John Cary of York County, Virginia

John Cary was baptized on 9 Feb 1729 according to the Abingdon Parish Register and married Mary Reade, daughter of Samuel Reade and Mary Slater. He married second to Susannah ____ after 17 May 1761 and died between 21 May 1763 and 20 Jun 1763.

Evidence Regarding John Cary

     John Cary is mentioned as the husband of Mary Reade, daughter of Samuel Reade and Mary Sclater, in Adventurers of Purse and Person, a publication of the Order of First Families of Virginia. Elizabeth W. Heterick prepared an unpublished genealogy found in the Montgomery County, Maryland Historical Society entitled Clark, Cary, Pleasants, Reade, Vanhorn, Willett Familes, and also stated that John Cary married Mary Reade, daughter of Samuel Reade and Mary Sclater. She further stated in error that he had the following children: Samuel Cary, Dudley Cary, Edward Cary, John Cary and Ann Cary. The papers of William Carter Stubbs, a noted genealogist of families of Gloucester County, Virginia, were left to the Greg Earl Swem Library at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Among his papers on the Cary family is a chart where he indicated that John Cary of York County married first to Mary Reade, daughter of Samuel Reade, and second to Susanna ____. He showed that John Cary had a son, Major Samuel Cary.

     Very little is known about John Cary who was the direct ancestor of a large number of descendants who are the subject of this project. Fairfax Harrison mentioned him in his book The Virginia Carys in a chapter entitled “Other Carys in Virginia.” He stated that John Cary lived in York County, Virginia where he left a will dated 21 May 1763 and that he married Mary Reade, daughter of Samuel Reade, and later married Susanna, and that he had a son, Major Samuel Cary of Gloucester County, Virginia.

     An advertisement was placed by Anderson Demandville Abraham of Buckingham County, Virginia in The Richmond Whig newspaper on 14 Jun 1852 whereby Abraham advised the public that descendants of Mylles Cary [sic] of Warwick County, Virginia who died in 1667 were eligible to inherit a fortune from the Cary family in England. This rumor had persisted for a number of years and was summarized in the advertisement in which Abraham gave an account of the descendants of Mylles Cary known to him. Among these were listed the family of John Cary of York County. Abraham stated that John Cary, Jr., married Mary Reade and then Susanna ____ and recited his 1763 will in York County and mentioned two sons, Samuel Cary of Gloucester County and Edward Cary who he stated settled at Little Plymouth, near Fredericksburg, Virginia. 

     Also, a widely distributed chart of the Cary Family composed originally by Robert Mackey Heterick and continued by various family lines shows that John Cary, Jr., married first Mary Reade and second Susanna Reade, her sister (an error, there is no evidence that Mary Reade had a sister named Susanna).

     According to the Abingdon Parish Register of Gloucester County, Virginia, a John Cary, the son of Edward and Mary Cary, was baptized on 9 Feb 1728/29.

     John Cary's will dated 21 May 1763 was proved in York County, Virginia on 20 Jun 1763. In his will, he named his two sons, Samuel and Edward Cary, and his then wife Susanna Cary. He named his brother Edward Cary as his executor. An appraisal of the estate of John Cary was filed by Edward Cary, executor, on 19 Mar 1764. On 17 Aug 1767 an account of the estate was filed in York County signed by William Cary.

     The appraisal of John Cary’s estate reveals that he was a gentleman. He possessed a moderate estate including slaves Lettice and child Ausey, Moody, Lemmon, Quash and Kate valued at 280 pounds, silver and gold items, several waistcoats and breeches and furniture including a desk and bookcase and other household goods. There did not appear to be any agricultural implements and livestock although he did own a bridle bit. The appraisal is partially obliterated preventing total view. In all, the appraised value was in excess of 370 pounds. The account of his estate showed that he left over 557 pounds to his widow and two sons. He also had accounts with several merchants of the area. His estate received income from a number of persons with whom he had business dealings including an item “By Cash of Philip Dedman for ½ Years Sallary…15..0..0” (15 pounds, no shillings and no pence). Thus it appears John Cary was a salaried employee in some sort of business.

