Re: Way Book on CD Disk: Midway Church Was Fortified in Rev. War

["John S. Quarterman" <jsq@quarterman.org>]

Dane,

Thanks for looking up a source for your assertion about fortification
of Midway Church.

>The Midway Museum brochure states:
>
>"[American commander] Colonel John White posted about one hundred
>continentals with two pieces of light artillery at the Midway Church and
>constructed a breastwork just south of it, hoping to hold off [British
>commander] Prevost until help arrived from Savannah.the Americans moved
>their positions 1 1\2 miles south of the church. Outnumbered, White
>retreated to Midway Church."

Interesting.  Stacy alludes to this when he mentions that by one report
Col. White was gone and the cannon had been removed before the British
got there.

The museum has posted more about this on their web pages:
 http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/3105/midway.html

``Toward the end of 1778, the theatre of war was transferred to the
Southern Provinces, and the British planned an invasion of Georgia from
East Florida. General Augustine Prevost sent one force, commanded by
Lieutenant Colonel L. V. Fuser, by sea directly to Sunbury, near Midway,
and another, under Lieutenant Colonel Mark Prevost, by land to rendezvous
with Fuser at Sunbury. Colonel Prevost's force set out in November, 1778,
toward Sunbury, destroying and plundering the plantations in its path.

``Colonel John White posted about one hundred continentals with two pieces
of light artillery at the Midway Church and constructed a breastwork
just south of it, hoping to hold off Prevost until help arrived from
Savannah. When General James Screven arrived with some twenty militiamen,
the Americans moved their position 1 1/2 miles south of the Church. During
the skirmish which followed, General Screven was wounded and captured;
he died while in the hands of the enemy. Outnumbered, White retreated to
Midway Church. He succeeded in slowing the British advance by a clever
deception. He arranged for a fictitious letter ordering the retreat as
a trap to fall into their hands.

``Informed that Fuser had not reached Sunbury and that the Colonials were
planning a vigorous stand at Ogeechee Ferry, Prevotst retreated, burning
Midway Church, houses, Negro quarters, and other buildings in the area.

``After the war, the Midway Society rebuilt the church and building
destroyed by the British. The present church was completed in 1792.''

It would be interesting to know the museum's sources in order to get
more detail; this sounds like it was a fairly interesting few days.

>Stacy, however, is but one source

Indeed, I know of no genealogical researcher who depends solely on Stacy.

>But mistakes he did make.

Anyone who has used Stacy in genealogical research knows he made mistakes.

>I can cite three separate ones in just one
>paragraph.  He incorrectly stated that Henry Way came to America on the Lyon,
>that on board also was Roger Williams, Stacy mistakenly believing that it was
>THE Roger Williams who later led a dissident group of Baptists out of
>Massachusetts Bay Colony to found Rhode Island,

Yes, we're aware that it probably wasn't the same Roger Williams.
My aunt Jane scribbled a note to that effect many years ago in my copy
of Stacy.  Biographies of Roger Williams of RI fame do say he arrived in
Boston 5 February 1631 on the Lyon.  Even if this is true, Stacy was off by
3 days, since he says 8 Feb 1631.

As far as which ship Henry Way arrived on, I repeat what I wrote in
the book:
``Here we present what we can decipher from the latest of the copious
sources and since this is a Quarterman book we leave final resolution
to Way researchers.''

You've previously cited your source for Henry Way coming on the
Mary and John in 1631.  We'll add that to the sources in our database,
and I will when I have time find a copy of it.

> and he said that the Ways of
>Carolina and Midway descended from Richard and AaronWay,

And he was probably wrong about Richard, since there is no evidence
that Lt. Richard Way of Boston was an ancestor of the S.C. or Midway Ways.

> when Richard Way clearly says in his will that he had no descendants.

Not quite.  See below.

>  The paragraph with the
>mistakes is in James Stacy, History and Published Records of the Midway
>Church, Georgia. With addenda by Elizabeth Walker Quarterman and a New Index
>by Margaret H. Cannon, PhD. Spartanburg, SC, 1979, pp. 276-7.

If you're referring to Lt. Richard Way b. 1624 d. 1697, who served
under Capt. Appleton in King Phillip's War, what his will actually
says is "Having no reason to believe any of my own children are surviving".
In other words, all his children died before he did.
All of the death dates we know of for his children are indeed earlier
than his.  That's not the same as having no descendants.

