My Terry Family Tales

07/02/2025

Wishing my oldest daughter Lori Ann Alecci and my youngest daughter Mia Fahmie a very HAPPY Birthday.

06/28/2024

It appears that some kind person has hacked/cloned my page.
Do Not Accept any Friend Requests From Me.
Thank you

09/17/2022

As I was digging and delving the other day I came upon this photo of Charles Terry (J or T) from the studio of A.N.Camp of Jamestown, NY. I know nothing more about this gentleman, it might be of interest to some one searching. Would love to know more!

05/13/2022

ROSE TERRY COOKE. Her father was Henry Wadsworth Terry, and her mother's maiden name was Anne Wright Hurlbut, and she was a daughter of John Hurlbut, of Wethersfield, Conn., who was the first New England ship¬master who sailed around the earth. When Rose Terry was six years old, her parents moved into Hartford. Her father educated her in out-door lore, and she was familiar with birds, bees, flowers and sunshine. She was carefully trained at home, and in school she was brilliant and noted for the ease with which she learned and for her skill in versification when only a child. She was graduated in 1843, and, although only sixteen years old, became a teacher in Hartford. She afterward taught in New Jersey. Family needs called her home, and she then began to study with the intention of be¬coming an author. She published poems in the New York "Tribune," and at once won a reputation. She published her first story in “Graham’s Magazine,'' in 1845. Her reception was encouraging. Other productions followed, and in a short time she published a volume of verse. She contributed to “Putnam’s Magazine," “Harper’s Magazine” and the productions were in general demand. In 1872 she became the wife of- Rollin H. Cooke, a Connecticut manufacturer, and they lived in Winsted for some years. Her most important works are “Poems by Rose Terry” (Boston, 1860), “Happy Dodd” (Boston, 1879), "Somebody's Neighbors” (Boston, 1881), " Root-Bound" (Boston, 1885), and "The Sphinx's Children " ( Boston, 1886). Her short stories, humorous and descriptive of New England life would fill several volumes.
She died in Pittsfield, Mass., 18th July, 1892.
A Woman of the Century, Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life

05/07/2022

SAMUEL TERRY: Originally Published in TERRY TALES Volume 1 Issue 4. July 1995

Samuel Terry
Taken from a book "American Marriage Records before 1699", Samuel Terry married Anna Lobdell 1/3/1660 at Boston, MA.
And we also find the following bio on Samuel in several places.
Samuel Terry is probably the best documented early Terry, since his great-great grandson Stephen Terry, an attorney, published a book in 1887 dealing primarily with Samuel's family. Stephen's book: "Notes on the Terry Family in the United States of America". Stephen Terry lived in Hartford, CT. when he died. That book was very complete, to have been published some 230 years after Samuel came to this country.
It is believed that Samuel may have been related to Thomas, Richard and Robert Terry who we know immigrated to Boston and lived in New York, however, we do know that he came in 1650 from England in the company of William Pynchon. Much has been written on this. Samuel came from Barnet, Nr. London, England. He was born about 1633 and some family historians are of the opinion that he was a son of William, an elder brother of the immigrants John and Stephen . This has not been proven as yet. Samuel made his home in Springfield, MA. and was married 1st to Ann Lobdell in the year 1660.
His children were Samuel, Ephraim (died young), Thomas, Mary, Rebecca (died young), another Ephraim, another Rebecca, Elizabeth, and Ann He then married his second wife Sarah Bliss Scott in 1690 and removed with her to Enfield, CT. He was a Massachusetts Surveyor of Highways and was a well-known citizen of Massachusetts in many ways. One entire branch of his descendants were Shakers.
Note: Editor has in her possession the complete genealogy of Samuel Terry and if anyone needs more information on this please contact me.

04/30/2022

Stephen Terry, Windsor CT: This was published by Arlene Terry Bower in "Terry Tales" October 1994.

