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Facts and Events
| Name |
Rachel Wells |
| Gender |
Female |
| Birth? |
27 Mar 1720 |
Prince George's, Maryland, United States |
| Christening? |
12 Jul 1721 |
Anne Arundel, Maryland, United StatesAll Hallows Parish |
| Marriage |
Abt 1737 |
Prince George's (now Frederick), Maryland, United Statesto Capt. John Wright |
| Religion? |
1764 |
Orange (now Alamance), North Carolina, United StatesQuaker - Cane Creek MM |
| Death? |
23 Dec 1771 |
Newberry, South Carolina, United States |
| Burial? |
|
Bush River Friends Cemetery, Newberry, South Carolina, United States |
Questionable information identified by WeRelate automation
| To fix: | | Born after mother died |
(WFT #863) Rachel and her husband had sixteen children, she was a member of the Society of Friends at the time of her marriage and eventually became a Quaker minister. Rachel and her husband, along with other members of the Wells family, followed the Quaker migration to the South, leaving the Monocacy Valley in 1750 for Orange County, North Carolina, where Rachel was the focus of controversy in 1764 involving the Regulator Movement. She and her husband then moved to South Carolina where her death in 1771 is noted in the minutes of the Bush River Monthly Meeting.
(WFT #1534) She was a founding member of Cane Creek Monthly Meeting, North Carolina
References
- Wells Research Bulletin
1 (2):12, Mar 1973.
"... in the records in All Hallows Parish Register of Davidsonville, Md, in Anne Arundel County where the baptism of Rachel, daughter of Joseph and Rachel Wells is recorded 12 July 1721."
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[Comment from Alice Johnson 2/1992) Rachel Wells was born 27 Mar 1720; not christened until July 1721; her father, Joseph, remarried to Margaret Swanson 11 April 1721. Look for death records of Rachel Wells' mother, also named Rachel, during this time]
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"Cane Creek MM records"
"... we find that Rachel daughter of Joseph and Margaret (who was his wife at this time) Wells was married to John Wright, son of James and Mary Wright of Chester Co. Pa." It further shows the date of Rachel's birth as March 27, 1720 which fits with the baptismal record of All Hallows Parish. Her place of birth was Prince Georges County which is where Thomas and Frances Wells resided and where Joseph Wells, Rachel's father was born. Rachel Wells and John Wright were married ca. 1737 and their first seven children were born in Prince Georges Co, Md. giving further support to the theory of her father Joseph being the son of Thomas and Frances Wells.
- Reeves, Emma Cornelia Barrett (Mrs. Jonathan Floyd). Three centuries of Ballingers in America. (Nacogdoches, Texas: Reeves, c1977).
- Wright, John C. Wright - Briscoe pioneers. (s.n.], c1974).
"Rachel Wells--daughter of Joseph and Margaret Wells of Chester County, who had also moved to the Monocacy Valley--"
- The Quakers at 'Monoquesey'.
... John Wright and his wife Rachel Wells, the daughter of Joseph and Margaret Wells of 'Boylig springs'
- The Rachel Wright Affair, in Teague, Bobbie T, and North Carolina Friends Historical Society (North Carolina). Cane Creek : mother of meetings. (North Carolina Friends Historical Society, c1995)
57, 58.
A controversy began at Cane Creek that has become known through the years as the "Rachel Wright Affair." In his book, SOUTHERN QUAKERS AND SLAVERY, Stephen B. Weeks explains it thusly: Rachel Wright, a "weighty Friend," committed some disorder. She was duly "complained of" and, to settle the matter according to Friends discipline, she offered a paper condemning her behavior, which was accepted. Then for some reason now unknown, she asked for a certificate to travel to Fredericksburg, Virginia. Some members of the monthly meeting did not want to give her the certificate, which would have functioned partly as a letter of introduction to other Friends and partly as an official endorsement by the meeting. A wrangle resulted and the meeting refused to grant the certificate. The matter was appealed to Western Quarterly Meeting, which advised that the certificate be granted (180).
Herman Husband, though, did not approve of the decision and in typical fashion was very vocal in his disapproval -- so much so that, in January 1764, the meeting disowned him for "speaking against the actions and transactions of this meeting." As for Husband's reaction, there is an old story that when he heard about the disownment, he sat down, took off his shoes, shook the "dirt of Quakerism: off them, put them back on, and walked away.
However, the Wright affair was not over, and Husband's influence continued to be felt in the meeting. Some of his friends signed a paper expressing dissatisfaction with the meeting's decision to disown Husband. At this point the quarterly meeting offered the following advice (although it is unclear whether advice had been requested): "appoint a committee to deal with the malcontents' leaders." This group included Jos. Maddock Isaac Vernon, Thomas Branson, John and William Marshall, Johnathan Cell, and "divers others."
In February 1764, the committee reported that "there might be dangerous consequences to allow them (the malcontents) to be active members until suitable satisfaction is made for their outgoings." Maddock, Cell, and the Marshalls appealed the matter to the yearly meeting, which responded that the Western Quarterly Meeting had done wrong in granting a certificate to Rachel Wright in the first place. Furthermore, the quarterly meeting should restore to active membership those who had signed paper expressing dissatisfaction with the disownment of Herman Husband. The quarterly meeting, accordingly, acknowledged itself wrong in the matter of Rachel Wright and restored the persons under the ban to active membership. Herman Husband disownment, however, was not rescinded. (Griffin "History" 21).
Citing:
Griffin, Wilma. "History of Cane Creek Meeting." Unpublished Manuscript, 1989. Cane Creek Meeting Library.
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