Anna Maria "Mary" Teel (Diehl/Diel/Teel) - Research on Anna Maria "Mary" Teel Thomas

Documentary information for Mary, the mother of Priscilla (Thomas) Ragland, is found in Priscilla's 1878 Mortality Schedule record in Barren County Kentucky. It stated that Priscilla's parents were David and Mary Thomas, natives of Pennsylvania. Priscilla Thomas' granddaughter, Sallie (Ragland) Dodd stated that Priscilla was of "Pennsylvania Dutch" descent. This was an enigma because for many years, the only Pennsylvania Dutch candidate in the family was Maria Catharina Teel, the wife of Ephraim Thomas who were residents of Missouri. New Ancestry DNA evidence indicates that Priscilla's descendants were related to multiple siblings of Maria Catharina Teel, including John Adam Teel and Nicholas Teel of Jackson County, Tennessee. There are over 100 confirmed DNA matches on record to substantiate the Thomas/Teel connection. Based upon the fact that Priscilla Thomas was not a daughter of Ephraim Thomas and Caty Teal, there had to be another missing Teel connection. This was found in the birth and baptism records of Anna Maria "Mary" Diel in York County, Pennsylvania in 1763. The 1850 Mortality Schedule of Macon County, Tennessee for Mary Thomas states that she was born in Pennsylvania in 1763. Thus, we have a perfect match in name, place and date for the birth and death of Mary (Teel) Thomas. Further proof of the relationship of the Teel and Thomas Family exists in records of Franklin County Virginia. Priscilla's father David Thomas was living on Magoty Creek in Franklin County, Virginia where he sold cattle to Johan Adam Teel (the father of David's wife "Mary" and of Ephraim Thomas' wife "Caty") in December 1790, shortly before he co-signed as Security for the marriage bond of Ephraim Thomas and Maria Catharina "Caty" Teel in January 1791. After David Thomas' father William sold the Franklin County Magoty Creek homestead in 1800 a group of Thomas, Teel and Sloan family members moved to Smith County, Tennessee, in about 1802 after Priscilla Thomas' birth. David Thomas appeared in the 1803 Tax List of Jackson County Tennessee with William Thomas Sr., Hiram Thomas, John Adam Teel, Nicholas Teel and George Teel. Later, in 1805 Ephraim Thomas and wife Caty bore a daughter in Smith County, Tennessee. Patriarch William Thomas and his wife Deborah possessed property in Smith and Jackson Counties Tennessee between 1803 and 1807. A Smith County deed of 1807 states that William Thomas was a resident of Jackson County, Tennessee at the time when he sold the Smith County tract. As hostilities towards the United States were brewing in England, several of the young Thomas men (Adam, Ephriam, Humphrey, Zachariah, Lewis) enlisted for the war of 1812, and they also established residency in Smith County, Tennessee. In 1817, David Thomas appeared as a defendant in a civil action in Smith County. Then, in 1820, David Thomas appeared in the Smith County Census at 45+ years of age; with one male child under 10 years; 2 females 10-16 years (Priscilla Thomas was about 18 years of age in 1820 and married George Ragland in about 1820-23); and 1 female 45+ years old (Anna Maria "Mary"Teel). Also enumerated in Smith County were Adam (26-45) and Ephraim Thomas (16-26) traditionally indicated as sons of Ephraim Thomas and Caty Teel. James Thomas (45+) and his son Champion (16-26) appeared in the enumeration. An elusive Zachariah Thomas also appeared, who was married in Franklin County, Virginia in 1794 before removing to Smith County. Also listed were: Humphrey Thomas (26-45), Joseph Thomas (26-45), William Thomas (26-45), Lewis Thomas (16-26). According to new DNA evidence, the families of Ephraim and Humphrey Thomas are separate and unrelated. Joseph and Zachariah Thomas have been difficult to trace past 1850 and DNA evidence is lacking. . David Thomas probably had other children, but their names have not appeared in the record. Research on this enigma continues.