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Robert Sumner's ancestry has not been researched but he may be descended from the Robert Sumer of county of Wilts in England who granted a tract of 492 acres of land in Chester County, Pennsylvania, on 1 June 1685. A Robert Sumner will is also mentioned in the same land transaction granting legacies to people in Pennsylvania and in Wilts, England. This may have been Robert's grandfather. No other Sumner names are mentioned in Chester County.
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Robert Sumner born abt 1716 Fairfax Co, Va died 12/1/1779 Guilford Co, NC |
Phebe Beals born 1720 Chester Co, Pa died 8/19/1805 Guilford Co, NC |
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Married: 1746 Fairfax, Loudon County, Virginia. Phebe was disowned 9/29/1746 for her marriage out of unity.
Children: William Sumner born 11/13/1747 (N.S.) Fairfax, Loudon County, Va; married Eleanor Edwards Bowater Sumner born 10/20/1749 Fairfax, Loudon County, Va Caleb Sumner born 7/3/1751 Rowan County, North Carolina; married Mary Cook Carson Joshua Sumner born 11/2/1753 Rowan County, North Carolina; married Sarah Cox Phebe Sumner born 5/18/1755 Rowan County, North Carolina; married Edward Thornbrough Thomas Sumner born 12/20/1757 Rowan County, North Carolina Prudence Sumner born 3/10/1760 Rowan County, North Carolina Abigail Sumner born 3/11/1762 Rowan County, North Carolina Sarah Sumner born 8/8/1765 Rowan County, North Carolina Robert Sumner born 11/20/1767 died 4/26/1777 Rowan County, NC |
Records in Virginia and North CarolinaRobert Sumner became a member of the Quaker faith in 1749 and the family was received and restored to membership at Fairfax Monthly Meeting, Loudon County, Virginia. There is no mention of a Sumner in Quaker records before 1749, so Phebe was probably responsible for Robert's conversion. In 1751, the family moved to Council in Bladen County, North Carolina and were members of the Carver's Creek Monthly Meeting in February 1751.Robert and Phebe Beals Canaday Sumner presented certificates at the opening session of Cane Creek Monthly Meeting on 7th day 10th month, 1751. Since Cane Creek covered a very large area of central North Carolina at that time it is not known exactly where they settled or exactly when they arrived. Their children are listed at New Garden Monthly Meeting which was set up in 1754 in Rowan County, North Carolina, so we presume they lived in that area. They remained there for the rest of their lives. More on the Children of Robert and Phebe Beals Canaday SumnerJoshua amd Sarah Cox SumnerJoshua Sumner married Sarah Cox 31 Dec 1774 in Guilford Co, NC. They had two daughters Amy and Sarah Sumner. Amy Sumner married Robert Canaday, son of John and Margaret Thornbrough Canaday as his first wife and after her death Robert married Amy's sister Sarah.William and Eleanor Edwards SumnerWilliam Sumner married Eleanor Edwards, daughter of Hanuel Edwards 3/20/1771 at New Garden Monthly Meeting, Guilford County, North Carolina. The Hanuel Edwards family descendants had connection with Woodward family descendants in the mid-1800's in Missouri. William Sumner died 10/2/1801 and Eleanor Edwards Sumner married (2) Mordecai Mendenhall, Jr., son of Mordecai and Charity Beeson Mendenhall on 26 Oct 1803 at Lost Creek Monthly Meeting in Jefferson County, Tennessee. |