The Abraham Advertisement and the Heterick Chart

     The advertisement placed by Anderson D. Abraham in The Richmond Whig newspaper on 14 Jun 1852 listed the family of John Cary of York County as descendants of Mylles Cary. Mr. Abraham stated that John Cary, Jr. was the son of John Cary, Sr. and Dorothy Dudley. However, the Kingston Parish Register of Mathews County, Virginia recorded that John Cary and Dorothy Dudley obtained a marriage license on 23 Apr 1755, thus negating the assertion made by Anderson D. Abraham. It is not possible that John Cary who died in 1763 was the son of John Cary and Dorothy Dudley who were married in 1755 since they were contemporaries of each other.

     Therefore, it is also clear that the Heterick chart and its subsequent variations contain errors regarding the ancestry of John Cary. Due to the widespread acceptance of the chart, it is necessary to discuss how the chart came into existence. Although Elizabeth W. Heterick attributed Robert Heterick of Frederick County, Virginia and husband of Mary Reade Cary as the author, it is probable that the true author was their son, Robert Mackey Heterick who lived in Rappahannock County, Virginia. This chart has been distributed among many descendants of Edward Cary of northern Virginia, who was the son of John Cary and Mary Reade and the father of Mary Reade Cary Heterick. The chart has been updated to show continuation among various family branches. The author has copies of the chart as produced by Chloe Priscilla Cary and by Walter Myles Cary. The chart shows that John Cary, Jr. was the son of John Cary, Sr. and Dorothy Dudley, the daughter of George Dudley.

     According to the chart, Captain John Cary, Sr. of York County served under “Light Horse” Harry Lee in the American Revolution and was clerk of court in Mathews County, Virginia in 1795. John Cary, Sr. was shown to be a descendant of Mylles Cary. Elizabeth W. Heterick examined the chart, but believed that John Cary was the same person who was baptized in Abingdon Church in 1729, the son of Edward Cary and Mary ____. However, she attributed children to John Cary and Mary Reade that belonged to John Cary and Dorothy Dudley.

     Robert M. Heterick was an attorney and clerk of court in Rappahannock County, Virginia and was aware of the advertisement published by Anderson D. Abraham. He left a large collection of personal and business documents in a well-preserved state, now in the possession of a great, great-grandson. Among his papers is a reprint of the original Abraham advertisement that was published in The Richmond Whig newspaper. Robert M. Heterick appears to have consulted with Carys of Richmond and the Tidewater Virginia area who were known descendants of Mylles Cary and added his family lines to their chart. Robert M. Heterick knew that the Cary family of Rappahannock County had come from Gloucester County and pursuant to the Abraham advertisement, connected his family to the family of John Cary and Dorothy Dudley. The rumor regarding the Cary fortune in England proved to be a hoax and Fairfax Harrison went to great lengths in his book The Virginia Carys to warn of the errors made in response to the Abraham advertisement.

     Fairfax Harrison’s book is considered a primary source because the research for his book was largely derived from genealogical records of his grandfather, Archibald Cary (1815-1854). Upon his death in 1854, Archibald Cary’s manuscript, Cary Book, was given to his nephew, Wilson Miles Cary (1838-1914). Wilson Miles Cary continued the hobby with passion and died in 1914 in the home of Reginald Fairfax Harrison. He gave his manuscript, W. M. Cary Notes, to Mr. Harrison and asked him to preserve the family record and publish it if possible, which he accomplished in 1919. The argument can be made that Abraham had access to earlier records, such as the Eggleston Notes, compiled by Guilford Dudley Eggleston, a descendant of Mylles Cary. Mr. Eggleston visited Virginia in 1851 and transcribed details, including the will of Mylles Cary the Immigrant, from will books in Warwick County that were later destroyed in 1865 in Richmond. However, Gloucester County court records had been destroyed by fire in 1820, so Mr. Abraham did not have access to early records of that county. Mr. Harrison stated that Mr. Abraham supplemented these records with his own findings and reached incorrect conclusions. Nevertheless, Mr. Abraham’s research did provide much useful primary evidence regarding Cary family history.

