William Barney TERRY Dianna Catherine TERRY George W TERRY William Joseph TERRY Cyrus Lewis TERRY John R TERRY Mary Constance TERRY Martha Clorinda TERRY Julia Virginia TERRY Thomas Everett TERRY Nannie Jane TERRY Carrie Lee TERRY William Ernest TERRY Arthur Wiley TERRY Jeffie Mae TERRY Clarice Mabel TERRY Ouida Mayfield TERRY Rama Wall TERRY Martha Wiley WALL Althea TERRY Arthur TERRY Jesse B TERRY Robert E Lee TERRY Julia Ann ROBERTS Mini tree diagram
Thomas Duncan TERRY

Thomas Duncan TERRY3,4,9,11,10,14,7,2,12,15,16,6,8

7th Jun 185710 - 23rd Jul 19355,1,2,14

Life History

1855

Born in Georgia.10

(less likely)

between 1857 and 1880

Resident in Murray County, Georgia.11,10,12

7th Jun 1857

Born in Murray County, Georgia.3,4,5,6,7,1,2,8,9,10

(most likely)

1880

Residence2 in McLennan, Texas, United States.12,4

1st Jan 1880

Married Martha Wiley WALL in McLennan County, Texas.12,16,6,8

8th Dec 1880

Birth of daughter Julia Virginia TERRY in McLennan County, Texas.17,14,18,5,2,19,20,21,22,23,24,15,24,15

27th Aug 1882

Birth of son Thomas Everett TERRY in Murray County, Georgia.5,2

12th Mar 1884

Birth of daughter Nannie Jane TERRY in Murray County, Georgia.6,26,15,2,27,5,28

13th Dec 1885

Birth of daughter Carrie Lee TERRY in Murray County, Georgia.2,5

3rd Nov 1887

Birth of son William Ernest TERRY in Murray County, Georgia.30,5

13th Aug 1888

Death of son Thomas Everett TERRY in Eton, Murray, Georgia.25,2

23rd Aug 1888

Death of daughter Carrie Lee TERRY in Eton, Murray, Georgia.2,29

27th Aug 1888

Death of son William Ernest TERRY in Eton, Murray, Georgia.2,30

6th Aug 1889

Birth of son Arthur Wiley TERRY in Dalton, Whitfield, Georgia.31,8,5,1,32,6,32,33,34,35

27th Apr 1892

Birth of daughter Jeffie Mae TERRY in Murray County, Georgia.36,37,1,38,8,2

16th Apr 1895

Birth of daughter Clarice Mabel TERRY in Murray County, Georgia.8,5,39,2,40,1,41

17th Jul 1899

Birth of daughter Ouida Mayfield TERRY in Murray County, Georgia.2,42,6,43,44,5

1900

Residence3 in McDonald District, Murray, Georgia.6

10th Jun 1904

Birth of son Rama Wall TERRY in Marlow, Pickens County, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory.45,46,8,5,9,28,47,48

between May 1910 and Jul 1935

Residence4 in Richland, Stephens, Oklahoma.3,9,13

30th May 1932

Death of Martha Wiley WALL in Marlow, Stephens, Oklahoma.1,5,49,2,50

23rd Jul 1935

Died in Marlow, Stephens, Oklahoma.5,1,2,14

after 23rd Jul 1935

Buried in Marlow Cemetery, Marlow, Stephens County, Oklahoma.1,2

Notes

  • Thomas was 2 years old when first enumerated with his parents in Hopler's Mill, Georgia.

    1860 Federal Census, Murray County, Georgia, 26 July, Militia District 1013, PO Hopler's Mills, page 92, Hse #652, Fam #623
    William Terry 49 M  Farmer $5000 Real Estate $5000 Personal b SC
    Julia A Terry  37 F  NC illiterate
    George W Terry 17 M  Farm Laborer   GA
    William J Terry 16 M GA
    Syrius [Cyrus] L Terry 14 M GA
    Mary Terry  8 F  GA
    Martha C Terry 4 F GA
    ** Thomas D Terry 2 M  GA  **
    Dialtha R Terry  1 F  GA  [matches Althia 1870, Altha 1880]
    Martha Corder [Carder] 15 F  GA
    [Martha is a daughter of William's sister Nancy, whose husband had died.  Nancy is living with their brother George, and Nancy's son John is living with Joseph (William Joseph), Nancy and William's brother]

    Their location is reported as Spring Place in 1870.

