Mercy Raymond was born on June 3, 1740 in Middleborough, Plymouth County, Massachusetts to Peter Raymond and Christiana MacHaan. Mercy traces her roots back to the Mayflower, counting passenger Peter Browne as a direct ancestor.
Mercy married Jonas Bedford about 1755 in Elizabethtown, New Jersey where her husband took over the Raymond family saw mill business as owner and operator.
They soon moved to Jack's Narrows in Pennsylvania but Indian fighting forced them to move. Following this the Bedford's moved to the Carolina frontier and settled 60 miles west of the Catawba River on Matthew Floyd's Creek, which is in present day Rutherford County.
Jonas and Mercy Bedford had many children including:
Raymond (1758-1820)
Elizabeth Bedford Byars (1763-1847)
Jonas (1765-1859)
Rebeckah Bedford Hunt (1771-1851)
Lydia Bedford Wiseman (1773-1823)
Seth (1774-1819)
Eunice Bedford Lyles (1776-1820)
James Franklin Bedford (1776-1853)
Stephen Bedford (1779-1820)
Jonas' loyalty to the British Crown must have caused much anxiety within the family but Mercy hid her feelings during the American Revolution. When Jonas, as Captain of Militia, was defeated at the battles of Bedford and King's Mountain, Mercy was left to fend for herself as Jonas fled along with the British army.
In the summer of 1781 Mercy Bedford and her children were forced out of their home by the American patriots of the region, and they joined Jonas Bedford in Charleston. The family stayed together until December of 1782; then Jonas left with the British, served their cause in east Florida and then went to New York. In March of 1784 he left for London, England.
Mercy and her children were literally left to "shift" for themselves. Her intention was to return to Rutherford County to try and pick up the pieces of her life, but this did not come about immediately. In January of 1783, the Rutherford County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions ordered that all of Jonas Bedford's property "be adjudged and forfeited" and Mercy began an unsuccessful campaign to retain Bedford lands. During this trying period, Mercy and one of her sons were commended for assisting the men who were fighting for American independence; thus it would appear that Mercy herself did not share the political views of her husband. In the DAR Index Mercy Bedford is listed as rendering patriotic service to the new nation.
Eventually friends and neighbors came to the aid of the Bedford family and in a petition for Mercy's relief was introduced in the General Assembly of North Carolina on 29 Dec 1785, and the "landed estate" of Jonas Bedford was return to Mercy. By 1787, Jonas himself returned to Rutherford County.
As with Jonas Mercy outlived five of her eight children, dying on December 26, 1823, at the ripe old age of 83, in Duncan's Creek, Rutherford County, North Carolina. Her actually burial site, like those of her husband Jonas, have yet to be uncovered.
Mercy married Jonas Bedford about 1755 in Elizabethtown, New Jersey where her husband took over the Raymond family saw mill business as owner and operator.
They soon moved to Jack's Narrows in Pennsylvania but Indian fighting forced them to move. Following this the Bedford's moved to the Carolina frontier and settled 60 miles west of the Catawba River on Matthew Floyd's Creek, which is in present day Rutherford County.
Jonas and Mercy Bedford had many children including:
Raymond (1758-1820)
Elizabeth Bedford Byars (1763-1847)
Jonas (1765-1859)
Rebeckah Bedford Hunt (1771-1851)
Lydia Bedford Wiseman (1773-1823)
Seth (1774-1819)
Eunice Bedford Lyles (1776-1820)
James Franklin Bedford (1776-1853)
Stephen Bedford (1779-1820)
Jonas' loyalty to the British Crown must have caused much anxiety within the family but Mercy hid her feelings during the American Revolution. When Jonas, as Captain of Militia, was defeated at the battles of Bedford and King's Mountain, Mercy was left to fend for herself as Jonas fled along with the British army.
In the summer of 1781 Mercy Bedford and her children were forced out of their home by the American patriots of the region, and they joined Jonas Bedford in Charleston. The family stayed together until December of 1782; then Jonas left with the British, served their cause in east Florida and then went to New York. In March of 1784 he left for London, England.
Mercy and her children were literally left to "shift" for themselves. Her intention was to return to Rutherford County to try and pick up the pieces of her life, but this did not come about immediately. In January of 1783, the Rutherford County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions ordered that all of Jonas Bedford's property "be adjudged and forfeited" and Mercy began an unsuccessful campaign to retain Bedford lands. During this trying period, Mercy and one of her sons were commended for assisting the men who were fighting for American independence; thus it would appear that Mercy herself did not share the political views of her husband. In the DAR Index Mercy Bedford is listed as rendering patriotic service to the new nation.
Eventually friends and neighbors came to the aid of the Bedford family and in a petition for Mercy's relief was introduced in the General Assembly of North Carolina on 29 Dec 1785, and the "landed estate" of Jonas Bedford was return to Mercy. By 1787, Jonas himself returned to Rutherford County.
As with Jonas Mercy outlived five of her eight children, dying on December 26, 1823, at the ripe old age of 83, in Duncan's Creek, Rutherford County, North Carolina. Her actually burial site, like those of her husband Jonas, have yet to be uncovered.