He had five children by his first wife, three by his second, and one
grandchild.

Sources:
 ``English Origin of Henry Way,'' The American Genealogist, V61, p251-256.
 ``Bray Wilkins of Salem Village, MA. & his Children,'' by David L. Greene,
     American Genealogist, V60, Jan. 1984, p. 1.
 The Way Family, by Mary E. Way, 1969.
 Search for the Passengers of the Mary and John 1630, by Burton W. Spear.
 Boston Town Records (for marriage date to Hannah Townsend).

Lt. Richard Way had a son Richard Way b. 1655.
m. 1694 Hannah Perkins "who survived him 20 years".

They had one child, Sarah Way b. 1696 m. 1713 William Emons
We know of no children of this couple.

Sources:
 The Way Family, by Mary E. Way, 1969.
 Search for the Passengers of the Mary and John 1630, by Burton W. Spear.

We have found no further descendants of this line.

>Aaron Way, Jr. was accompanied to South Carolina by two brothers, William and
>Moses. Confusing Aaron Way, Sr., with Aaron Way, Jr., the Quarterman book
>mistakenly characterized the blood relationship between the two brothers
>Aaron Way, Jr. and William, living near each other five miles north of Salem
>village next to their relative Bray Wilkins.

We have Aaron Way Jr. and William Way as brothers, sons of Aaron Way Sr.,
with both of them moving to S.C. after Aaron Sr. died.

>From the above paragraph, I can't work out what you think is mistakenly
characterized.  Could you elaborate?

>  My source? Will of Aaron Way,
>Sr.; Charles Granville Way Collection and Mary Elizabeth Collection, NEHGS,
>Boston; and others.

Those are good sources; some are the same ones we used for that line.

>And I have never found any convincing evidence that the George Way of Conn.

Presumably you're referring to one of these three:

George Way b. 1614, Dorset, England,
m. 1650 at Boston
Elizabeth ? b. ca. 1630 d. 20 Apr. 1713, New London, Conn.

George Way b. 1655 Providence, R.I. d. Conn.
m.
Susannah Nest

George Way b. bef. 1696, Lyme, Conn.
m. 1713
Lydia Sprague

Please clarify.

>is descended from Henry Way (1583-1667) of Mass.  Neither did Charles
>Granville Way, Mary Elizabeth Way, nor the published genealogist of the Ways
>of Conn., Henry Abel Way.

I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that you have much better information
about that Way line or Ways in general that we do.  That line in particular
is not connected to our lines, and we didn't spend much time on it.

>With extensive training in history and historiography, with years of research
>and study of the Way family, I have found no convincing evidence that any Way
>of Dorchester, SC and Midway, GA, in the 18th Century was descended from
>anybody except Henry Way and his son Aaron Way, Sr.

On that we appear to be in agreement.

>  Based on research, study, and informed judgment, that is my "conclusion."

Which is the same as ours.

>************************************************************************
>
>Since it is doubtful that 35 people would get together to order a hardcopy of
>my Way book, I am giving serious consideration to selling it on CD-ROM disks
>for $36 plus $3.95 for mailing first class in a padded envelop. The complete
>file is far too long to fit on a single CD-ROM disk.  I do not know how to
>compress info on disks and do not know what it would entail to decompress
>them at the other end.  I have been experimenting with deleting family
>pictures at the end of the book, pictures of the clan of my grandfather
>William Mitchell Way of West Texas, some maps related to that family, and
>pictures concerning my own diplomatic career.  By such deletions I believe I
>can get the all the rest of the book onto a single CD-ROM disk.

That sounds like an interesting plan.
I'd pay the price you've asked for either the book or the CD-ROM.

>Those interested may contact me by e-mail or send a check  to:
>
>Dane Bowen
>6330 Hillcrest Place
>Alexandria, Va. 22312
>
>PS: I expect to be in France, Germany, Central and Eastern Europe in June,
>only returning home on July 4.
>
>
>Dane Bowen in Alexandria, Va., researching Bowen, Bacon, Carlton (Carleton),

>Luker, Sanders (Saunders), Chaudoin (Chaudoins), Maverick, Richey (Ritchie,
>Richie, Ritchey), Spence, Sumner, Way, and Wells families.

John S. Quarterman <jsq@quarterman.org>
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