General Notes

[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 2, Ed. 1, Tree #4407, Date of Import: Feb 6, 2005]
A LETTER RECENTLY RECEIVED FROM EDMOND B. CHERRY, JR. OF COLUMBIA, TENN.,
DATED 1 JULY 1993, STATES THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT WILLI
AM
CHERRY, SR.'S FAMILY: "DAVID CHERRY, A FIRST COUSIN OF OUR ANCESTOR, THOM
AS
CHERRY, CAME WITH HIS WIFE, MARGARET, AND SETTLED IN PEE DEE RIVER COUNT
Y,
NEAR CHARLESTON, S.C., IN 1750. THEY HAD THREE SONS: GEORGE, WILLIAM AND J
AMES
ALL SERVED IN THE REVOLUTION, THE FIRST TWO UNDER CAPT. LIDE, IN A REGIME
NT
ORGANIZED OCT. 9, 1775, THE FIRST TO FORM IN THE CAROLINAS, IS IS CLAIME
D.
WILLIAM HAD THREE SONS: GEORGE WASHINGTON, WILLIAM, JR., AND JAMES HENR
GEORGE W. WAS BORN 1790, DIED 1883, IN TENN. HE MARRIED FIRST HIS FIRST CO
USIN
MARY CHERRY, AN HEIRESS, AND THE DAUGHTER OF HIS FATHER'S BROTHER, WHO W
AS
VERY WEALTHY. THE PARENTS OF THE COUPLE, ALL STRICT PRESBYTERIANS, WERE
HORRIFIED AT SUCH A MARRIAGE AND PROMPTLY DISOWNED AND DISINHERITED THEM B
OTH.
MARY DIED SOON AFTER GIVING BIRTH TO A SON, JOHN, WHO WAS AN ALBINO! AS
ALBINOS WERE THEN GENERALLY BELIEVED TO BE ONE RESULT OF MARRIAGES BETWE
EN
FIRST COUSINS, THE GRANDPARENTS FELT IT WAS A JUST PUNISHMENT SENT BY HEAV
EN
ON THE GUILTY PAIR AND THAT THEIR OWN HARSH JUDGEMENT HAD BEEN CONFIRME
D. BUT
THE ALBINO SON HAD A FINE MIND, WAS WELL EDUCATED AND BECAME A PROMINENT
SCHOOL MAN. ON CORRESPONDENT SAYS HER MOTHER WENT TO SCHOOL TO HIM AND TO
LD OF
HIS BRILLIANT PINK EYES. THE FATHER MARRIED A SECOND TIME, ALICE BLAIR A
ND
THEY HAD THREE SONS: DAVID, JAMES AND GEORGE W., JR. THE SECOND WIFE DI
ED AND
GEORGE MARRIED JANE SLOAN, FROM ANTRIM COUNTY, IRELAND. GEORGE CHERRY, SOL
DIER
IN THE REVOLUTION AND SON OF THE ORIGINAL IMMIGRANT DAVID, MARRIED JANE
CHESTNUT, ALSO FROM ANTRIM COUNTY, IRELAND. HE HAD A SON, DAVID, NAMED AFT
ER
HIS GRANDFATHER, WHO WAS ONE OF THE CHERRYS WHO LEFT THE SOUTH BECAU
SE HE DID
NOT BELIEVE IN SLAVERY; THIS DAVID SETTLED AT BLOOMINGTON, ILL. WHILE T
CHERRY IMMIGRANTS WERE MORE NUMEROUS IN NEW JERSEY, VIRGINIA, AND THE
CAROLINAS THEY WERE TO BE FOUND IN EVERY COLONY. NEW YORK HAD SEVERAL, A
ND THE
NAME IS FREQUENT ON THE ROSTER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS. THEIR
DESCENDANTS NATURALLY DRIFTED WESTWARD; THOSE WHO CAME LATER, ESPECIALLY A
FTER
THE CIVIL WAR, LOCATED MOSTLY IN THE NORTH. IOWA SEEMED TO HAVE BEEN A
FAVORITE STATE."