It was the mention of Matilda Terry Ennis in an old letter dated 1877 that sparked my interest. She was the mother of a Methodist minister, John Wesley Ennis, and was said to "be one of our liveliest preachers" and a "Northern Methodist". I was hooked to uncover all the possible links and to clarify some family legends.
One of the fundamental elements in any family's evolution is
the influence of religion in crafting their traditions, values, and daily life.
Like vines, the religious and secular histories are often intertwined. Any
attempt to understand the one divorced from the other is often a sure guarantee
valuable insights will be lost. Understanding a family's religious history is
to understand many of their motivations and subsequent actions with far greater
clarity.
Evidence from several private records reveal Terry lines
that indicate religion was taken seriously. Some joined the Disciples of
Christ, Baptist, and other groups, yet there are intriguing clues that seem to
suggest some of these early Terry's had a connection to early American
Methodism. Not surprising for a group that at one time could claim a church in
every county, yet the details are fascinating and illuminate migration and
family stories.
William Terry, resident of Boteourt Co. married Rachel
Manson on 3 Feb. 1759 in Christ Church in Philadelphia. It was part of the
Church of England and, after the Revolution, the group from which the Anglican
Church emerged. .
•The spread of Methodism in America parallels the trek of
the early pioneers such as Daniel Boone (who cleared the trail into then
largely unknown Kentucky in the late 1700's). The early Methodist preachers
were not far behind such pioneers. Even before the formal organization of the
"American Methodist Church" or the "Methodist Episcopal
Church" (1784), there existed an early circuit (a regular route traveled
by one minister in order to preach, baptize, and marry) known as the "Holstein
Circuit" (Norwood). It covered the area of NE Tennessee, and SW Virginia
through which John Terry, son of William, and his wife Esther Brown Terry
migrated circa 1790. Other circuits would form, interestingly enough, in
Botetourt Co.,Va, in Kentucky, and southern Indiana. All locations into which
John Terry and kin were known to have moved.
•The "father" of American Methodism, Frances
Asbury (1745-1816) traveled some of those same areas of Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee on his own circuit journeys of the late
1700's and early 1800's. His journal records that in 1786 he stopped at
"Terry's" on the border of Fairfield and Chester Co. Cited, re notes,
as "Tar Yard" on some old maps. In 1807 he stopped at
"Terry's" in the upper part of Greenville Co., near Marietta. The
notes indicate this should not be confused with the Terry at Fork Shoals 20
miles below Greenville in NC. An 1833 letter reporting on ministerial
activities noted "...my first efforts were in Botetourt, Holston, and New
River Circuits 40 years ago [1793]...I kept up with [information?] Viz.
Nathaniel Tery 4 miles distant in the bent of James River. (Clark, Journal and
Letters of Francis Asbury, vol 1.;pg. 446,507,374-75,574)..
•Many of the early Terry letters reveal people of great faith,
living as best they could by their moral convictions and standards. They bear
witness of the faith to their relatives, relations, and from their deathbeds.
An interest in the church and religious matters was evidenced early as revealed
by an 1848 letter of William Terry (1785-1869, son of John), to his son John
Terry in Red River Co., Texas:"...our
preacher is not onto circuits again and that brother Standford is presiding
elder in place of brother Harrol and that brother Harrol is stationed at Little
Rock." According to the North Arkansas Conference, United Methodist
Church, Commission on Archives and History, the 13th session of the conference
was held in 1848. The event recorded that a John Hormel served the Little Rock
Station. A Russell M. Morgan served the Huntsville Church in the Fayetteville
district in 1848, and Thomas Stanford was Presiding Elder of the Fayetteville
District. A book "A History of Methodism in Oklahoma"(The Story of Methodism in Oklahoma by J. Y. Bryce and S. H. Babcock, 1929). indicates that in the early years east Oklahoma was considered "Arkansas Territory" and there is a listed there in the early days a "John Harrell". (see the article in the Chronicles of Oklahoma here.)
•Another interesting thing to note relates to names.
William's son Martin is thought by some to have also bear the name Francis;
this could relate to the "Swamp Fox" of Revolutionary fame or to the
early Methodist leader. There is evidence of naming for both in several lines.
A strong point of support may be he named one of his sons Lorenz (or Lorenzo)
Dow Terry (1845-1894). Lorenz Dow was a fiery, evangelical preacher and
one-time Methodist who crisscrossed the early circuit locales of Tennessee and
Kentucky in the early years of the nineteenth century. It is not beyond the
realm of possibility that at some point the paths of Terry's and Dow actually
intersected..