    1870 Federal Census, Murray County, Georgia, 23 July, Spring Place, page 7, Hse/Fam #49
    Terry, William 60 M W Farmer  $6000 Real Estate $60 Personal b SC Cannot write
    Terry, Julia A  49 F W Keeping House  NC Cannot read or write
    Terry, John R  20 M W Farm Laborer $125 Personal Estate b Georgia Can read and write
    Terry, Clorinda [Clarinda?]  15 F W GA  Cannot write
    Terry, Thomas  13 M W GA Cannot write
    Terry, Althia  11 F W GA Cannot read or write
    Terry, Jesse  9 M W GA Can read and write
    Terry, Robert E L  5 M W GA Can read and write (? Perhaps the enumerator failed to mark this)

    There was some uncertainty for a long time concerning the birth of Thomas Duncan and Mattie's first child, Jennie (Julia Virginia).  Many censuses reported her birth in Texas, while children reported that she was born in Georgia.

    There was also an early genealogy report of her birth in McLennan County, Texas (Waco area), but this was disputed by other family tradition information.  Several censuses of her children also reported her birth in Texas, but some reported Georgia as Jennie's birth place.

    I began to think that young Thomas might have gone to Texas with some of his cousins, who were recorded in McLennan County and Milam County in 1880 and later.  I had been unable to locate Thomas and Mattie in any census for 1880 that might determine their location.  Finally in August 2007, I was able to find a listing in McLennan County.  This supports the birth of Jennie there.  Then we know from later information that they were definitely back in Murray County, Georgia, near other family in the home area through 1900 census.

    Thomas Duncan Terry and Mattie Wall married in McLennan County, Texas, 1 January 1880.

    Texas, Select County Marriage Index, 1837-1965
    Mattie W Wall
    Spouse T D Terry
    Marriage 1 Jan 1880 McLennan County, Texas

    I have not yet found a birth certificate for Jennie showing definitely her birthplace was McLennan County, Texas.  Most later records report her birth state as Texas.

    1880 Federal Census, McLennan County, Texas, No date, June 1880, District 117, page 16, Hse/Fam #159
    Terry, T D  W M 23 Farmer  b Georgia, no birth place given for parents [b abt 1857]
    Terry, M M [M W?]  [No relationship stated, Wife]  W F 20 NC NC NC

    Next door is a Wall household.  These would be kinfolks of Mattie Wall Terry, but I cannot figure out exactly how they are kin.  We think Mattie's father was born about 1840, while she was born in 1861.  So this cannot be her brother.  Perhaps it is an uncle, a younger brother of her father.

    1880 Federal Census, McLennan County, Texas, No date, June 1880, District 117, page 16, Hse/Fam #160
    Wall, E P    W M 30 Farmer  NC NC NC [b abt 1850]
    Wall, A E  W F 5 Wife AR AR --
    Wall, M P  W F 5 Dau  TX -- --
    Wall, S W  W F 4 Son  TX -- --
    Wall, M E  W F 2 Dau  TX -- --

    T D Terry and family were in Georgia in June 1900.  They appear in the 1900 census in McDonald District, Murray County, Georgia.  This census confirms Thomas D's middle name as Duncan. This name is otherwise attested, but in most sources he is listed as Thomas D Terry.  The last child's name looks like Orda in the handwriting of the enumerator.  The birth states reported for the children indicates that Tom and Mattie moved from McLennan County, Texas, where Jennie was born, before 1884, when Nannie was born.  I have no other details concerning their presence or the move from Texas back to Tom's home area in Georgia.

    1900 Census, Murray County, Georgia, 8 June, McDonald District, District 71, Page 5B, House #86, Family #89
    Terry, Thomas D Head M W  Jun  1857  42  m-20-yrs  GA SC NC  Farmer
    Terry, Mattie        Wife  F W  Nov 1861  38  m-20-yrs  10 children/6 living NC NC NC
    Terry, Jennie       Dau   F W  Dec 1880  19   Single TX GA NC
    Terry, Nannie      Dau   F W  Mar 1884  16  Single GA GA NC At School
    Terry, Arthur        Son  M W  Aug 1889  10  Single GA GA NC At School
    Terry, Jeffie         Dau   F W  Apr 1892    8   Single GA GA NC At School
    Terry, Clarice       Dau   F W  Apr 1895    5   Single GA GA NC
    Terry, Orda (Oeda?) [Ouida] Dau F W  July 1899  11mo Single GA GA NC

    Mattie's obituary from the Marlow newspaper reported that the Duncan family moved from Murray County, Georgia, to Marlow on 1 January 1900.  Yet we see that the whole family was enumerated at their Murray County, Georgia, residence.  So someone was at that residence in June 1900.  We know they were there later in 1900 or early 1901, since their eldest daughter Julia Virginia (Jennie) married in Marlow in March 1901.

