... Wharton Ransdell, Edward's eldest son, married (circa 1715) Ursula (Presley) Neale (previously cited), widow of Daniel Neale, III (whose Will is reportedly filed in Westmoreland County, dated 1713). ...
... Unless she was much older than Wharton, he also was born near that same (1685) date (#29). It is known that Wharton Ransdell was born prior to 1696. He appears in the records, as a member of the Westmoreland Grand Jury, in 1717 (#30). It is also known that he did not qualify for Grand Jury duty until after marrying Ursula (Presley) Neale. (At least there are no land records to indicate that he did.) He was probably older than twenty-one in 1717. Even if Wharton Ransdell was born in 1696, that would still make him six to eight years older than his father's next known child. It is highly improbable that nearly a decade passed between children by the same mother. It is my opinion that Mary Ransdell was the second wife of Edward Ransdell, and she was not Wharton's mother. The identity of Wharton Ransdell's mother has not been learned. His given name implies that his mother was a member of the Wharton family, which is known to have been in both Maryland and Virginia prior to the time of his birth. Considerably more research is needed in the records of both States on the early Wharton family.The supposition that Wharton's mother was Mary Gorham, repeated as fact by some writers, is not tenable. ...