As so many of you are descendants of Stephen Terry of Windsor, CT. I asked my mother in law, Joan Bower of Cheshire, England, a lecturing genealogist to contact the church at Stockton in Wiltshire, England for more information on Stephen Terry's father, the Rev. John Terry. We received the following:
The Rev. John Terrie, most worthy Rector of this church of most blessed memory: of his Life it has been possible to distinguish these Stages with Certainty. Born, in the year of Christ 1555, of an outstandingly Good (Ingenua) Family, on the Demesne (Praedio) of the Rural Hamlet of Sutton, near Ody-ham, in the county of Southampton, the first-born among six Brothers, he led a very steady Boyhood and delicate Youth, a Pupil of Wi******er School. From thence in due Time he advanced to Oxford; admitted a member of Wykeham College, he gave Outstanding Proofs of a Diligent Application to his Studies, and took the two degrees in Arts, then gained both the orders of Divinity, by the hands of the Reverend the then Bishop of Salisbury, John Pierce. Not so very much after, Thomas Cooper, the Reverend the then Bishop of Wi******er, calling Him from the Academy, he left his College and went to the Bishop's Palace in the Position of Chaplain. It was not then long before (on the decease of Simnell, a Priest) he obtained, by the entirely free Gift of his Lord, this Rectory of Stockton, in the Year of Christ 1590. Then first he came to think of taking a Wife, and entered upon a Marriage which did Honour to Christ: he took a Maiden dutifully and excellently raised, Mary White, of an equal Family, of Stanton Saint John's, near Oxford by which one and only Consort he got six sons, Stephen, John , Samuel, Josiah, Nathaniel, and another Stephen, Whom all, with the Mother, he left behind him surviving, save the first, who died at Oxford. He was a Man most Upright most Excellent, most learned, most lettered, most Wise, most Dignified, most Good and Most Holy. He was a Father most Loving a Husband most Chaste, a Master most generous, a Rector most mild, a Pastor most watchful, a Preacher most painstaking, a Neighbour most kind-hearted, and as to the Measure of his wealth distributed to the poor, one most generously devoted to the Needy; a Friend most Sure. a Fellow-citizen to a good man most gentle; and so Equipped with All (in a word) Divine and Humane Virtues, When, Long Labouring, with Weaknesses of the Body, at such a wonderful Course of Life, after seeking honestly, diligently, earnestly, and with Enjoyment the declared word of God, after Labouring with studied and mature Judgement, most deeply, most dutifully , and most fully, after the considered Truth of the four Books, and after the same in the Epistle to the Romans (which for long time in Sunday lessons he made known to his flock), the Analysis begun, at last, alas he met with a deadly Sickness, growing weak by a Wasting Disease, which he bore, for longer than was looked for, with unceasingly Christian Endurance, Feeling himself from Day to day Failing, in good Time he set in order his household and wrote a Will; in which he committed his Soul to God, his Body to the Church-yard, his worldly goods to his nearest kin.
These things thus completed, repeatedly, with faithful cries many times uttered, in a voice which, old as he was, was feeble, praying prophetically for the Quietude of the Church, the happiness of the King, everlasting duration to the Gospel, the peace of the Homeland, the loyalty of the people to the Great and the Nobles, for Charity to parishioners, neighbors, and Fellow Countrymen, and finally, for a Blessing upon all, little by little he failed utterly; and religiously, peacefully, in his Christ he died. Having deceased on Tuesday, 10th, May at ....(MS blank) o'clock in the evening, he was Buried, in accordance with an Instruction he had given, in the Church-yard, near the House lately his, and next to the work-people of the parish, by the hands of his most sorrowing Pupil in Theology, Thomas Crockford, presently Vicar of the Church of Fisherton; and before this there was given a sound and holy Address, by a Devine instructed among the foremost, John Antram, the Reverend and the Pastor of Little Langford, on Friday, 13th the thirty-fifth cf his Incumbency as Rector, and the first of King Charles.
The date at the top of this page was 1625 and a Note at the bottom of the page said Wykeham College, Oxford, is, of course, New College. The original of this entry is copied at the end of funerals.

