Rutha Pierce possible wife of William Day Sr, Revolutionary War Patriot

Question

William Day Sr. and Rutha Pierce lived in the pre-Revolutionary War Carolinas . I am confident that William Day Sr. was one of my direct ancestors, as one of my second cousins produced and signed a report on William Day's military service in the Revolutionary War. Rutha and William had many children including Martha Day who married Martin Lee. I have read that Rutha changed her name to Frances Lang but William I Day calls his wife Rutha in his will. I have read a transcription of the will.

The problem is that I cannot locate any source material on Rutha or her mother who some people believe was a woman named Ruth Norcunas Narcum. One of the Grumbles children has said that Rutha's last name was Pierce. Everybody cites family tree information on these women.

I think this is a brick wall. Does anyone have reliable source material on these two women?

Comments

Since William Day was a Revolutionary War patriot, have you checked with the DAR or SAR?

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Is this possibly a profile of the William Day you're researching?

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Day-2349

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And this looks like the profile for Rutha:

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Pierce-4161

You may want to contact the profile manager and see what other info they have.

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The Day Family of America erected his gravestone. One of my second cousins researched and wrote a report on William Day Sr. that can be found on Ancestry.com. I know who William Day Sr. is. He is one of my direct ancestors. What nobody can answer to my satisfaction is who Rutha Pierce is - that is, who is she descended from. I don't accept Ruth Narconas Norcum as her mother and John Pierce as her father, although those names are fine for a family tree in progress.Nobody can document Rutha Pierce's family background. Now, I am starting to understand why people in the Deep South ask you about your ancestors. I can account for ancestors going back to the founding of America but nobody knows who Rutha Pierce really was. I think her name and her pedigree will help me answers some big questions about the maternal line of the family.

Answer 1

http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/p/o/w/Sandra-Powell-Fort-Worth/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-0094.html shows this:

Rutha Pierce was born Abt. 1760 in SC, and died Aft. 1810 in AL.She married William I Day Sr on Bef. 1784, son of John R Day and Lucinda Griffin.
More About Rutha Pierce and William I Day Sr:
Marriage: Bef. 1784
Children of Rutha Pierce and William I Day Sr are:

1. +Harvey Silas Day, b. Abt. 1790, Edgefield District, SC, d. Aft. 1860, Mt Willings, Lowndes Cty, AL.
2. Benjamin Day Sr, b. 1803, d. 1885, Clark Cty, MS.
3. Matha Day, b. August 20, 1804, Edgefield Dist, SC, d. August 12, 1875, Larson Cty, AL.
4. Marshal Day, b. 1806, 96 District, Edgefield, SC, d. March 16, 1877, Old Marshall Day homeplace, Union Parish, Louisiana.
5. Joshua Day, b. 1808, Edgefield Dist, SC, d. Aft. 1850, Dallas Cty, AL.
6. Nancy Day, b. March 18, 1811, Edgefield Dist, SC, d. November 11, 1838, Dallas Cty, AL.
7. Sarah Day, b. Bet. 1801 - 1802, d. Bet. 1846 - 1850, Union Parrish, LA.
8. Zacheus Day, b. 1784, Edgefield Dist, SC, d. Aft. 1860, Butler Cty, AL.
9. Nathaniel Day, b. Bet. 1788 - 1789, Edgefield Dist, SC, d. 1821, Dallas Cty, AL.
10. William Day Jr, b. Abt. 1798, d. Abt. 1822, Dallas Cty, AL.

Comments

Yes, thank you. Next time I will provide more information,
names, and dates. Those are the children of William Day Sr. I am one of his direct descendant through Martha Day who was mother to Charlotte Pace Lee who had three husbands, the last being James Crook Hobby. Many people get confused as Charlotte's sister Asenath Lee was first married to James C Hobby first but she died. Charlotte Pace was married to another Hobby, I think James' brother, and then to a man named Hall, and finally to James C Hobby. The Day Family of America has done extensive research on the Day family but nobody seems to know who Rutha Pierce was. There are hundreds of women named Rutha Pierce in pre-Revolutionary War America but I think most are from the Pierce line as opposed to having married a Pierce.

Since my grandmother Elva Selene Day Shipman (1904-1999) was one of the daughters of Ada Lee Hobby and James Crook Hobby, she probably had living relatives that knew about Rutha Pierce, she probably knew who she was. Unfortunately, I was not interested in genealogy!

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Thank you Moira for your follow-up comments. I hope you are able to find more on Rutha, maybe that link I shared gave enough information for you to keep googling and go from there.

We hope you enjoy your experience here on WikiTree and please don't hesitate to ask more questions on the g2g forum. We will try to do our best to assist you, and in turn maybe you will be able to assist others in the future.

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Hi, Dorothy, I appreciate your kindness. I should have included the information I knew in my original post. I already knew this information. What I don't know is who Rutha Pierce really is. So, you are very generous to have done the research that might help somebody else although I did already know the name of Rutha and William Day Sr.'s children from reading William Day's Will that somebody has placed on Ancestry.com

I dislike having to create this side of the family all over again on WikiTree. I have done a great deal of source work on Ancestry.com, and there is also a huge family tree on Family Search. However, for the information to be useful, I do see clearly that people need to have the whole picture at hand.

Answer 2

Can you help us more by putting where these two people are from (what country, or state etc) and the birth dates of each one and any other pertinent information a information you may have please.

That would help in searching marriage, death or other records that are available to get more information to share with you. Thanks!

Comments

Hummm from googling their names together like this "Rutha Pierce and William Day" I came up with this link:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~manning/fam00177.htm

Husband: William DAY, SR.

 Born: AUG 1754         at: a Fort in the Edgefield District of South Carolina  
Married: BEF. 1784        at: Unknown  
   Died: MAY 1836         at: Dallas County, Alabama  
 Father:John DAY
 Mother:

 Wife: Rutha PIERCE (But no information on her). 

Is this the couple you speak of??

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Yes, please forgive me for providing inadequate information on William Day Sr and Rutha Pierce Day. This is the couple I am speaking of. I will pull their bios and put in some more information as soon as possible. The Day Family of America erected a gravestone for William Day Senior. You will see some genealogists refer to his wife as Frances or Frances Lang.

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I found this: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=50845752

Beautiful Stone for William, I must say!!

Only problem is, the Find A Grave Memorial did not list William's wife Rutha or any wife,  just the children.

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Thanks for updating your question, looks great! Very helpful indeed.

This seems like a reliable soure below for Rutha.

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Yes, I think the stone for William Day Senior is beautiful. It makes history come alive when you really understand what these people went through to fight for their freedom. There is a concise history of William Day written by my second cousin Jack Caraway that someone posted on Ancestry.com.