     Robert M. Heterick made the following statement in the margin of the chart below other notations concerning the lineage from Mylles Cary: “James Cary devised his estate and what fell to him by the death of his brother Thomas to his nephew Edward Cary. Will dated July 8, 1781” (taken from a version of the chart produced by Chloe Priscilla Cary). This contemporaneous statement by Robert M. Heterick provides the best clue to the correct lineage. The will of James Carey was recorded in Ann Arundel County, Maryland and a copy of that will was in the possession of descendant Sarah Elizabeth Cary Oden of Washington, Virginia in 1916, according to Elizabeth W. Heterick who knew her.

     James Carey of Maryland was from Gloucester County, Virginia and correspondence with him is preserved among the Thruston family papers at the Filson Club in Louisville, Kentucky and were catalogued by Polly Cary Mason. The baptisms of a family of children born to Edward and Mary Cary between 1726 and 1746 were recorded in the Abingdon Parish Register. These children were named: James, John, William, Susanna, Edward, Sarah and Thomas. In the will of James Carey we prove that James and Thomas were brothers of John who was the known father of Edward, the nephew of James, the testator.

Circumstantial Proof of John Cary’s Ancestry

     The will of John Cary filed in York County Court House proves that he had a brother named Edward who served as his executor. In the estate papers of John Cary, the names of William, Sarah and Thomas, other children of Edward and Mary Cary found in the Abingdon Parish Register, also appear. Among the debits to the account was a payment to the estate of Thomas Cary for his guardianship, and an equal payment to the estate of Sarah Cary, probably for her guardianship as well (the document is obliterated here). These payments indicate that they were still minors at the time. Sarah and Thomas Cary, the youngest children of the family of Edward and Mary Cary, were indeed still minors at the time of John Cary’s death. Together, the will of James Carey in Ann Arundel County, Maryland and the estate papers of John Cary in York County, Virginia, name and imply that John Cary was the brother of James, William, Edward, Sarah and Thomas Cary. There was no other known Cary family in the area that had a collection of children with these names. Therefore, it is highly probable that John Cary was the son of Edward Cary and Mary ____ and was baptized on 9 Feb 1728/29.

Bibliography

Cary, Chloe Priscilla, Chart of Cary Family received from Turner, Sarahanne Cary, now deceased, Arlington, Virginia.

Cary, Walter Myles, Chart of Cary Family received from Pittman, April Cary, Courtland, Virginia.

Harrison, Fairfax. The Virginia Carys. New York, New York: De Vinne Press, 1919.

Heterick, Elizabeth Whitehead, "Clark, Cary, Pleasants, Reade, Vanhorn, Willett Families," Montgomery County Historical Society, Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland.

Lash, Annie Jester et. seq. Adventurers of Purse and Person, 1607-1624/25, Third Edition. Richmond, Virginia: Order of First Families of Virginia, 1987.

Maryland Hall of Records, Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Will of James Carey, TG #1, pgs. 37-39, 8 Jul 1781/pr. 8 Dec 1781.

Mason, Polly Cary. Records of Colonial Gloucester County, Virginia-Volume II. Newport News, VA: Mr. George C. Mason, 1946.

Matheny, Emma R. and Yates, Helen K. Kingston Parish Register, Gloucester and Mathews Counties, Virginia, 1749-1827. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1979.

Robins, Robert W., The Register of Abingdon Parish, Gloucester County, Virginia, 1677-1780. Arlington, Virginia: Honford House, 1981.

Stubbs, William Carter, Chart of Cary Family. Greg Earl Swem Library, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.

The Richmond Whig, Richmond, VA, 14 Jun 1852, "A Notice to persons interested in Foreign Inheritances as Heirs and Legal Representatives of the first Heir in the United States of America."

York County Court House, Yorktown, Virginia. Account of John Cary's Estate, Will Book 21, pgs. 359-362, 4 Oct 1763-17 Aug 1767.

York County Court House, Yorktown, Virginia. Will of John Cary, Will Book 21, pgs. 146-147, 21 May 1763/pr. 20 Jun 1763.

York County Court House. Yorktown, Virginia. Appraisal of John Cary's Estate, Will Book 21, pgs. 195-197, 19 Mar 1764.