Mary (Parker) McManus

Born [date unknown] in Pennsylvania

Wife of James McManus — married about 1741 (to 1762) in Maryland

Descendants

Died about 1773 in Chesterfield District, South Carolina

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Dale McManus [send private message]

Biography

The evidence supports Mary's father as a Parker, probably Thomas who associated closely with John Frohock, Jr. of Rowan Co., NC (previously Pennsylvania and MD prior to NC). John's and who names my dearly beloved aunt Mary McManus bequeathing her 400 pounds proc. money. John also mentioned his uncles, Hugh and Robert Parker, known brothers. The PARKERS, first in PA and later in MD associated with the FROHOCK descendants in Frederick Co., MD and later in Rowan Co., NC. [1]

By far the best and "must have" source of the Frohock, Parker and McManus associations is Robert W. Ramsey's Carolina Cradle. which provides abundant primary evidence via footnotes. Additionally, the Heritage books of both Iredell County and Rowan County contain a deeper understanding of the two counties and common land owners, prior to their final adjacent border.

The Frohock-Parker Connection

'John Frohock, Jr was one of four sons (John, Jr. Thomas, William and Hugh) of John Frohock, Sr., who migrated from England to America sometime between 1720-1730.

''The Frohocks appear to have come to the colonies with the Parker family, with whom they settled in the vicinity of Newtown Twp., Bucks Co., PA. Following the deaths of Thomas Parker, Sr. (1742) and John Frohock, Sr. (1748) many of their kinsmen left Pennsylvania for the newly opened lands to the south. The younger John Frohock, Jr., acted as an associate of his uncle Hugh Parker, a wealthy merchant of Prince Georges (Later Frederick) County, Maryland, and a key figure in the trading activities of the newly organized Ohio Company. Parker was an Indian Trader, at the time of his death and an associate of men Thomas Cressap, Lawrence Washington (bro of George) and Arthur Dobbs. Hugh Parker's will is dated April 3, 1751, proved June 19, 1751 and names "My 3 nephews, John, William and Thomas Frohock. . ."

After Hugh Parker's death in 1751, the Frohocks and the sibling Parkers, (Robert and Thomas, Jr.) removed to east-central North Carolina, where they acquired land in Northampton, Edgecombe, Halifax and Granville counties. By 1742 James McManus, upon leaving Maryland, was speculating in land along with John Edwards. Somewhere along the line, likely in MD, James meets Mary. ^[1]

Note the three 1745-6 instruments witnessed by Thomas Parker, seemingly, Jr., and John Edwards, a good friend of James McManus.

This would make perfect sense if Mary was a daughter of Elizabeth Parker wife of Frohock, Sr. and mother of the four Frohock boys. Additionally, the one confirmed son of James and Mary was named Thomas McManus and other sons (or grandsons) were Hugh and Robert, all of Chesterfield and Lancaster Districts, SC and identified via deed references ~ all three of their sons names are the same as Mary's brothers.

The Rollings/Rollins Error

Although the thought in the 1970-80 period suggested a maiden name of Rollings, the following records clearly discount it. A NC McManus descendant, Robin Hough, in the mid to late 20th century created a family for Lt. Hugh McManus which named 7 daughters and 2 sons and giving Rollings as Mary's maiden name, all without sources. The two sons, however, have been confirmed. There is a James and Mary (Rollings) McManus burial plot [[2]] at White Plains Bapt. Church, Jefferson, Chesterfield Co., SC that may have caused this misconception. Those people lived in the late 19th and early 20th century and cannot be our subject and her husband.

Another incorrect source from Ancestry.com references a marriage of Mary Rollings and James McManus in 1715 London, England ^[2] This is "a" Mary McManus (maiden name) Christening record not a marriage. [[3]] The link to James is an index without dates and suggests a child lived in New Jersey. [[4]]

Property

Mary was the Administratrix of her husband's 1762 Anson Co., NC will, which was contested. She later obtained a land grant in North Carolina in 1774 along with Thomas, James and Charles McManus.

Besides inheriting what land her husband died seized of, Mary obtained a NC Land Grant in her own name. ^[3]

in Craven County on Lynches Creek bounding N and W on land of Isaac Whitner (Widenor) and Jacob Firree (Free) and all other sides on vacant land. ~ her heirs and assigns forever ~ for 3 sh sterling or 4 shillings proclamation money yearly for every 100 acres to begin at the “expiration of two years” on the condition that Mary or her heirs shall cultivate 3 acres of every 100, AND also enter a minute or docket of these our letters patent in the office of our Auditor General ~ within six months from the date hereof, and (if none of these) is done, the grant will cease.

Acknowledgements

Dale McManus was the instrumental researcher of most of the North Carolina McManus documents that exist. Further he researched the French and Indian War records of Thomas McManus and of Capt. James McManus during the Cherokee Expedition. Additionally, he hired Henry Peden, Historian of Cecil Co., MD to study those original records of John McManus, a relative if not definitively the father.

Sources

1. ↑ Carolina Cradle, p113, footnotes 33-42, et al
2. ↑ London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812
3. ↑ 25 May 1771 Mary McManus LG Craven Co., NC (Lynches Creek) 300a-v23-p486

• pg. 113 et al; Ramsey, Robert W., Carolina Cradle, Settlement of the Northwest Carolina Frontier, 1747-1762, (c) 1964 by University of North Carolina Press 2nd printing, LC 64-22530; ISBN 0-8078-0934-9.
• NC Anson County Wills, James McManus, Adm., Mary McManus
• Researched by Dale McManus and Barbara Roesch for Descendants of Capt. James McManus, Carolina Settler, 1997 to present.
• The Frohock Circuit - from the History/Heritage of Iredell County, North Carolina, pg 339 written by Patricia Blake Hartley,