04/30/2022

My plan is to go back over my old publications from the early 1990's and to print some of the old research that I used to begin publishing. Many of the early research was published in my original printed newsletter, "Terry Tales".

08/11/2021

07/31/2021

Hello Everyone,
I hope this does not shock you that I am once again posting on my page in My Terry Family Tales. I have had some nice comments recently and made a few new contacts that I wish to share. Particularly the one from Mr. Kevin Terry of Cork, Ireland, who has written several books on the Terry families in Ireland. As you know most of my research has been the families from Southold, Suffolk County, Long Island, NY. My Dad's line descending from Thomas Terry and Marie Bigge. I worked over 50 years on the Terry Family in America beginning with Richard, Robert and Thomas Terry, three brothers who came to America in early 1600's on a ship called "James". Robert was most interesting as there were very few reports on him and nobody seemed to know of any marriage or children for him. I say he was most interesting because both of his brothers ended up settling on Long Island and produced many children there. Records of Robert living for a time in the area of Hempstead, Nassau County, Long Island were few but still we noted that he signed several docu D. Bower is an ordained Priest in the International Communion of Charismatic Episcopal Church, and during one of his years in seminary I made a trip with him and while he went to class I drove to Lynn, MA to go to the local library there. You see, when Richard, Robert and Thomas Terry arrived from England they went first to Lynn, MA. I dug through many early books and documents during my short visit to Lynn Library and lo and behold I found a tiny book that had listed the marriage of Robert Terry to Sarah Farrington (spelled Pharrington) in early papers. She was the daughter of Edmund Pharrington who came from England to America, settled first at Lynn, MA and later went with his son in-law, Robert Terry and settled at Hempstead, Long Island. BINGO, I was delighted to copy this page from this book and bring the information back to the family research group on Long Island. We now understood why there was so much published on Robert Terry in the early days of Hempstead but still no records of children born to him and Sarah. That came much later.
As for Richard Terry who married Abigail Lynes and Thomas who married Marie Bigge and the generations that followed, there was much more available but much digging to be done. I have worked for over 50 years and together with my sister Mary Ellen Scala researching all Terry families here in the Northern United States. I say Northern U. S. because there is yet another branch who came to Jamestown, VA in 1607 and spread throughout the Souththern states. These too have been researched and are available by contacting Mike Terry , History of the Southern Terry’s, can be found online. I believe he still lives in Texas.
I would like to mention Samuel Terry who came early to Springfield, MA as an indentured servant to William Pyncheon. He married first Ann Lobdell and later married second, Sarah Bliss. This line is now quite well documented also but not by me. I did my best to find out where Samuel came from in England but never discovered his parentage. I did however discover that there was a book written about one Samuel Terry born 1776-1838 who was a prisoner sent from England to Australia. The book is available in the Library of Congress (card Cat #73-94023) and is titled “Samuel Terry, The Botany Bay Rothschild” by Gwyneth M Dow, Sydney University Press.
Next we go to Stephen Terry of Hartford and So Hadley, CT. This line can be traced back to Rev.John Terry b. 1555 and Mary White b. 1570. (NOTE: on page 10 in my book “My Notes on the Earliest Terry’s in England 1114-1900”, I reference Mary White Terry’s will which reads as follows: Mary’ sill dated 10/6/1637 and proved 2/21/1637-8 names many relatives including her brother in law, James and his wife Anne. This is proof that the Long Island Terry’s and the Connecticut Terrys are cousins.) It also mentioned her sister Elizabeth White Gardiner and that led me to believe there was also an earlier connection to the Gardiners of Gardiners Island located in Suffolk County, Long Island, before these families left England.
Yes much research has been done and when I turned 80 I left all of the books and documents I had in Upstate New York with my sister Mary Ellen who is 12 years my junior and has kept excellent records of all early Terry’s on the Northern and North Eastern shores of America and followed these families West as the country grew. Many from the Terry, Parshall lines from Long Island became Mormans and followed them West. We have a lot of notes on that line as well.
We are happy to guide and help anyone who contacts us as quickly as we can.
Kind regards to all,
Arlene Terry Bower

06/12/2020

Alice Terry 1899-1987
She went by the name of Terry but was not a Terry after all.

