These Ranney feet through the ages: Civil War to Present Day

[ed the head]

I'll be the first to admit that my feet are not among my more attractive body parts.

[ed the head]

1616-1713: Atlantic Crossing and marriage into Cromwell's; relocation to Virginia

My 8th great-grandfather Thomas Ranney II (1616-1713) appears to have been a man willing or even desperate to reinvent himself.

Thomas was born if Fife and emigrating to Middletown CT in 1657. The Ranney's had come into Fife from Yorkshire long ago, and appear to have been well connected to other Fife families already established in the colonies. Thomas married Mary Cornwall in 1657. Mary's father was Sgt. William Cornwall II serving in the Kings army, her mother the venerable Mary 'Little Dove' Hyanno. Before long, Thomas and wife Mary would be generating 10 new Ranney's. The Rayn man was doing okay.

He apparently loved his home so much he altered colony side birth records to indicate he was born there. He also insisted on losing his Junior persona, as is evidence by his headstone in Middletown CT.


One of his new Ranney's was named William Raney (1666-1722). If birth records are accurate, he was born and died in Prince George Virgina, where the family remained until relocating to Kentucky in 1800. William is my 7th great grandfather, and in 1685 married into the venerable Shands family of Aberdeen by virtue of his lovely bride and my 7th great grandmother Elizabeth Shands (1666-1773). William and Elizabeth had 8 children in total, the third of which is my 6th great grandfather William Rainey (1680-1769) and wife Mary (Huskey) Rainey, also of Prince George Virginia.

[ed the head]

December 3rd 2017 was an amazing day for present and future Ranneys to understand both family and American history.

By an amazing stroke of luck and/or ancestral heavenly intervention, we uncovered the final resting place of my great great great grandfather Williamson Rainey (1760-1846), and with it the home in which my great great grandfather and Tennessee emigrant John William Rainey(1775-1854) was born. By ''we uncovered", I mean myself and my dear friend and former phone company employee Greg.



Williamson Rainey (1760-1846) became highly venerated man in his day. His father Francis (1733-1804) had a large and well established farm and family in Dinwiddie Virginia, and assisted Williamson obtain his own property in Mecklenburg Virginia. Both living generations are successfully growing their family farms in the manner established in English Colonial Virginia. Meanwhile far far above the Raineys and elsewhere in Virginia, Thomas Jefferson is working hard to establish Independence for Virginia. On May 15, 1776 he and George Mason establish Virginia as an Independent Commonwealth with the document 'The Declaration of Rights'. This Independence wave propagates through remaining Colonial America and the Virginia Commonwealth's 'The Declaration of Rights' is adapted to become 'The Declaration of Independence' on July 4, 1776 (a date many may already be familiar with). The Revolutionary War ensues.

Williamson is 16 and has already fathered his son John, my 4Xgreat grandfather. He joins the Virginia Militia as a 'substitute'. After several months of engagements he is discharged and is later compelled back into the Virginia Militia in 77 and 79 for two further engaements. Many of these details became available to us as a result of the work of the DAC who erected the stone above in 1964 in their work to honor the lost and forgotten Patriots of the Revolution.

We learned that Williamson's father Francis also has a military history in The Revolution. These details are yet to be discovered.

After independence is won and the English are driven from Government Halls, the people on the ground commence a Religious war of Independence on resident England Anglican church. In America, the Anglican church becomes the Episcopal Church. For some as yet unknown reason, the Episcopals do not suit Williamson and he goes on to become a founding member of Mecklenburg Countys newly formed order of the Methodists. In this period following the Revolution, Francis and Williamson both prosper.

The ever westward expansion of the new nation continues and in 1800 Williamson's son John William (1775-1854) begins a farm and family of his own on newly opened land near present day Nashville. Census records suggest that Williamson may have provisioned John with 5 of his 15 slaves in 1800. In 1802 my 2x great grandfather Ezekiel (the 1st) is born.

The next event of note in American History is the War of 1812. Here we find evidence of Militia participation by Ezekiel even though he was about 13 at the wars end.

