John and Milly Hensley, my new 5-gr-grandparents

I received help from George Swann today.  After we had chatted only a small amount, he sent me a copy of the register in which Solomon Hensley's death was recorded.  It is quite hard to read on this site, so I have enlarged it to show the part about Solomon and the very important part that it is Elizabeth, his wife, who submitted the information.  And Elizabeth was kind enough to give parents for Solomon:  John and Milly Hensley!  And she says clearly that Solomon was born in Pittsylvania County.  Solomon died in Wayne County, Virginia in 1859.  The register says he is 83 which makes his date of birth c. 1776.  I had guessed before c.1779 as he is reported 71 in the census of 1850.










I had suspected that John Hensley was a likely suspect for father for Solomon as I had collected the following information in the notes of the blank place in my data base reserved for Father of Solomon:

there seems to be a Samuel Hensley in Pittsylvania in 1765.  Magazine of Virginia genealogy, Volume 50 (2012).No. 2 has article by Barbara Vines Little of Pittsylvania County Judgements 1767-1770.  In the article she has transcribed what seems to be a loan to Daniel McCinsay that has Samuel Henslee as a witness along with Sarah Beard.  This is on page 98 and is among my magazines.

There is a John Hensley in the 1782 Pittsylvania Land Taxes list:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vapittsy/1782LandTaxes.htm

John is the Only Hensley in Pittsylvania County in 1782.

There is also a John Hensley in the 1767 Titheables (and that is the only Hensley that I see)

http://adkinsmetcalffamily.wordpress.com/2009/02/28/the-history-of-pittsylvania-county-virginia/

Others of interest listed here are William, Daniel, and John Witcher, John Good, William and Owen Atkinson, Abner Cochran, Mack Foster (I think this is probably misspelling of Mark Foster), William Webb.

And from another blog written in the past:

 The following is taken from Marty Grant's (Hensley expert) timeline for John Hensley who was born before 1724 and is said to be "of Louisa and Albemarle Co. Va.  I believe that this may be the right man!  But the below is my own first sighting of relationships between a Henslee and Foster family:

On 25 Feb 1752 Benjamin Henslee of Fredericksville Parish, Louisa Co., VA sold 300 acres to David Watts. The land was on Wolf Trap Branch. Witnesses were John Foster, John Henslee, and John Hammack. Benjamin Henslee signed, and "Elizabeth his wife" relinquished her dower rights to the land.

There is an article on these people on Marty Grant's site.  The person who wrote the article thinks i might be possible that the John Hensley from Wolf Trap Branch was the same John Hensley in Pittsylvania County....but does not have proof.

http://www.martygrant.com/genealogy/hensley/hensley-john-louisa-va.htm

Quaker terms; Baptized into the States of the People

I love my Quaker mail list!  I have always loved the Quaker mail list.  Every time anyone posts a question, there are many good answers.  This week, Sara Scribner sent a query to the list about an ancestor.  At the end of the answers Sara has given me permission to copy and paste her transcription of the  testimony which includes names of members of York Quarterly Monthly Meeting.

Here is part of what Sara posted:

Dear All,

I'm working on my English Quakers and recently transcribed a published
testimony about Elizabeth (Ryley) Wetherald (abt 1735-1784), a "Minister
near eighteen years." The the account also mentions: "She was often engaged
in visiting Families both in our own Monthly Meeting and several others, in
which she was often Baptised into the States of the People, was very
Serviceable in our Preparative and Monthly Women’s Meetings wherein she
labored to promote good order, with truly Christian Concern."

I'd like to understand the part about being "Baptised into the States of
the People."

There were several good answers to this question.  I started to file them in my crazy inbox.  But decided that if Sara and others were willing, I would be more likely to be able to find these answers if I added them to my blog.  So here goes:

From Jeff Palmer:  
My understanding of Quaker baptism seems to be well expressed by https://classroom.synonym.com/the-quaker-view-on-baptism-12085718.html :

"... Quakers believe that all of life is a sacrament and that special sacramental rites are, at best, unnecessary and, at worst, hypocritical....  Quakers often point to John the Baptist's claim that 'I baptize you with water, but after me comes One who is greater than I...  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.'  ....  When Quakers speak of baptism, they generally mean 'baptism in the Holy Spirit.'  According to their teachings, this is when a person has experienced an inner change as the result of God's presence.  Quakers tend to view this as an ongoing experience [rather than as a one-time sacramental ceremony]."

I suspect the terminology to which you refer reflected the above, i.e., merely that the woman was thought to have had spiritually fulfilling interactions with the families and meetings she had visited.

