RATCLIFF FAMILY
"THE BATTLE AT RATCLIFF'S BRIDGE"
The Ratcliff family traces back to South Carolina, and then North Carolina. Current research on the early aspects of the family indicates Richard Ratcliff, the immigrant, came from Lancashire, England to Maryland on 10 November 1682. Early Maryland records indicate the Ratcliffs were Quakers.
Samuel Ratcliff Sr. is thought to have been born on 31 March 1700 in Talbot County, Maryland. He was likely the son of Richard Ratcliff, the immigrant, and his wife Mary Caterne. Samuel Ratcliff Sr. was an active Quaker on record in Maryland and migrated south. He was evidently disowned from the Quaker faith likely due to military involvement or marriage outside the faith. Records of his signature "mark" in Maryland appear very similar to those located at a later date in South Carolina. Hence, the reason for research suggesting the possible tie to Maryland.
Aside from speculation, Samuel Ratcliff Sr. was living in Duplin County, North Carolina as early as 1751. He obtained three North Carolina land grants and records indicate he and his two sons, Samuel Jr. and James Ratcliff, developed plantations on Goshen Swamp. These plantations in North Carolina were called "Jerusalem", "Ratcliff's Chance", and "Ratcliff's Venture".
By 1765, Samuel had relocated into the interior of South Carolina where opportunity and more fertile land was available. Samuel Ratcliff Sr. and his three sons, Samuel Jr., Richard, and James Ratcliff obtained land grants in South Carolina along Lynches Creek. A daughter, Rachel Ratcliff Goodson, obtained a neighboring grant at a later date. Their land is presently located in Lee County, South Carolina. The Ratcliff properties include a portion of present day Lee State Park, and areas further south of Bishopville, South Carolina along Lynches Creek.
The early Ratcliff family members were primarily farmers. Records indicate the crops in this S.C. area consisted mainly of potatoes, corn, pears, and rice. Herds of cattle and hogs were also raised.
We descend from Samuel Ratcliff Sr. through his son James. James Ratcliff was born about 1728 and may be the same one who served in the Duplin County, North Carolina Provincial Troops in 1754. The name of his first wife is unknown, and it is from her that we descend.
After the death of his first wife, James Ratcliff married 7 January 1772 in South Carolina to Prudence Mixon, the widow of Moses Daniel Sr.
James Ratcliff and his first wife were married in the 1750s and had four known children: our John Ratcliff Sr., Penelope Ratcliff Warren, William Ratcliff, and Richard Ratcliff.
It was during the late 1770s and early 1780s that the Revolutionary War efforts in South Carolina were at a high. Those of youth and health enlisted and served in the Revolutionary War.
One Revolutionary War soldier was our John Ratcliff Sr. He was born about 1758, most likely in Duplin, North Carolina. He was the son of James Ratcliff, and the grandson of Samuel Ratcliff Sr. He served with Francis Marion "The Swamp Fox", in the famous Peter Horry's Regiment under Captain Lanew. One record indicates that John Ratcliff was at one time a courier for Col. Marion. Colonel Francis Marion became a national hero and was nicknamed the "Swamp Fox", because he knew the back areas and swamps so well. Colonel Marion was able to elude capture and strike the unsuspecting British with "hit and run" attacks.
A famous battle in the Revolutionary War took place on Lynches Creek in South Carolina known as "The Battle of Ratcliff's Bridge". A historical marker stands on the Bishopville Library Grounds today, saluting this 7 March 1781 event. General Marion and his troops escaped British capture by crossing Ratcliff's Bridge over Lynches Creek and burning the bridge behind them.
While our John Ratcliff Sr. was serving the cause for our freedom, his father James Ratcliff passed away. The estate sale of James Ratcliff in 1783 included: six slaves, a feather bed with blanket and rug, a spice mortar, a riffle barrel, and a pair of "steelyards".
It was after the Revolutionary War that John Ratcliff married a younger lady by the name of Ann Field. Ann Field was the daughter of Lt. Captain James Field of the 5th Artillery Unit of South Carolina. Captain Field later became Sheriff of Chatham County, Georgia and was an original member of the "Society of the Cincinnati". This esteemed group of early military men helped lay the foundation of our government. A building stands in Washington DC today dedicated to this group.