In 1831 Nat Turners Rebellion shook an Antebellum America to it's very core. Already struggling to come to terms with the nations growing Abolitionist movement, Nat Turner most certainly sent shock waves of fear throughout the 'top-rails' of slave society including the living Raineys, at this point including Francis, Williamson, Ezekiel Sr.

Into this world is born my great grandfather Ezekiel (1837-1887). His mother Alva dies when he only three years old. Was he yet old enough to remember his mother and know that Ezekiel's next wife was not his mother? Is this why at age 13 we find him 50 miles away from his fathers farm in 1850?

As we now begin to approach the time-frame of my previous post 'Civil War', I am getting a better picture of the world my ancestors lived in. Ezekiel is certainly aware of his family's history in the Revolutionary War and War of 1812. He is certainly aware of his families history of farming and slave ownership. He is certainly aware of Nat Turner.

In 1861 Ezekiel enlists and serves with the CSA 7th TN Cavalry throughout and very possibly after the war. I see many of Ezekiels Rainey kin involved in service with opposing Union units. After the succession Ezekiel's hostilities in 1867 he begins to grow a family and fathers 4 daughters before my grandfather is born.




...to be continued

[ed the head]

Do Grandfather Pence's Feet Count? YES!
1613-1673 Leiden to The Massachusetts Colony

As luck would have it, his would have been one set of my many (20) 10th great grandfathers.

Reading up on this ancestor Governor Thomas Pence on Wiki I have really come to like him.

Was I disappointed he didn't arrive on THE Mayflower? Maybe at first. But what follows in even more interesting to me.

I read that the Colony did not exactly welcome them with open arms. They arrived November 1621 with no provisions. The new contingent of the ship FORTUNE skewed the Colonies eligible woman to man ration up to 1 woman for every 8 men.

In spite of these bad odds, Thomas survived the winter, out charmed the competition and landed a wife within two years. He must have had something special going on because he quickly rose to a position of authority. Read up on his Wiki entry, there are notations of his humane treatment of the Native Peoples, a policy that sadly changed after his death.

The Colony's concern upon his arrival related to their store of corn lasting through the winter. No doubt the newcomers would have been pressed into foraging, hunting and fishing to supplement food stores through that winter. To this end, the Native Peoples like the Narragansett would have been a valuable resource for guidance.

His humane treatment of the Natives Peoples may be a result from assistance he received that first harsh winter. At least it's nice to think so.

Thank you Governor Thomas Pence, I literally owe you my life.

[RoMoney]

Interesting posts Ed, you're quite the historian!

[ed the head]

The first name 'Williamson' first appears in the Rainey line in 1760 when the name is given to the son of Francis Buckner Rainey.

Why not 'Francis-son'? A look up Francis' wife's family reveals the likely source.

7th great grandfather Lieutenant John Williamson.

Before the American Revolution, Lieutenant John Williamson's served as a Lieutenant in The Royal Navy aboard the HMS Dorsetshire, HMS Resolution, HMS Discovery, HMS Ramillies, HMS Syran, HMS Tamar, and HMS Depford. He would prove to be a controversial and unpopular member of the crews, at odds with everyone, including Captain Cook. Unlike Cook, he was prepared to shoot to kill. He disapproved of many aspects of island life, finding them improper. James Trevenen described him as, “a wretch, feared & hated by his inferiors, detested by his equals, & despised by his superiors; a very devil, to whom none of our midshipmen have spoke for above a year." These traits rose him through the HMS ranks quickly. His grand daughter and our great grandmother Elizabeth Rottenberry wife of Francis Rainey may have sourced the inspiration for the first name for her son Williamson here. This may imply he was able to restrict his savage behavior to 'work' and not family.

[ed the head]

Discovering Lost Family Connections

One finds interesting lost family connections as you progress backward in time up your ancestors trees. Following a great grandmother Alice with the maiden name Washington, we discovered we shared common ancestry with George Washington.

After posting the image below, further research indicated the good Reverend and his wife Amphyllis are actually double grandparents, with their daughter Alice and son John both producing children who come into my line.

