Mary Parker (Ramsey) - Mary (Ramsey) (Bledsoe) Parker's birth year ???

Hello Joseph E Crouch, I just looked through the DAR information for Col. Anthony Bledsoe. There is a lot of information. Mary Ramsey's birthdate is given as 1734. It doesn't say about 1734. I don't know where that information came from. Anthony & Mary have 7 established children through DAR. I looked at the most recent approved applications & here is what I found regarding their birthdates:
1. Sarah b: 1763
2. Elizabeth or Betsy b: 1768
3. Susan / Susannah b: 1770
4. Henry Ramsey b: 1770
5. Rachel b: about 1770
6. Mary Polly b: Apr 10, 1780
7. Isaac Moore b: Jul 8, 1780

I doubt that 3 kids were born in 1770 & it is impossible for Isaac to have been born 3 months after Mary Polly (as far as I know). The parents are reported to have been married in 1760. Anthony Bledsoe died on July 20, 1788. Prudence is reported to have been born more than 9 months later. Her birthdate is only a few days past the 9 months and may be humanly possible, but I would also question whether Prudence is a child of theirs and proof of her birthdate.

Faustine

What I’ve learned over time is even the DAR website has bad information. If you search for the ‘Bledsoe’ surname & ‘Virginia’ for place of service you’ll find 10 Bledsoes with one ‘William Bledsoe’ with a bolded red text notice: ”Future applicants must prove correct service.”. So just the DAR information for the Bledsoe surname in Virginia has a 10% error rate. My cursory check of other surnames showed an average error rate of 16%. Most due to the fact that before copy machines in the early to mid 1980’s the DAR did not keep copies of the documentation submitted for membership and sent it back to the submitter. So they have the application, but no copies of the submitters documentation if future questions arise, which they have.

For Nathaniel Parker (1724-1811), Mary (Ramsey) Bledsoe’s 2nd husband, I discovered the DAR webpage had at least two and possibly three Parker yDNA lines mixed together as his children (Parker yDNA #5 (Susannah), Parker yDNA #18 (Nathaniel, Richard, Isaac P) and an unknown (John Parker).) The unknown John Parker as a child of Nathaniel Parker was born in 1755 and died in 1801 King & Queen County, VA.; but John Parker the son of Nathaniel Parker was listed his brother Aaron Parker’s 1805 nuncupative will, his father’s 1811 Sumner, TN will, in the 1812 Estate Inventory, in 1814 & 1816 land indentures. And an 1851 letter and a 1904 letter stated he lived in Shelby County, KY. That John Parker was living concurrent to the one in King & Queen County, VA. so I know they’re not the same one.

The DAR is a repository for other people’s research, and it’s not error free. In December 2016 I submitted a Letter of Correction to the DAR only to discover Letter of Corrections are for typo’s not major changes., They’ll only review and update Nathaniel Parker (1724-1811) if someone submits for membership and I’ve had no desire to apply for membership to date.

As to Mary Bledsoe:

Mary (Ramsey) Bledsoe married Nathaniel Parker (1724-1811) on the 4 December 1791 in Sumner County, TN. and the marriage bond/record is on file there. Guy Cisco's 1909 book 'Historic Sumner County, Tn.' states:

"Mrs. Bledsoe was fifty-four years of age when her husband was killed. Five years thereafter, when she was in her sixtieth year, she married Nathan Parker, an old man, a pioneer, and the father of several children, some of whose descendants are prominent citizens of this and other states."

The sixth bequest in Nathaniel Parker’s 1811 will states: "Sixth, I give and bequeath to my second wife's daughter Nancy Parker, one dollar and no more of my estate, real or personal."

This bequest’s shows Nancy Parker as a child of Nathaniel Parker and Mary (Ramsey) Bledsoe. The ‘one dollar’ bequest is the result of Mary (Ramsey) Bledsoe having separated from Nathaniel Parker roughly a year after her marriage. In the Knox Gazette dated 29 November 1794 Nathaniel Parker stated that his wife Mary had left his bed and board and warned all persons that he would not be responsible for her debts or contracts. On November 21, 1800 Mary Parker sued for divorce from Nathaniel Parker. On November 12, 1802 a trial was held. Twelve days later, on November 24 1802, the court entered it's final decree. The court awarded her separate bed and board and awarded her separate maintenance in the amount of $200 per annum to be paid quarterly. The divorce of Nathaniel Parker and Mary (Ramsey) Bledsoe was the first recorded divorce in Sumner, TN.

A local Sumner County, TN. tradition is that Mary Ramsey was pregnant with the child of Thomas Sharpe Spencer, who was killed by Chief Doublehead on 1 April 1794 on the Cumberland Road [Lamb and Allied Families by James L. Mohon, p. 221] before they could be married. The administration of Thomas Sharpe Spencer's estate was granted to Thomas Donnell at the January 1795 term of court in Sumner County [Sumner Co., TN County Court Minutes p. 80). This was a little more than three years after Mary Ramsey married Nathaniel Parker.

So while Nancy Parker, the daughter of Mary (Ramsey Bledsoe) Parker has the Parker surname she does not seem to be a biological child of Nathaniel Parker. Back to the stated 1734 birth year for Mary Ramsey. Whether Nancy Parker was born in 1793 or 1794 there’s the issue that Mary (Ramsey Bledsoe) Parker would have been 59 to 60 years old if the 1734 birth year is correct. That’s well past her biological child bearing years. Jay Guy Cisco stated Mary Ramsey Bledsoe was 54 when Col Anthony Bledsoe was killed ( 1788 – 54 = 1734 the date that researchers have submitted to the DAR. ) If the 54 years of age is a typo/transcription error and it should have been 45 years of age, then that puts Mary Ramsey Bledsoe at age 49-50, which is the upper end of possible child bearing age

So is there another source for Mary Ramsey Bledsoe being born in 1734 other than Jay Guy Cisco’s 1909 book ‘Historic Sumner County, TN.’?

Hello Joseph E Crouch, I don't know of any other source for Mary's birth year.

Faustine

Anthony Bledsoe's 1788 will proved 18 Oct 1788 in Sumner, TN court appointed his wife Mary and his brother Isaac as excutrix and executor. Mary Bledsoe was appointed guardian of Thomas, Anthony, Isaac, Polly, Abraham, Henry & Prudence Bledsoe, his orphans.

Findagrave ( https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/94919357 ) and several Ancestry trees attribute a Nancy Parker buried in the Elijah Adams Cemetery, Macon County (originally part of Sumner County), TN. to be the daughter of Nathaniel Parker Jr. 1775-1857 and his wife Lucretia Penny. The transcribed birth date of Oct 12, 1798 and the Sumner County, TN. marriage date of April 9, 1811 has her marrying Elijah Robertson at the age of 12 ½ years old. Not impossible, but unlikely. A downloaded copy of the headstone photograph marked up via Photoshop shows a transcription error. The headstone should say she was born Oct. 12, 1793

Nathaniel Parker, Sr. 1724-1811 married Mary Ramsey Bledsoe on the 4 Dec 1791 and reputedly had a daughter named Nancy Parker born in 1793. If the Nancy attributed to Nathaniel Parker, Jr. 1775-1857 was actually born in 1793, and not 1798 and was the daughter named Nancy attributed to his father, that’d have her age 17 ½ when she married. Something more reasonable.

Potentially adding some weight is that Nancy (Parker) Robertson had a son named Henry Bledsoe Robertson. Mary (Ramsey) (Bledsoe) Parker had a brother named Henry Ramsey and a son with Anthony Bledsoe named Henry Ramsey Bledsoe. While not proof, it is suggestive.