Mercy Raymond was born on June 3, 1740 in Middleborough, Plymouth County, Massachusetts to Peter Raymond and Christiana MacHaan. Mercy traces her roots back to the Mayflower, counting passenger Peter Browne as a direct ancestor.
Mercy married Jonas Bedford about 1755 in Elizabethtown, New Jersey where her husband took over the Raymond family saw mill business as owner and operator.
They soon moved to Jack's Narrows in Pennsylvania but Indian fighting forced them to move. Following this the Bedford's moved to the Carolina frontier and settled 60 miles west of the Catawba River on Matthew Floyd's Creek, which is in present day Rutherford County.
Jonas and Mercy Bedford had many children including:
Raymond (1758-1820)
Elizabeth Bedford Byars (1763-1847)
Jonas (1765-1859)
Rebeckah Bedford Hunt (1771-1851)
Lydia Bedford Wiseman (1773-1823)
Seth (1774-1819)
Eunice Bedford Lyles (1776-1820)
James Franklin Bedford (1776-1853)
Stephen Bedford (1779-1820)
Jonas' loyalty to the British Crown must have caused much anxiety within the family but Mercy hid her feelings during the American Revolution. When Jonas, as Captain of Militia, was defeated at the battles of Bedford and King's Mountain, Mercy was left to fend for herself as Jonas fled along with the British army.
In the summer of 1781 Mercy Bedford and her children were forced out of their home by the American patriots of the region, and they joined Jonas Bedford in Charleston. The family stayed together until December of 1782; then Jonas left with the British, served their cause in east Florida and then went to New York. In March of 1784 he left for London, England.
Mercy and her children were literally left to "shift" for themselves. Her intention was to return to Rutherford County to try and pick up the pieces of her life, but this did not come about immediately. In January of 1783, the Rutherford County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions ordered that all of Jonas Bedford's property "be adjudged and forfeited" and Mercy began an unsuccessful campaign to retain Bedford lands. During this trying period, Mercy and one of her sons were commended for assisting the men who were fighting for American independence; thus it would appear that Mercy herself did not share the political views of her husband. In the DAR Index Mercy Bedford is listed as rendering patriotic service to the new nation.
Eventually friends and neighbors came to the aid of the Bedford family and in a petition for Mercy's relief was introduced in the General Assembly of North Carolina on 29 Dec 1785, and the "landed estate" of Jonas Bedford was return to Mercy. By 1787, Jonas himself returned to Rutherford County.
As with Jonas Mercy outlived five of her eight children, dying on December 26, 1823, at the ripe old age of 83, in Duncan's Creek, Rutherford County, North Carolina. Her actually burial site, like those of her husband Jonas, have yet to be uncovered.
Mercy married Jonas Bedford about 1755 in Elizabethtown, New Jersey where her husband took over the Raymond family saw mill business as owner and operator.
They soon moved to Jack's Narrows in Pennsylvania but Indian fighting forced them to move. Following this the Bedford's moved to the Carolina frontier and settled 60 miles west of the Catawba River on Matthew Floyd's Creek, which is in present day Rutherford County.
Jonas and Mercy Bedford had many children including:
Raymond (1758-1820)
Elizabeth Bedford Byars (1763-1847)
Jonas (1765-1859)
Rebeckah Bedford Hunt (1771-1851)
Lydia Bedford Wiseman (1773-1823)
Seth (1774-1819)
Eunice Bedford Lyles (1776-1820)
James Franklin Bedford (1776-1853)
Stephen Bedford (1779-1820)
Jonas' loyalty to the British Crown must have caused much anxiety within the family but Mercy hid her feelings during the American Revolution. When Jonas, as Captain of Militia, was defeated at the battles of Bedford and King's Mountain, Mercy was left to fend for herself as Jonas fled along with the British army.
In the summer of 1781 Mercy Bedford and her children were forced out of their home by the American patriots of the region, and they joined Jonas Bedford in Charleston. The family stayed together until December of 1782; then Jonas left with the British, served their cause in east Florida and then went to New York. In March of 1784 he left for London, England.
Mercy and her children were literally left to "shift" for themselves. Her intention was to return to Rutherford County to try and pick up the pieces of her life, but this did not come about immediately. In January of 1783, the Rutherford County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions ordered that all of Jonas Bedford's property "be adjudged and forfeited" and Mercy began an unsuccessful campaign to retain Bedford lands. During this trying period, Mercy and one of her sons were commended for assisting the men who were fighting for American independence; thus it would appear that Mercy herself did not share the political views of her husband. In the DAR Index Mercy Bedford is listed as rendering patriotic service to the new nation.
Eventually friends and neighbors came to the aid of the Bedford family and in a petition for Mercy's relief was introduced in the General Assembly of North Carolina on 29 Dec 1785, and the "landed estate" of Jonas Bedford was return to Mercy. By 1787, Jonas himself returned to Rutherford County.
As with Jonas Mercy outlived five of her eight children, dying on December 26, 1823, at the ripe old age of 83, in Duncan's Creek, Rutherford County, North Carolina. Her actually burial site, like those of her husband Jonas, have yet to be uncovered.
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