Furthermore, John and his wife Ann are also double grandparents, with their daughter Ann and son John Junior also producing children who come into my line.

Other recovered family connections of note are to Henry Soane, shared great grandfather to Thomas Jefferson and Governor Thomas Pence.

The coolest thing about all this is an increasing awareness that we're all cousins and that what I am experiencing is what everyone would discover if they looked.

[ed the head]

When Unt Grunt was born in 73357 BC in present day Persia, His father Unt was 14 and his mother Argh was 11. He married Dargh in 73347 in Persia and together they had 7 children in 12 years. He died in 73314 BC in Persia at the infamous Battle with the Trolls that same year.

[ed the head]

Interesting posts Ed, you're quite the historian!

Thanks Ro, a little family presence makes history a whole lot more interesting and alive for me. I'm not a historian yet but I am learning.

[RoMoney]

Interesting posts Ed, you're quite the historian!

Thanks Ro, a little family presence makes history a whole lot more interesting and alive for me. I'm not a historian yet but I am learning.

Very true Ed. I would go even further and say for me as someone from a small country, the presence of an Irish footprint on a story can even make it more interesting for me.

For example Willie O'Shaughnessy fascinates me more probably because he was Irish....

William Brooke O'Shaughnessy (from 1861 as William O'Shaughnessy Brooke) MD FRS (October 1809, Limerick, Ireland – 8 January 1889, Southsea, England) was an Irish physician famous for his wide-ranging scientific work in pharmacology, chemistry, and inventions related to telegraphy and its use in India. His medical research led to the development of intravenous therapy and introduced the therapeutic use of Cannabis sativa to Western medicine.

or the Irish connection to the etmology of the word gringo fascinates me too.

........both the real ....

However, the word gringo originated in Spain long before there was a Spanish-speaking Mexico and at one time, the word in Spain was often used to refer specifically to the Irish (at the time, the migrations known as Flight of the Wild Geese brought a constant stream of Irish exiles and mercenaries to Spain). And according to a 1787 dictionary, it often referred to someone who spoke Spanish poorly.

....and the mythical

Green Grow the Lilacs is a folk song of Irish origin that was popular in the United States during the mid-19th century.

The song title is familiar as the source of a folk etymology for the word gringo that states that the Mexicans misheard U.S. troops singing "green grow" during the Mexican-American War.

Sorry, bit of a tangent there, but keep up the posts, I'll be reading!

[ed the head]

Great stuff Sir Ro

[ed the head]

December 3rd 2017 was an amazing day for present and future Ranneys to understand both family and American history.

By an amazing stroke of luck and/or ancestral heavenly intervention, we uncovered the final resting place of my great great great grandfather Williamson Rainey (1760-1846), and with it the home in which my great great grandfather and Tennessee emigrant John William Rainey(1775-1854) was born. By ''we uncovered", I mean myself and my dear friend and former phone company employee Greg.

December 19th 2017 was even more amazing.

The 10 acres holding the final burial ground of Williamson Rainey and his early 18th century homestead came onto the market.

I spoke to the owner, and their asking price was 6.25% below my buy price.

I will soon own the farm of my 4th great grandfather and grandmother.

[ed the head]

I had a funny feeling all along my roots extended to Holland.

Elate-Ed

It also explains my Bogart nature

[macky]

Interesting about the farm,My family was given origanal homesteader plaque a few years back from Alberta goverment .
The homestead was 30,000 acres ,now full of oil fracking rigs.
My dad,s family was given land in Nova Scotia,my dad always said his family was swindled out of it by Indians
@romoney You will find Angela,s ashes (a book) more the Irish story of that period.

[ed the head]

Interesting about the farm,My family was given origanal homesteader plaque a few years back from Alberta goverment .
The homestead was 30,000 acres ,now full of oil fracking rigs.
My dad,s family was given land in Nova Scotia,my dad always said his family was swindled out of it by Indians
@romoney You will find Angela,s ashes (a book) more the Irish story of that period.

Thanks, oops, I mean Bedankt.