•Certain letters of Martin Terry from the 1850s-1870s reveal
a man of strong moral convictions. He comments about the need for prohibition
in the Ozarks to curtail the victimization produced in order to create a market
for liquor. The problem was the quality of the product sold was often literally
deadly and many families were ruined by the death or addictions which resulted.
He also had strong political views but that is for another study..
•Martin and his brother John married sisters; Mary Ann and
Lucinda Reed were children of Joseph Reed, and a transcript of an oral history
project interview with a descendent of this same Reed states he was a Methodist
minister. Reed went to Red River, Texas in 1839 and with him was John Terry,
whose biography includes mention of a long membership in the Methodist
Episcopal South Church. [see "Fine Points of History" interview with
Juanita Stiles Cornwell of Clarksville (1980) in East Texas University Archives
pg.10,104.;Biographical Souvenir of the State of Texas (1880),pg.817,794-5]..
• Rev.Joseph Reed is an interesting study in himself. He is
probably a nephew or cousin of a Rev. Joseph Reed/Reid who accompanied the
noted Rev. Stephenson into the area of Red River County, Texas between
1817-1820, a time when our Joseph Reed was also in the area. (Steely, Six
months from Tennessee, 1982). His daughter Sarah would marry into the Stiles family at Fort Towson. This other early Reed also came out of Kentucky
and Tennessee and resided in Hempstead, Arkansas for a time. He was a slave
owning minister, thus a vocal supporter of the southern cause, and thus part of the split
creating the Methodist Episcopal and Methodist Episcopal South prior to the
Civil War. Our Reed died in TX in 1839 but from the letters and notations in a
family Bible, and a list of settlers, he was in Oklahoma and Indian Territory (Ft. Towson) prior to
1830.
•Letters of the 1860's and 1870's mention Methodism in
relation to meetings or revivals in areas of their southwest Missouri
relatives. Also mentioned are Cumberland Presbyterians (Reed may have been
associated with them as well for a time) and Baptists.
•In one letter dated 9 Nov. 1877, William's daughter,
Matilda Terry Ennis, is said to "be one of our liveliest preachers"
and a "Northern Methodist". It is possible she was a
"deaconess" or merely a very active church woman, but it is
interesting to note that in the Holiness Movement of the same period noted
Phoebe Palmer, for example, was part of many revival efforts in the New York
period from as early as 1857. This reveals a trend toward greater female
participation - and some acceptance of the same - among some groups of Methodists..
The ten year silence between the two Terry brothers during
and after the Civil War has been attributed to the devastation and rebuilding
of the conflict. The conflict took a heavy toll on the families as both sides
contributed family to the cause or lost family as part of the illnesses that
followed the troops. It may be, however, that once again religion plays an
important role in interpreting the silence as the result of conflicting
theological and ideological views. Martin's line in Missouri had clear
connections to the North via "Northern Methodist" church membership
and John in Texas was connected to the "Methodist Episcopal South".
This allegiance reveals that probably the brothers took two different sides in
the conflict (and military records seem to support this). The wording of the
letter that broke the silence (written by the wives) suggest something beyond
disrupted mails was at fault. The letter dated 27 September 1867 reads in part:
"I am no politician and take no part in political controversy and I
exceedingly regret the unhappy circumstances that has made such a deep and
lasting wounds in the minds of those that once was friends and are bound by the
nearest and dearest ties of kindred relation." The fact the letter was written
by Martin's wife to her sister, and the fact she notes the severing of family
ties, seems to pointedly highlight the silence was brought on by more than
merely the hardship and grief of war. It may have been caused by differences of
deep ideological and theological significance to the brothers.
•John King Terry, Martin's son was married in 1861 in
Cassville, Mo by "Methodist minister, Keith Hankins" (County
record/Civil war pension record).
•There is a persistent story that Martin was a minister as
well. No definitive records exist but if he were a Methodist he may have been a
lay pastor and records for those individuals were not usually kept at the time.
However, the area of the Ozarks where Martin lived was well known as a place
difficult to keep ministers and a tradition of lay ministers evolved in many
locations, including Barry Co. This may be what is referred to by the oral
tradition. [Clark. Ozark Baptizings, hangings, and other diversions, 1984, pg.
78, 98, 147]..
Further research may minimize or correct any Terry
connections to early Methodism, but at this point the cumulative evidence
presents a strong case for the serious consideration of this relationship, no
matter how short-lived. It certainly serves to clarify the dominate role that
religion played in the areas through which all the Terry lines traveled on
their way west to Missouri.
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