Jeff Palmer 

From Tom Hamm:
In this case, "Baptised" meant that she was led to insights and empathy with the spiritual states of individuals she encountered. That was considered one of the marks of good Quaker ministry. 

Tom Hamm

From Dan Treadway:

Would it help to replace "baptized" with "immersed"?  That's the literal meaning of the Greek word baptized comes from.

and Jeff Palmer added to Dan's comment:

I also liked the response by Daniel Treadway I think who said something about the Greek origin of the word “baptize” meaning “immersion.”  According to https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/baptizo.html , baptize (“baptize”) meant an immersion which changed the thing being immersed.  That’s sort of the point of a Quaker meeting.

Jeff Palmer 

From Richard White:

Dear Sara and friends all,

I am a 12th gen Quaker and am glad to have been enlightened by your query and the thoughtful and informed replies you have received.  

I make no exception to what’s been offered by others, but thought I would complement their responses by providing a “translation” of the phrase, “baptized into the states of the people,” by suggesting what a more contemporary Friend might have said (or penned a minute) in place of those words:

“The Friend was so open to the light (or the lord) in her worship with us, that she seemed  to gather a true sense of our condition and, indeed, did speak to that condition and minister to us in a loving and truthful way, which was beneficial to our spirit.”

Someone here suggested “immersion” in place of “baptized”... I like that... immersion is suggestive of that corporate mysticism, I believe uniquely Quaker, to which Fox alludes:

"All Friends mind that which is Eternal which gathers your Hearts up to the Lord and lets you see that ye are written in one another's Heart."

Richard White


From Sara Scribner:
Here is my transcription of the testimony :

Anon. 1784. *Testimonies Concerning Friends Deceased*. Vol. 3, pp. 271-2.
TCMD. London: Library of the Society of Friends, 1784. Testimony from York
Quarterly Meeting Concerning Elizabeth Wetherald, pp. 271-2.



“Elizabeth Wetherald, wife of Joseph Wetherald, was one who the Lord
visited in her early youth and as she gave up to the manifestation of Truth
in her own Mind, she became more and more enlightened and fitted for use
and service in the Church. Her first appearance in the Ministry was about
the year 1766 and we believe she Laboured Diligently according to the Gift
received, not being forward but Solidly waiting in awful reverence for the
arising of Life whereby she was many times enabled to Speak to the States
of the People __

She visited some parts of the County, and some others adjoining several
times, and in the year 1778 visited the Cities of London, Norwich, And
Bristol, and several other parts of the Southern Counties__

She was often engaged in visiting Families both in our own Monthly Meeting
and several others, in which she was often Baptised into the States of the
People, was very Serviceable in our Preparative and Monthly Women’s
Meetings wherein she labored to promote good order, with truly Christian
Concern.

She had for several years been in a [S]ickening State of Health and for
some Months mostly confined at Home, yet appeared to be in a lively frame
of Mind, and to Rejoice in having been made willing to give up to the
Requiring of Truth, in which she then had Peace.

She was a Loving and Affectionate wife, a tender and prudent Parent and
kind Neighbour__

She departed this Life in the eighteenth day of the first Month 1784, and
was buried in Friends’ Burying ground at Bainbridge the 21st of same, aged
about 54 years, a Minister, near 18 years.



Signed in and on behalf of Richmond Monthly Meeting, held at Aysgarth the 4
th of 3rd Month 1784 by



Mathew Middlebrook

Joseph Wetherald

Isabelle Wetherald

Joseph Wetherald Junr

Margaret Wetherald

George Wetherald

Elizabeth Thompson

John Wetherald

Martha Wetherald

John Heldon

Jane Wetherald

John Thompson

Mary Wetherald

Thomas Culworth

Sara Wetherald

Christopher Myers

Jane Carter

Thomas Lambert

Ann Lambert

James Scott

Agnes Thistlethwaite

John Hunter

Margery Horner

John Raw

Alice Culworth

John Beezon

Isabel Hesltine

Thomas Carter

Elizabeth Thwaite

William Middlebrook

Hannah Harrison

John Baynes

Ann Middlebrook

Osward [Oswald?] Baynes

Ann Baynes

Joseph Webster

Hannah Lambert

Simon Hunter

Mary Baynes

William Baynes



Daniel Harrison



Richard Carle

Read and Approved in our Quarterly Meeting held at York the 24th of the 3rd
Month 1784 by


Robert Grubb


Clerk to the Meeting this Quarter”

END OF TRANSCRIPTION