A Wilson Family Tree
Notes for Mary A. (Polly) Stuart
There is a listing in the 1850 Cumberland County census for M.A. Donley (female) living with Anne and Walter Cole, Mary and John Cheek, and William Donley. Some family trees have assumed that this is Martha Stockton Donley, and the others are children of James D. Donley -- though that would be a bit odd because James D. Donley was living nearby in the 1850 census, but not with M.A. The initial M leaves open the possibility, but it is fairly certain that Martha was dead by then (see her notes), plus M.A. Donley is listed as Mary A. Donley in the Slave Schedule for the 1850 census. (She owned one slave. James is also on the slave schedule, with seven slaves.)
The Bailey Famiy Tree (https://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=fredexbailey&id=I787) has a note about a deed in Cumberland County, KY, Deed Book M, p. 302, dated 23 Mar 1852, for land from Oscar J.E. Stewart of Washington County, MS, to Wm. C. Donley and Mary Cheek, wife of John L. Cheek (children of late Mary S. Donley, sister of said Stewart). In that instance the S presumably stands for Stewart. Elsewhere in the note Polly A. Donely and some other Stewarts are referred to as heirs of Elizabeth Stuart, dec'd, heir of Peyton J. Stockton (alias John P.), dec'd, who was an heir of John Stockton dec'd ... late of Pittsylvania County, VA. Note that Polly was commonly a nickname for Mary, and also that Martha (Patsey) Stockton was also an heir of John Stockton (see her notes), so apparently Mary Stewart and Martha Stockton were related. Also note that there are spellings of both Stewart and Stuart in the above note, and recall that the Parks manuscript says that James Donley's brother William married Mary Stuart, who was a niece of James' wife.
The above sounds to me like Mary Stuart Donley had already passed away ("late Mary S. Donley"). The Bailey Family Tree says she died after 1852 (https://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=fredexbailey&id=I883), but I wonder if that is just a typo. Bailey has another note, from a Family History by Ralph Sevier Stockton, that Mary "inherited the family homestead after the death of her mother; it was left by Mary Stuart Donnelly to Mrs. Mary Donnelly Cheek Ewing." Daughter Mary didn't marry Matthew Ewing until 1874, but that could just be a description by the author rather wording from a will or deed.
The Bailey Family Tree has Mary Stuart, sister of Oscar James E. Stuart, granddaughter of John Stockton. Her parents were James Stuart and Elizabeth Stockton, who was a sister of Martha Stockton. There is another family tree on Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/37988997/person/19166912371/facts) that has those relationships as well, and also shows Mary’s nickname of Polly and her husband as Donley (no first name). Everything fits for her husband to be William Donley. This tree lists Mary S. Donley and William C. Donley as children of Mary Stuart. Anne is not listed, possibly because she is not listed in the 1852 deed. It seems likely from this omission that Anne had already passed away by 1852. It might also mean that there were no other older children still living.
Polly is mentioned in a letter from William L. Reeves to Jeanette (Reeves) Leonard, dated Jun 1846: "I received a letter yesterday from Aunt P. Donley of Cumberland County. She writes me they have been a good deal afflicted with the chills this spring."
A final note is that I have DNA matches on Ancestry.com with two descendants of Mary and John Cheek, which bolsters the case that Mary Cheek was William Donley's daughter (it could also work for her to be James Donley's daughter, but the other evidence argues against that). They are weak DNA matches, but that's not surprising since they would be sixth cousins to me.
Note: Some of the information in these pages is uncertain. Please let me know of errors or omissions using the email link above. ...Mike Wilson
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