John and Ann Field Ratcliff lived in Darlington County, across Lynches Creek from the rest of the Ratcliff family. By the first United States Census taken in 1790 of Cheraw South Carolina, John and Ann had three children. One of the children was Margaret Ann Ratcliff, born about 1790, from whom we descend.
John and Ann Field Ratcliff Sr. had a total of eight children: James Ratcliff, Penelope Ratcliff Perkins, Margaret Ann Ratcliff Terrell, John Ratcliff Jr., Elizabeth Ida Ratcliff Brewer, Zachariah N. Ratcliff, Theophilus R. Ratcliff, and Martha Ann Ratcliff Davis.
By 1801, John Ratcliff had relocated his family to the Canoochee River in Liberty County, Georgia. It was here in Liberty Co., Ga. that Margaret Ann Ratcliff and Philemon Terrell Jr. met and likely wed, although no marriage record has been located.
By 1810, the promise of land and better opportunity beckoned and John Ratcliff Sr. moved his family to Marion County, Miss. Old family records indicate that Philemon and Margaret Ratcliff Terrell's first child, Elizabeth Ann, was only a few months old when she died on the way to Mississippi.
Ann Field Ratcliff died before 1816 in Mississippi. John Ratcliff Sr. established himself in Franklin County, Mississippi by 1820 as reflected on US Census records. He was listed on Franklin County, Mississippi tax rolls 1821-1832, with land on Morgan's Fork of the Homochitto River. It was here that he made application for a Revolutionary War Pension.
It was about 1833 that the family uprooted and headed "in a covered wagon" to Arkansas Territory. Old family letters tell of family members relocating to Arkansas with the opening of the territory. Early records of Saline County, Arkansas document John Ratcliff Sr. along with his sons James Ratcliff, John Ratcliff Jr., Zachariah N. Ratcliff, and Theophilus R. Ratcliff.
It was in Arkansas that John Ratcliff Sr. passed away. His obituary read: "Died in Saline County, Arkansas on the 24th day of July 1840, Mr. John Ratcliff age 82, father of Mrs. Margaret Terrell. Left to mourn his loss were three sons and four daughters. He will be missed by all his friends and acquaintances, and all who knew him." Our Mary Ann Terrell wrote in her diary, on the death of her grandfather: "John Ratcliff Revol. War Soldier"; " The fear and Gospel of the Lord, Deep in his heart abide, Led by the Spirit and the Word, His feet shall never slide".
It was in Arkansas that a young French man met and married Mary Ann Terrell, daughter of Philemon Terrell Jr. and his wife Margaret Ratcliff. On 11 November 1845 Peter Lefevre, son of Francis & Mary Lefevre, married Mary Ann Terrell in Pulaski County, Arkansas. They had three children: Mary Margaret Lefevre Innis, Francis Leon Lefevre, and Peter Lefevre Jr.
Philemon Terrell Jr. had relocated to Pointe Coupee Parish, La. Margaret Ratcliff Terrell never returned to Pointe Coupee Parish. She remained in Arkansas during the time that her daughter Mary Ann Terrell Lefevre was having children. Margaret Ratcliff Terrell became ill and passed away in Arkansas. Old records indicate that Mary Ann Terrell's brother, Samuel Lafayette Terrell, purchased medicine and paid the taxes on the slave "Jack". Records and old family letters make no mention of Margaret Ratcliff Terrell after 1851. It wasn't long before Mary Ann Terrell's husband, Peter Lefevre, also became ill and passed away in 1853.
Mary Ann Terrell Lefevre had lost both her mother and husband. Her brother Samuel Terrell was moving to Texas. Samuel Lafayette Terrell took the Terrell ancestral "SILVER BUCKLES" and the slave "Jack" with him to Texas. Mary Ann Terrell moved to Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana where her father Philemon Terrell Jr. had previously settled.
It was here in Pointe Coupee Parish that Mary Ann Terrell Lefevre, a widow, met and married a neighbor James Creath Wilcox. They were married 10 October 1855 and lived on the "Old Wilcox Home Place", the same property currently owned by the Smith family.
The endearing story of our Mary Ann Terrell and James Creath Wilcox is published in "The History of Pointe Coupee Parish", as written by the late Roberta Rice Smith.
Compiled by Pauline Bizette Brandy
John Ratcliff Sr.
DAR Membership # 751443
Norma Rice Brooks
Comments & Corrections are Welcomed!