I took May off to travel to my son's wedding, and most of June I have been playing catch-up. At this rate I may never, but there's a story I want to add.
I chose my 6th great grandmother, Hannah Massey Lindley. Hers is a tragic story, and the more so because many of the details are lost in the mist of history, and Hannah's story and even existence has been mostly ignored in most genealogical sites I've checked.
She was born into a Quaker family in Pennsylvania, and married Simon Hadley Lindley, who came from a Quaker family in North Carolina. Her husband's father was James Lindley, who was hanged for treason (because he was a Loyalist) in South Carolina in 1779. Her husband's grandfather was Thomas Lindley, who owned a mill in North Carolina, which would become the site of a Revolutionary War battle in 1781. Thomas, Simon and Hannah died in that battle.
From the research I've been able to pull together, Simon was also a Tory, but other members of Thomas Lindley's family took the Patriot side. It became a true civil war, a brother against brother conflict, and the Quaker pacifism was either abandoned completely, or it didn't protect anyone, even women.
There are two stories about Hannah's death I've heard. The one handed down to the Lindley descendants says both Simon and Hannah were murdered the night before the Battle of Lindley's Mill, because of their Tory sympathies. Grandfather Thomas died later, at the end of the battle, possibly of a heart attack or grief from seeing his family so divided. Another story, even more shocking, says that Simon shot his wife Hannah because he feared she would betray him to the Patriots. Then he was captured and shot in retaliation.
However it happened, their only son, James, was about 2 when they died. I've been able to find a document saying his grandmother (Hannah's mother), Hannah (Edwards) Massey Ray, and her second husband, brought James up. James married Susannah Stout and moved to Indiana. He had a daughter named after his mother (possibly also his grandmother), Hannah Massey Lindley.
How sad that, wherever Hannah's loyalties lay, whether she was a Patriot or a Tory, she was considered a criminal worthy of death. How sad that James grew up without a mother, and that you have to do some pretty deep digging to find even the records of his mother's existence. Ancestry has some, but Find a Grave and FS both list different parents for James. It has taken me over a year to be confident enough to put this tree forward when there is so much conflicting information.
I am proud of the research I've been able to do, even though I'm still quite an amateur. I recently connected Hannah to her parents who were already on WikiTree, and that line goes way back, and I'm excited to make more connections. She had a history of her own and I'm happy to be able to tell as much of it as I am able.
