)

William Jay received part of the moveable goods from George Cox's will dated 21 Dec. 1789 in Newberry, South Carolina. (C-461) In the 1790 96th District, Newberry, SC Census, William is listed with the following household members: 2-6-3, 0-0. (C-974) That probably means that his children before Charlotte were married and living on their own at that time. A William, Jr.(probably this William) was disowned by the Quakers on 6/26/1790. The reason was not given. (C-457, p.104) A William Jay along with Thomas Wright and others took an inventory of the estate of James Cox of Newberry Co., decd., dated 16 July 1794. A William Jay along with probable son William Jay, Jacob Balinger, Daniel Clary, John Allison, John Wright, Jesse Palmer and Wright Coate prepared notes on the account of the estate of William Gilliam decd. in 1795/96 in Newberry, South Carolina. (C-461)

In his will dated Jan. 7, 1797, he listed all of his adult children by his first wife, and only one child by his second wife Margaret, who was Susana. He specifically makes bequeaths to his "beloved daughters and sons namely Mary, Sarah, William, David, James, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Layton, Ann, Deboror (and) ... Susana one shilling sterling. The rest, John, Charles, Tabitha and Isaac seemed to be lumped in as the children of Margaret. They are not named. She is simply given the rest of the money to "rase her children". Joseph Reagin, John and Benjamin Coppock were witnesses. The executors were John Jay and David Jay, Sen. (C-832, 867) His elder children received more than their one shilling sterling, however, as per court record filed in August 1797.

"The State of South Carolina Ninety Six District--I ...Jas Mayson one of the Judges of Newberry County do hereby certify unto all whome it may Concern that Margaret Jay the widow of the within Named William Jay Des. did this day appear before me and upon being privatly and serparetly Examined by me did declare that She do freely volunterily and without any Compulsion dred or feare of any person or persons whomsoever renouce release and forever relinquish unto the within named William Jay his heirs and assigns all her Intrust and Estate and also all her rite and clame of dower of in or to all and Singualer the promises within menchened and released Given under my hand and seal this fist day of August--1797 Jas. Mayson J.N.Co (Judge Newberry County)". (C-833, 2109) The sale of his estate had many asundry items sold often to his brothers, possible sons, son-in-laws, etc. It was certified by George Arnold, James Mills, and Isaac Hollingsworth. (C-837)

William married Elizabeth LNU est 1760 in , Tioga, Pennsylvania, USA. Elizabeth was born on 14 Oct 1742 in Winchester, Frederick Co., Virginia, USA; died on 4 Mar 1777 in Edgefield, Newberry Co., South Carolina, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

I will be using DNA to prove or disprove Elisabeth's surname as there are many reasons to believe it is incorrect.

Some lineages give Elizabeth's surname as Layton. There is no proof as yet for this. The surname might have come from a guess because William Jay had a son named Layton. An Indiana branch of the family believed her surname was Natherson. However, if it's correct that William's 2nd wife was Mary Cochran, Layton was not the son of Elizabeth and that further dispells the myth that Elizabeth's surname was Layton. (C-685, 949, 2109)

As for Natherson, that also is a misrepresentation according to the Jay Family Association: "Many family history enthusiasts reference the Natherson surname when making postings discussing the family of William Jay Jr. and his first wife Elizabeth. They state that Elizabeth's maiden surname was Natherson. There have even been rumors of a "Natherson Bible". After much research the Board of the Jay Family Association has concluded this is likely a dubious reference for the following reasons:1. The Natherson surname does not exist on any US census records prior to 1870. Those appearing in that census list Prussia as a family birth origin.2. The Natherson surname does not exist and is not present in any Orange, Frederick or Fairfax Co. VA records of any kind. This was the Jay family residence from roughly 1734-1751.3. The Natherson surname does not exist and is not present in any Orange, Caswell or Person Co. NC records of any kind. This was the Jay family residence from roughly 1751-1774.4. The Natherson surname does not exist or is not present in any Newberry, Edgefield or Abbeville SC records of any kind. This was the Jay family residence from roughly 1774-1818.5. The Natherson surname does not exist on any colonial records indexed on Ancestry.com.6. ALL other "allied" family surnames connected to the Jay family. Pugh, Wright, Elleman, Anderson, Coppock, Coate, Satterfield, Morrow, Reagin, Patty, Mills, etc proliferate the deed, court, marriage, probate, Quaker and other records in ALL of the above locations. There is an Anderson Family Bible in existence which has been transcribed and notarized. A transcription is in the possession of the Jay Family Association. Perhaps the Natherson surname was a reader's corruption of the Anderson or some other surname and the confusion began at that point. However, until visual documentary evidence of the "Natherson" surname is presented, the Jay Family Association does not accept it as connected to the Jay family and do not believe the Natherson surname existed in the US prior to 1860. Vince King Immediate Past-President Jay Family Association www.jayfamily.org"