Did Stephen Farmer Marry Nancy Russell?
In 1682, Major Jasper Farmar sent his son Jasper Jr. to purchase 5,000 acres in Pennsylvania. Jasper Jr. then made the return trip to Ireland to gather his family and sail again for Philadelphia in 1685. Like his father and his sister, he never arrived and was buried at sea.
Jasper Jr.’s son Thomas Farmar, who was ten years old, and nephew to 14-year-old Edward Farmar (Major Jasper’s son), would grow up on Staten Island after his mother, Widow Katherine, remarried a British naval officer, Captain Christopher Billopp.
On 20 June 1700, at the age of twenty-five, Thomas was personally appointed by William Penn to be High Sheriff of Philadelphia City and County. He was reappointed until he resigned his commission in August 1703, when he sailed to England and married his step-sister Anne Billopp, Captain Billopp’s daughter.
In 1705, Thomas returned to America and settled on Staten Island. The 1708 Census of Staten Island has Thomas, age thirty-three, his children, and “Nansie Farmar, a woman.” Nancy was a common nickname for Ann, Anna, or Agnes in the eighteenth century.
Fast forward eighty-two years to 1790 and we find Edward Farmar’s great grandson Stephen Farmer marrying Nancy Russell according to family tradition. Nancy’s background to include her birth date, birth place, parents, and siblings is just as elusive as Stephen’s.
Stephen and Nancy moved from Virginia, into Tennessee, into Kentucky, and back into Tennessee. When using the 1840 federal census in locating Stephen and Nancy’s residence, or determining if they had passed away, there is an enumeration for “Sarah Farmer” in Hawkins County, Tennessee with information that closely matches Nancy Russell, assuming her husband Stephen had passed away.
Up to 1840, Nancy’s name has not appeared on a birth certificate, marriage license, census record, land deed, or any other reputable proof that Stephen’s wife is named Nancy. Given that we have no record for a “Nancy Russell,” have we mistaken the name of Stephen’s wife, and her name is actually Sarah?
Perhaps her birth name was Sarah Ann Russell and she had the nickname Nancy?
More information can be found in the book Edward Farmar and the Sons of Whitemarsh available now through our partner LuLu Printing.