    The specific date of the move to Marlow is puzzling, since they obviously could not have moved in one day, probably even if they had taken the train.  Does the date refer to the date they  left Georgia?  Or the date they arrived in Marlow?  At any rate it was not before the June 1900 census in Murray County, Georgia.  Mattie's obituary reports that they moved to a farm seven miles west of Marlow in January 1903.

    1910 Federal Census, Stephens County, Oklahoma, lists Thomas D Terry, with wife Mattie W, thought to be Martha Wiley Wall, mother of Julia Virgina Terry Jenkins, first daughter of Thomas Duncan Terry.

    1910 Census, Stephens County, Oklahoma, 27 April, Richland Township, District 243, page 9A, No Hse/ Fam # on page
    Terry, Thomas D Head M W 52  marriage 1 Married 29?-yrs  GA SC NC  Farmer
    Terry, Mattie W  Wife  F W 50? marriage 2? Married 29?-yrs 7 children/7 living NC NC NC
    Terry, Nannie Dau   F W 22  s    GA GA NC Farm Labor
    Terry, Arthur   Son   M W 20  s   GA GA NC Farm Labor
    Terry, Jeffie    Dau   F  W 17  s   GA GA NC Farm Labor
    Terry, Claris    Dau   F  W 15  s   GA GA NC Farm Labor
    Terry, Oeda    Dau   F  W 10  s   GA GA NC Farm Labor
    Terry, Rama   Son   M  W   5  s   GA GA NC

    Julia had been married to Joseph Asa Jenkins about 9 years at the time of this census, and shows up as wife of Joseph Asa.

    The Terry family were in Marlow about 1900, since the oldest daughter Julia Virginia married Joseph Asa Jenkins in March 1901.  We have seen that they were in Georgia until after the 1900 census, so they must have arrived in Oklahoma near the end of the year.  Joseph Asa Jenkins' first wife Hester (Hattie) died in Marlow, in September 1900, after the 1900 census in Chickasaw Nation.

    Yet the census reports that even the last child of Thomas Duncan born after that time was born in Georgia.  This does not track.  It is not clear why or how Julia Virginia would be in Oklahoma about 4 years before the last child was born in Georgia.

    It appears the last child (Rama, born in June 1904, from family records) was born in Oklahoma, rather than Georgia as the census reports.  Rama is the only child who does not appear in the 1900 census in Murray County, Georgia.  Later records on Rama confirm that his birth place was what became Oklahoma, though it was Chickasaw Nation when he was born there.  (The State of Oklahoma came into being in November 1907.)

    In the 1920 census, Rama is correctly reported as born in Oklahoma.  TD and Mattie are still on the farm in Richland Township, near Marlow, and Rama is still at home with them, at 15 years old.  The enumerator spells the family name as Tery.  Thomas' mother is reported as born in South Carolina, instead of North Carolina.

    There is a woman whose name appears to be Louies (for Louise -- it is hard to make out all names in the poor, scrawling hand of the enumerator).  She is described as a daughter.  She is 23 years old, and was born in Georgia.  At age 23, she would have been born sometime in 1896.  This person does not match any child in any previous census or any family information.  This is where Clarice should be in the birth order.  It looks like the enumerator has named her Louise and misspelled that.

    Listed after Louise is a man named Burt, age 32, described as a son-in-law, presumably the husband of Louise.  There is a child, also, Tery S, age 2 years and 1 month.  One interesting fact is that this census lists all these last three as also surnamed Terry (Tery).  This Burt is Bert Lewis, Clarice's husband.  Burt's parents are said to be born in Alabama.  Tery S (Terry) Lewis is their son, Terry Stanton Lewis.  The addled enumerator also reported the boy Terry as a girl.

    1920 Census, Stephens County, Oklahoma, 20 January, Richland Township, District 262, page 6A, Farm #75
    Tery, Thomas D Head M W 63  GA SC SC  Farmer
    Tery,  Mattie   Wife  F W  62  NC NC NC
    Tery, Rama  Son   M  W  15 OK US US
    Tery [Lewis], Louies [Clarice] Daughter F W 23 GA US US
    Tery [Lewis], Burt  Son-in-Law M  W  32 TX AL AL
    Tery [Lewis], Tery S Granddaughter [Grandson] F [M] W 2yrs 1mo OK US US

    In 1930, Tom and Mattie are still living in Richland Township, without any children.