Alice Terry was one of the premiere actresses of the silent screen, her patrician blonde beauty forming a stunning contrast with the leading Latin lovers of the day: Valentino, Novaro, and Moreno. In reality she was a redhead! Her trademark curly blonde hair came to be her trademark quite by accident.

As stated above she was not a Terry after all as has been reported elsewhere. After being investigated by the owner of this website, I found she was instead
Alice Frances Taaffe born on July 24, 1899, in Vincennes, Indiana. Her family moved from Indiana to Los Angeles when she was 15 years old and she began to work in the theatre industry as an extra and film editor. She appeared in many silent films and her first role, “Civilization” (1916), followed by many other roles. After many a disappointment her confidence in herself became doubtful. Eventually she met an Irish director Reginald Ingram Montgomery Hitchcock (Rex Ingram) on the set of a movie in 1917. While preparing for a movie, Alice happened to notice a blonde wig lying about and on a whim placed it on her own head. Rex thought she photographed so well in that wig that she continued to wear it for the rest of her career. Alice and Rex became good friends; eventually marring in 1921. It was in that very same year that Alice received her first critical praise as Margurite Laurier opposite Rudolph Valentino in “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”. This was the movie that put Valentino on the map. Alice would make another movie with Rudy the same year, The Conquering Power.” This film did not show the same visual artistry as the former, but Alice again turned in a restrained, but grand performance as Eugenie Grandet.

In “The Prisoner of Zenda” (1922) and “Scaramouche” (1923), she played opposite a new costar, Ramon Novaro, who became her favorite leading man. Rex thought Ramon could easily usurp Vanentino’s place as the current Latin hearthrob, but it never happened. However, he and Alice ended up appearing in five films together and becoming good friends.

Note: The above information is credited to information gathered on the internet and in the Internet Movie Database. I had noticed a story about a famous actress named Alice Terry in the Terry family web pages and thought she might be connected to the family of Dame Ellen Terry, a very famous Shakespearian actress in England who was born a Terry. A story I will report on at a later date.

A truly beautiful, woman both in her youth and maturity. Pictured here with her
Husband Rex Ingram (National Portrait Gallery). Years later with her leading man, was Ramon Novarro. It is a wonderful story and I simply had to tell it.
Arlene Terry Bower (Previously published in Terry Tales Newsletter).

05/30/2020

Following up on the post re Rose Terry Cooke here is some research relating to her father.
The family line of Henry Wadsworth Terry
He was s/o General Nathaniel Terry and Catherine Wadsworth
s/o Col. Nathaniel Terry and Abiah Dwight
s/o Ephraim #3 Terry and Anis Collins
s/o Samuel Terry and Martha Boardman
s/o Samuel #1 Terry and Anna Lobdell
Samuel b. 1632 Barnet England d. 1/3/1731 Enfield CT
Anna b. 1/3/1661 d. 5/6/1684
They are buried in Springfield Cemetery. MA
He married 2nd Sarah Bliss on 11/19/1690
Wid. of John Scott. She was daughter of
Thomas and Margaret Bliss.
Sarah died on 9/27/1705 BUT they had separated in 1694
He was the father of :
Samuel Terry who mar. Hannah Morgan d/o Miles Morgan
Ephraim b. 8/26/1663 d. 7/15.1670MA
Thomas b 3/16/1664 d 5/9/1760
Mary b 1767 MA
Rebecca who mar. Abel Wright b 7/25/1669 MA d.12/12/1670 m. 8/16/1691
Elizabeth b. 4/2/1677 d. 4/2/1677
Ann who mar.____ b.1682 d. 5/1684 m 1710 Joseph Younglove
He came to America as an indentured servant to William Pyncheon in 1650 and settled Springfield MA. He was a weaver by trade. Pyncheon returned to England for good in 1651 and Samuel was apprenticed out to Benjamin Cooly for 3 years, 6 months and some odd days on 10/15/1650.