Descendants of John Slay of England

Generation #2

Sarah (¹Thomas, ⁰Research) Slay of Wayne Co MS

The Scot-Irish of North Carolina

Our Scot-Irish ancestors populated the Upcountry of the Carolinas (pl.) from the Down-country, coastal region west to the Blue Ridge.
-Our earliest immigrant ancestors arrived at a port of entry and pushed west to the interior. And, Philadelphia was the primary port of immigration in the 18th Century.
-After my ethnic German ancestor, Jost Hite, blazed the Old Wagon Road south from central Pennsylvania to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, the Scot-Irish continued south into the Valley of Virginia and then to the Upcountry of the Carolinas.

• 1663 Carolina Charter granted by Charles II to the Eight Lord Proprietors

• 1712 North and South Carolina created from the Carolina Colony

• 1772 NC/SC boundary established

-Our Sot-Irish settled first in Old Bladen county. From there they spread out to lands which would become
*North Carolina: Bladen, Columbus, Robeson, Scotland, Richmond & Anson
*South Carolina: Horry, Marion, Dillon, Marlboro, Chesterfield & Lancaster

Slay Family Research

According to family oral history, Old Sam Lee married Sarah Slay who was the mother of most of his children.
-We find John Slay, David Slay, and Nathan Slay--all sons of Thomas Slat--in the 1816 Mississippi Territorial Census for Wayne County.
-The Slay family was related to the Sumrall family; as Nathan Slay (b. c. 1765) married Martha Ann Sumrall d/o Thomas Sumrall, Sr.
-We also find a Thomas Sumrall, Jiles Sumrall, another Thomas Sumrall and Moses Sumrall in the 1816 Mississippi Territorial Census for Wayne County.
-Can we trace Old Sam Lee's bride through the Slay family of Richmond Co NC?

Thomas Slay
-Nathan Slay was the son of Thomas Slay of Richmond Co NC.
-Samuel Lee of Wayne Co MS named one of his sons Nathan.

• Thomas Slay b. 1741 Queen Anne's Co MD

• Migrated by 1770 to Anson Co NC

• 1770 Anson Co NC: Thomas Slay

• 1/1779 Anson Co NC Land Record: Thomas Slay

• 1779 Richmond Co split from Anson Co NC

• 1790 Richmond Co NC Census: Thomas Slay

• Thomas Slay, Sr. disappears before 1800 Richmond Co NC.

• 1800 Richmond Co NC Census: Nathan Slay

• 1810 Georgia Census non-extant

• 1816 Wayne County, Mississippi Territorial Census: Nathan Slay, John Slay, David Slay

• 1820 Wayne Co MS Census: Nathan Slay, Sr., John Slay, David Slay

Nathan Slay

• Nathan Slay b. c. 1765 Queen Anne's Co MD

• Nathan Slay was the son of Thomas Slay and Francis Ricketts of Queen Anne Co MD.

• Migrated by 1770 w/ family to Anson Co NC

• As Queen Anne is a coastal county on the Eastern Shore, the Slays most likely reached North Carolina by way of the port of Wilmington.

• 1779 Richmond Co split from Anson Co NC

• On 2/1787 in Richmond Co NC, Nathan Slay married Martha Ann Sumrall b. 1765 Edgefield Co SC.

• Migrated after 1800 to Chesterfield Co SC

• Migrated to Georgia

• Migrated to Dog River AL

• Migrated by 1816 to Wayne Co MS

• 1845 Mississippi State Census for Wayne County: Carney Slay 6, 3

• 1845 Mississippi State Census for Wayne County: Noah Slay 5, 3

Thomas Sumrall

• Thomas Sumrall b. c. 1740 in North Carolina

• Married 1760 in Edgefield Co SC to Ann Thomas

• 1761 - 1793 Edgefield Co SC: Thomas Sumrall

• 3/1808 Georgia Passport: Thomas Sumrall

• 1817 Marion Co MS: Thomas Sumrall

• Died 1821 Marion Co MS

Jacob Sumrall

• Jacob Sumrall b. 

• 1845 Mississippi State Census for Wayne County: Jacob Sumrall 4, 5

• Died 

Sarah Slay was born about 1777, probably in Anson Co NC. In about 1797 in North Carolina, Sarah married Samuel Lee b. c. 1772 in Bladen Co NC. Old Sam Lee, probably, was a widower and may have had children with his first wife. Old Sam grew up on lands along Flowers Swamp which would become Robeson County. Note, son Robeson Lee states in the 1880 Wayne Co MS Census that his father and mother were both born in North Carolina.

To date, there are no records for Sam Lee and Sarah in North Carolina. But from the number of children begat, we know one of their pastimes.

In 1808 Samuel and his first cousin, Stephen Lee, received passports from the Governor of Georgia to pass through the Creek Nation to Mississippi. This marks the beginning of the greater Lee family's migration to Mississippi. And, Old Sam and family became part of a migration wave which came to be known as "Mississippi Fever."

Detailed research of the three possible migration routes--by sea from the Carolina coast around Spanish Florida to the Spanish ports on the Gulf Coast, by land west to Tennessee then southwest to Mississippi, by land south to Georgia and then west to Mississippi--indicates that the most practical route was taking the Great Wagon Road south to Georgia then the Three-Chopped Way west to Mississippi. And. migrating with eleven or so children in toe wouldn't have been an easy task.

My maternal great-grandfather Samuel Lee and his wife Sarah Shay [Slay] were among the first white settlers of Wayne County, Mississippi. They came there from North Carolina. . .I’m not sure of the date, but it had to be around 1800. They stopped to settle on the Chickasawhay River (the river that runs through Enterprise) while the brother [Everett] who came with him went on further west to build up a plantation near Natchez.

Tommie Campbell Lewis Memoirs

Sometime before 1813, Samuel, Sarah, and 11 or more children arrived in Wayne Co MS. Oral history states that the family traveled overland through Georgia, trekking through virgin forest and fording streams along the way. And just as the family forded the Chickasawhay River, one or more of the children died. The family had been en route to the Pearl River Settlement; but Sarah was so heartbroken, she refused to continue. The family stopped on the west bank of the river atop the bluff, building a ferry and a farm which would later be called the Lee Plantation.

After bearing 18 or so children, Sarah died. She was buried atop the bluff with at least two of her children. Reportedly, there was a magnolia tree atop the bluff with the date 12/18/1818 carved into it. Unfortunately, the exact location of this first Lee Cemetery is not known; however, it is believed to be on the original homestead.

• Born c. 1775 Anson Co Co NC

• 1787 Robeson Co spilt from Bladen Co

• 1790 Robeson Co NC Census

• Lucy Ann died before 1797

• Married c. 1797 in North Carolina to Sarah Slay b. c. 1775 Anson Co NC

• 1800 Federal Census

• 9/30/1808 Passports Issued by Governors of Georgia (1785-1820) p. 49:

• 1810 Georgia Census: Non-extant

• Migrated before 1813 to Wayne Co MS

• 1817 Mississippi Statehood

• 6/9/1818 Lawrence Co MS Land Transaction

• 6/14/1818 Wayne Co MS Land Transaction

• Sarah died 12/18/1818 Wayne Co MS

• Old Sam Lee died after 2/1845 Catahoula (now Winn) Parish LA