    1930 Federal Census, Stephens County, Oklahoma, 18 April, Richland, District 22, page 10A, Hse #181, Fam #182
    Terry, Tom D  Head M W 73 GA SC NC Retired;
    Terry, Mattie W  Wife F W 70 NC NC NC

    Jennie also reports that her father Thomas Duncan Terry died at 6:00 PM on 23 July 1935.

    Additional Children
    Three other children are reported in notes on this family, written by my mother Lou Ila Gregory Jenkins in about 1954 or 1955.  These were stored with other family papers until rediscovered in May 2007.  Lou has the memory of writing down these notes from Julia Virginia Terry Jenkins on an extended visit in her home in Chickasha, Oklahoma.  But but no source is stated in the actual pages.

    One of the three children recorded in the list of Jennie's brothers and sisters in these notes is a daughter named Carrie Lee Terry, born 13 December 1885.  Carrie does not appear in the family's record in the 1900 or later censuses.  If this is truly a child of Thomas Duncan and Mattie Terry, it would appear that this child died before the 1900 census.  Her burial information was reported a few years later in a Find-a-Grave memorial.  I have found her in no public documents.

    Two other brothers are also reported in these notes.  They were born after Jennie, and likewise do not show up on any of the censuses.  They are Thomas Everett Terry, born on 27 August 1882, and William Earnest Terry, born 3 November 1887.  I have not found them in any historical documents.  Perhaps they died before the 1900 census, or Thomas Everett could have married early, or been living with other relatives.  William Earnest would have been less than 3 years old in 1900, so he is harder to account for.  The graves of both are found in Eton Cemetery in the home area of the family before their parents moved with the family to Indian Territory.

    However, this question is complicated by the 1910 census report on the Terry family.  This census reports that Mattie has borne 7 children, and all 7 are alive.  These are the seven accounted for in the censuses.  Jennie was the oldest, and is the only one away and married in her own household in the 1910 census.

    So who are these other three children that appears in the list of the children of Thomas Duncan and Mattie in these notes on the family?  Other details fit what is already known about the family, but fill in many more details and add information on Thomas Duncan and Mattie's parents.  Thus these are valid notes from Jennie or some other Terry-Wall source, written down by Lou Jenkins.  They were found with other family information, notes, records and newspaper articles on the families of Lou Ila Gregory and her husband Orville Lee Jenkins.

    The 1900 census records that Duncan and Mattie had been married 20 years.  This means it was later than June 4 1879, and before June 1880, in order to say they had already been married 20 years at the June 1900 census.  Based on the birth of the first child Jennie (Julia Virginia), I had determined they were married no later than 8 April 1880.

    In May 2007, I learned an exact marriage date from the notes discovered by my mother.  Thomas and Mattie were married 1 January 1880.

    The last few years of his life Thomas Duncan suffered from a dementia that got steadily worse.  The symptoms are described by his wife in numerous letters to her daughter Jennie (Julia Virginia Jenkins), found in the memorabilia of her son Orville Lee Jenkins (father of this writer).  It sounds like what is now called Alzheimer's.

    Thomas' wife Martha describes over and over in these letters what a trial her husband's behavior was to her.  She, of course, could not understand what was happening.  She complains that she tries hard to make him "be good" when they go to visit someone, or when they have company.  He had good days and bad days, but the bad days became steadily more and worse till his death in 1935.  Meanwhile Mattie passed away in 1932.  I have not found out how Thomas was taken care of after Mattie died.

    Thomas' gravestone has only the year of birth and death.  This information was updated along with links to other family members when I submitted this information in February 2015.

    Thomas Duncan Terry
    Birth Jun 7, 1857 Murray County, Georgia, USA
    Death Jul 23, 1935 Marlow, Stephens County, Oklahoma, USA
    Son of William Barney Terry and Julia Ann Roberts Terry
    Spouse Martha Wiley Wall Terry (1859 - 1932)
    Children:
    Julia Virginia Terry Jenkins (1880 - 1966)
    Thomas Everett Terry (1882 - 1888)
    Carrie Lee Terry (1885 - 1888)
    William Ernest Terry (1887 - 1888)
    Arthur Wiley Terry (1889 - 1968)
    Jeffie M Wagnon (1892 - 1967)
    Clarice M Terry Lewis (1895 - 1982)
    Ouida M Terry Hill (1899 - 1986)
    Rama Wall Terry (1904 - 1965)
    Burial Marlow Cemetery, Marlow, Stephens County, Oklahoma
    Created by Jean Jan 22, 2008
    --  Find A Grave Memorial #24104584, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=24104584

Sources

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